mmm-yoso!!!

Tsuruhashi revisited

For a period of time Tsuruhashi occupied a spot on our rotation. We'd come to the point in life where we enjoyed quality over quantity. But sometime in early 2008 we stopped going to Tsuruhashi. We noticed that while prices were steadily creeping up; the quality and service had taken a downward dive.

Even though we'd always intended on returning, it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we actually stepped through the doors of Tsuruhashi again. It was actually for my birthday dinner. I really wanted Chinese, but it was right around Chinese New Year, and the Missus and I really didn't want to deal with the insanity. We then headed to Izakaya Sakura, but I'd just recently been there for lunch. As always, the Missus made the final decision easy. "Let's go to Tsuruhashi....."

 
At first, I had a bit of sticker shock.... prices sure had gone up in two years. Some items were over $2 more per item. Imagine, our favorite 3-4 ounce serving of Prime Skirt was now $7.50/lb - that's upward of $30 a pound! But when was the last time you ate a pound of meat? Actually that $30 mark is a pretty good measuring stick. $20 - $30 a person (without booze) seems about right. Play it right, and you can probably get away much cheaper..... but heck, this is not an every night kind of meal; at least not by our standards. It turned out that the Missus and I really enjoyed our leisurely meal. A couple of days later, I was joined by my great friends Angela, Peter, and John, and we had another nice meal. Since there was so much overlap, I'll just go over what we had over the two meals........

One of my favorite dishes at Tsuruhashi is the Yukke ($7.50) - the raw beef, seasoned with salt and sesame oil, topped with a raw quail egg. Slivers of apple help to clean the palate and refresh.

 

The beef used is prime rib eye, and is delicious. If you think this is actually Yukkhoe - Korean Raw Beef, you'd be right. Tsuruhashi is named after the Tsuruhashi District in Osaka, home to a sizable Korean population, and also famous for its Yakiniku Restaurants.

The Missus and I always loved the beef tongue served at Tsuruhashi......

 

And as time has passed, we;ve found that we enjoy the simple salt and pepper prime tongue. Charred and crisp around the edges, with the center still a bit chewy is just wonderful by me.

We used to enjoy the tongue topped with minced onions (now $9.95 - sheesh!), but have found that all that stuff meddles with the texture and beefiness of the gyutan.

 

This now seems a bit bitter for our taste. My friends also agreed that this wasn't quite as good as the plain and simple tongue.

Peter did enjoy the Miso Beef Tongue.

 
This is a bit on the salty side...... but is good with some beer. It's also not prime tongue.

Angela really impressed me when she took to the Nankotsu....... chicken cartilage!

 
There's something just wonderful about the crunchy chicken cartilage that I love....... on this night, I sparred with Angela trying to get my share of Nankotsu.

Even though they now serve the Prime Skirt with a drizzle of a soy-mirin-sake sauce, it's still wonderfully beefy.

 

There was one item that Peter, John, and Angela enjoyed so much, we had to order "seconds"......

 
It's the Kobe Rib Cube........ I don't need to say much more. I placed a piece on my plate, put my hand over the grill for about three seconds, and touched the piece of beef..... it started to melt at my touch.

The Rib Eye Rolled with Shiso was also very nice.

 
It was much more tender than I thought it was going to be. The minty-anise flavor is a nice counter-point to the beef flavor.

Since the "other white meat" wasn't represented, I felt I needed to order something......

 

Wrapped in some lettuce smeared with bean paste, this was decent..... you know when the pork belly was some kind of after thought that you've done pretty well.

On the night the Missus and I ate at Tsuruhashi, thre was one item the Missus hated.....

 
It was the Beef Intestines....... they seized and curled up when put on the grill.... nice if you like really chewy. I thought it was ok, the Missus hated it!

There was an interesting observation that both the Missus and Angela made during our meals. The Missus had just eaten at a steakhouse a few nights earlier, and said She enjoyed this meal much more. Angela told me, "I love eating at a good steakhouse, but for some reason, I really enjoyed this more....maybe it's the variety, or perhaps the social atmosphere, but there's something really nice about this."

 

The service I encountered on both visits was very good. Grills were changed, things moved along, there were no complaints. As long at Tsuruhashi holds steady, we'll be back.

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Noodling Around: Santouka, Yakyudori, Izakaya Sakura, Gunco, and a special gift from Dennis.

Here are a couple of bowls of ramen from (fairly) recent visits.... plus what was a nice little bonus (for me) at the end. Since I've posted on most of these places before, I'll keep the verbiage to a minimum.

Santouka:

Still our favorite. The Missus likes the Miso Ramen, which I feel is much too salty. I stick with the Shio Ramen.

 

And as I mentioned in a previous postit has to be "toroniku", with the special fatty pork on the side.

 

The pork is wonderful with just a quick dip....steep it in the broth and it'll fall to pieces. This has become comfort food for the Missus, the rich pork bone based shiro seems to fix the Missus right up when She's feeling a bit under the weather. At close to ten bucks, it ain't cheap, and it's not everyday ramen..... but it sure fixes us up!

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

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori:

I'm not sure if others have noticed this; but having been here six or seven times, I've found the ramen to be better when Nabe-san is in the house. My three previous visits had been a bit disappointing, but this bowl of Shio Ramen made up for it all.

 

The broth was nice and savory. I've been told that Yakyudori uses a special salt for this brought in from Japan. I'm not sure about that, but this was delicious. Just rich enough, the noodles done perfect for my taste; firm, but not hard. The one item that has always been perfect on my visits is the boiled egg. The chashu was tender, not too rich, but good overall. As I finished my bowl, I let out the "aaaah" of satisfaction.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111 

Izakaya Sakura:

Izakaya might be one of my favorites, a long time fixture on our rotation. I don't think I'll be standing in line for the Shio Ramen here however.

 

The noodles were a tad over-cooked for my tastes....which could be remedied by ordering it more firm. The broth however, was pretty mediocre....... I recall Dennis mentiong how thick the broth was here. I guess they've gone in the opposite direction.... this was waaaay "assari" (thin) and plain salty. It seems that you'll be playing ramen roulette here due to the inconsistency......

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

Gunco:

Speaking of my buddy Dennis; we recently had a bite, or should I say bites in Chula Vista. we started with fish tacos from Mariscos El Pescador, followed by a visit to Hogetsu, ending with some ramen from Gunco. I've never really had great luck with the ramen from Gunco. But this time, the Shio Ramen I had was not bad.... perhaps Dennis has some major ramen "ju-ju" going on.

 

The broth was a bit low on the "richness" scale for me, but the shiro was pretty good, if a bit too heavy handed with regards to ginger. The noodles were cooked perfectly. The chashu is still too tough and dry, though. I'm finding that the ramen here seems to get better on every visit.....

Gunco Ramen
305 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

 

Speaking of ramen.... and the always generous Dennis. Having just returned from Okinawa and Japan (please check out his posts). Dennis had a gift for me. Being the ramen-maniac that he is is Mr Radiused Corner made sure to check out the Ramen Museum.

And ever thoughtful, Dennis had a box of various ramen from the museum for me!

It has been pretty cool in the evenings recently, so the Missus and I decided to do a sampling of the ramen.

I'm including notes Dennis gave me along with our observations about the various ramen....so here goes. From the top to the bottom. 

Box 1 - Komurasaki:

 According to Dennis: "I heard kumamoto style tonkotsu is usually on the lighter side compared to Hakata (cousins). As for slangs for firmness in these thinner straight noodles there's Barikata which many people get and even Harigane ("steel wire") which is firmer still. The firmest would simply be to ask for Nama (raw) where the noodles swim in the boiling water for a mere 15 seconds or so. Again these terminology for noodle firmness only applies to the Fukuoka/Hakata/Kumamoto tonkotsu ramen."

 

 

This was light alright........ the broth was a wonderful shade of pale, but we found this bland. I only cooked the thin Hakata style noodles for only 45 seconds, and that was still too much as it really got mushy quickly.

Box 2 - Harukiya

From Dennis: "one of my favorite shoyu ramen. very old school with a good dose of dried fish. I think they're one of the permanent fixtures in the raumen museum (most shops rotate). It was too fishy for my gringo friend I took with but I personally wish more places made shoyu's like it."

 
Check out the fat content in that package!

Man that broth smelled really strong, like I was boiling a pot of anchovies! At first taste, the broth had a good fishy punch. But a funny thing happened along the was..... the more we sipped, the more we enjoyed. This one grew on us.

 
I gave the noodles a three minute cooking and it was perhaps a bit longer than needed.

Box 3 - Ideshoten

Per Dennis: " I believe it's technically a tonkotsu-shoyu. It wasn't my favorite of the day (tried it there) but has a lot of character. remember loving the noodles."

This one came with a little bag of dried green onions.

 

More shoyu to my tastes, I'm not a fan of the noodles which are not as firm as I enjoy.

 

A nice middle of the road ramen.

Box 4 - Sumire

Dennis says: " Intensely miso. They came to mitsuwa's fairs a few times. might be a bit salty for some and I think I already warned you about the amount of fat."

This was my favorite of the bunch (the Missus preferred the Harukiya).

 

 

Loved the menma..... best noodles of the bunch as well, they held up well.

 
As a whole, I'm not a big fan of miso ramen, but I loved the flavors and the richness of the broth. I guess I'm going the next time Sumire is at Mitsuwa!

 I need to thank Dennis again for giving the Missus and I our own little ramen adventure! Yoso-generous!

Thanks so much Dennis!

Monday Meanderings

Yes, I've been hacked:

My email that is. Sorry to say that I think everyone on my contact list was sent high volume spam from my email address. I've hopefully corrected that. On the good side; it was really nice hearing from folks I hadn't heard from in a while. I just wish it was under better (and legit) circumstances. My apologies.

Meet my latest "toy":

For some reason I actually opened up and looked over the monthly adds for Marukai. I noticed that various Shichirin were on sale for the whole month. I decided that we needed a bit of an upgrade from our little Hida Konro. The one selling for forty bucks was a bit too large....

 
So I went with the one on sale for just under twenty bucks.

 

 

 

Marukai also has Binchotan on sale this month.... just be aware that the label says it's made in  Myanmar. I know some folks are sensitive to that. I also thought that there were US trade sanctions against imports from Myanmar.... but maybe I'm wrong?

 

 And just because I needed to include some food photos:

I'm including photos of our New Years Eve dinner(s). You know where, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Revisits: Noble Chef, Yum Cha Cafe, and Hong Kong BBQ

Here are a couple of revisits.

Noble Chef:

It's pretty much inevitable when I get to know someone, that one of the first items for discussion would be, "have anything good to eat lately". And such is the case with my Dry-Cleaner Lady, with whom I've shared recommendations and opinions over the years. One recent discussion was over Noble Chef. We both are of the opinion that many of the dishes were executed better before the previous owners retired. Although we both thought that as time passed the food there is getting better. The Dry Cleaner Lady told me that although the broth was pretty weak, the Hu Tieu with Shrimp Balls were pretty good. So during the recent rain and cold I decided to drop by and grab a bowl of Hu Tieu with Beef and Shrimp Balls:

 
And yes, the broth was decidedly bland, in need of help from the sweet-soy and other condiments. I'm used to a mild pork flavor broth for my Hu tieu soups.... this had almost no flavor.  The Beef Meatballs were fairly "squeaky", and were also pretty weak. Those shrimp balls did have a nice shrimp flavor and were quite tender.

 
The rice noodles were prepared well, slippery with a mild chew to them.

Overall an ok bowl, but I don't think I'll be having this again due to the really watery broth.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111
(858)278-8688

More posts on Noble Chef can be found  here, here, and here.

Yum Cha Cafe's cheapo 3 item BBQ Combo:

On a recent jaunt to Thuan Phat Market to pick up some vegetables the Missus wanted for dinner, I decided to check out what was going on at Yum Cha Cafe. I think things have slowed down a bit, so now there's all manner of specials going on. One caught my attention right away.

 

Granted, as I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of Yum Cha's Roast Duck. But 3 meats and rice for under five bucks? You know I just had to try it out. As the various meat was pulled and chopped I was surprised that it seemed like a good amount of protein. And the box seemed to weight at least two pounds. Not along the lines of Tita's in terms of insurmountable food, but the styrofoam box seemed quite hefty.

Opening the box up, it looked like there was a head on collision of Chinese BBQ that fell on a mattress of rice. After playing a bit of Chinese BBQ CSI, I could make out what was what.

The best item was the roast chicken which was very moist and tender., even the white meat sections:

 

It had a nice mild lemon grass flavor.

The Roast Duck was also moist, fairly meaty, but lacking in flavor.

 

The skin was on the rubbery side. Overall, this was better than what I had before, but still not even close to top-notch.

The worst item overall was the BBQ Pork, tough and bland are not good when it comes to Char Siu.

 

The best item overall were the pickled vegetables, which were good, if on the sweet side. So could I recommend this? Well, if you were really hungry and had only five bucks.........this could be two meals.

Yum Cha Cafe
6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Roast Duck from Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum:

If you've read my previous post on this place you'll know that I've been less than pleased with what I've had here. But after a recent less than satisfying meal from Song Huong, I wandered through Vinh Hung Market and walked pass the Chinese BBQ, and the Roast Duck looked pretty good, so I decided to buy me half a duck.

Which ended up being pretty good, much better than what I've had before.

 

So perhaps I'll return to try some other items in the future.

Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum
10550 Camino Ruiz(Inside of Vinh Hung Market)
San Diego, CA 92126

Postscript: With the left-over duck, I decided to make something. You see, I was still fuming from spending fifty bucks for a mediocre Peking Duck meal at Duck House in Monterey Park. I was especially disappointed in the stir-fried duck meat with bean sprouts which had no flavor at all. When I mentioned this to the Missus, She called me out and asked, "could you do better".......

Which is why I made this with the leftovers.

 

I used my 55,000 BTU Big Kahuna to revive and crisp up the duck meat. Added the bean sprouts, which if you've just bought a high BTU wok stove, is a great way to learn to use it. Flavored at the end with duck drippings and premium soy sauce......

Compared to this:

 

 

Sushi Yaro-Lunch

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. A few friends share blogging "duty".  We pretend it is a difficult task, but it's just fun. Today, Kirk has been elsewhere, having fun.  ed(from Yuma) is in Yuma, having fun.  Cathy is here and having fun.

Hi.  Remember the other day last year, when Kirk mentioned Sushi Yaro was having $3 lunch specials?  If not, link to it here. 

The Mister and I decided to (finally) try it for lunch the other day. The parking lot wasn't full

because we were the first ones there that day.  We checked out the 'White Board' near the kitchen as we walked in.

and ordered the $3 vegetable curry special (could have also had stir fried beef, pork, chicken or yakisoba also for $3). It came with a cabbage based salad (in the photo below) and the good serving of fresh rice and an excellent amount of a good curry with potatoes, onion and carrots and a bit of beef in the curry sauce.
I had a craving for poke that day and ordered it off the regular menu ($9.50) It came with the miso soup (very good), salad, side of rice and was presented on the plate this way...with a carrot petaled flower centered with radish and bunny ears of burdock in the poke...
which was an extremely fresh ahi tuna. Marinated in soy sauce, sea salt,  sesame oil, onion, garlic, seaweed and some furikake. 
One item on the White Board this day was 'stir fried giant clam' for $3.99.  It is on the regular menu for $8, but Sam was working that day and he made it ...so very tender, almost melt in your mouth like chicken liver or uni melt in your mouth texture.  The vegetables were stir fried just enough...crispy and fresh and if I had known the wonder that this item was, I'd have ordered two and had both for myself...

Excellent deals on the $3 lunch and everything excellent at Sushi Yaro.  Day or night. Fun.

Sushi Yaro 7905 Engineer Road San Diego 92111

Convoy Yakitori Story Part 1: Yakyudori Ramen & Yakitori

I'd gotten so many requests for a Yakyudori Yakitori post, but through pure laziness, I just kept collecting photos. Finally, I thought I'd better just go ahead and get it done. As a bonus, I was able to join my good FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice for a meal at Yokohama Yakitori Koubou..... after all, I'd been keeping track of the progress of the restaurant while it was being built. I had so many photos, that I first decided to keep it to about 40, but then, it just seemed so much, that I decided to make this into a two part post....so my apologies ahead of time, I'll try to keep the verbiage to a minimum.

Part 1 Yakyudori Ramen & Yakitori:

 

Yakyudori has really become quite popular, and with good reason, as many of the items are quite good. I've made it a habit of visiting on Sunday or Monday evenings..... recently they've starting serving Yakitori at 530, so finding the place this empty is quite a rarity.

 

I like the menu at Yakyudori, it has some variance from ramen, which I've covered before to Chazuke as a way of finishing your meal and filling up. The prices for Yakitori may seem high, but that's because everything is priced at a "two skewer" level. And even though it clearly states that there is a two skewer item minimum for each item ordered, it was made clear early on in my visits that you can order just a single skewer of any item.

A must try item whenever I see it on the menu is Kawa Ponzu. Sliced chicken skin topped with sliced green onions and ponzu sauce.

 

This version has a nice sprinkling of togarashi to add a mild hint of spice. The amount of ponzu is good, and the chicken skin is sliced into nice uniform thin strips. I enjoy this version.

One item I'm not a big fan of at Yakyudori is one of my favorite dishes; Chicken Karaage.

 

While I enjoy the mayo-shoyu provided; the two times I've tried the Chicken Karaage the flavor seemed too ginger heavy for my tastes. I also prefer the Karaage I eat in restaurants to be lighter and more crisp than the version here.

I know you're asking....well what about stuff from the Yakitori menu? First off, I appreciate the use of Binchotan, the fragrant, hot burning charcoal. So let's go down the list, beginning with Gyu-tan, beef tongue:

 
I prefer my beef tongue sliced a bit thinner, and charred around the edges. The first piece on the skewer was perfect, a crisp perimeter, chewy near the center, full of smokey bicho flavor. The other pieces were decent, but not as good as that first slice.

It seems that the latest "hot item" in produce this year is Shishito, something we've been eating as long as I can remember. Though my favorite way of eating Shishito is as tempura, with perhaps some matcha shio, I also enjoy it grilled.

 

 I think these could have been grilled a bit longer. I do enjoy Yakyudori's "Tare", the shoyu-mirin based basting sauce used for Yakitori/Robatayaki. The version here is less sweet than many others I've had, but has some complexity.

One of my favorite items here is the Buta-Shiso:

 

Basically pork rolled around shiso. The times I've had this, I really enjoyed it. I could make out the mint-anise hints of the shiso, a problem with versions of this I've had elsewhere. The pork itself, betrayed its' "other white meat" heritage, and was fairly moist, and the smokey flavors of binchotan really does well with pork.

The Tsukune at Yakyudori is also excellent, if a bit on the rich side.

 
Instead of the usual course ground chicken meatball...... in this case the chicken has been worked into almost a mousse. The exterior, touched by the charcoal adds a crisp counter-point. Here you can really make out Yakyudori's Tare. At times, it does seem a bit too rich and filling for me, but is hard to resist.

Where Sasami (chicken breast) can be a downfall for many Yakitori shops, here it is moist and with a line of ume based sauce very light and tasty.

 

 I love the combination of flavors presetned in the Gyu-Oroshi.

 

While it could be argued that the beef is lost under all of these flavors, I appreci ate the combination of textures.I also enjoy that the daikon is almost finely julienned rather than grated into pulp, this reduces the amount of astringency, while still adding a wonderful crunch. Ponzu, green onion, and daikon is a wonderful combination of flavors. And I believe that the beef toothsome yet not tough has had tare applied ot it, since I catch a bit of sweetness as well.

Of course, if you know me, chicken wings are a must.

 

And while there's a lot to appreciate about these simply seasoned and grilled wings....... they are stretched and splayed on the skewer maximizing surface area, thus ensuring a good amount of skin exposed to the charcoal. I enjoy the Tebashio at Izakaya Sakura, and think the Tebasaki at Raku more. The two times I've had these, the crispness of the skin left something to be desired, and there just wasn't enough salt for my tastes. Adding on salt after the grilling is done just won't do it for me either. For now, I'll just stick to making it at home on my own Hida Konro.

The simple Momo (Chicken Thigh) was fine.

 
Nice bincho flavor, decent salt, good chicken flavor.

The Asparagus Bacon......

 

Was nice, though I think the bacon could have been grilled a bit longer.

On every visit, I will usually get the Ninniku.

 
Or the entire head of roasted garlic...... This is roasted garlic, sweet, with a hint of bitterness because of the roasting style. I love this with a touch of salt. When I was a child, my mother used to pan fry cloves of garlic after doing a saute or pan frying meat. Though that garlic was much more bitter and hard; this brought back nice memories.

The Negima (Chicken thigh with green onion) wasn't bad.

 

But I thought it could have used a bit more time on the grill.

 The Eringei (King Oyster Mushroom) was grilled well.

 

Coated with just a touch of the tare; I didn't think this was anything special either since I often grill King Oyster Mushrooms at home.

Whew, that's a bunch, huh? Actually it's just a part of all the photos I have from Yakyudori. Due to the length of the post, I'm going to stop after one last item. There is one thing I must have to finish up my Yakitori visits to Yakyudori; it the Natto Gohan - Natto Rice:

 

For some reason, the way Yakyudori prepares the natto, the combination of flavors used strikes a real note with me..... it brings me back "home".

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111 

$3 Lunch Special at Sushi Yaro

Does this photo tickle your memory?

 

Well, it's not quite the same rumpled "Abe" of my Convoy Sushi and Fish Market post. If you recall that post, it went over the $5 lunch specials at that now defunct restaurant. I decided to take another photo of Abe because in a bit of irony; Sushi Yaro, which is now in that location has a $3 lunch special.

To be perfectly honest, when Sam told the Missus and I that he'd be starting a three dollar lunch experiment, we had our doubts...... in this day and age what can you really serve customer for three bucks, and why would you do that? I guess the experiment has worked out pretty well, since on my last visit, Sam told me that the three dollar lunch will be served until further notice.... or as Sam told me, "until I'm broke!" Sam also told me that I should drop by during lunch and try it out for myself. So there I was...... and there it was; the $3 lunch.

 

I've had Sam's spicy pork, a version of Daeji Bulgogi. I was somewhat surprised that a bowl of miso soup was provided..... even though miso shiro is served with just about every lunch special; it's usually these "side dishes" that are part of the first cut when doing bargain basement specials.

So here's what my three bucks bought:

 

Scoop of rice, scoop of spicy pork, green salad; about the equivalent of a plate lunch stand's "mini plate".... which I believe is closer to four buck nowadays.......

While eating, I got to thinking what I could get for three bucks lunch wise...... Banh Mi maybe? But even most of those are over three bucks.... a 6" from Subway.... basically a salad in a roll.... I'm sure there are many fast-food answers to that three-buck question. You could get one and two thirds of a taco at Tacos El Poblano or El Gordo, two fish tacos (with some change left over) at Mariscos El Pescador, and for the big bargain 3 tacos Al Pastor from Internacional 2000. In fact, for six bucks you could get two lunch specials, which will still be about the price of a sandwich at many places.

And while I have reservations with regards to Sam's sanity........ it's nice to know that I can either this:

 
Or this.....

 

Depending on how big that hole in my pocket is.......

 So what's the catch? Not much really; the three dollar special is available between 1130 and 230 seven days a week. Yes, even weekends. How long will this last? I don't know.... and I don't think Sam does either. So if you're a bit cash-strapped this holiday season, this might be something you could try. After all three bucks doesn't buy much of a lunch nowadays......

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Guess the revisits...plus one

*** Update 11/18, 0800 - The contest is closed....... there was only one person who guessed all six restaurant correctly. Congrats to Hao! The answers are all at the end of the post. And just for laughs I gave an eCup to the person who did the worst as well.

I haven't done one of these in a while....... I'll send a Peet's eCup to the first five folks who email(link upper right) me the correct guesses of the following revisits.

For the following three, list the dish and the restaurant:

1. This one is kinda hard, but not that hard......

 
Someone once mentioned lucious eyebrows.......

 

2.. This one is the easiest.

 

How about some drippy yolk porn......

 

3. This dish used to be much better when the restaurant was under previous ownership.....

 

But things have been getting better as the folks making the food have been gaining more experience.

 

For next three, you can just name the restaurant.

4. This "little little" place used to be in a different location.

 

 5. I've never posted on exactly this dish, but guessing the restaurant should be pretty easy.

 

6. OK if you can't guess this one....... well, I'm not sure what to say.....

 

Easy, right? That's it, get those six and be one of the first five to email me the correct guesses and you'll get a Peet's eCup..... But let me ask you, are you a gambler? Would you go double or nothing? If you guess the name of this dish correctly, along with the previous six, I'll make it two eCups...... get it wrong, and you get nothin'(be accurate - as in what kind of meat etc, or the Chinese name would be even better)....... A couple of hints, it's not from a restaurant in San Diego, and it is delicious......

 

I'll let things go until the morning of 11/18

Just remember, send me the guesses via email, a valid email so if you're correct I can send youthe Peet's eCup. One guess per email address please.

Good Luck!

OK, here are the answers:

#1 - It's Beef Sate Noodle "Dry" from Tan Ky Mi Gia.

#2 - The Kaloko Moco from Island Style Cafe......

 

Everyone who played got that one right. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about a Loco Moco with a crepe as it's base..... but here it really works.

#3 - Is The Noble Chef.

 
Since the new owners have taken over, my favorite dishes have been slowly getting better, as the guy behind the wok station gains more experience.

 
Our favorite dish here in the past was the Shrimp with XO Sauce Fried Rice. It still lacks the punch it once had, and Wok Hay (spirit of the wok) is still lacking.

 
Don't get me wrong, it's a good fried rice; just not as good......

#4 - Is Sieu Sieu BBQ, which literally means "small small".....

 

I had gone to Barbecues Galore to try and purchase more Ono Kiawe Charcoal. I was told by the manager of BG, that a "well known" BBQ Manufacturer had bought the company and then took the charcoal off the market because it was competing with items in their product line. I'm not going further than that since I can't confirm this info. I may try purchasing the charcoal on the Ono Charcoal Website.

#5 - Is Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori.

 
I'm not sure if they still serve it, but Tonkotsu style ramen was being served in limited quantities during lunch.

 

#6 - Is of course Pizzeria Bruno. Everyone who played got this correct as well.

That last dish is Mi Zheng Rou, also called Fen Zheng Rou..... rice steamed pork. More on that in a later post.

My thanks to everyone who humored me and played along!

Saturday Stuffs

I now realize I haven't been paying much attention.....

To the strip mall where Spicy City is located. There appears to be a couple of new restaurants open, or opening up. The first one, called "Gorilla" has replaced Korean Hometown Restaurant, no more Bondegi soup for me I guess.

 

They're calling it a "Korean Fusion Restaurant"...... the menu looks like a combination of bar food, a la Min Sok Chon, crossed with modernized/westernized Korean Dishes.....Boo Dai Chigae.... along with Tonkatsu (served with French Fries!) and ramen, and cream corn even.....

 

I'm not quite sure what to make of it....... anybody check this place out yet?

I also noticed this restaurant in the place of Seafood Island. I'm not quite sure if they've opened yet.

 

All in the strip mall at 4690 Convoy.

You never know what you'll find at 99 Ranch Market:

I was picking up some lamb to make Cumin Lamb, when something grabbed my attention..... I literally did a double take.

Was it what I thought it was?

You bet.... plus it was on sale!

 

In case you have a problem finding this...... it located right next to the, ahem, Beef Pizzle.

 

 

One of the two things I was craving when I got back from Madison/Chicago:

Strangely, or perhaps not, I wanted a salad when I got home from Chicago and Madison. The other thing I craved was taken care of last night at Sushi Yaro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something that I found ironic is that Zo-san is now working at Sushi Yaro. Folks might remember that he used to own Sushi Ishikawa which was on this very spot before Sammy Sushi and Convoy Sushi.

 

Now if I can only talk Zo-san into making some of the Okinawan dishes they used to serve at Ishikawa!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Lunches at Ichiro

When I first started coming to San Diego over a dozen years ago for work, one of the first places recommended to me was Ichiro. I grew up eating in little mom and pop places like Ichiro. Speaking of "mom", my Mother's favorite restaurant was one of these places, called Wisteria Restaurant, which sadly at the end of 2004. It seems that these places I refer to as Japanese-American Diners are slowly disappearing. Recently, I was in the same strip mall as the restaurant, looked over at Ichiro, and felt a bit guilty. It had been a good number of years since I visited.

 

In some ways, perhaps the years haven't been very good to Ichiro.... and the sign near the front door speaks volumes.

 

About five years ago, I noticed changes at Ichiro, starting with the addition of "kozara" (small dishes) of standard Japanese bar food fare.

 

Still with places like Izakaya Sakura, Okan, and even Tajima to a certain extent; Ichiro is sometimes forgotten.

Being in the area a bit more often, I decided to have a few lunches at Ichiro, just to see what was going on. Things look about the same with regards to the dining area, and the service is the same..... friendly.

 

All lunches start with a small dish of Tsukemono.....

 

And come with miso soup (watery), and a pretty routine green salad.

 

A couple of months back, I was told to try the "Ponzu Chicken", which is what I had on my first visit.

 

Actually, this was fairly disappointing. The chicken was a basic salt rubbed, grilled chicken; like something I'd make at home. It was also on the dry side. The ponzu tasted bottled, and was not of good quality. In the end, it was just sustenance.

 

And yet, the two women working here were so very nice, I just didn't want to leave it at that. So a week later I returned and had something I'd eaten a few years back, and thought was pretty good. The menchi katsu, this time as Menchi Katsu Curry ($7.25).

 

Man, that was a load of curry....... not too bad, mild spice, but nothing but onions in them. The breaded meat patty was pretty good, a bit leaner, with less filler than I remembered. It didn't have the rich flavor of the version at Izakaya Sakura, and for some reason I like my mechi katsu to have more filler.

 

Still, this was nicely prepared, crunchy and moist.

During one of the recent 90 degree plus days, I wanted some Zaru Soba. Instead of heading to Izakaya Sakura, I decided to return to Ichiro for lunch one more time. This time I had the Zaru Soba Tororo ($8.50).

 

On the good side, Ichiro includes a quail egg for the tsuyu, on the bad, the tsuyu had a super salty artificial taste to it. The soba was also undercooked and was very hard.

 

I didn't expect soba like I-Naba, but this was like something I'd throw together at home.

After five plus years since my last visit to Ichiro, I found that the service here is still very nice and friendly. I see that Ichiro is taking steps to try and upgrade the menu. Also, Yasu, an old time Itamae favorite of mine is working there, though only on Fridays these days. On my visits I noticed that most of the customers were either older "Gaijin", and once two elderly Japanese women who were friends with the owner. I'm still up in the air as to whether I'll check out Ichiro during the evening, or for Happy Hour...... sadly, the food just seems s bit tired and dated(and I like old-style Japanese food) to me. Perhaps you'll find it more to your liking than I did.

Ichiro Japanese Restaurant
4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111