Revisits - Donburi Kitchen and Okan Diner

Donburi Kitchen:

**** Donburi Kitchen has closed

I was driving back from a meeting and wanted to grab some lunch. That really horrible katsudon from Minato 3 had me wondering how Donburi Kitchen whom I visited when they first opened last year was doing.

I was hoping that they'd added a couple of more traditional, standard donburi to the menu other than the Unadon. In fact, I recall the nice young man telling me during my visit last year that they would be expanding the menu in the near future.

Well, fast forward nearly a year; and other than now having a ton of sushi roll on the chalkboard; the menu was the same.

So, what to order. I wasn't a big fan of the ramen last time and really wanted some rice. I had seen the Unagi Bowl and was not going to order that. So I went with two items that I thought were pretty good before.

I'd thought the Agedashi Tofu; while not being perfectly dusted/battered was decent; so I ordered that rice bowl ($7.50), along with the Chashu Ponzu ($5.50), which I enjoyed on my previous visit.

The tofu displayed the same pluses; nice molten texture and the same weaknesses, the batter/coating didn't hold up well, and the sauce was really watered down and weak. I'm not a big fan of radioactive green seaweed salad that looks like it's full of artificial coloring. Again, the Vietnamese styled pickled vegetables, and some really good quick pickled, almost "smacked" cucumbers.

The green salad that accompanied the meal was nicely dressed, the veggies crisp and fresh.

This time around, the Chashu Ponzu was disappointing.

Lacking in the previous soy-mirin flavor and without enough ponzu to lift things; this came off as being rather bland. Unlike the previous time I had this; the pork was also dry with some very hard bits.

So, with tax almost fifteen bucks. I was disappointed; at that price point, I could have eaten near my office at Okan Diner. So, to me, as the saying goes, Donburi Kitchen "is what it is". "San Diego" style Japanese food for the masses. Nothing wrong with that; but not my kind of thing.

Donburi Kitchen
6030 Santo Rd
San Diego, CA 92124

Okan Diner:

Speaking of Okan Diner. I returned a few days after my Donburi Kitchen revisit to see if they had expanded the menu a bit. No such luck. But it was a pretty hot day so I went with the Zaru Udon ($8) and added the Katsuni Don ($2.50), which is actually a mini katsudon.

I did enjoy the noodles, which were prepared perfectly....nice toothsomeness. Everything was as it should be; the tsuyu not too salty, not watered down, a touch of wasabi. Still; eight bucks for this? that's kind of on the high side.

The katsuni was three pieces of tonkatsu, but it had held up well, with some parts still crisp. The pork was decently tender; nothing like Japan mind you, but still pretty good. The onions were a bit too raw for a good katsudon in my opinion and there was a lot of rice; but the sauce had permeated everything.

I'd say the service here is still spotty and not up to the level of the food. But it is a "diner" after all, right?

Okan Diner
5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Comments

[kat]

:(

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - Donburi Kitchen was quite disappointing.