Lunch Revisits - Okan Diner and Hinotez

Here are a couple of revisits for a post-holiday Tuesday.

Okan Diner:

I was headed back to the office from a meeting and decided to grab some lunch. It had been a while since I last visited Okan Diner. Since the restaurant is right off the 805, I decided to stop in. I was fairly surprised to see the place completely empty and it stayed that way during my entire meal!

I went with what I usually have for lunch here, the Katsuni ($11.50). When it arrived; I quickly noticed that the tonkatsu had gotten smaller since my last visit.

There's also less side dishes; more rice, and the miso soup was a lot more watered down.

The pork cutlet was a bit over cooked and dry, the breading too hard. There wasn't enough of the sweet-salty sauce and the eggs were over cooked as well. At least it was hot, right?

There was one thing that kinda bothered me even more than the mediocre food.

Unfortunately, the kitchen was in my direct line of sight and I kept seeing one of the prep cooks constantly stopping and checking his phone. Notice that he's cutting meat. He'd slice some meat, stop, pick up his phone and start texting; put the phone away, do additional prep, grab his phone and start texting, grab some other product, and so forth......without gloves. I just should have sat somewhere else......

I think I'll just go get me my usual lunch at Okan next time.

Okan Diner
5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Hinotez:

I've mentioned dropping by Hinotez for a quiet lunch. It's usually fairly empty for an early lunch. And this day was no exception.

The problem being; I didn't know what to order....it was way to hot for ramen on this day. I looked over then menu and even though it was a zillion degrees outside, I went with the Curry Combo......for some reason, I thought back to the time when Taisho was Curry Rice Hinotez. I just went for it and had the Curry Rice ($8) with Tonkatsu ($4) and an Onsen Tamago ($1). It ended up being a pretty hefty meal.

The curry was really thick and full of meat. It was a bit on the mild side so I added raiyu to add some zip. It was very meaty. As you can tell, it seems that the frying oil for the pork was off since the breading was super hard and dark. The actual meat was fairly moist and tender though. That runny egg sure didn't hurt things.

I was stuffed after this meal and had to grab a double espresso on the way back to the office.

Still, it wasn't bad meal. The woman working on this day was very efficient and nice. And I got a quiet and relaxed meal....just what I needed.

Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Derek R]

Your "spa egg" looks delicious + it seems a moist cutlet is rare these days. Okan Diner looks disappointing - I still haven't gone though I've wanted to drop in for some udon. Like you said, Okan seems like the wiser choice.

[kat]

:( sad that guy is glued to his phone & not caring about his job

[Kirk]

Hi Derek - Yes, I was quite disappointed in Okan Diner.....I've got to get back to Okan to see if things are still good.

Hi Kat - I think the main issue I had was him using his bare hand and working with meat; then picking up his phone...then working with raw meat again....then picking up his phone....all that possible cross contamination....makes you think what else is he doing????

[Junichi]

I enjoy the curry at Hinotez. But like you mentioned it is a hefty meal. Bummer about Okan Diner. I've only been there for their happy hour. Still enjoy their kamameshi.

[Soo]

The scene with the chef would make a good Youtube video.

[Kirk]

Hi Junichi - Yeah, Okan Diner was a bit disappointing.

Hi Soo - I'd rather have not seen that...

[Loren]

I had a food coma just looking at those pictures lol.

And yeah sometimes ignorance is bliss when it comes to sous chefs and their actions.

[Faye]

I had a similar experience when a cashier used his bare hands to grab dessert and put it in bag for me. Agree with Loren that ignorance is bliss when it comes to sous chefs and actions :( At least in this case.

[Kirk]

Lol Loren.....and yes, sometimes it's better not to know.

Hi Faye - Yeah....sometimes it's better not to know.

[daantaat]

Hi Kirk,

Would be interested in your take on Okan now. Went several weeks ago for dinner and was disappointed. They don't have the dishes on the bar anymore and the menu looks like every other standard Japanese menu. Taste wise, it's lacking that clean, flavorful, delicate feel that was there the first several years they were in business.

[Paula tam]

Yes I got bad food poisoning Okan Diner.

[Kirk]

Hmmmm, haven't been to Wa Dining Okan for dinner in a few years daantaat; will have to check them out.

That's terrible Paula!