The restaurant landscape of San Diego sure has changed from when we moved here back in 2001. And while I still complain about the quality and the preference of style over substance.....I'm still not happy "just to have" something; it's sure nice to have some variety available. Here are two examples; one of lunch on Friday, then breakfast on Saturday, in two drastically different areas of San Diego.
Bistro Kaz:
My coworker "SJP" wanted to take me to lunch......how very sweet of her. At first I thought perhaps Korean would great. But the petite SJP is not a very big eater. She was also born in Japan. Even though my last visit to Bistro Kaz wasn't that great; I thought she'd appreciate the food.
The menu here has grown nicely since they first opened. It was a pretty warm day, so I chose the Cold Natto and Mekabu Pasta. The lunch combo came with a nice, refreshing, simple salad, and a passable pseudo egg drop soup.
But it was the pasta I was looking forward to. And it did not disappoint.
The pasta was cooked...well, just about as well as this type of pasta can be. It had a nice pull and was nicely chilled. The natto fragrance wasn't over-powering and combined with the slimy mekabu (the bottom area of the same seaweed that gives you wakame - it gets slimy when heated) gave the whole dish that wonderful "neba neba" sensation that I find satisfying. For some reason, this seemed quite refreshing and the yuzu kosho added a touch of spice and saltiness to the whole, beautiful mess.
SJP had a taste and thought it was delicious....so did I. But you know how much I enjoy natto and the memories it elicits. I think I'll have this again soon.
Bistro Kaz
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Talavera Azul:
Yes, another post so soon. The next morning the Missus wanted Her Menudo Rojo fix. So we headed to Downtown Chula Vista and back to Talavera Azul.
And the Missus got Her menudo. This time around I finally found "my dish" here. The Sonoran Machaca with Easy Over Eggs.
The shredded beef is griddled with onions, peppers, and tomato; adding some nice crunchy bits of very flavorful beef. Who doesn't love drippy eggs (just kidding Jessica). Some beef wrapped in a tortilla with a smear of beans, potatoes, onions and cilantro, and finished with salsa....man, this was good. In fact, the Missus ate more than I did! And it was one of the rare occasions where we finished all the tortillas. The Missus took half the bowl of menudo home with Her!
We returned the following week with the same result. I'm guessing we'll be returning soon.
Talavera Azul
365 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91910
nice meals!
Posted by: kat | Wednesday, 27 June 2018 at 11:16 PM
I really did enjoy these meals Kat.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 28 June 2018 at 06:49 AM
I went to Bistro Kaz a few weeks back; I wasn't feeling well that day, so I couldn't really enjoy my lunch that day. I will have to return soon. BTW, your description of "Japanese ladies who do lunch" was spot-on!
Posted by: Sandy | Thursday, 28 June 2018 at 10:11 AM
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed my lunch there Sandy. Hopefully you're feeling better.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 28 June 2018 at 12:36 PM
The prix fixe lunch is the way to go at Kaz. Guess you'll be getting 2 machacas and the menudo to-go next time!
Posted by: Junichi | Friday, 29 June 2018 at 09:31 AM
Sounds about right (on both counts) Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 29 June 2018 at 09:41 AM