mmm-yoso!!!

Chopstix / Chopstix Too - more revisits

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is posting today, to complete a trifecta of ramen posts for this cold and wet San Diego week.

Kirk and I have posted about Chopstix and Chopstix Too many times over the years (just type in 'Chopstix' in that search box at the top left of this page). The service is fast, the food is good and the locations are convenient. The menus are the same. 

 It was ready to rain again this weekend when we got to the original location of Chopstix.  

Sometimes I only order off the appetizer menu.  The cold tofu is served with a salad ($5)  and is enough on some days.    Although, I've been known to also order just a side of Yasai Itame (stir fried vegetables)($5) and mix it with the cold tofu.  

The Mister always peruses the menu and ends up ordering the mabo ramen ($7.45) - a pleasant, chili and bean based spicy sauce, made with tofu and ground pork served in (in this case) miso soup base. There are various choices of soup base (tonkatsu, soy sauce or miso) and add ins here. The noodles are nice and chewy and the broth always is served quite hot, with the temperature still warm even at the bottom of the bowl.  

The mixed tempura appetizer ($6) includes two fried shrimp along with vegetables.

The chicken sesame (no sesame) salad ($7) is also enough to be a meal.  Fried properly crisp and not oily.  A tangy, mustard based dressing is served with this and is quite good.  

Vegetable ramen ($7) is another choice on those days when I have to watch my cholesterol intake before the semi-annual blood test. This was with the soy sauce broth (even though I really wanted tonkotsu) and was filled with a variety of cabbages as well as onions, some carrots and sprouts. It was very good, again served quite hot and with nicely chewy noodles.

Stay warm and dry this week!

 Chopstix 4633 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 Open daily, 11-10

 Chopstix Too 4380 Kearney Mesa Road San Diego 92111 Open daily, 11-9  Website

Ajisen Ramen in San Diego

Kirk and Cathy are crazy busy now. Ed (from Yuma) is gainfully unemployed (also known as retired), so he has time for a post today.

I was in San Diego recently, staying on Clairemont Mesa Blvd, and I noticed a new large ramen location not too far from its intersection with Ruffner:

With the cool weather, I had been thinking about getting ramen on the trip, and when I saw that neither Kirk nor Cathy had posted about it, I thought I'd give it a try – probably taking one for the team since Kirk had been unhappy at Ajisen in Orange County.

So I arrived shortly after 11 AM. There were already a few cars in the sizable parking lot, and a few folks scattered in the modern, well-lit restaurant, which featured a variety of eating arrangements to accommodate individuals and groups of different sizes:

I was planning on having iced tea, so I was delighted to see a range of fruit flavored iced teas. This one is mango:

It was really good. Fruit sweet and full of mango flavor. Served in a covered to go cup along with a straw with one end cut at an angle making it easy to push through the lid.

The attractive menu was wide-ranging, including sushi and other Japanese dishes, but I was here for ramen. I ordered it with tender pork ribs (at lunch special prices). When it arrived at the table, it looked like this:

Up in Orange County, the Ramen was served warm, a real disappointment for Kirk; mine in San Diego was piping hot with little wisps of steam across the surface. At first the noodles were too hot for slurping, and when I finished, the broth was still warm and pleasant.

The noodles are not standard ramen (Kirk says Kumamoto style). They were, I thought, perfectly cooked, however. Not too soft and not too hard. Goldilocks style.

The cloudy broth was lightly porky with wakame overtones. Not as intense or rich as Santouka, but plenty good enough for this gaijin:

The wakame added color and flavor, and the cabbage provided a nice crunchy contrast to the other elements in the bowl.

The real hero of the soup, this ramen's main character, was the meat. Browned and nicely braised, the porkribs had toothsome chew. And a lot of tendon and cartilage and connective tissue:

Just look at this piece:

The service was professional, efficient, and reasonably friendly. I appreciated the bill arriving before I finished eating, making timely payment easy, and I appreciated the bottom line:

For 2017, this seems very reasonable.

Would I come back again?

For sure – at least for the fruity teas and the ramen with those ribs. The San Diego Ajisen Ramen, one of the over 700 branches of this large Chinese owned chain, seems to perform better than the shop Kirk visited in Orange County. And when I looked around the room, it was obvious that Ajisen has a wide appeal. On one side of me there was an older Asian couple and then a man from Charlotte, North Carolina, here on work, who'd never had ramen before. On the other side of me was a student from Japan. I am no expert on ramen; in fact I am pretty much a novice. For that reason, I enjoyed the clear menu and the table service, much easier for me than standing in line and trying to figure out the option grid at Santouka. Your mileage may differ.

Ajisen Ramen, 7398 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego 92111, (858) 277-1380. Website 

Menya Ultra Ramen - A First Look

I'd been following the progress of this spot on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard for a while now. A few weeks back, I noticed the sign had gone up. There wasn't very much hype about this place as there was when Nishiki opened. But the questions and mentions I did get were interesting....it seems that folks in the Japanese community were quite interested. Heck, even Taka at Taisho mentioned this place to me! Word had got around that this ramen chain from Odate, Akita had won some awards. Also, the owner of this shop, Takashi Endo, the Director of the Ramen Assiciation of Japan was in partnership with the guy who owns San Diego's Nishiki. Along the way there was a, from what I heard, acrimonious split, but the owner of Nishiki kept the name. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I guess that didn't stop Mr Endo from opening a ramen shop here in San Diego. And yet, there wasn't too much hype about the place. But based on what I had heard, I was keeping an eye on the shop's website and "FOY" Junichi was apparently keeping up with Facebook. In fact, he posted the soft opening and grand opening information in the comments of this post.

So there I was two minutes to five, one of the first ten people in line at Menya Ramen Ultra. Folks that know me will think it rather strange, as it's not my thing to get all worked up about places opening.

I was seated at the counter....all the customers were Japanese speakers except me.....but I guess I looked the part as my order sheet was in Japanese.

It wasn't hard to decipher what I wanted...just the simple Tonkotsu Ajitama Ramen....but when I opened my mouth, the very nice young lady immediately turned the sheet over to the English side....even though I had already filled out my order.

The kitchen was going through its paces....Takashi Endo actually passed by and gave me a nod. Kind of funny. I'll give them this; they really staffed well for this.

My ramen arrived scalding hot. The fragrance was definitely that of tonkotsu paitan and really reminded me of Japan.  There's certain funkiness to the smell of a good tonkotsu that I enjoy. I believe this version is a combination of pork and chicken as there seems to be a real hint of fowl in the broth. It's a bit lighter in the collagen area, but still fairly rich. It's very nice, not overly salty, and possibly my favorite version in San Diego right now.

The egg had a nice flavor, though I would have been happy with it being a bit less cooked. Also, it was served almost ice cold.

The noodles were just perfect in texture, at least for my taste, slippery with a nice chew, and look how the broth just coated those noodles. I didn't even have to order it "katame", firm.

The chashu as a single thin slice, but it had a nice balanced flavor and wasn't tough.

The overall impression of the bowl was that this was a good textbook version of tonkotsu ramen, which means it's already better than 99% of what out there. It's not flashy, there's no crazy hype, no exotic ingredients, which suits me just fine.

If they hold the course, I now have a place where I can enjoy a straight-up good bowl of tonkotsu ramen. Though that might be a bit more difficult based on the line of folks waiting for seats as I left last night. We'll see what the future holds.

I understand that Ultra's grand opening is tomorrow, they'll be open from 11am - 3pm and 5pm to 9pm daily. However, if you need your ramen fix tonight, they are still going though their soft opening paces from 5pm to 9pm tonight.

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Kyoto - Our Favorite Fried Chicken at Karako

The Missus and I have our favorite cities, Kyoto is one of these. It strangely felt almost like coming home, we feel so comfortable here. We again stayed in the area near Higashiyama Station. We enjoy the less hectic pace here, yet the location is close enough to everything.

After dropping things off at the apartment and getting a load of laundry going we headed off to an early dinner.

We headed up Higashioji-dori to a familiar sight.

The place was just opening up. The gentleman running the place was just getting things in order, towel rolled over the back of his neck. There's a comfortable, well-worn vibe to this shop.

Just as on our previous visit, we were greeted with a smile, seated, plates were pointed out. Then he pointed to the self-service dishes on the counter telling us "helpu you self....."

While Karako seems more of a ramen shop, we weren't particularly enamored of the ramen here. Instead, we really enjoyed the karaage. And, it's also a bargain.

It was apparent on our last visit that rice bowls and fried chicken was the way to go here.

The Missus enjoyed the chashu gohan here the last time; but had really developed a taste for mentaiko in Hokkaido. So She surprisingly chose that!

Very nice savory tones, perfectly cooked rice.

So I ordered the chashu gohan....love the balance of salty-sweet in this version of chashu.

And the wonderfully crunchy, super moist, umami laden chicken karaage.

Surprisingly light, with a faint flavor of ginger, a hint of sweet and major deep savory tones, must be Shio Koji.

A pretty inexpensive meal as well; about $12 for two!

Karako
12-3 Okazaki Tokusei-cho
Kyoto

After dinner we crossed over the Kamo River and made our way back to the shopping arcades and the Nishiki Market area. It was quite relaxing to revisit those now familiar places, like the Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine.

It was such a crisp and clear evening. The bright lights of the restaurants and bars on Ponto-chō reflecting beautifully on the Kamo River.

We took time to stop at the statue of Izumo no Okuni.

Izumo no Okuni is the creator of what we know as Kabuki which originated here in Kyoto. Her statue stands, sword slung over one shoulder, fan in the other.

A few blocks over on Shijo-dori resides Minamiza Kabuki Theatre, considered to be the one of the best places to watch Kabuki in Japan.

Brightly lit on this evening.

Last time we were in Kyoto, Chion-in Temple was undergoing some renovation. On this evening it stood dramatically under the bright moonlight.

This was the Kyoto we remembered......

 

Kyoto - Tōfuku-ji and Hakata Ikkousha

The last time we were in Kyoto our visit was slightly interrupted by Typhoon Vongfong, I promised the Missus that we'd return and finish off the plans we'd had. And so we decided to visit during autumn, where we'd see the wonderful changing of the seasons.

But first, let's have a Mt Fuji break. As I mentioned previously, when leaving Tokyo for Kyoto or anyplace in Kansai for that matter, get a seat on the right side of the Shinkansen....... On a clear day, there's nothing more picturesque than passing a snow topped Mount Fuji.

We left from Tokyo Station quite early in the morning.....I call this shot; "Onigiri at Sunrise".

And a little something from the "Ekiben Stand".

One of the really great things about train stations in Japan is....well, besides being super clean, are the availability of lockers. We stowed our luggage in a locker and headed off, back to Tōfuku-ji. I guess checking out the autumn colors is serious business here as we walked past quite a line  to get in.

Of course everyone wants to view things from the Tsuten-kyō Bridge (The Bridge to Heaven) which looked absolutely packed.

As were the trails....though things were covered by the autumn foliage.

And yes indeed, the crowds were no joke.

Though this is Japan, so things were rather orderly.

And views were quite stunning.

And in spite of the crowds, things were rather quiet. So you could find that little peaceful space to admire.

Satisfied we left and headed back to the station to catch the train back to Kyoto Station.

Stopping at a few temples along the way like Taiko-an.

Back to Kyoto Station, they were gearing up for Christmas.

The chill in the air called for ramen and we headed up to 10th floor of the Station Building to Kyoto Ramen Koji, basically Kyoto Station's own "Ramen Street". There are 8 different ramen shops on this floor. Having already had Seabura (Pork Backfat) Ramen, flame torched chashu Miso Ramen in Sapporo, and Iekei Ramen, I wanted some nice Fukuoka style Tonkotsu. So I talked the Missus into Hakata Ikkousha. Yes, I know they have a location in Orange County, but I believe the menu is slightly different.

They were also the busiest place on this floor. We went to the ticket machine and put our money in and got our ticket and waited in line for about 10 minutes.

As is somewhat typical for us; there's no way I can finish a whole bowl myself; we got the Ajitama (soft boiled egg) Ramen and a side dish to share. The presentation at Ikkousha is interesting. They lie four thin slices of chashu on top of the bowl, making it look like a single large layer of pork.

Man, that egg was just a perfect soft, runny boiled thing of beauty. The pork was not my favorite, especially after having so much during this trip as it was on the bland side and rather dry. The noodles were good, a tad past how I prefer them prepared, but way better than anything here in the states. The broth was rich, but I found it less satisfying than Ippudo (we'd go to the Kyoto location later during the trip). I found it less porky and not quite as rich, even though it seemed nicely viscous. It was not bad by any means; quite good, as it still had that "aaaah" factor.

The Karaage was decent, good flavor, but the texture was a little too soft for our taste. Again, we'd have our favorite version again while in the city.

Overall, a nice bowl, decent karaage, it was autumn, the air crisp, our bellies warm.....

Hakata Ikkousha
Kyoto Ramen Koji
Kyoto Station Building (West Zone), 10th floor

We had no complaints.........

Circling Back to Nazca Grill

A few nights ago, I got a late start on dinner. Like I've mentioned before; I usually like to have an early dinner. I slowly hit a couple of places, but each had a waiting list, or the parking lot was full. By this time, I'd pretty much lost any motivation to go out of my way. On the way home, I passed Nazca Grill. It had been nearly two years since my last visit and over six months since we got back from Peru. The place was empty, so I decided to stop and have some dinner.

The place is starting to look a bit faded and I noticed several dishes; specifically the Causa Limeña, possibly the item I thought they did best was no longer on the menu.

I just went for the simple Lomo Saltado ($13.95).

Good lord, what happened here? I'm used to the beef here being a bit more chewy, but this one had that semi-metallic taste, a bit off. There was but one slice of tomato, you need more to really give a nice tangy punch to lomo saltado. The papas fritas were just dumped to the side, not mixed with the stir fry like it should be. This dish looked nothing like what I'm used to having here. The sauce lacked any tanginess and had a bitter after taste. Sadly, this place has fallen even farther than Latin Chef.

Quite sad.

Nazca Grill
4310 Genesee Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

The Missus's Favorite Date Night Spot - Et Voila!

Man, looking back over the last couple of weeks......I really haven't been "Little Miss Sunshine", huh? So let's turn things around a bit. Here's the Missus's current date night spot for us. We both have hectic schedules right now and are working like crazy. While my usual routine is to come home and cook multiple dishes of "quick" things and supplement with leftovers (La Rou is always welcomed). We try to save at least one night of the week for the both of us. The Missus was really missing France for a while and our good friend Candice suggested Et Voila! So we decided to check them out and have been going on a regular basis since then.

Located on Adam's Avenue next to Tajima and Hawthorne Coffee, we enjoy the early dinner times....yes, you can call us the "Blue Plate Special" folks these days....but my day at work usually starts around 6am and on recent evenings, I haven't gotten home until almost 6pm. So, on that evening where I can get home at 4, I'm usually already pretty hungry, and having dinner at say, 445pm doesn't sound bad at all. Plus, we don't have to worry about reservations.

We like the atmosphere, while the lighting on the dark side, it's nice and unpretentious and we usually get one of the more comfortable tables when we arrive early.

Recently, the Missus has been getting into cocktails......I do see danger ahead with this one. We enjoy the cocktails here, while not cheap at $12, they are $7 during Happy Hour. My favorite is the Huckleberry Bourbon.

For the Missus, it used to be the Celery Gimlet.

But now, She's starting to enjoy Bourbon, so it's the Blooming Manhattan.

The bread here is simple and par baked baguette which is surprisingly good. Still a bit light in the salt department....we'd gotten used to the yeasty-salty-savory French Baguettes.

The Missus enjoys some butter on Hers and enjoys it, though She'd really like it if there was some sea salt sprinkled on top.

Off to the food! The Missus had always told me She hated Escargot. Heck, if I knew this before we got married....nah, just kidding! But once in Burgundy, I told Her She just had to try them. And of course once She had 'em.....we had to order them during just about every meal in Dijon and Beaune.

This version uses Pastis, which adds an interesting, though not offensive amount of light anise flavor. Being the garlic lover, I'd love a bit more garlic. The Missus just wants more sauce, period. This is a very nice rendition overall, though it doesn't come close to what we had in Burgundy.

We got the Pork Belly, Poached Egg, and Frisee ($13).

This was very nice; the truffle vinaigrette really shined and we loved that the frisee wasn't over-dressed. The pork belly was crisp on the exterior, creamy inside, quite lovely. And the Missus loved the gooey egg yolk all over the greens. Not a big fan of the toasts as the flavors seemed to clash with the pork and salad. But this was a very nice dish.

Going with the "all apps" approach. Something that we really enjoy doing since we just can't away all that food anymore, we ended with, well, what else? Duo de Foie Gras ($26).

We've had so much Foie Gras, that perhaps I should have a category for it. We both adored the foie gras terrine; smooth, rich, perfectly funky, it was decadent and delicious. The regular sautéed version was dry and overcooked having an unpleasant dry-mealy texture. We decided to stick with the terrine on future visits.

Which came around quite quickly, as in the following week.

Starting this time with the Burrata and Beet Salad ($11).

Man, the plating was bit over-the-top for us. Sort of like they hired Jackson Pollack to design this dish. The burrata was delicious though, creamy, slightly milky, with just that hint of acid. Loved the beets, perfectly sweet. Again the greens were nicely dressed, though the balsamic dressing was a bit on the sweet side for us. Still, a nice dish.

And of course, the Foie Gras Terrine ($23).

While a bit "busy" in terms of presentation, that foie gras terrine is really good. I really don't need any of the garnishes, though the Missus likes what I believe is fig chutney. I just like eating the pears by themselves, ditto the brioche, as we almost prefer the baguette for the foie gras.

Man, two rich dishes and we were out.

Only to return a few weeks later. Of course we got the foie gras terrine, but also decided to try the Ravioli aux Champignons ($13). Which had us wondering why we hadn't tried this before.

My goodness, the deep earthy mushroom tones....think porcini, a touch of truffle oil, tempered with a hint of sweet flavors, with a shaving of Parmesan for saltiness. This has become something we order on every visit now. And though the composition seems to have changed, with more broth and cheese; I actually think this is an improvement. The Missus has been bugging me to make my Mushroom Risotto after this meal.

Because there was a special Perigord Black Truffle menu on this evening. Now, having been to Dordogne, how could we resist. In spite of my loathe of par cooked restaurant style risotto. So we got the Black Truffle Risotto ($25). It was actually a good sign that it took over 25 minutes to get to us. And what we got was delici-yoso!

Man, this was so good. The risotto perfect in texture, tender, with a slight chew, no hard granular core. The combination of truffle and mushroom flavors is one made in heaven. And we were definitely there on this evening. And of course we had the foie gras terrine....man, talk about a rich meal.

Next time around was kind of funny. I usually avoid places during Restaurant Week. No offense, but I enjoy visiting a restaurant when it's not totally slammed, or when they don't have a pared down menu, and many places aren't able to show their real capability because, well, they're trying to turn a profit too, right? And in spite of always being offered freebies during RW.....you know how we feel about that here. With all of that in mind, we ended up at Et Voila during RW! Go figure. The menu looked fascinating, so we went for it, along with the wine pairings, which were pretty good.

The Gravlax de Saumon D'Ecosse was superb, I mean really, really, good. I had misgivings because it seemed cut too thick.

But holy smokes, that texture was excellent, meaty, but still silky and sublime. Loved the understated brininess and the mustard was just enough to cut through everything else. You know how we feel about the greens here. We loved the simple perfectly dressed arugula.

Having just had some good Jambon de Bourgogne in Burgundy, I was interested in the Terrine de Champignon en Croute.

First off, the pickles were excellent, simple, but each had it's own unique personality. The pastry was a bit too mushy for my taste; but that mushroom pate was very good; earthy-mushroom tones, just a touch of richness, a bit of pungency to cut down the richness.

I chose the Pan Seared Duck Breast as my main.

There were some nice elements to this dish; the Swiss Chard Gratin was so good; rich, slightly buttery potatoes, but balanced by the light bitter-sweet flavor of the chard. The duck had been lightly smoked and the texture was outstanding; it was still tender and hadn't firmed up too much. Served medium was perfect for this. My only problem was that the sauce was way too salty. I gave up after a few bites and the Missus traded dishes with me. She plowed through this like there was no tomorrow.

What She got and I ended up with was the Braised Shortribs.

The Missus wanted this a bit more tender; but I enjoyed the beefy flavor and the slight toothsomeness of the beef. So I ended up with this. I enjoyed the Red Wine sauce and the charred broccoli. This was a nice dish.

Dessert is the Missus's department and She enjoyed them both.

The Missus enjoyed this so much that She made reservations to return the next night with a friend. Unfortunately, the friend cancelled at the last minute. The Missus was really looking forward to getting the duck again, so I decided on being "plan B" for the evening. This time though, I was going to go a bit easier. While the Missus got the duck, I got the ravioli and the Beef Tartare ($13).

Man, this was at least 6 ounces; quite large. There was a bit too much filler in this version, along with being a bit heavy handed on the mustard for my taste. There was something in this that gave it almost a fishiness that both the Missus and I didn't care for. I may try this again in the future, though I'm not so sure.....

We've been back a couple of times since then, mostly ordering the same old items. Though one night we went with both the foie gras terrine and the charcuterie and fromage plate ($22).

Man, this was a lot of food. Loved the pate as it was earthy and delicious. That camembert also hit the spot.

We enjoy the vibe here; a bit more grown up, unpretentious, the service genial and professional. That's perfect for us.

The price point is not cheap; we haven't spent less than $80 for a meal, even with just appetizers here....but of course, we love those cocktails. We've been to many of the more well known places in San Diego, but have never wanted to return (hence no posts)...Et Voila though...well it's on the rotation.

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

Tokyo - Isehiro Kyobashi Honten

After having a wonderful time visiting Kamakura, we were pretty hungry. We arrived back in Tokyo and freshened up. We had one more night left and the Missus still hadn't had Her share of Yakitori yet. Isehiro had been a recommendation I received and we even tried to get in on our first evening in Tokyo, but they were strangely closed. So we decided to give it another try.

My understanding is that all the tables upstairs are usually reserved, but the tables and counter downstairs are not. There was not a single soul in the place when we arrived.

But the gentleman behind the grill was cooking like crazy, then placing items in containers. The Missus and I looked at each other and got a feeling that this wasn't going to be a particularly stellar meal. Items are precooked, then reheated.

Next little thing. We were told that there were two "set" menus available.......you can do extras, but no a la carte. The full course was 6480 ¥ (about $60/US at the time) and the "healthy" course was 5832 ¥ (about $54/US). Man, that's not cheap. Each course had 9 skewers, the healthy course had some vegetable items.

We decided to stay the course and just go for it. Though at this point, I'm thinking this better be good. I decided to get a Highball to start.

After the traditional oshibori, the hot towel, things started coming fast a and furious....I mean why not? Most of it was premade.

We both got the Sasami (Chicken Breast) to start. This has never been a big favorite of mine and this version was dry and needed much more salt as well. I first thought that this might be tori-wasa, which would be tender and medium rare, but this was overcooked.

One item that I thought was good here is the Kimo; the chicken liver. The Missus loves this, but I'm not too fond of it. However, this was very good, not too minerally in flavor, without that mushiness I'm not a big fan of.

The tare added a nice sweet-saltiness that deflected all the flavors in chicken liver that I don't like.

We both also received Sunagimo, chicken gizzards.

I usually enjoy how gizzards really absorb the smokiness of the bincho; but instead of being crunchy, this was hard, and strangely didn't have that smokiness I enjoy.

Next up for the both of us was the negi-maki, thigh meat wrapped in scallion.

The meat was very moist if a bit on the tough side. The bitterness of the incinerated scallions was rather unpleasant.

Next up for the both of us is one of my key favorites when it comes to yakitori; tsukune (chicken meatball).

In complete contrast to other items that were basically burnt, this needed a bit more color. What little tare was used on the meatball brought nothing to it. The meatball was toughr than I prefer and there were hard bits as well.

Next up for the Missus, Cherry Tomatoes.

Innocuous, tart, could have used a bit more time on the grill.

I received another of my usual favorites; "kawa", chicken skin.

The burnt bits were crisp, but the rest dry and gummy. This needed more saltiness, or at least a good tare.

The Momoniku (thigh) was quite good.

Except for the scallion being burnt bitter again. Great sweet-salty flavors for the toothsome but not tough chicken thighs. The slightly smoky flavor lifted the dish.

Next for the Missus, Shiitake.

This was fine, but really didn't have any seasoning....it was almost like it hadn't been grilled. Check out the skewers, no blackening on it. Odd.

I received the Aigamo (Duck).

This needed more seasoning and was overcooked for our taste, making it tough and rather stringy.

The Missus finished up with Nankotsu; chicken cartilage.

This was decently prepared, if a bit on the dry side. The amount of salt used was perfect.

My last dish was another favorite of mine; Teba, chicken wing.

Dried out, rubbery, and too salty. Not my favorite combination of textures and tastes.

The Missus and I left somewhat disillusioned. I've always said that it's hard to get a bad meal in Japan and while this wasn't terrible, it wasn't close to being good. I'm wondering if it was just a bad night? Luckily, we'd get some great yakitori later on during this trip.

Isehiro Kyobashi Honten
1-5-4 Kyoashi, Chuo 104-0031
Tokyo

Great Wow Reopens in Hillcrest and What's Happening with the Convoy Location

In my post mentioning that Great Wow looked shuttered; "GT" mentioned the Hillcrest spot, which I posted on back in November. At that time it seemed to me like Wow was expanding....after all, this spot seemed maybe one-third the size of the Convoy location. This weekend, I had to pick something up in Hillcrest for the Missus, so I went to check the place out.

Well whaddya know; the place had opened. In need of some lunch, I decided to check the place out.

They've really packed it in here! The tables and chairs looked exactly the same as the restaurant had on Convoy.

There's a small bar area here as well. The really nice young man manning the front told me that right now; "it's happy hour all day"!

The current menu looks quite temporary; a bunch of stapled together pages with photos......there were only three varieties of jiaozi available, 1 vegetarian, 2 with shrimp.

While looking thru things the older gentleman dropped by this for me.....

Man, when had I last seen this in San Diego? Seven Layer Meat Cake. Basically layers of thin scallion bread with a light sprinkling of seasoned, ground meat between the layers. The flavors were pretty good, on the rich side. Enjoyed the crispness, but this looked a bit over-cooked and was the exterior was on the hard side instead of crisp. Nice try though.

My hot tea arrived; which helped to balance out all that richness.

I went ahead and placed an order for the Shrimp and Chive dumplings.

And this was brought to my table. Wow; a Xian Bing!

This was deeply browned, but was nice and crisp with a light chewiness. Not a big fan of the filling though, it was just rather bland.

Meanwhile, since I was the only customer in the place, the nice young man dropped by and we had a nice chat. It seems that they've bought into the Trinitea franchise at this location. They are paring down the menu while trying some new items. I did mention how much we enjoy the radish version of Xian Bing; like we've had Beijing Pie House, though I'm not sure how that would go here in Hillcrest. They are trying a few more vegetarian options.

I had noticed that they were making my jiaozi to order....very nice.

I finally broached the question about the Convoy location and was told that yes, that shop is indeed closed. It is going to be (yet another) a hot pot restaurant.

Meanwhile, yet another sample....a hot and sour soup was brought to my table.

Man, I was getting full just eating samples!

I didn't think I'd be able to finish my Shrimp and Chive Jiaozi.

So, how did these measure up? The wrappers were a bit thicker and had less chew to them than I recalled. Very plump and moist....super moist. Like the Shrimp, Pork, and chive I had at Convoy, the chive flavor came through quite well, but the filling was quite salty.

Still, not bad.

I'm still wondering how Hillcrest is going to do with Xian Bing, Jiaozi, and items like that. I'm hoping they give them a try. The Trinitea take out window was doing good business though.

Trinitea & Great Wow
3865 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Kamakura - Hase-dera, Engaku-ji, Meigetsu-in, and a few snacks in between

The Missus had enjoyed our first visit to Kamakura so much that She wanted to return and check out some of the places we missed. So after breakfast at Yaesu Hatsufuji we caught the JR Yokosuka line and were in Kamakura in about an hour.

There's just a natural charm to the place that really grabbed the Missus.

From Kamakura Station it's just a 5 minute ride on the charming, vintage looking Enoshima Electric Railway built in 1902 to the stop in Hase.

Which is the same stop we used to visit the Daibutsu (Giant Buddha) at Kotokuin.

I saw this interesting little diner as we got off the train.

Spam Musubi....malasadas....loco moco...hmmm.... But of course the Missus was having none of that. Plus, I was still stuffed from breakfast.

We strolled on over to Hase-dera which was already starting to get pretty crowded on this fall morning.

The temple is built on the slope of a mountain. So while folks were headed to the Kannon Museum to view the statue of Kannon.

We decided to head up the "Prospect Road".

Which was still quite peaceful on this morning.

Which ended with a wonderful view of Kamakura and Sagami Bay.

We just meandered around the temple grounds.

Coming across the Benten-kutsu Cave.

Which contains bas-reliefs of Benzaiten and other Buddhist Gods.

There's something about the temples in Kamakura that just puts me at ease. I'm able to relax and mentally regroup and feel that yes, I am away from work.

The air seemed so fresh and clean that we decided to walk back to the Kamakura Station area. We walked along the large, but relatively quiet street, stopping along the way to buy some wagashi and also to just take it all in.

Reaching the relatively busy shopping street heading back to Kamakura Station we stopped for a coffee in a random Café.

And the Missus had Her kimishigure.

Feeling energized the Missus decided that instead of catching the train to the next stop up from Kamakura Station and get off at Kita-Kamakura; we would just walk.

Engaku-ji is right next to Kita-Kamakura Station and right behind Kencho-ji is ranked second among Kamakura's five great Zen temples.

The Butsuden displays a wooden statue of Shaka Buddha.

The Shariden displays what is supposed to be a tooth of Buddha.

This Juniper Tree is named Biyakushin and is said to have been planted by the founder of Engaku-ji, making it over 700 years old.

It's great fun wondering around the grounds of this good sized complex.

Up this hill resides the Ogane, the "Grand Bell", which of course has a story.....

And the Bentendo......

Fairly close by is Meigetsu-in. Meigetsu mean "bright moon", so you'll see representation of rabbits, (remember the Japanese children's story Tsuki no Usagi?) on the grounds. We found this one, right near the entrance to be quite charming.

The area is rather small, but hosts some important items. Kamakura was not well known for having a good fresh water supply. Therefore, any good drinkable water supply was considered a blessing. Kam--no-I is one of the ten wells of Kamakura.

There's a cave here as well; known as the Meigetsu-in Yagura. Yagura are human made caves that were used as tombs.

It is said that this is the tomb of Uesugi Norikata who is said to have founded this temple.

Along one of the walls were little "squirrel houses". There actually were squirrels scampering from house to house to grab a bite.

Speaking of grabbing a bite. Many of these temples have tea houses....which seemed kind of touristy to us. But we needed a short break so we thought why not.

This turned out to be a nice break for us.....

A nice bit of tea......a not so sweet confection.

And all on the grounds of a lovely temple in Kamakura.....

I'm sure that not having too many folks visiting when we were added to the "atmosphere". But things surely seemed serene to us....and that's what really mattered, right?

Thanks for reading!