mmm-yoso!!!

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

Anchorage - Yamaya Seafood

Once in a while you'll have a meal where perhaps the food wasn't extremely good; but the experience itself is like something out of one of those food-travel shows, the characters or in this case character is somewhat unforgettable. Thus was the case with Yamaya Seafood. A Japanese, yes, "real" Japanese Izakaya-ish restaurant in, of all places Anchorage.

After sleeping off lunch in our "haunted hotel"; we strolled around town a bit. Stopping at several places to browse.

When it came time for dinner; I knew the Missus needed a short respite from the fried food and such and I was curious about a place I'd read about. Located near the Downtown Transit Center is Yamaya Seafood.

It's one of those "blink and you'll miss it" kind of places. I was curious as to how a Japanese; not Americanized-Japanese, but real Japanese restaurant would do in Anchorage. The entrance to the place is located on the side of the building. We accidentally walked in the front door; into what looked like a living room; sofa, television, mats on the floor, the décor really looked like my grandparent's place. And then we were greeted by a little, but quite feisty woman, who totally reminded me of my aunts on Lana'i. I believe her name is Kazuko.

We were ushered into a dining room that really wouldn't be out of place in some little neighborhood in the Japanese countryside. All the while we were regaled with conversation and questions. Eventually, the Itamae/Chef came out; apparently he is Kazuko's son. We placed our orders; this being a one man operation; with Obaachan doing the dining room work, I expected things to take a while. And they did. But man did we enjoy ourselves.

We just sat back had a couple of Sapporo, all the while chatting with Kazuko-chan.

And boy did we have a lot of questions.....and oh my; did she have some answers:

As to why she moved to Alaska - "the clean air and the clean water...….the beautiful mountains"

Where she lived in Japan - "Tokyo; but it is too dangerous and the too much crime" ??????

The cold? - "it's when the air is the cleanest...."

"When we first built our restaurant, you could see the beautiful mountains; but then they built the Marriott and bah, you can't see the mountains anymore...."

"There one cruise ship from Japan that comes in every year; that is our busiest week. We have to open up the dining room upstairs. But people who eat there have to come down and pick up their own food. I'm too old to be walking up and down the steps."

"Japan is too dirty (?????), here the air is so clean and the water is so pure; I want to live a long life...."

At one point the Itamae said "Ma; you need to stop talking. You are repeating yourself and sound senile!"

But we just loved listening to her.

About forty five minutes later the house cold smoked salmon arrived. It was amazingly good.

Rich and oily (in a good way); a nice mild smoked flavor, perfect salt, the texture was nice and meaty. The onion did a good job of cutting the richness.

Unfortunately, the mixed sashimi wasn't so good.

The salmon was excellent as expected; after all; this is Alaska. The hamachi and tako were still slightly frozen, the maguro had a metallic finish; the shrimp was mushy and watery. The shiromi was fine if edging on the fishy side.

Perhaps we should have ordered something else. But heck; I'd pay twenty bucks just for the conversation. Sometimes the experience tops the food and we were learning a bit about life in Anchorage (it ain't easy) from one tough and feisty Obaachan. At, of all places, a Sushi Bar cum Izakaya in Anchorage. Travel is amazing.

Yamaya Seafood Restaurant
825 W 6th Ave
Anchorage, AK 99501

Kura (Conveyor sushi) (revisits)

Thanks for stopping to look at mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Kirk is getting used to the time zone change so Cathy is writing a brief post.

I wrote about Kula the first time in 2015, when we first went to the Rancho Cucamonga location.  The conveyor sushi chain arrived in San Diego in about 2016 and I wrote a post in early 2017.  (Those links have some explanatory stuff in case you've never been).   At some point, the nationwide chain changed its name to Kura (at least on the exterior of the building) and raised the basic price of revolving sushi standard plates to $2.50 each.  There is an outdoor Tablet sign in/wait list or you can reserve a seat using a mobile app.  We usually ask to sit at the counter. 

   This time, I was right at the corner and could see into the open kitchen.  There was a tabletop photo ad of new offerings. 
There is a first plate 'introducing' the following plates, all connected to each other; it helps the kitchen know what to refill. 
I always grab the sunomono when it arrives in front of me.  A perfect balance of vinegar and soy covering cucumbers, seaweed and bits of tamago (a sweet egg omelet which can be a dessert by itself).  Everything on a green plate is $2.50; you slide used plates in a slot in the table when it's time to pay the bill. 
If you end up with 15 of those plates, after insertion in the slot, the Bikkura Pon machine will shoot out a ball filled with a small gift directly on your table.  We've never had that many small plates; tend to order from the Tablet you see at the second level.  Most Tablet items are the same as on the conveyor, but are a bit more fresh; other items are made to order.

 While waiting for an order to arrive (it stops right in front of the Tablet where you placed the order- on a second conveyor belt) I saw the Tuna Yukhoe and wanted to try (yukhoe is akin to tartare; raw.  Though the egg yolk is cooked.) The raw tuna is marinated in soy, sesame oil, garlic and has some sesame seeds mixed in). Kind of poke, in a good way. The garlic steak is quite nice (we ordered from the Tablet, so the steak arrived warm). Crunch garlic on top.

New to us on the menu was shrimp stuffed baked avocado ($3.60).  It arrived with a small spoon.
This will be ordered again.  It was divine.  Lots of shrimp, melted cheese, just warm ripe avocado.  A meal.  

The squid tempura ($3.60) was interesting this time; there were two pieces of chicken karaage mixed in.  All good; light breading, perfect fry.
 Also new on the menu was grilled albacore ($3.60).  The fish by itself was excellent; char grill, a meaty piece that flaked perfectly.  The slices of jalapeño were a 'warning'...those carrots had something mixed in that had a nice kick of spice; it complimented the fish and was good on its own.  The soft shell crab ($4.80) is also one of those items we must always order; it's done right here.  The batter, the fry, the shaved radish with a dollop of yellow hot radish.  Just so nice.    The hand rolls (as you can see, $2.50) are ordered on the Tablet and arrive quickly.  They are offered with soy paper wrap instead of seaweed; a little different in flavor...lots of flavorful sesame seeds and really good; a compliment to the rice and tuna filling.  The dessert we shared ($3.60)-Anmitsu. Vanilla ice cream with a sort of caramel sauce, red bean paste, small mochi, a marinated strawberry.  If you see it, get it-a perfect ending.  

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar  4609 Convoy San Diego 92111 Open Sun-Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Website

Clearing Out the Memory Card - Romeo & Julieta Wine Cafe, Et Voila, and Sushi Noguchi (Yorba Linda)

Just a quick post for tonight - 2 Happy Hour revisits and once place where not all the photos came out.

Romeo & Julieta Wine Café:

Now that the weather is getting a bit cooler, we're enjoying HH here. It's never too crowded and the food is hearty. There's always leftovers for the next day.

My previous post on Romeo & Julieta Wine Café.

Romeo & Julieta Wine Cafe
4715 Monroe Ave
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Tues - Sat 4pm - 10pm
Sunday     3pm - 10pm

Et Voila!:

Honestly; we're not overly fond of many of the meat courses and entrees. But we really enjoy HH.

Even though the Huckleberry Bourbon is now nine bucks during HH....it's still a relative bargain.

Two drinks and  a couple of staples from the Happy Hour menu and we're....well, quite satisfied and happy.

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116
Happy Hour:
Sun - Fri 430pm - 7pm
Saturday 430pm - 6pm

Funny story insertion time. The Missus and I were eating outside on the quaint little patio. There was a couple seated right past us.....the gentleman was really, really chatty. We usually keep to ourselves, but he was very amiable. We talked about everything from this being his first visit to Et Voila (he was pleasantly surprised - Jayne's was closed) to Japan to whatever seemed to come to mind. I told him he looked familiar; turns out it was Mike Aguirre. I laughed and said; "wow, you're famous". He smiled, shook his head and said, I'm sure in jest, "no...more like infamous." You never know who you're going to sit next to.....

Sushi Noguchi (Yorba Linda):

Yes, Yorba Linda. This one is from last year actually. I had a meeting up in the OC and the Missus decided to join me since She had a couple of days off. I'd been waffling between sushi places, so I sent off an email to the one and only Elmomonster, His vote was the tiebreaker. We chose Sushi Noguchi; which is a rather odd place....another strip mall treasure in Yorba Linda.

The Missus and I had a great time....such a great time that I missed a couple of photos and some of what I took was not usable.

I thought about trashing what I had; but the meal was very good; especially having three different uni (San Diego - Santa Barbara - Hokkaido), where we could really make out the differences in flavor - San Diego was the meatiest and the mildest, the Hokkaido uni had an amazing briney-sweetness, it tasted of the ocean, the Santa Barbara might have been the sweetest of the three. We also really enjoyed all the shiromi (white fish).

The only thing we didn't particularly care for was the yellowtail in the olive oil-soy sauce.

This was only about half of what we got; the negi toro temaki was also fantastic.

I'm not sure when or if we'll be back in the area in the future, but this one is a total winnah! I'll do a better job of documenting our meal then. And worth every penny of the $120 per person without drinks.

Sushi Noguchi
18507 Yorba Linda Blvd
Yorba Linda, CA 92886

Kanazawa - Dinner at Iwashigumi, the Sardine Specialist

While planning our visit to Kanazawa I cam across an interesting restaurant named Iwashigumi. I first saw photos on Tabelog and was quite intrigued. So I had a friend make reservations for us. We took a nice long stroll down to the Katamachi district, a popular shopping and nightlife area. Iwashigumi is discreetly located fairly close to the main street.

The style is rustic, old school izakaya. I believe you can purchase a red lantern for the wall if you want.

As the name indicates; this place is all about iwashi......sardines. Yep, a restaurant specializing in sardines, everything from iwashi honesenbei to iwashi croquette. The Missus loves sardines (remember Tito 2 in Matoshinos), so She quickly agreed.

The set-up is like a sushi bar, with a few tables to the side. There's a certain charm to this place.....

When you order sake, they bring you a selection of ochoko (sake cups), some of which are rather interesting.

The Missus had sake and I started with some "nama-beeru"....

So, based on some of my previous posts on this trip, you can kind of figure that I just couldn't get enough of honsenbei, fried fish bone ("crackers"). The Missus was totally over it, but humored me ("for one last time").

Crunchy-savory goodness!

First up was the Iwashi-sashimi. You'd think this would be on the "oily" side, but this was very clean tasting.

There was a slight chew; the flavor and texture was reminiscent of Aji (Spanish Mackeral).

The Iwashi Tataki was another refreshing dish.

Nice crunchy vegetables to add contrast to the toothsome fish. Funny, we really didn't need the ginger for both of these dishes.

When we placed our order, we made sure to first request the grilled sardine which takes about 20-30 minutes.

Good salt and crisp skin. This was quite rich and oily, a bit too strong in flavor for the Missus. I did need the oroshi and lemon, to help cut the richness.

The Missus had no such problem with the Iwashi no Mentaiko.

This was our favorite dish of the night. The rich, grilled sardine, met straight up with the briny and spicy cod roe. Salty, but in a good way, this one made our night.

At this point, I needed to help the Missus with Her sake, so I choose the goofiest cup I could find.

Of course one needs rice to complete a meal; so we ordered the Iwashi Oshizushi, which filled us up.

We really enjoyed our meal. The service was friendly and efficient. One of the young ladies spoke pretty good English as well. Along with Kuroyuri, Morimori Sushi, and our breakfasts, Iwashigumi made our trip to Kanazawa a delicious one.

Iwashigumi
1-7-13 Katamachi
Kanazawa, Japan

Side note: While looking for the address, I noticed that Iwashigumi is on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list. Good for them!

We'd done quite a bit on this day, so we caught the bus back to Kanazawa Station and our hotel. I had some time to relax, catch up on emails, and work on a post.

For some reason, I found the taxi queue, and the patterns for determining which cab was up next mesmerizing......

You could say the same about Kanazawa......

Kanazawa - Kenrokuen Garden, Higashi Chaya District, and Lunch at Morimori Sushi (Omi-cho Location)

After a nice respite at Oyama Shrine we headed out, past the city office and art museum, finally coming to the quiet entrance of Kenrokuen Garden.

Declared to be one of the "Three Great Gardens of Japan", we just had to visit. Kenrokuen was once the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle and was built by the Maeda Clan who ruled the area from 1583 to 1871. In 1871 the garden was opened to the public.

This is Hisagoike Pond.

It was pretty mellow; with tourists having a fun time.

Except for the few knuckleheads who walked over partitions and around the ponds and climbed onto structures like Yagao-tei Teahouse which dates back to the 18th century.

Next to Kasumigaike Pond stands the iconic Karasaki Pine.

According to the story the 13th Lord Nariyasu planted the seed from which this tree grew.

There's a nice plum grove. Plum trees start blossoming before cherry blossoms.

Do you know how to tell the difference between plum blossoms and cherry blossoms? Cherry blossoms have a "split" at the end of each petal, while plum blossoms do not.

We had a nice stroll to the other end of the park.

As we headed put the exit and down the hill we saw this beautiful Cherry Blossom tree in bloom. Or was it?

Yep, cherry blossoms.....

The Missus wanted to visit the Higashi Chaya District, so we headed down the hill.

Along the way we saw a shop doing bustling business. Turns out this was the Ishikawa Prefectural Products Center.

There was, of course, gold leaf products everywhere. I ended up buying some food quality gold leaf. We also sampled a bunch of local delicacies and ended up purchasing dried and preserved fish which was mighty delici-yoso!

I was tempted to buy a couple of bottles of "Lame Spray" for some rather "lame" folks I know......they would never figure out that is should be pronounced "lamé". But they really weren't worth the price tag.

Ishikawa Prefectural Products Center
2-20 Kenrokumachi
Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

We had an uneventful walk to the Asanogawa River.

And crossed over the Asanogawa Ohashi Bridge, arriving at Higashi Chaya, a district full of historic buildings, faux geishas, gold leaf ice cream shops....

It was quite touristy; but in the low-keyed, mellow, Japanese way. And we ended up visiting quite a few shops.

We had a fun time......and it was the little things that seemed to catch our eye.....

We were starting to get hungry. Not sure where to eat, we decided to walk back to Omi-cho market. There was a Kaiten-zushi shop in the market that always seemed to have a line. I'm not big on conveyor belt sushi here in the states. It's usually of very low quality; but heck, if all these Japanese were lining for it.....

We had a wait of about 30 minutes, not bad....though we were fairly hungry.

You can get your sushi two different ways; by grabbing it off the conveyor (of course).....

Or ordering from the handy-dandy iPad....with English translations as well!

You get tea from the spigot in front of you; the ginger and wasabi are in discreet containers on the table.

The first thing to arrive was the Aji (Spanish Mackeral). I had expected to be a bit underwhelmed. But I was so wrong. The fish was firm, moist, with a hint of oily-sweetness. The ginger helped cut through any richness and the scallions added a nice bit of sweet-pungency.

We picked the "slime meets slime", the lovely "neba neba" Natto and Okra Gunkan sushi off the belt.

This was quite delicious; the rice was so perfect.

The Hamachi was passable if a bit on the dry side. Good fat content though.

We ordered two different version of Negi-toro.

Both were excellent. The quality for the price was amazing. This is what I truly expect to get in a fishmarket.

We got a three piece combo with Hokkaido Uni, O-Toro, and Ama-ebi.

Based on what we had the day before, I expected the shrimp to be fantastic, and it was. But that uni was so briney, with a buttery texture, and that o-toro.....doesn't it look like beef?

We had a o-toro, which was fine....but not nearly as rich and buttery as the o-toro.

More "neba neba" goodness. Squid and Natto. This was so delicious.

Great textural contrast......

We finished things off with Crab and Crab Butter (Kani Miso). Man, this was so wonderfully savory, briney tones, great richness, the crab was tender and sweet.

At this point we'd had enough.  You press a button and they calculate your check based on the plates.

The petite Japanese woman sitting next to us ate as much as the both of us and had a tokkuri of sake to boot!

And you knew she was Japanese....she just left her purse by itself, stood up and went to the restroom, which is outside the restaurant. Yes....this is Japan.

When our bill arrived, I looked at it and blurted out "holy crap"! This Missus was startled and thought something was wrong. And no, nothing was wrong, things were so right. You see, the entire meal came to 3300¥, about $31/US. With toro, real crab, amaebi, uni, real wasabi!!! And in Japan, there's no tipping as well.

Morimori Sushi (Omi-cho)
88 Aokusamachi
Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

Like I always say; in Japan you can eat for 5 dollars or 500 dollars; it's up to you, and most of it is darn good!

Thanks for reading!

 

Ed’s SD Highlights: Prime, Golden City, Kokoro

Ed (from Yuma) writes about three spots in San Diego today. Kirk or Cathy will be writing about who knows what tomorrow. That's the way mmm-yoso!!! rolls.

These restaurants have been written about here previously, so I just wanted to touch on a few highlights.

Prime – I had a lunch at Prime Grill (website) featuring dolsit bi bim bap:

It was okay though my stone bowl didn't crisp up the rice very well, unlike Kirk's experience.

The eight ban chan items ranged from good to excellent. The squash was perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned:

Some broccoli I forgot to photograph was nicely highlighted with a tangy red sauce. And I have no idea what this earthy, slightly sweet and slightly woody vegetable is, but I liked it:

And of course the kimchi was outstanding:

I always used to wonder why some Korean restaurants served kimchi that was not as good as what I could buy in a jar in a Korean market. Prime’s is more complex and much better. I also enjoyed the metal teapot and cup:

The bill:

Prime Grill, 4620 Convoy, Ste A, San Diego 92111, (858) 277-0800

 

Golden City – it had been many years since my last visit, but this venerable Chinese restaurant (website) on Clairemont Mesa Blvd is a longtime favorite of Kirk and Cathy. Memory is a tricky thing, but the interior seems more modern and appealing than it used to be:

Talk about an extensive menu; here, actually, three menus:

Of course I had half of a kwai fei chicken:

Cold, intensely flavored, and very tasty. The bone splinters were the only unappealing part of the bird. Most of this went back to the room and the ice chest. Great for munchies.

Off the monthly specials menu, I ordered steamed fish and pumpkin in black bean sauce:

Except for being far too much food, this was wonderful. The fish was fall apart tender and fresh flavored. Its natural sweetness was complemented by the sweetness of the orange squash and contrasted by the savory umami of the black bean sauce.

The bill:

Golden City Restaurant, 5375 Kearny Villa Rd., San Diego 92123, (858) 565-6682

Kokoro – Tina and I really enjoyed our omakase here back in December, so it was my splurge dinner on my visit. I told Akio-san I was in the mood for some sashimi and some sushi – whatever he thought I would like – and I assured him I eat everything. Here is the sashimi platter:

The scallops seemed better this time, but the "like red snapper" fish at the front of the platter was outstanding, rich and chewy. The Santa Barbara uni also excellent.

The eight pieces of sushi, served one by one, were very good. The highlights: This black snapper was  attractive and had a nice firm mouth feel:

The toro was rich and tender as expected:

The hirame arrived with just a sprinkling of rock salt as did this wonderful plump oyster:

In both cases, the salt instead of shoyu emphasized the clean flavors of the seafood and the sweet/tangy flavors of the sushi rice.

But the number one highlight of the evening was this:

Alaskan cod ovaries served slightly warm. Rich creamy fecundity, even more decadent than uni, sinfully delicious.

The bill:

I don't usually discuss restrooms, but I was moved by the Ansell Adams poster on the wall:

It is sad to think about our government rounding people up, taking them from their homes, and putting them in camps.

Kokoro, 3298 Greyling Dr. Ste. B, San Diego, CA 92123, (858) 565-4113 (website)

 

Kokoro Omakase for Two

Ed (from Yuma) shares a fancy omakase dinner with Tina – and now with you, dear reader. Tomorrow Kirk or Cathy will share something different.

It was a dark and stormy night, after a dark and stormy drive over to San Diego, so Tina and I were happy to walk into the clean well lighted space that is Kokoro (website). We'd made an early reservation so Ishito-san had no other customers at the bar when we arrived:

Both Kirk and I have posted about omakase experiences here, so Tina and I wanted the top-of-the-line omakase and ordered it three days in advance. 

The meal started with a simple looking mushroom appetizer – enoki and sliced oyster mushrooms in beautiful little bowls:

That pic doesn’t show much food, but the shrooms were lightly sauced and had an earthy/woodsy flavor. Nice modest beginning.

Then bowls showed up with a large oyster cut into three pieces, flanked by little pieces of dark seaweed, and topped with a blast of ginger:

The concentrated flavor of the ocean.

About this time I ordered 6 oz Kikusui sake:

It was cold, smooth, and altogether pleasant.

Our sashimi plate was a thing of beauty:

The maguro was exceptional and deeply flavored. The uni was good, of course, and the tako had a nice balance between flavor and chewiness. Even the scallop, which was pretty bland really, tasted fresh and tender. I should add that the wasabi was quality as well, hot spicy with bits of real wasabi throughout.

Here's another view of the plate:

Ishito-san was proud of the white fish selection. "Five different fish, all different flavor and texture." The hamachi was what you'd expect, fresh tasting, firm, and rich. The hirame (right behind the octopus) had firmer texture and deeper richer flavor than expected. I'm pretty sure that the slices were endawa, dorsal fin muscle, which I have not had since Wal Mi Do closed. Both Tina and I enjoyed the range of flavors, textures, and richness among the five.

The last item on the platter was maybe the most amazing of all:

I have never had or seen two toned tuna before. And yeah, real good and real rich.

It was time for a change of pace, so we were pleased to see a small covered bowl set in front of each of us:

Inside was a deceptively simple looking clear broth soup:

The cube was a piece of crab and seafood cake, mild and tender. The green herb was very strong flavored and contrasted nicely with the cake. But the key to the whole dish is the thin golden brown oval on the bottom of the bowl – a slice of bottarga – salted, cured, pressed, and aged mullet caviar. When you bite into it, it dissolves into a myriad of minuscule fish eggs.

The next course was one of our favorites, a complex autumn/winter stew that seemed perfect for a rainy evening:

The two main ingredients were pieces of crunchy fried fish and thick succulent tender slices of beautifully braised daikon. They were accompanied by gobo root matchsticks, fried slices of lotus root, a couple of candlenuts, and a few salmon eggs. The flavors, textures, and colors of the stew made this a big winner for both of us.

At this time, our hashi were replaced with new ones. “Why?” crossed my mind briefly, and then an amazing beef salad was set before us:

The steak was exceptionally tender, deeply flavored, and rich. The greens with their fresh and sometimes bitter flavors provided contrast. And the yuzu based steak sauce/salad dressing went with both, its tang balancing the rich meat. "That's wagyu beef from Japan,” Ishito san said, “Grade A5, the best." We believed him. It was good.

Then Tina and I each got a couple slices of fried monkfish accompanied by ponzu:

Okay, but not especially memorable.

The sushi course was the last savory part of the meal. It looked pretty ordinary:

However, it was quite good. The anago was sprinkled with coarse salt and was fresh and meaty tasting. The saba had been lightly cured so we could taste real mackerel flavor. The unusually large ebi, never a favorite sushi of mine, was wonderful here. We were told to use no shoyu, which seemed odd, but the shrimp were so fresh, meaty, and sweet that Ishito san wanted nothing to mask that taste.

The meal concluded with a choice of Italian style ice creams or sorbet. Tina loved her raisin and vanilla bean ice cream:

And I was blown away by the green apple sorbet:

Overall a great meal.

Kokoro, 3298 Greyling Dr. Ste. B, San Diego, CA 92123, (858) 565-4113

Happy Thanksgiving!

Man, yet another Thanksgiving. I took Da Boyz for a typical car ride this morning.

It's hard to believe it'll soon be December......man; weather in the mid-70's.

Though I heard that rain is on the way.

After a busy day; work and then making food for the Missus's work, I decided to reward myself.

Hope you've had a safe and delici-yoso Thanksgiving from all of us!

Ed (from Yuma) in San Diego Part 1– Buga, Village Kitchen, Kokoro, and Boiling Passion

Was in San Diego recently so I'm writing about some SD meals today. Kirk or Cathy will write about some meals  tomorrow. That's how we roll.

Regular readers of mmm-yoso have already heard about these places, so I will link to other posts and try to keep my comments simple and short.

Buga. Coming into town I got stuck in a traffic jam on I8 near Alpine caused by a burning truck, so when I finally got to town I wanted to go to someplace easy to find with a large parking lot that could dish up something cool and refreshing. I was tired and ravenous when I pulled into Buga. So tired and ravenous that I forgot my camera. The pan chan were fine, the bulgogi meh, and the cold noodle soup really good.

Village Kitchen. The recent opening of a few regional Chinese restaurants in San Diego seems like a good trend. Not sure which one to try, I ended up at Village Kitchen. As a gringo (is there a Chinese equivalent?), I appreciated the order sheet along with the menu that pictured every dish. Made things simpler and reduced chances of mistakes:

Of course I had to have the mashed eggplant, green chili, and century egg:

That mortar and pestle are huge. This was a lot of food. Describing the flavor is almost impossible. But I’ll ty anyway – intense, earthy umami. Love at first bite. Here's a more detailed picture:

The century eggs are the black things. The mashed eggplant just seems to suck up flavors from the mild green chilies and those stinky eggs. Amazing weird good.

I also tried the Chinese pickle, chopped bamboo shoot, and ground pork:

I like all of those ingredients, and the dish had an interesting flavor profile as well. However, it lacked the power of the eggplant mash. And the finely chopped ingredients along with the ground pork were a challenge for my American chopstick skills. I took most of it to go.

Kokoro has become a regular go-to spot for me in San Diego:

The parking lot has plenty of spaces, and the restaurant is not crowded. I really enjoy the low key ambience, the friendly service, and the easy jazz playing in the background. I ordered the very basic sashimi lunch:

The tuna was surprisingly good, and the other three were all decent. As ordinary as this lunch was, Yuma has no place I can count on getting sashimi that I will like, so I was happy. The lunch came with okay miso soup, rice, and these excellent pickles:

Boiling Passion had a totally different ambience. Hip-hop videos were playing on the flat screen TV in the clean well lighted place:

Not only was I the only non-Asian in the restaurant, I was a good 30 years older than anyone else. However, the energetic and friendly server went out of her way to assist me. For example she explained the difference between the three dipping sauces provided - bean paste
garlic soy
and hot chili oil
- and also suggested the proportions to mix together in the small leaf shaped saucer:

Since I had ordered the seafood hotplate with noodles instead of rice, dry cellophane noodles arrived first, and I was told to let them cook for a couple minutes in the hot pot:

Then the hot pot showed up and soon was bubbling and steaming:

Overall I loved it. The broth was rich and flavorful and improved as the items cooked. I was a little surprised by the beef in a seafood hot pot, but the meat added flavor and tasted good. I liked the fish balls and shrimp balls, and I've quit complaining about krab in a reasonably priced meal. The two or three little clams were okay as were the two pieces of squid. Only the shrimp, which had a mushy texture, disappointed. I would certainly return and would love to try some different hot pots.

So far, my trip was going great. The weather was gorgeous (78° at the beach), and I was eating well. I was also looking forward to Wednesday when I would have a simple lunch at Sakura and then dinner with Kirk and Cathy at Prime – but that will have to wait for Part 2.