mmm-yoso!!!

Paris - A Revisit to the Louvre and Ramen at Hakata Choten (Opera Location)

On our first visit to Paris, the Missus overwhelmed by the Louvre. You could spend years there and still not see it all. So, much like revisiting Pere Lachaise, we decided we needed to return to the Louvre. This time, we'd have a bit more focus. There was no need to see the Mona Lisa again. I got advanced times tickets for 9am and this time we needed to use the pyramid entrance.

Right in the pyramid, before the stairs was a work called "The Throne" by Kyoto based artist Kohei Nawa. It was on display from July 2018 thru February 2019 to mark the 160th anniversary of French - Japanese relations.

This time we spent most of our time checking out the Department of Egyptian Antiquities. Here are some of what we saw.

The golden funerary mask of Khaemwaset, son of Ramesses II.

This impressive statue of the god Amun protecting Tutankhamun.

Amenophis IV - the shadows made it look kinda spooky.

Time just flew by.....by the time I saw Luini's "Salome with the Head of St John the Baptist", I was getting kinda hungry......

It was just past noon....it was chilly and drizzling. We were a few blocks away from the area of Paris dubbed "Little Tokyo" for all the Japanese restaurants and shops. Ramen seemed like the perfect thing on a day like this one.

I had a listing of three places; the first being Kotteri Ramen Naritake, but when we passed there were two pans in the window with all the skimmed soup scum, which kinda turned the Missus off. So we walked a bit further up rue des Petit Champs to one of the locations of Hakata Choten (the other shop is near Les Halles). The Missus really wanted some tonkotsu style ramen that we even braved the 25 minute wait outside for a seat.

We were seated at the small counter....so, the first thing was the staff were all Japanese. Secondly, man....ramen here is not cheap. I went with the Ajitama Tonkotsu which was 13 Euros ($14.50/US). The Missus got the Tonkotsu Ramen Noir avec Ajitama - this one had black garlic oil and was 14 Euros ($15.75/US).

She loved Her ramen; with the nice rather sweet and pungent black garlic oil.

I was more than happy with my straight up tonkotsu ramen. The broth had a good amount of rich and creamy "collagenic" goodness, though a bit light in porkiness.

The egg was decently cooked and nicely served....that would be the yolk while a tad past perfect, was warm. I didn't expect much in terms of flavor, but it had been marinated nicely.

The noodles were cooked nicely, good pull and chewiness.

The Missus thought the ramen here is better than anything in San Diego. I thought that Menya was better. But even after spending thirty bucks for two bowls of basic tonkotsu, we were satisfied. Decent ramen in Paris....who knew. Though I'm thinking we need to hit up Ippudo next time.

Hakata Choten
53 rue des Petits Champs
75001 Paris, France
Open Daily 12pm - 3pm
           6pm - 10pm

We took our time on the 2 mile walk back to the apartment. It was definitely time for a nap!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kimae Ramen

Are you tired of Ramen yet? Well, I hope you have room for one more....or maybe not.

Kimae Ramen opened up at the end of October by the same owner as Poki (poke...please poke, ok) One N Half. It's located in La Jolla Village Square right next to Daphne's and two doors down from a location of PONH.

I finally made it here at the end of December and really liked the lay-out of the place.

The staff, while not particularly friendly, were quite professional on my two visits.

The menu is printed on what is basically a paper "fan" and hangs on the wall around each table. There are four basic ramen with Spicy versions of the Signature, basically a chicken and pork tonkotsu, the Miso, and also have a Veggie and Spicy Seafood ramen on the menu as well. The other side of the fan has appetizers, rice bowls, and drinks.

So, being the old, boring, fuddy-duddy that I am, I went with the Signature Ramen ($10 - of course).

The presentation was nice, but the broth wasn't as hot as I enjoy. It also lacked depth and richness. No fragrance, no tongue coating texture, sorry to say it was like they used packaged tare, as it was salty and had a "tinny" finish.

The tamago….the egg hadn't been marinade properly and was bland and the yolk was ice cold.

The noodles were over-cooked for my taste and the wood ear was cold and really hard. The chashu looked good, but was rubbery and lacked flavor.

I was starving so ate all the noodles and stuff, but couldn't bring myself to have any more of that broth. You know, I thought we had hit "critical mass" with regards to ramen when Karami and Ryoma opened. I was even more sure after mediocre ramen at Yamachan and Isshido opened. But HiroNori gave me hope. I'm now certain we've hit saturation point....

After this rather sad bowl, I wasn't going to even do a post on the place. I really didn't feel like getting another bowl of ramen from Kimae….at least for a while.

But, about 2 weeks ago; Faye did a post on Kimae. Where she tried the chicken wings and enjoyed them. And since I really enjoy wings; well, I thought I'd give them another try.

But no ramen for me. Looking over the menu; well, I got the Crispy Chicken ($8) and finally also went with the Unagi Rice Bowl ($8), basically Kimae's version of Unadon.

The bowl came with a side of the "signature broth"; which was even more salty this time around. I left it as is. The kabayaki no tare (sauce) seemed water down and rather weak, more salty than sweet, very little savory tones...if it's bottled stuff, it's not a good brand. The four slices of Eel hadn't been broiled long enough and lacked the hint of a crisp exterior, it looked like they'd just opened a package, sliced a couple of pieces, and dumped it in a bowl.

I did enjoy the rice, mixed well with furikake and diced veggies. But that was about it.

Soon enough the chicken wings arrived. This was interesting as it resembled some of the double dipped Southern Fried Chicken I'd had in Atlanta when I worked there during the late 90's.

The first wing I ate had a very nice "crunch" and while slightly crumbly was not nearly as hard, nor dry as Furaido. It was super moist, though sadly was lacking in seasoning. And that mustard sauce, which lacked enough "umph", that would be some distinct flavor....pungent, sweet, salty, spice......was so bland. I actually had to add salt and togarashi to the wings....something I almost never, ever, do.

Next up was the drumette. I bit into it and got some flavor all right...a weird bitter, almost offal like flavor......freezer burn. Look at all that black marrow leakage. I was done.

So, the wings, well, it has potential, but really needs some flavor....or bring your own sauce, or whatever. I'm hopeful that drumette was an aberration. At least I hope it is. I took the other four wings back to the office....after the first bite, Calvin dumped half a bottle of Sriracha on it. At least the other four pieces didn't seem to have any off flavors.....

In the end, the concept and design is nice. The portions and price are right. Service was good and professional. But that's just the lipstick and I actually want the pig and this didn't do it for me. Calvin actually asked me if I'd rather eat here or at Tajima....he was shocked when I told him Tajima. Heck, maybe I'd even go to Ajisen before Kimae (though I might go back here before Yamachan). I think I'm done with new ramen places for a while.

Kimae Ramen
8657 Villa La Jolla Drive
San Diego, CA 92037
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 10pm
Fri - Sat   11am - 11pm

 

HiroNori Craft Ramen

Have you hit the max hyperbole regarding ramen in San Diego? There seems to be a new place opening every week. In fact, after my last couple of visits to a recently opened ramen shop in San Diego I was kinda done. But then HiroNori opened in San Diego and "FOY" SomTommy sent me an email saying he'd actually waited in line for over an hour in Irvine for the ramen which he enjoyed. And soon after "Reza" sent me an email telling me he had the ramen in Santa Clara and thought it was equal to what he had in Japan.

Ok, so they got me......

So, HiroNori is located in what I consider the revolving door of restaurants in Hillcrest....which used to be, if I recall, an L&L , Naked Pizza, and if I recall, some iteration of a Brazilian BBQ over the last couple of years.

I gotta say the name of the place ("Craft Ramen") had me thinking of hipster ramen. When I arrived, the folks here were really eager to please, very friendly, so nice......

My Server on this visit, "Jennifer" was so sweet. Except she kept calling it "tonkatsu ramen". The first three times was fine, if a bit painful, the fourth time, had me cringing, to the point I had to humbly correct her....I felt so bad, but like I told her, everytime she said it, it just was so painful to my Japanese soul. Luckily, she was so very nice and told me, "I'm still learning, so thank you very much!" Whew.....

I started with the "Crispy Chicken", which is basically the karaage….I wish they had the Japanese name for things on the menu.

I was surprised at the portion size which was quite generous. This was pretty good, it was lightly crisp, and there was a nice umami; soy-upfront ginger flavor going on, and was quite moist. Not bad at all.

Of course I naturally went with the Tonkotsu Ramen.

This was a decent Tonkotsu, though not as rich as I enjoy. Slightly porky, I think it could have been richer. Som Tommy had told me that his opinion of the broth was that it was lighter than what he had in Irvine.

The egg was nicely done; and "gasp", not cold! Soft, with a good soy sauce flavor; it was quite good. The Chashu, while being a bit milder than I preferred was tender, and actually had some nice soy based porkiness. The blanched spinach added a nice slight bitterness to things.

Most of all; I enjoyed the "thick noodles" which did a good job of trapping the broth.

This was actually better than what I expected.

So, because I try to check things out more than once before doing a post I returned a week later. This time, I ordered the Shoyu Ramen. Let me just say, in my mind, this is the way to go here.

I won't go into the thick noodles (cooked perfectly), chashu, nor the ajitama, which was the same as before. The menma (bamboo shoots) were fine as well. What I will say is that the shoyu broth was excellent, just edging on the cusp of being too salty, but there was a lot going on; a nice nuttiness, really complex flavors. It was thick and rich; perhaps even more than the tonktosu broth. I was told that the shoyu used to make the broth was aged for over two years, which accounted for the complexity.

So, here's me seal of approval. This doesn't happen very often.

I will be back.

What I find interesting is that HiroNori decided to enter the ramen market in one of the most ramen dense area in San Diego; and one that is not very discriminating. It will be an interesting study to see how they do with all of a competition. The place never filled up on any of my visits while folks from the OC told me there are often waits of over an hour long at the shops there.

I hope they do well; like I said in a previous post "there's always room for good ramen". And I think HiroNori fills the bill. Service was excellent, we'll see how they do over time.

HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Open Daily 1130am - 9pm

Isshido Ramen (Soft Opening)

After a bit of a wait, Isshido Ramen finally opened in the middle of last month and is in soft opening mode. Since the opening; I've been able to visit three times.

Located in the former location of a Submarina; I read that the owners are from Fukuoka, home of tonkotsu (Hakata) style ramen. So, I was intrigued; especially since the place was basically right across the street from Menya Utlra's Mira Mesa shop. Calvin was also quite excited to try the place out; so we headed on over. In an interesting development, we were seated, then told that the kitchen wasn't quite ready so there would be a 20 minute wait. Well, lucky for us; we had some extra time on this day.

The shop is nice sized; 45-50 seats; wood paneling, you get it, right? The ramen menu features nine variations....but of course you know what I was going to try, right?

We were thoroughly starving by the time our orders were taken; so we ordered a couple of appetizers.

Starting with Chicken Karaage.

Very light in color; more crumbly than crisp, for some reason the flavor profile reminded me of RakiRaki's karaage, except more mild in flavor....it had that hint of curry/turmeric or something similar, but really needed a good squeeze of lemon. At least the chicken was nice and moist.

I was also curious about the Potato Salad as I do enjoy a nice Japanese style (mashed) potato salad. I inquired about the portion size and the really nice (all the young ladies working here are very nice and eager to please) Server about the serving size. She walked over to the window; came back and made a circle with her hands about 3 1/2 inches in width. So I ordered it. What came out was this.

Jesus; almost twice the width! The young lady brought this and looked at us sheepishly and said, "I'm sorry, this is way bigger than they told me". Well, at least it wasn't smaller, right? This really needed more salt; and even more mayo as it was more mashed potato than salad. Still, it was not bad.

And then there was the Signature Paitan ($11.95); in this case it's a tonkotsu broth, so no chicken involved. Because of the description, I expected a milky white broth, which was not quite what I got.

The broth was salty and there was a strange unpleasant bitterness to it. We pulled several pieces of burnt garlic from our spoons which probably contributed to the flavor. I also would have preferred something a bit richer as well. The egg looked lovely; but was ice cold and really salty. The chashu was a bit on the waxy side; but tender enough, with a nice shoyu-mild sweetness.

I had expected the typical Hakata style noodles; but these were firm, slightly curly, and prepared well.

Overall, pretty mediocre, and definitely in need of some refining.

There was one, kinda gimmicky ramen on the menu I wanted to try, so I returned a week later. This time, all the folks waited outside until 1114 to be let in. One of the guys recognized me from Menya and asked me how it compared. I told him, I'd only been here once, but I thought it was not in the same league, especially with attention to detail.

So, I got a seat and ordered the Truffle Shio Ramen ($12.95).

Holy smokes; the shio ramen, at least on this day was way more "kotteri" than the tonkotsu I had. This is supposedly made with a truffle tare; but I could barely make out the fragrance of truffle. Large slices of oyster mushroom were torched like chashu to replace the pork; but while the texture was decent; it was really bland, and lacking the woodsy-lightly sweet flavor typical of this type of mushroom. They need to do something with the slices of mushroom than just slice and torch it so it can stand up to the broth. The sautéed button mushrooms had some earthy-buttery flavor and did well in this bowl, as did the crunchy menma (bamboo shoots). Perhaps some adjustments to the marinating liquid for the egg is due, as it was again super salty.

The noodles were a bit different this time; thinner, more straight, and over-cooked. So, no, I couldn't be bringing the Missus here.

And as I was leaving, the guy who for some reason remembered me from Menya said: "you're right, this ain't no Menya Ultra".

And so, this would have been the post, except that I had lunch with one of my ex-coworkers who was around for a meeting and really wanted to try Isshido. So I relented and we made our way over. This time, they had their act together and opened on time.

Though I really didn't want more ramen, I decided to stick with the other side of the menu.

Unfortunately, because we're still in the soft-opening period, all the bentos and fried rice aren't available. So, I ordered what I could.

I ordered some Gyoza.

Brittle wrappers, very moist, but super salty filling; I wouldn't be surprised if these weren't made inhouse.

Since it was a cold and rainy day, I also went with the small Oden ($6.95), which was quite a bit for the price.

So, let's imagine you bought some Hon Tsuyu; instant broth mix, and then put in half the water you were supposed to...in other words; it was so salty as to be undrinkable. The daikon had obviously been soaking in this and was super salty. The fish cake though, had not been exposed for too long and thankfully were edible and everything was hot. The young lady asked me why I didn't finish this dish and I told her it was way too salty.

And my dining companion was equally disappointed in the ramen.

I like the young people working here. I hope they get things straightened out.

Also, I took a gander at the website for Isshido and noticed this:

"Our story begins in Hakata Japan with our Master Chef, Mr. Ishida, who grew up in Hakata mastering the ramen recipes and tastes of his hometown passed down from his family for centuries. After 20 years of diligent study and mastering his recipes, he has brought his family’s legacy to the United States for the first time with Isshido in San Diego,CA."

Strangely, all the folks working the ramen line on my three visits were the same, they looked no older than maybe late 20's, early 30's. So, I'm figuring either "Mr Ishida" is not around to train, QC, and get the systems straight....or maybe one of these guys (all of which spoke perfect English) started their "diligent study" when they were maybe 7-8 years old?

Perhaps I'm mistaken; but if you visit, let me know if Mr Ishida is there!

Too bad, because in spite of the influx of ramen shops, there's always room for good ramen. Especially since I think we'll soon hit critical mass with regards to ramen shops.

So, I'll check back in a couple months and I'm hoping for some better ramen.

Isshido Ramen
8250 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Wed - Mon 11am - 3pm, 430pm - 9pm

Lunches at Kokoro

Recently, the Missus and I have been talking about Japan quite a lot. We're obviously missing Japan; but with how far ahead we plan our trips; it's been hard trying to fit another visit with our timelines.

Recently, after a rather long morning, I just wanted a nice peaceful lunch and maybe something that'd would remind me of Japan. It had been ages since I'd had lunch at Kokoro; a place that was a favorite of the late Ed from Yuma, it seems that he'd eat there at least once on his visits. Having a meeting close by gave me the perfect opportunity to drop in for lunch.

There was only one other table occupied when I arrived. It was three generations of Japanese women having lunch.

This was exactly the kind of atmosphere I wanted. It was easy to find what I wanted for lunch on the menu. It was right on the first page.

You have your choice of Miso Soup or Udon...I've always enjoyed the miso soup here; but decided to try the udon.

Loved the texture of the noodles; which were nice and firm. The broth was really salty. The crisp and fresh greens were dressed with a typical Asian vinaigrette; I loved the tomato which had a good deal of acidity. But enough about that.....

On to the main course; the Chirashi ($20).

I'd recently had a poke bowl in San Diego that nearly cost me this much and was terrible. So, when looking at things that way..... Anyway, the sushi meshi, while perhaps a bit heavy on the vinegar did a nice job, along with the ginger of cleansing; then prepping my palate for each slice of fish. The tako was nicely tender; the maguro standard issue; the Hamachi nice and buttery....but it the shiromi (the whitefish) that made this particularly good....and those nicely prepared slices of saba and kampachi. The piece of hirame hiding in the back had a nice mild sweetness to it.

This was a really nice lunch.

So; I decided to return a week or so later.

And while I was sorely tempted to have the chirashi again, I turned over the menu and ordered something from the other side of it.

This time I started with the miso soup; which was as good as ever; nice miso flavor, with a bit of thickness to it.

I ordered the sashimi and chicken karaage combo ($14.95).

The karaage was straightforward chicken thighs, skin on, seasoned with salt and black pepper, and lightly dusted. It was quite plain and without crisp or crunch, nor with any complex umami flavors.

The sashimi was basic; the Hamachi being the best of the bunch; the tako was again very tender, but did not have the light briney flavor of the previous meal. The maguro was fine; no off flavors.

It wasn't bad by any means; but I'm going to stick with the Chriashi. The older woman who works here is so very gracious and when things are slow I really enjoy the vibe of the place. I've got to have lunch here more often.

Kokoro Restaurant
3298 Greyling Dr
San Diego, CA 92123
Hours
Mon - Tues  1130am - 2pm, 530pm - 10pm
Wed         530pm - 10pm
Thurs - Sat 1130am - 2pm, 530pm - 10pm

Clearing Out the Memory Card - Revisits to Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa), Tim Ky, and Mien Trung

We've sure been getting some extended soup weather this year; and I'm not complaining one bit. Of course, going to the same old places would make for some pretty boring posts. So, please bear with me for tonight....I got these photos just taking up space.

Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa):

Yes, yet again. Though "FOY" Jason had been asking if I tried the Miso Ramen. So guess what Jason? I finally did.

And it was indeed very good; though to be perfectly honest, I still prefer the clean richness of the tonkotsu.

Menya Ultra
8141 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Tim Ky:

Yet another place that I've posted on a bajillion times since they opened.

I did notice a whole different set of employees working on this visit.

And of course I got my Beef Sate Egg Noodle "Dry"......

No complaints from me.....

Tim Ky Noodle
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126 

Mien Trung:

And yes Mien Trung yet again.

For my Bun Bo Hue fix. After a few bumpy visits; my visits over the last year have been pretty consistent. I'm getting my Bun Bo Hue while things are still nice and cool.

And some Hen Xuc Banh Trang too.

Peppery and spicy!

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back with (hopefully) a more interesting post tomorrow.

Lana'i - Dinner at Nobu

My In-laws had really enjoyed Lana'i so far....there was something about the freshness of the air, the relaxed vibe, and for us, being about 8 degrees cooler than Oahu. After a nice nap; we awoke and decided to take a short stroll.

Dole Park is basically the center of the city. Most of the businesses line the street around the park. As do buildings like the city's district court.

Let me ask you; have you ever seen a Court House that looks like this?

Soon enough it was time to head off to dinner. Initially, I had wanted to try the Lanai City Bar and Grill which we had tried on our previous visit. I'd heard some really good things about the new Executive Chef. Unfortunately, it was Monday and the restaurant was closed. So, I decided to make dinner reservations at Nobu....yes, Nobu, which opened several months after our previous visit.

We arrived for dinner reservations; the dining area is very nice; with great views of Manele Bay.

Our Servers were excellent; professional and yet quite friendly.

I started with a perfectly decent Pisco Sour; though the Missus lamented the lack of "eggy-richness" like what She's had in Peru.

For pupus we started with the Grilled Shishito with Den Miso ($10) and Edamame with Truffle ($12).

We'd have preferred our shishito peppers with a bit more color to them as they weren't "grilled" enough to develop the deep roasted pepper flavor, nor make them more tender. The peppers had retained too much of the chlorophyllic green flavor.  The miso-sugary Den Miso did fairly well on this, but would have been even better had the peppers been roasted/grilled properly.

The Edamame was fine; still very firm and had a light drizzle of truffle oil.....a very light drizzle.

The Whitefish with Dry Miso ($28) was next.

One of Nobu's signature dishes; a firm whitefish is topped with dehydrated miso; olive oil, sliced garlic. The fish was super dry and tough....even for shiromi. The garlic chips make things a bit too bitter and for some reason; the miso powder was very bland.

One of the dishes the Missus, a real mushroom lover, wanted to try was the Crispy Shiitake Salad ($26).

The deep fried mushrooms were really mild in flavor; lacking that sweet-earthiness. The greens were very fresh and lovely, but the dressing had too much rice vinegar for our taste and really over-shadowed the truffle oil in the dressing....you barely knew it was there.

Our favorite item of the evening was the Warm Mushroom Salad($29).

Again; the greens were excellent, crisp, fresh, with a sweet-bitterness. The mushrooms were sautéed to perfection; not overdone, the texture firm yet yielding. There was the perfect balance of seasoning, salt to acid to really bring out the best in the mushrooms.

Our least favorite dish of the night was the Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna ($28).

Man, that rice was hard, not crisp, hard, and the centers; which should give way to some softer-creamier rice was also hard. And this coming from a guy who loves Yaki-onigiri. The scrapings used for the spicy tuna was more fishy than we prefer.

Since there were four of us; I ordered the Black Cod Miso in Butter Lettuce ($9/piece - $36).

This was fine; though the fish wasn't as fatty as I prefer. Still, not bad, mild richness, balanced sweet-umami tones. My MIL agrees with the Missus that they prefer my (based on my Mom's) recipe as this was on the mild side for them.

The last dish was the Pan Seared Opah, Crispy Ong Choy, with Truffle Yuzu Soy ($32). Man, this could have been a winnah! However......

We were forewarned that this was going to come out medium; which made my heart sing. Opah is terrible when over-cooked, making it leathery and dry. When this arrived; well, it had been overcooked, and was so dry. The yuzu-soy; though again very light on the truffle had a nice savory-umami-sour-light sweetness and went quite well with the super tender and almost sweet broccoli; which I'm assuming was local.

In the end; our service was great....which is what made the meal, as the food was uneven and somewhat disappointing; especially at this price-point. The Missus and I have had several meals at different locations of Nobu over the years and for some reason have never been "wow'd" by our meals. Not sure what it is as I've made items (with some adjustments) from a couple of his cookbooks over the years which have turned out well.

Nobu (at the Four Seasons Manele Bay)
1 Manele Bay Rd
Lanai City, HI 96763

Well, at least it was a beautiful night in Lana'i City!

What's the Missus Craving? Santouka

Enjoying the wet and cold weather? I'm not minding it too much....though give me a couple more days of it and I might change that opinion. The colder weather had the Missus wanting ramen. Her choice? Well, if you've been reading this blog for a while that's an easy one, we even made to the tiny flagship shop in Japan. So nope; it ain't Menya Ultra....it's Santouka of course.

It's the shio toroniku all the way here. The drill is ordering a large bowl and natto-gohan and the Missus and I share. The pork cheek was especially flavorful this time around; the tongue-coating broth scalding....the thick sided bowl makes sure it stays that way for a while. The noodles were good, with a decent chew and stayed that way for the entire meal. Even more consistent....that egg....well, it's always over-cooked, but at least it's free.

Here's to consistency!

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Keep warm everyone!

Ramen Yamachan (Formerly Ramen Yamadaya - Clairemont Mesa)

Last weekend I noticed that the Ramen Yamadaya turnover had been completed; they've kept the "RAMEN" and added a "chan" to the end.

The interior looks the same; though the patio is closed at this time.

The menu is simple and to the point; Tonkotsu, Spicy Tonkotsu, Miso, and Shoyu (chicken based). Additional toppings and a few sides, something called Okinawan Onigiri; basically Spam Musubi, Gyoza (note to staff: discretion might help...as in don't make it so obvious you're serving packaged frozen gyoza....I saw you bring out those two red bags out of the freezer), and such.

The young lady working was very nice and I decided to just stick with the Tonkotsu Ramen and made it a combo with karaage and a salad for five bucks more.

The broth was thin and lacking richness with no tongue feel,  very bland, even what little black garlic oil was added did it no favors. The chashu was nicely torched but quite bland as well. The egg was really salty and cold. The broth was barely over lukewarm.....like Yamadaya at the end of its run.

On the plus side??? Well, the noodles were decently prepared and still had a decent pull to them.

Soon enough the karaage and salad arrived. The karaage was strangely lukewarm in the center and really needed a flavor boost as it was really bland. It was slightly crisp.

The greens were nice and crisp; but the dressing had way too much vinegar in it.

So....hopefully things will get straightened out....but the overall meal really reminded me of Yamadaya near the end.

Ramen Yamachan
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Los Angeles - Kinjiro and Karayama

While we were enjoying Little Tokyo, we knew exactly where we were headed for dinner. I'd been reading about Kinjiro for several years now. And knowing of the Missus's love of Izakaya's, I thought the somewhat modern elevated izakaya type dishes would please Her.

So, I made reservations about a month in advance. My emails were quickly replied to and the process was a breeze. Good thing too....this shop next to the always busy Sushi Gen in Honda Plaza is reservation only.

We were the first customers of the night and were quickly seated by the very efficient, friendly, and knowledgeable young man working the front of house.

It was pretty easy determining what we wanted to eat, starting with the Squid Ink Shiokara ($7)….to think of the days when the Missus wouldn't touch this stuff; but now with Her love of fermented foods (ah those "chinmi" foods) and our visits to Japan and especially Hokkaido, Her tune has really changed.

The wonderful salty-cheesy-funky-oceany-savory and oddly sweet flavors goes so well with sake. We tried several over the course of the evening; our favorite being the Kokuryu “Black Dragon” Junmai Ginjo, smooth, not overly sweet, and so balanced. The squid fermented in guts had the perfect amount of toothsomeness. This was quite good.

Next up was the Uni, Scallop, and Blue Crab in Ponzu Jelly ($25). This was a nice refreshing turn after the shiokara.

On this evening it was Santa Barbara Uni, decent quality, meaty, slightly sweet, mildly astringent. We both loved the tender scallop....talk about sweet and tender. There was quite a bit of tasty, moist crab meat at the bottom of the cup. Perhaps not the best quality, but still quite good. The ponzu jelly helped to create a nice balance in flavors and tie the dish together.

Next up was the Homemade Agedashi Tofu with Mushroom Ankake Sauce $16).

My least favorite dish of the evening. The typical gooey-starchy ankake sauce lacked the woodsy-earthy flavor I enjoy from mushrooms. Even with the dashi backbone it was still quite bland. The tofu was a bit more firm than I enjoy in this type of dish as well.

The Missus's least favorite dish of the night; the Bone Marrow Dengaku ($12).

Deeply beefy in flavor it was just too much for the Missus; but I loved it. The miso wasn't over-powering and paired well with the buttery-rich bone marrow.

The Missus absolutely adored the Seared Uni ($30).

Initially we thought this was going to be a mushy mess; but the uni had kept it's shape well and was very sweet. It went well with the texture of the wakame; which added some crunch and made the actual nori strips somewhat superfluous. I let the Missus have most of this as She loved it so much.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the Tendon, Tongue, Sinew, and Tripe Stew ($18).

This was wonderfully beefy and savory; with just the right amount of savory (read - miso/soy sauce), tanginess (tomato), sweetness (probably mirin/sake)….we were begging for rice! The tendon and tripe were so tender; the tongue had a wonderful beefiness......that dried pesto toast was a travesty to a dish that truly deserved rice! This was wonderful; the flavors taking me back to Nagoya for some reason.

We decided to end the meal here. It was quite nice and I'm sure we'll return. Service was excellent. Again, reservation only, as several parties were turned away.

Kinjiro
424 E 2nd St. (In Honda Plaza)
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Since we had eaten dinner early, we decided to stroll around Little Tokyo a bit more. It was nice to see that an old favorite of the Missus was still going strong.

Though I wondered how much She'd still enjoy it here all these years later?

There's always something interesting to see around here.

At the stage in Japanese Village Plaza brave souls were trying their hand at karaoke.

We hung around a bit to cheer them on!

Wandering around a bit more; I noticed a shop, Karayama a fried chicken chain from Japan had opened in the area. I suddenly had a bit more capacity. At least enough for five pieces of Karaage. So while I waited for my five pieces to go.....

The Missus waited outside checking messages and such.

Sorry to say there's not a whole lot of photos on this one.....

We destroyed the hot, crisp, moist, tasty-but-not-salty pieces of chicken before the end of the block....we'll definitely have to return here!

Karayama
136 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Open Daily - 11am - 930pm

We got back to the hotel and got ready or bed. Our shuttle to the airport would be picking us up at 5am the next morning, so we needed to get to sleep early.

Still; I couldn't help but take a peek out the window to see if there was still a line outside Daikokuya…...