Temari-Zushi (Midway District)

Thanks for stopping by mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk is busy elsewhere and Cathy is writing the post today. 

The Mister and I were in the Midway area of town and we pulled into the parking lot at the North East corner of Rosecrans and Midway (the mall anchored by Rubios).  A couple of places looked interesting, 
 The Lunch Specials sign sealed the deal this day.

Decor here is predominantly round objects...explanation later.

 The regular menu is very interesting, warranting a return visit.

 We each ordered a lunch special which includes miso and salad.  I also ordered a hot green tea ($2)-it was a wonderful genmaicha (green tea with roasted rice) loose tea tightly packed in a filter bag. 

 The Mister also wanted to try a California roll ($5.75).  Made with imitation crab and cucumber, this was very nice, quite large.  (Grated wasabi is $1.25; I neglected to take a photo.)

  Chicken yakisoba lunch ($13.50).  This had wonderful, thin noodles and was a flavorful stir fry of the chicken and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, onion and carrot).  The hand roll also had imitation crab along with cucumber.  

{Explanation of the name of this establishment and the decor:  Temari  originally were leather balls used in a game similar to ‘hacky sack’ and now are soft, round, embroidered balls, a toy. viewed as art, covered in silk, accessories to kimonos and given as gifts, usually to girls on Girls' Day (Hinamatsuri).   Temari sushi are made to look decorative.  "Zushi" is one of Japanese grammar rules.  Japanese requires that certain consonants are changed when they are used as the first letter of a word attached to a prefix.  The “S” in “sushi”, for example, needs to be hardened into a “Z” in compound words, as is the name of this Restaurant.}

The Karaage/Temari/Edamame lunch ($13.50) was my order.  Beautiful, temari sushi-made with the slightly vinegared sushi rice-different rice than the rolls above- topped with salmon, ebi  (shrimp) and spicy tuna.  Great flavor and a bit different.  The chicken karaage was also round and had a light batter (which had a soggy (but not greasy) bottom by the time I got to the last piece).  Salted edamame was just enough vegetable to complete this meal. 

We were very happy to have stopped here and will return when in the area. 

 Temari Zushi 3555 Rosecrans Street San Diego 92110 Open Mon-Thurs 11 am-3 pm, 5 pm-9:30 pm Fri 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat 1 pm-9:30 pm Closed Sunday Website

Comments

[Sandy]

Thanks for posting; the temari sushi are so pretty.

[kat]

very nice explanation of temarizushi, your lunch looked delicious!

[Cathy]

The temari are just so unique, Sandy. We had not idea this place existed and it seems to be kind of fancy (as far as the menu goes). Best part- the mailman eats here! (6th comment on this post (from Trent) https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/10/episode_15week_.html

Thank you, Kat. I was curious about the round sushi and katsu and decor...and now the menu. Lunch here was great!

[Junichi]

Wow must be the only place in San Diego that serves temari sushi. You don't see them too often even in Japan.

[Cathy]

Fortunately the extensive menu and random round decor encouraged me to research the meanings, Junichi. TemariZushi opened in January 2020, after the owners of the previous (also sush)i business retired. We noticed a large waiting list at the front door from the previous evening when leaving-a busy yet hidden gem.