mmm-yoso!!!

The Veggie King Ramen from Ramen Nagi

Back to Ramen Nagi so soon? Well, it wasn't really intentional. I was headed elsewhere at UTC, but I found that the posted opening time of the business was not 11 as I had found on Westfield Site, but 1130. So, I decided to head on back to Nagi to check how busy things were and there was basically one party in line when I got there at 1110! This was a Monday mind you....

Well, perhaps this was fate? Now as I was handed the order sheet, I made an interesting decision. You see, I received not one, but two emails regarding my post on Ramen Nagi. One from Vinh and another from Franklin. Both of them endorsed the Veggie King Ramen. To quote Vinh's email:

"It's the best vegetarian ramen I've ever had and I think it's even better than the Original King (which was pretty great) and the Black King (I thought this was kind of mediocre)."

Plus, FOY Peter mentioned wanting to try the Veggie King as well in the comments of that post.

So, why not, right?

I filled out the order form.....now, I didn't go "full vegan" on this, as I added a tamago (of course)! And other than requesting my noodles "firm" I made no other customizations.

There were two tables filled and one person on the counter when I was seated, a far cry from my previous visits.

My rather large bowl arrived soon after, with two "hashbrowns" looking like wings for the bowl of noodle soup.

    Before my ramen "took to flight" I dug in. As with my previous visits, the tamago was perfect, still warm, with a runny yolk. The firm noodles were indeed that, good stretch, slipperiness, and chew.

As for the rest? Well, those potato cakes were really like hashbrowns. Kinda strange. They started getting soggy and falling apart quickly. Not my favorite thing; but if you do get this bowl, perhaps you could request this on the side? The spinach was fine, quite typical. The mushrooms were really hard and chewy.

As for the broth? Well, this was sort of like a shoyu ramen. There was a savory component that was hard to pin down. I know the broth is mushroom based, but the fungi-flavor wasn't pervasive. It had a good amount of oil, but wasn't overly rich in texture. And, like my first bowl at Nagi, it was very salty, way too salty.

While I don't think I'll order this again; if I did, I'd order it with less salt. I'm not overly familiar with vegetarian/vegan ramen so I have no real baseline in that comparison. That said, while I won't be changing my "ramen-ways", this was not bad.

And thanks to Vinh and Franklin for suggesting I try this. You both are "FOYs" for sure now! I do enjoy recommendations as it helps to broaden my horizons.....

Ramen Nagi UTC
4301 La Jolla Village Dr. Suite 2033
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 230pm, 5pm - 9pm

Sunday Stuffs - Xinjiang BBQ (supposedly) Opening in Linda Vista in January, Monsta Ramen and Curry Coming to Convoy, and Cocinas del Monte Replaces Mariscos el Cata

I haven't done one of these in a while, so.......

Monsta Ramen and Curry Coming to Convoy:

I noticed the sign when I drove by Convoy Village Shopping Center, so I headed on in to take a look.

Hmmm.....something called Monsta Ramen and Curry. Well, perhaps ramen and Japanese curry haven't hit saturation point in San Diego yet?

Tried to do some searching on this, but didn't find anything, so perhaps some of you "FOYs" with better skills can fill us in?

4344 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Cocinas del Monte Replaces Mariscos el Cata:

While driving back yesterday after doing my Saturday routine, I noticed that the sign for Mariscos el Cata had been replaced.....

It's now Cocinas del Monte? I mentioned this to my good friend Candice, who replied "this corner must be cursed". I have to agree.

2543 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110

And finally....

Xinjiang BBQ (supposedly) Opening in Linda Vista in January:

You know how you get used to just seeing the same 'ol, same 'ol when driving? Well, I guess I had gotten used to seeing this:

The signage had been up for over four years and Yum Cha Cafe had vacated the space over two years earlier.

So I'm not sure how many times I drove past here before I noticed this.

Whoa so like seven years later, it looks like a business will open in this spot!

I'm thinking this is an offshoot of the Xinjiang BBQ in the SGV? So, it looks like one of those lamb skewer and beer places that have become quite popular in the SGV.

And when I did that "Google thing" I saw this:

January is just over a month away!

So we'll see....

6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Ok, so we'll see.

Paris - Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji

Even though we had quite a bit of walking during the day, we decided to head back out toward the 1st and 2nd Arrondissement for a nice evening walk.

Heading West on Rue Reamur, then up Saint-Denis an interesting and "colorful" area.

I've posted on some of the interesting characters in this neighborhood, the former red-light district that is becoming more gentrified with every visit.

Walking thru Passage Choiseul yet again.

The Missus exclaimed how distances in Paris were seemingly a lot shorter these days......

There was one church we had been wanting to check out in the area; Église Saint-Roch.

We had walked by many times; but had never gone in. We decided to pop on in for a look.

The church itself was built between 1653, when Louis XIV laid the first stone, completed in 1740.

Within its walls hung works of the most renowned artists of the day. Of course, the French Revolution was right around the corner and the church was looted and sacked. In fact, the famous French writer Denis Diderot was entombed at Saint Roch. When the church was looted, his grave was sacked and his corpse was left on the church floor. And his final resting spot is not known.

It's quite an impressive church! We should have visited earlier.

We decided it was time to get some dinner so we headed out. We could see the Ferris Wheel from the Tuileries Christmas Market down the street.

Things did seem much "closer" in Paris these days.....

As for dinner; well, the Missus thought some ramen would be nice on a chilly winter night. There was a ramen shop I'd been wanting to try since I first read the story of a retired French Air Force pilot who opened a ramen shop because of his love of of the dish. Jean-Baptiste Meusnier first opened Kodawari Ramen (Yokochō) in the 6th Arrondissement. The restaurant's theme was a "Yokochō" a food alley. Since we were in the 2nd, we headed to Kodawari's second location, Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji, which is based on...yes, Tsukiji. We arrived at a fairly early dinner time, so the restaurant, while busy, did not have a queue. 

The interior was festooned with boxes of fish and fish market themed items stacked everywhere, the floor had even been wet to give it a real fish market feel....lucky for us, the "seafood" in the boxes weren't real nor was there the "parfum de poisson" lingering in the air. It was pretty tight quarters in the restaurant.

Of course I needed to start with a "biru".

By the time we placed our order there was a line outside of the restaurant. So we had some good timing.

Looking over the menu, I knew this was going to be an interesting meal. Based on the theme of the restaurant; this location of Kodawari featured a broth that was based on sea bream and chicken. Now, I wasn't sure how the Missus would handle that; but this would turn out to be the Missus's favorite ramen in Paris!

There are some nice appetizers on the menu, we ordered 3 apps along with the Sea Bream Paitan Ramen.

The "Sardine Shelter" was savory, umami-land.

A bit smoky, briny, good oil, rich lardo.

The Missus loved the Sea Bream Carpaccio.

The fish was fresh and firm; the grilling added a nice smokiness, the miso sauce added a layer of savory.

The Sea Bream Tartare was refreshing, with a clean flavor.

The sauce had a nice savory-slightly sweet miso and the shiso really did a nice job refreshing the palate.

As for the ramen; well, I ordered the Sea Bream Paitan Ramen. Based on previous experiences with similar versions of ramen; I wasn't sure the Missus would like this.

I was wrong; the Missus loved this. The broth was rich enough to nicely coat the tongue; the chicken flavors weren't overly strong and there was a nice balance with the flavors from the bones of the sea bream that were simmered for 5 hours. The shio tare wasn't overly salty and the sea bream was so very tender and moist. The Pata Negra Chashu was quite porky f on the more chewy side. The chili paste was totally unnecessary as this was packed with umami. The tamago was decently cooked and marinated and was warm. The noodles, made inhouse were nice and firm, with a good chew.

The Missus loved the broth.

I was worried when we got here that it was all kitsch and concept over substance, but I gotta say, Kodawari Tsukiji went past the over-the-top setting.

Look at the line outside as we left!

So yes, it was a fun setting, but the food was quite satisfying and by the Missus' request, we'd return later during our stay.

Kodawari Ramen Tsukiji
12 Rue de Richelieu
75001 Paris, France

Bellies warm and full, we enjoyed the walk back to the apartment.

Needless to say, we slept well.

To give us a nice break, I had made reservations to stay in Strasbourg, so we could once again enjoy the wonderful Christmas Markets in the city. It's only a hour and forty-five minute train ride to Strasbourg, but of course, I needed to do the very French thing and get us some sustenance for the ride. On one of my earlier visit to Boulangerie Pezeril I noticed the group of police getting sandwiches from the shop....so heck, if they are getting food from there.....

Our train left Gare l'Est right on time at 1255 and we enjoyed our lunch and desserts on the train.

Boulangerie Pezeril
183 Rue du Temple
75003 Paris, France

And we were looking forward to two fun nights in Strasbourg!

Stay Tuned!

Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa) Revisited

FOYs Mar and Sandy were curious about the visit to Menya in Mira Mesa that led Calvin and I to finally brave the crowds and visit Ramen Nagi in UTC. So here it is.

Calvin wanted to meet up for lunch and suggested Menya in Mira Mesa. Even though I last posted on Menya MM way back in 2019 in those days "BC", we had met up at this location a couple of times in the last year.

Both Calvin and I had noted that the tonkotsu ramen had been rather uneven at times and wanted to give a place another chance. Because of all the publicity, the Michelin mention, etc; Menya is quite popular. In fact, they've just opened in UTC, which makes I believe ramen shop #3 there! 

To get to the visit, we arrived 10 minutes before opening and put ourselves on the iPad "list". It really wasn't too bad on this day as we were the second party seated.

Of course I got the Ajitama Ramen ($15.95).

So, what was up with this bowl that led us to go "straight to Nagi" on our next ramen visit? Well, first the good. The noodles were cooked to a perfect al dente, with a nice stretch, slippery, and just right for slurping. The chashu was for some reason cold, but flavorful and "porky".

From there; like on previous visits, the tamago was ice cold and very salty. The broth was lukewarm in terms of temperature making it seem more greasy than rich. It was also strangely too salty.

This was quite sad because I had been quite a proponent of Menya, from being among the first 10 people in line on the first day they opened on February 25th, 2017, something I would usually never do. I did enjoy their ramen. But perhaps their success has gotten the better of them; after being called possibly the "best ramen in America" by a well known television food personality (though I still laugh because he called "tonkatsu ramen"), then being named as the city's 2017 Restaurant of the Year by Eater San Diego, and then of course being listed in the Michelin Guide. Perhaps sprouting two, now three other locations has diluted the quality? I'm not sure. But I am somewhat disappointed as the Ajitama Ramen at Menya just does not seem the same since reopening post-Covid.

So, while I am now enjoying Nagi, I will return to Menya in perhaps a few months, hoping to prove myself wrong. I hope I do......

Menya Ultra
8141 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Ramen Nagi

Ramen Nagi created quite a buzz when they opened at UTC a few months back. Having eaten at the location in the Golden Gai, I was curious even though this location of Nagi didn't make the hardcore niboshi broth that the Tokyo location is famous for. I initially thought about going right away, but it was just too hot at that time. And then I started getting texts from FOYs like JeffP showing me the crazy lines and also hearing about folks waiting 90 minutes in line for their ramen. I'm sorry, I got work to do and just don't have the time nor fortitude to wait in lines during lunch hour. It's one thing to be in a line that just moves constantly like at you know where, it's a whole 'nother thing here in SoCal, I mean it seems even lines for baked goods move slowly.

Still, "FOY" Calvin really wanted to try Nagi after I mentioned the place to him while having ramen during a rather mediocre visit to Menya (post upcoming). So, we decided on a plan. It would be on a Monday; we'd arrive 15 minutes before opening and see how things are at that point in time

As things turned out, we got to the shop at 10 before opening (11am) and were the second party in line. We were handed sheets to select how we wanted are ramen....the US's version of the Japanese ramen ticket machine I guess.

This being my first visit; I decided to go with the "Chef's recommendation" along with a tamago (of course). We were also told that karaage was available.

Once the place opened things moved fast. There already was water on the table along with all the condiments; we handed off our order sheets, mentioned that we wanted karaage, and it was off to the races.

Our ramen arrived within ten minutes.

  At first blush I found the broth to have mildly porky - savory tones but was on the salty side; though it was fairly fatty - rich and nicely coated my tongue. I really couldn't make out any garlic flavor, probably because the broth was too salty.

The yolk of the well seasoned tamago was a lovely, tender orb and was warm! One of my pet peeves is having the yolk of my boiled egg served ice cold in my ramen.

The noodles were on the thinner side, slippery, with a decent "pull" to them.

   As much as I enjoy spiciness, I didn't care for the "Nagi sauce" in this bowl of ramen as it really heightened the saltiness and distracted from the flavor of the tonkotsu style broth.

The chashu at Nagi is made from pork shoulder which can be on the tough side; but the slices here are thin and the meat has a decent tenderness along with a mild porky-soy sauce flavor.

Calvin really liked the marinated moyashi.

The Karaage took a bit of time to arrived, but was lip-melting hot!

  These pieces were quite large; in fact Calvin and I could only finish one piece each and ended up taking the rest back to JeffP as a "consolation prize" since he couldn't make it. The batter was quite crunchy, almost edging on hard. The meat as on the chewy-dry side. It was covered in an overly sweet sauce. I don't think I'll order these again.

Both Calvin and I had enjoyed the ramen at Nagi. In my mind, I had already envisioned the "version" of the ramen I wanted on my next visit. And so, going with the same game plan I set off for "Nagi part II" on the following Monday, arriving at 10 minutes before opening. This time there were four parties in front of me. 

I was handed my ordering slip which took me but a few seconds to complete.

This being a solo visit, I was seated at the counter.

Which gave me a front row seat to view the "line".

Which was in constant motion....

I could actually see my bowl being put together....it arrived in minutes.

    The chashu this time around looked to have an almost "red" tinge to it; but was perfectly fine. I had ordered the broth to be "heavy" in terms of richness which it definitely was. So very rich, but not greasy, in fact the texture reminded me of the Seabura (backfat) ramen we had in Narita! Loved the thickness. Going for a lighter tare meant it was less salty and wouldn't you know, I could even make out the garlic!

 The boiled egg was every bit as good as on the previous visit....good consistency displayed here.

I got the thicker noodles and being that I like them "katame" I ordered it "firm". I would even enjoy thicker noodles here. These had such a nice stretch and chew. I was really pleased with the noodles this way. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I found it enjoyable.

To me, the adjustments I made on this visit worked out well. And even though I took time to savor things; I was out of Nagi in 20 minutes! Shades of Japan!

Well, it looks like I have a new favorite ramen shop in town. Now I gotta talk the Missus into trying them out.

Ramen Nagi UTC
4301 La Jolla Village Dr. Suite 2033
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 230pm, 5pm - 9pm

Paris - Revisits to the Louvre and Hakata Choten (Les Halles)

Ah yes, the Louvre, the largest museum in the world at 652,300 square feet with over 35,000 pieces of art on display. It can be is quite intimidating. There's just no way to see "everything" in one visit and if you even tried this, would you even remember what you saw? We had been to the Louvre twice over the years and really wanted to visit yet again. We always get our tickets online, which makes things much easier and do either an early or late visit. On this visit, I was purchasing our tickets and noticed that there was a "Visitor's Trail" of the Louvre's Masterpieces on the website. Why hadn't I noticed that before?

I bookmarked the page in my phone. And since we had pocket wifi, I just followed the trail.

It all started with which entrance to take with turn by turn instructions and details of the masterpiece.

As well as some other historical tidbits. For instance the Salle des Cariatides which was both used as a ballroom and court of justice. There's also this tidbit on the website:

"And it was here, in 1572, that Marguerite de Valois, the famous ‘Queen Margot’, married Henri de Navarre, the future King Henri IV. Only a few days later, on 24 August, Protestant nobles who had attended the wedding were assassinated in the Louvre in the notorious Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre."

Of course, there are some works need no introduction.....

That's Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman by Boticelli  below.

And of course, the Grand Gallerie.

I was a bit concerned about our next stop expecting a long line.....

But the line for "you know who"......wasn't very long at all. I guess one of the benefits of getting in right when things open.

Here's Michelangelo's the Rebellious Slave and the Dying Slave.

Doing this walk made me take a closer look at the pieces. For instance, I always wondered why this was called Nymph with a Scorpion.

I'd just take a look at the sculpture from the angle above.

This time, I took a walk around the work and it became very clear.....

After finishing off the walk, we headed on over to look at the Egyptian Collection.

There's a trail for that as well. I think we'll do that next time!

We had enjoyed the Louvre a lot more this time around and I think perhaps we may even do a private tour one of these days.

We strolled around the area near to the Bourse and window shopped along Galerie Vero Dodat one of the 21 covered passages in Paris, some of which I've posted on before.

Then we had to figure out what we wanted for lunch.

This was in December of last year and it was pretty chilly. We thought ramen would fit the bill and decided on a familiar spot that was on the way back to the apartment; Hakata Choten.

We got our usual, the Tonkotsu with Black Garlic and a Pork and Rice bowl.

  The broth was a bit richer than what we had on our previous visit here which was nice. The tamago a bit over-cooked but nicely flavored. For some reason, I like the savory-sweet flavor that the black garlic oil adds to this bowl. The noodles were perfectly cooked on this visit as well.

The pork bowl was fine, there was quite a bit of rice in this. The rice was decently cooked, but there wasn't enough of a sauce nor pork to really balance out things.

Funny thing, on one of our previous visits to the Louvre we ended up at Hakata Choten as well, though it was the Opera location.

This was enough to warm us up for the rest of the walk back to our accommodations.

Hakata Choten Les Halles
16 Rue de la Grande Truanderie
75001 Paris, France

Where it was time for a nap!

Thanks for stopping by!

Toulouse - A Day Trip to Albi and Lunch at Ebisu Ramen Bar

We were really enjoying Toulouse. It had a totally different vibe than Paris, more grounded, mellow, down to earth. We wanted to do a bit more exploring, so I had booked train tickets to Albi, a town with quite a history. As a plus, Elyse of Toulouse Guided Walks informed me that Saturday was Market Day in Albi which was well worth checking out. Our location right at Place du Capitole made it a snap getting to Toulouse Matabiau via the metro. We took an early train (725am) to Albi-Ville, arriving just past 840 on this crisp Saturday morning. From the train station, it was a short 15 minute walk to the main square and the immense Sainte-Cécile Cathedral (Albi Cathedral) a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also said to be the largest brick cathedral in the world.

The red brick buildings really catch your eye.

The Market stalls were being set-up. We walked on over to the Marche Covert passing stands with some humongous produce. Check out this frisee.

Or these Cepes.

We were both shocked at the size of the veggies!

We stopped for a coffee at one of the local shops.

Before heading into the covered market.

There wasn't much going on as most shops hadn't opened yet. The bean vendor was open and I saw actual Tarbais Beans being sold. I was quite excited as I use the wonderful beans we get from Rancho Gordo and wanted to compare. Then I saw the price; it was 35€ a kilo! Yikes, that's like $20 a pound! For beans? Still, I went ahead and bought a half kilo.

From here we decided to cross over the Tarn a check out the view from there. So we headed down the atmospheric streets....

Down the Quai Choiseul.

And down to the river before crossing over on Pont Vieux which dates back to the 11th century.

Things were even more quiet on this side of the river. And the views were wonderful.

Things got more lively as we headed toward the other, larger bridge to cross on back. And a market was going on here as well. This one was more bustling.

We eyes the produce before crossing back over the Pont Neuf.

It was now getting close to 10am, when the Cathedral is opened for visitors, so we headed on over.

As much as the church really looks like a fortress, the interior was quite stunning. Your eyes are instantly drawn to the enormous mural of the Last Judgement which dates back to 1474.

It is the largest Last Judgement mural from the Middle Ages.

After wandering about for a while, the Missus was ready to head on back to Toulouse. So we strolled on over the Albi-Ville and caught the 1126am train. 

Arriving back at Place du Capitole, we decided to look for a place to get some lunch. Walking toward our hotel, we passed this Ramen shop.

It was pretty cold, so some ramen sounded pretty good. Of course we wouldn't be having our ramen outside either. The drill was interesting. Ordering was done on a machine, memories of Japan, but payment was not. You basically got a number from the machine and placed it on your table. Once your order is ready it is delivered.

As we would often do at these places, we got a rice bowl, in this case the Sukiyaki Don.

We had ordered an extra tamago with this, which was a shade on the over cooked side and not marinated well. The egg yolk in the bowl was also too hard and over cooked. The rice was on the mushy side, but the beef was fairly tender, with a decent soy-sweet balance. What was interesting was that a good amount of togarashi was used giving this a bit of a kick.

As for the ramen. We got the Shoyu Ramen.

   As you can see, the Missus was all about the tamago on this day. This bowl had a lot of "stuffs"; scallion, spinach, bean sprouts, cabbage. The best item in the entire bowl was the menma which had a wonderful texture and the earthy-soy sauce tones were on point. The two slices of "chashu", I use the quotation marks because the two thin slices were not pork belly, it was lean and tough. 

The broth was really "flat", lacking in richness, hardly any shoyu flavor, and was the color of muddy water. And this was one of the rare occasions where I think the soup needed salt!

The noodles were overcooked and mushy.

You can't win 'em all......

Ebisu Toulouse
3 Rue Lafayette
31000 Toulouse, France

At least we were just steps from our accommodation. It was time for a nap!

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai

Back in August, I noticed that several businesses were opening in the strip mall off of Convoy that houses Target and Costco Business (which BTW, has closed their "food court"). One of the places opening was Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai part of a huge chain which tracks its history to Kitakata in Fukushima and has several very popular shops in Orange County. The style of Kitakata Ramen is quite distinct; lighter, flat - curly noodles in a soy sauce based broth. Most "Rameniacs" that I know tend to use the word "lighter" when describing this style of ramen. I was quite interested to check them out and visited on the Monday after the restaurant's soft opening arriving right at the 5pm opening time.

Based on how busy I'd heard the Irvine and Costa Mesa locations are, I was surprised to see the place only half full. And the counter, where I was seated was totally empty.

Looking over the menu I decided to just try the "Kitakata Ramen" (regular - $14.75). Note, tamago here is extra, a $1.90 upcharge. I also ordered the Chicken Karaage - noted as "Juicy Fried Chicken" ($9.25) on the menu.

There was a bit of a wait for my food, which I'll write off as part of the soft opening process. 

 Ramen was the first to arrive. The broth is indeed lighter, though there were some nice globules of fat in it. I thought it was on the overly salty side and pretty one-dimensional in flavor, though that might be written off to the sodium overload. The chashu; which had a nice "fat cap", was thinly sliced, with a wonderful soy-porkiness to it and very tender. The tamago was also nicely cooked and marinated but was ice cold, a pet peeve of mine.

As for the noodles, they were indeed curly and quite "light" and bouncy, though these were over-cooked for my taste and were on the mushy side.

My karaage arrived after I had finished my ramen....I figure it's soft opening timing and hopefully will be resolved in the future.

I was not a fan of what I believe is the sesame-based sauce provided. The karaage was unevenly coated and quite mild in flavor. There were three crisp pieces and two very dry and tough pieces. When I turned those pieces over, I figured out why.

The pieces had been cut several times to check for doneness! Another pet peeve of mine.

So, this was almost twenty-six bucks for ramen and karaage: sheesh! The place was nicely staffed and the folks working were very nice. The place had filled up by the time I left.

I decided to return a few days later right at 11am for lunch. Like my previous visit, the place was very mellow when I arrived and seated at the counter. This time, I decided to try the Shio ramen.

I got the Mixed Vegetable Shio Ramen ($16.75) with an egg (again - $1.90). This time it seemed like my wait was even longer, but my bowl finally arrived.

    This version came with a small "pile" of veggies - mostly bean sprouts, some carrots and spinach, etc.....for what seems to be a two dollar upcharge that's not really worth the price. The shio broth seemed even lighter than the shoyu version, less rich, but not as salty. For some reason, there was a pungency like that of white pepper that resonated with me. I preferred this broth to the shoyu version.

As before the chashu was tender, flavorful, and quite good.

The light, almost airy, noodles were cooked nicely this time. It seemed like the noodles were wider and even more curly on this visit.

And then I came across a "blob" at the bottom of the bowl.

Apparently some noodles were stuck together during the cooking process and melded into a hard, inedible ball of gluten madness. Oh man, what a bummer. I showed this to the young man working who was speechless and told me "sorry" and then walked away. Soon someone else brought me my check! So, perhaps I was in an alternate universe at that moment having lunch at Kita-"katai" Ramen?

In spite of some shortcomings, some of what I had was quite good. And I believe that Ban Nai is way ahead of what I call the "typical level B" ramen shops in San Diego, providing a good change of pace from all the Tonkotsu and Hakata style ramen in the area. And heck, my first visit to Santouka when they opened in San Diego was not very impressive either. Hopefully, they will keep getting better. We'll see in a couple of months.

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai
7951 Othello Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 10pm
Saturday 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 9pm

Sunday Stuffs, the Sign but "No Sign" (of life) Issue - Honeyjam Chicken & Beer, Hanzuyu Ramen, and Spicy Lao Kitchen. And Current Problems with Photos

Just a couple of things for a quiet Sunday.

It seems that places are taking longer than ever to open these days. I won't pretend to understand the issues, obstacles, and effort places must take to open.....and while we do appreciate great places to eat opening, sometimes....when the wait is so long; it can be somewhat discouraging.

Case in point, back in fall of 2021, there was a sign for a place named JJ Chicken that was going to open in Renaissance Towne Center. Fast forward to October of 2022, thanks to "FOYs" Patty and Rena, I found that JJ was no longer in the spot, but a place named Honeyjam Chicken was taking its place. Fast forward to June of 2023 and we're still waiting.

Patty had asked me if I knew anything....but sorry, I'm not an "insider", but perhaps a reader of our blog might know.

I'm hoping they open soon.

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

And......in the same strip mall I recall seeing the sign for Hanyuzu Ramen. That was in August of 2022. This is what it looks like now.

8935 Towne Centre Drive #113
San Diego, CA 92122+

Aaaand, the one place I've gotten a couple of emails on; Spicy Lao Kitchen, well I first saw the sign in March of 2022. From what I read back in 2022 this place was supposed to open in "Early 2022".  But of course, here we are in summer of 2023.

Several folks have asked me if this place is going to open. As far as I know, the folks who own the jerky shop in the strip mall are still intent on opening this place. 

5375 Kearney Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Life sure has changed over the last 3 years. I have been told about the challenges with getting staff and supplies. I'm not sure, and hope that it is not, the how things proceed from here.

And finally.......

Are you having issues with photos displaying? Well, for several months, Typepad has been having a problem with their image server. I've tried to be very patient with the issue and have had a ticket open for weeks. But, what I've had to do was send them a link and proof every time an issue occurred. Sigh.........

Anyway, I finally did the "Twitter thing" and asked about he issue. And here's the response.

So, my apologies. I understand that there's a point in which I need to consider various "options". Still, we have over 5,000 posts.......I don't want to lose that. I thank you for your patience......

Have a great week!

O-To-San Kushiyaki And Ramen

***** O-To-San is now Otori Yakitori

I first noticed the sign for O-To-San back in December in the former location of Dduri Ba. I also noticed the logo under the sign and indeed Eater confirmed my suspicions, the shop was to be run under the same ownership as the AYCE Korean BBQ and AYCE Sushi Olleh shops. Not quite a great sign in my opinion, but while driving by on a recent morning at 1130 I decided to stop by and see what was going on. 

 On this morning the parking lot was empty. I walked on over and took a look at the posted menu and noticed the opening time was noon. I also noted that there were donburi and ramen lunch specials going for as low as ten bucks! In these days that's a bargain. I decided that I'd return on another day and check the place out. As I started walking away the "open" sign came on and the really friendly gentleman who runs the front of house waved me in. My lucky day I guess.

I really liked the rustic interior. They did a nice thematic job here. 

And the prices for the ramen and donburi for lunch were beyond reasonable for these times. So, it allowed me to try something from the kushiyaki menu. You know me; I tend to look at Tsukune, the simple Japanese chicken meatball as the bellwether for yakitori. It takes some skill working with minced chicken and fat to come up with something tender, moist, and unctuous. And whether it's in San Diego or in Japan I look to it as a guide of skill and care when it comes to yakitori. So, with the ramen for lunch being so inexpensive, that's what I ordered ($4). Good lord, was it a mistake.

  I would go on record to say this was more sausage than tsukune. It was hard, rubbery, tough.....I'm sure there are more synonyms I could come up with given time. Not much flavor at all....I guess that's why salt was provided.

This got me really worried about the ramen. I had ordered the tonkotsu ramen ($10).

 And my worries were well placed. Ok, so  since the ownership is under Olleh, my expectations were low, but this was even below that!

The broth, while it displayed globules of fat was insipid, devoid of any flavor save that of sodium. It lacked the richness of a true tonkotsu broth.

The overcooked tamago....well, I'm thinking O-To-San wants to give Santouka competition for the most overcooked egg.

 The chashu wasn't bad, nicely marinated, tender, decent porkiness. The noodles were standard issue, curly, a bit overcooked and mushy...which did nothing to enhance the dish. It had me thinking....at ten bucks what should I have expected?

This was quite underwhelming. But I decided to return for a follow-up visit. This time around noon, where the same kind and friendly gentleman guided me to a table. My thought was "perhaps the ramen wasn't to my liking, but I should try a donburi". And at ten bucks the risk level was fairly low, at least for 2023.

My ten-dollar dish allowed me to try something else from the menu, though I wasn't going to go for anymore yakitori here. I went with a order of Chicken Karaage ($7). What arrived was a much larger portion than what I expected.

In terms of the dish, it reminded me more of what Taiwanese/Chinese boba places serve as "popcorn" chicken then karaage. The chicken was enrobed with a lacquer style batter, quite crisp, though the chicken itself was quite mildly seasoned and on the bland side. It also started to soften up fairly quickly. The typical shoyu based dipping sauce was not quite up to the task. Strangely, what I think is sesame dressing for the shredded cabbage did much better, which led me to think, the whole dish might do ok as tori nanban?

I ordered the Gyu Don ($10 lunch special) as my main.

 I loved the presentation. And overall, I enjoyed this dish the most. Nothing fancy, just a by the book beef bowl. The beef was on the chewy side, flavors were quite typical, soy sauce - mirin - sake, which is not bad at all. A generous portion of rice....I wish there was more egg, but this was a decent donburi.

 Nothing fancy mind you; but for a ten buck for lunch...I wouldn't pay $15 to have this for dinner, this might work out fine for you. After all, how much is a bento from Nijiya these days?

Still, while the prices are right, at least for lunch, I see no reason to go out of your way to visit. The place seems like more of a group of concepts. In design and even in the name which is a play on words. When I asked if the place was named after someone's father, the really nice guy told me it "sort of is?" I was also told it is a play on words - O(saka) - To(kyo) - San (Diego). He didn't elaborate further and I didn't really ask. I'd had enough of "concepts" for a while.

O-To-San Kushiyaki And Ramen
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111