Back in May I noticed that the former Mama's Grill was becoming Yakitori Hino and based on the ABC notice, the applicants were none other than than Yakyudori. At the end of July the sign went up. And this past week no fewer than three "little birds" whispered that Hino was doing a soft opening with the grand opening planned for yesterday, October first. This past Friday was a fairly tiring one for me and by the time I was ready for dinner; it was past 5pm. I decided to sneak on over to Hino, I had a feeling that they might be pretty quiet since few people knew they were open.
There was one other person in the place when I arrived. The folks were surprised to see someone they weren't too familiar with; though "Nao", Taka-san's Thursday relief guy, sort of recognized me. He's the chef here now.
The place does remind me a bit of Japan and also looks somewhat like Koubou with the high bar and such. There are two semi-private looking booths in the back as well.
The menu is also an interesting cross between Yakyudori and Koubou, with a salad that I saw folks getting that looks similar to Koubou's, but with a mayo based dressing. There are items on the menu that neither Taisho nor Yakyudori have. Strangely, the prices here seem higher than Taisho.
I started with the Chuka Kurage (Jellyfish Salad), which I really enjoyed.
A nice balance of sweet-salty-sour-spicy, which does well with the crunchy jellyfish. This is without a doubt an appetizer sized dish....but I found it to be quite good.
It was nice to see Nankotsu (chicken cartlidge) on the menu. This version was fairly simple.
A bit too salty and dry; though that crunchy texture was quite enjoyable.
I really miss the karaage at Taisho. They took it off the menu a couple of months back. I'm wondering if it was because of Hino? Anyway, it's on the menu here.
A nice portion size, light and crunchy, though it's lacking the flavor of the karaage I've had at Yakyudori and Taisho. I'm hoping that this will improve over time.
The Teba was the only truly disappointing item of the night as it was way too salty and really not prepped well as in not having the flesh and skin splayed out for maximum area and enjoyment.
The Kawa; chicken skin was interesting as this version was straight up salted, without tare, but held up fine.
Crisp on the edges, tender interior, a very nice rendition.
When I ordered the Tsukune (chicken meatball), I was asked if I wanted an egg yolk with it......."yes please"!
I was rather uninspired at first glance, but this turned out to be decent; fairly smooth and creamy interior, quite a bit of flavor from the tare if a bit unappealing to the eye. The egg yolk adds an even more creamy rich texture.
I was quite pleased to see Yaki Onigiri on the menu. I love grilled rice balls. This version was interesting as I noticed it was heated in a pan before being grilled.
The familiar smoky flavor was there, though the exterior was more gummy than crisp and crunchy. In this case Koubou definitely holds the edge.
So, in the end, I spent more at Hino, minus the celebratory beers I bought for Nabe-san and Nao-san, than I would for a usual meal at Taisho for the Missus and myself....kind of strange. I believe the food was better here than at Koubou, which is what seems to be the main competition. Though I've heard things at Koubou have gotten better recently, so I'll be dropping by again soon.
Still, the service was great....and it's nice to have more choices in the neighborhood. For now, the hours are 530 pm to 1230am Wednesday thru Monday.
Yakitori Hino
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
guess they need to work out the kinks.
Posted by: kat | Monday, 03 October 2016 at 12:55 AM
Nice! A new place to try the fried chicken and chicken wings at. :-)
Posted by: Soo @ hungryones | Monday, 03 October 2016 at 08:33 AM
I feel compelled to try anything that the owners of Yakyudori create, so thanks for this!
Btw, totally unrelated but I remember you saying that the owners of Char House had some other projects in the works and I thick I spotted one of them. Yesterday when I was driving up College near SDSU, I saw a big "coming soon" sign on the space next to Cream and Bruxie. Sure enough, a second Pho on Fifth is opening soon. Nice to have the second location in East County, which is severely lacking in pho options, although parking is a mess in that area when school is in. It will be on my to visit list once Winter break starts though! Can't wait for your future review.
Posted by: G. | Monday, 03 October 2016 at 04:22 PM
That's for sure at!
Yet another Soo!
Hope you get to check them out soon G! Thanks for the heads up!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 03 October 2016 at 06:23 PM
I was thinking about checking them out today but closed on Tuesdays. Guess I'll need to wait til tomorrow.
Posted by: Junichi | Tuesday, 04 October 2016 at 10:05 AM
Let me know what you think Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 04 October 2016 at 03:05 PM
Finally tried them out last week. I liked it. A little too salty for my tastes but they want you to drink more! Loved that the cartilage had chunks of meat still attached. Reminded me of the ones at Tsuruhashi. Still no yelp page so Nabe-san must've told them not to list this location. He truly wants to keep it a secret. Only 2 other parties when I went and they were all Japanese.
Posted by: Junichi | Monday, 28 November 2016 at 11:31 AM
Hey Junichi - Yeah, I think the food there is definitely tailored for drinking. Since they obviously want this to be a secret watering hole; perhaps I shouldn't do another post, huh?
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 28 November 2016 at 05:43 PM