mmm-yoso!!!

Monday Meanderings - It's Honeyjam Chicken Not JJ's and Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot

Just a quick post for a busy Monday.

It's Honeyjam Chicken not JJ's:

So, first off a big "THANK YOU" to "FOYs" Patty and Rena who gave me heads-up regarding what was going on with the spot that was initially indicated to be JJ Chicken. Patty was nice enough to comment on my it appears that JJ is not coming to Renaissance Center and on the very same day Rena sent me an email with a photo (Thanks so much Rena!) mentioning the same thing! So, of course I needed to do an update and a couple of days later I headed on down (up??) to Renaissance Towne Center and yes indeed it looks like Honeyjam Chicken and Beer is now taking the spot that was planned for "JJ".

And since there's a sign up, it looks like this one will actually happen!

8895 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Thanks so much Patty and Rena, I appreciate the time and effort you both expended. You know, I don't think our little blog would exist without wonderful folks like you!

Olleh Sushi Replaces Old House Hot Pot:

I noticed this when I was driving to Daiso. Looks like Old House Hot Pot is gone. Sorry to say I never had a chance to check them out.

Looks like the Olleh Kingdom is expanding. They already have a AYCE Korean BBQ in the Old Seoul - then Roadem BBQ spot on Convoy. This one is a AYCE Sushi....I guess they specialize in what my  good friend calls "All You Cannot Eat".....

8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

And finally......

My apologies for the blog being down almost a whole day over the weekend. Apparently there was an issue with Typepad's servers. It had been happening intermittently over the last month or so and this time; things went down for all their customers.

Now Typepad has notified me that there will be another downtime this month. But haven't been clear on specifics yet.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Sunday Stuffs - Pelicana Chicken Replacing Urban Eats and Flama Llama Replacing Chef Chin's

Amazing the changes one can see during a quick trip to Nijiya! Here are two.....

Pelicana Chicken Replacing Urban Eats:

Well, if you're keeping score (and I may be missing a couple of places here), Urban Eats replaced Hi Street, which replaced Char House. 

Established in Daejeon, South Korea in 1982, this chain serves up.......well, you guessed it, Korean Fried Chicken! I'm wondering if Kearny Mesa is in the competition for most Korean Fried Chicken places per square mile in the US? I mean, at HMart you have Katzya, right around the corner and ahem right across the street you have Cross Street, which is nearly across the street from BB.Q Chicken, right in the next parking lot in the Hive is Knockout Chicken, north of Balboa you have Bonchon, and in Zion you have Gala Chicken! And there I was complaining about all the Hot Chicken places opening in San Diego!

7767 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

Chef Chin's Being Replaced by a Flama Llama?:

I saw construction going on at the former location of Chef Chin on Convoy, so I took a left into the parking lot.

Looks like a place named Flama Llama? So, I did a quick search and found this which states that the owner of Steamy Piggy and Formoosa is opening a restaurant that "will bring a new take on Latin American cuisine." I dunno, how about just having some good Latin American cuisine period?

4433 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Sushi Yaro's Last Day of Business is December 30th

On December 20th I received some sad news......first from FOY "YummyYummy" who told me that Sam was calling it quits as of December 30th. Soon enough I received a couple of emails and then FOY Denver posted a comment on my last Sushi Yaro post from back at the end of March letting me know as well. So, I think I've only dined in for one dinner and perhaps one or two lunches in San Diego since I made that visit to Yaro back in March.....but.....like I've mentioned in an earlier post; I've known Sam for over 20 years. So, ok....I decided to head on over on Christmas day, right at 530, thinking that the place would be empty and it was when I got there.

I ordered some sashimi and chatted with Sam a bit.

 Sam is still feeling the residual effects from his stroke and finding dependable staff and supplies and all of the things that go along with the pandemic.....well, he feels he needs an extended break. And after talking to him, I feel he needs time to take care of himself. 

On this evening, it was a one man show....and in spite of it being Christmas Day, the phone kept ringing and by the time I left there were 9 more customers in the place. I asked Sam if I could wash dishes or bus tables, but he cracked up for the first time on this evening and said, "I don't have time to train you Kirk-san......"

And so, I'm hoping that Sam will take the time off to take care of himself....I've always said that the relationship from the Itamae to the regular customer is a special one. Especially since I've known him since the days at Katzra, to Sammy Sushi, to Wal Mi Do, and of course Sushi Yaro. And heck, I've even run into FOY Lynnea at Sushi Yaro!

So, if you'd like to visit before he closes his doors on the 30th, unless you go right at opening time, it might be good to call - 858-560-1782.

Yaro will be open from the 28th to the 30th of December. Posted hours are 530pm - 10; but Sam told me he closes early if things are slow.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Good Luck Sam and take care of yourself!

Sushi Yorimichi

Sushi Yorimichi replaced Thai Papaya back in June. While I was still working from home a couple of days a week, until the Delta variant got out of control, I managed to make a couple visits between the middle of June until the middle of July.

I visited right as the place opened on all four visits and was the only customer in the place.

The interior has changed slightly from the days of Thai Papaya' the tables a bit more spread out (perhaps for more Covid "distancing"), there're seats in front of the counter.

Like "FOY" SomTommy described to me in an email, having visited soon after they opened, "there's everything on the menu from sushi to ramen to yakitori". And Junichi mentioned that the yakitori is done over on a gas grill, so I wasn't going to be ordering that for sure.

And yes indeed, the menu has everything from karaage to katsu don, to a "loco moco", sushi rolls (of course), yakitori, yakisoba, ramen (both tonkotsu and birria),  poke....... The prices though, except for one exception seem to be quite reasonable.

On my first visit, I decided to try out the Katsudon (I chose Tonkatsu - $9). The portion size was quite generous......especially in terms of rice. A good lesson as I'd order just "half rice" the next time.

   This was not bad, the egg nicely doused and tender, a bit on the salty side, but that's something to be expected. The tonkatsu was decently breaded, but over-fried and the panko really dark and starting to peel off of the slightly dry pork cutlet.

The rice was decently done, no complaints there. I've had worse....

Junichi had mentioned enjoying the Dashimaki Tamago  ($7), so I decided to get that and some other appetizers to spare me all the rice on my next visit. This version had mozzarella cheese and mentaiko (cod roe).

I did enjoy the mentaiko in this version of the Japanese Rolled omelet, it added a much needed savoriness to the tender egg, which I thought was on the bland side. I really didn't enjoy the milkiness of the cheese in this either.

I also ordered the Agedashi Tofu ($5).

 I really didn't enjoy this very much. The tentsuyu really tasted like mentsuyu.....the really salty bottled soup base. The tofu wasn't evenly fried; half of it brown, the other half pale white which fell right off the tofu. The texture of the tofu was quite "wet-mushy"....I don't think it was drained properly before making this.

The Chicken Karaage ($5), looked pretty good and it was indeed decently crunchy.

 I thought the cutting of the chicken was interesting....some small cubes, some slices where I could tell the cook was checking to see if the chicken was done. The color was dark and rich looking, but this was pretty bland. 

My favorite item of the day was the Kawa-su ($5).

While the chicken skin was on the thick side and some bites were overly chewy; the sauce was quite good; balanced soy, sweetness, and sour/acidity. There was a mild spiciness to this as well.

A few days later I decided to return and actually try some of the fish; I went and ordered the Chirashi ($22), easy on the rice.

  This was a mixed bag; not the best quality fish, the cutting was a bit on the "thicker" side, and definitely not even in the same league as even Chef Jun, not to mention other places. The rice was terrible, hard and dry, the sushi meshi very mild...perhaps as to not offend? That albacore was dry and cut much too thick, the maguro had a metallic finish, the scallops somewhat fishy. The uni was decent and the salmon standard issue.

I left somewhat disappointed. I guess this place is really just for rolls......

I really wanted to find something that I'd really enjoy here; so I went with one last try......I was somewhat fascinated with the Yorimichi Style Loco Moco ($9)....and you know me and Loco Mocos. I guess Justin Young is right, "You can take the boy from the island, but not the island from the boy". I'd had my eye on that from the first time I opened the menu, so I finally went ahead and ordered it.

   This was an interesting dish. The rice, while still a bit on the dry side, was better in texture than what I'd had previously. The egg was decently cooked, still somewhat runny, with no off flavors. The burger had less filler than I expected, but was moist, tender, and mildly beefy. The menu claimed that the burger was topped with Hayashi Sauce, which makes me expect sort of a demi-glace beefiness, along with earthy mushroom-onion flavors, with perhaps a tangy tomato-ness. This was like across between Hayashi style sauce and Japanese Hamburg style sauce, both are similar in many ways. I believe I detected a hint of Worcestershire in this. This wasn't too bad and wasn't overly sweet. Totally Yoshoku.

In the end, I think of Yorimichi to be kind of a "diner" of sorts. There's still ramen/curry/teriyaki/etc on the menu. The prices are quite reasonable, the service efficient. I tend toward the "specialists" when it comes to Japanese cuisine, with a few exceptions. I'm not quite ready to make that exception for Yorimichi yet......

Sushi Yorimichi
2405 Ulric St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Daily 11am - 830pm

Midweek Meanderings - Sushi Yorimichi replaces Thai Papaya, Matoi replaces Shirahama, El Viejon Seafood opening soon, and Pho UTC and Grill has Closed

Here's a collection of what I've seen over the last few weeks.

Sushi Yorimichi replaces Thai Papaya:

This one was first mentioned to me by our "FOY" Junichi, who noticed it was replacing a favorite of ours Thai Papaya.

My photo was before our recent road trip and my understanding is that they have recently opened. A "FOY" actually visited and told me they do everything from sushi to ramen to yakitori.......

I'll reserve the rest of what was written until I (maybe) will visit in the near future.

Sushi Yorimichi
2405 Ulric St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Matoi replaces Shirahama:

Which I just noticed on one of my trips to Nijiya.

Shirahama has been replaced by yet another "omakase" place, this one run by the folks from Hane Sushi. I do have quite a story about Shirahama....perhaps one day I'll share it with you.

Matoi
4212 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

El Viejon Seafood replacing Chungchun Ssal Hot Dog:

This one really popped out at me when driving North on Convoy.

If I recall, this was the location of Chungchun Ssal Hot Dog.........

Anyway, I understand this is a project from the folks that own Lupe's.

4619 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho UTC and Grill has Closed:

On a recent visit to Chicago Fire Grill I noticed a slew of "for lease" signs. One of which was for Pho UTC.

8915 Towne Centre Dr
San Diego, CA 92122

Takeout From Chef Jun

I first noticed that Chef Jun was opening back in November of 2019, the place finally opened a few weeks later.

While "Kappo" style originally means simply "cut and cook", these days we tend to associate it with high level seasonal cuisine, or like "FOY" Junichi puts it:

"Kappo usually means higher end small plates and multi-course meals in Japan"

"FOY" Derek was also quite interested in Chef Jun; so a couple weeks back, on a day I was especially hungry, I decided to place a takeout order from Chef Jun. Because I would rather have nigiri sitting at the bar, I decided to not get that nor the ramen.....also, it seems that Chef Jun does oshizushi....though none of it based on traditional battera, kaku, or the like. And it also seems that they do aburi (torched sushi); but I'll hold off on that.......it would be interesting to see how it measures up against places like Miku. 

Instead, I took a look at the non-nigi, and none of the 23 rolls presented on the menu. I decided to veer away from the stuffed jalapeno, garlic edamame, and ramen. Instead, I went with a standard, karaage ($6.50), Tuna Tataki ($12), and an interesting fusiony, item; the Yellowtail Crudo ($13.50). Yes, I was pretty hungry on this day. Everything went smoothly from the order, to the pick-up, and the presentation of the dishes was also quite nice.

The Chicken Karaage was a bit of a disappointment. 

It was neither crisp nor crunchy....I think it really should have held up during a less than ten minute drive home. It also wasn't decently marinated or seasoned. It was quite bland.

I like the presentation of the Tuna Tataki; but it was on the chewy side and the fish had a metallic finish.

It was also dry and the "garlic sauce" was quite bland. Just look at the color of the maguro.....

The best item was the Yellowtail Crudo.

It was perhaps sliced much thinner than I prefer; but the fish was of decent quality. Loved the presentation; though I really didn't taste much truffle from the supposed "truffle oil" and there could have been more "kale salt". Loved the pickled cucumbers and this as a pretty good dish overall.

So, on that note I decided to return in mid-March. I just went with the Chirashi-zushi ($25), simply because I'd had the Chirashi-zushi from Kokoro the week before (BTW, Kokoro also claims Kappo cuisine). Again, ordering and pick-u was a breeze.

 This was decent, though the shiromi was super dry, the ebi mushy, and the avocado starting to brown. I enjoyed the maguro-zuke, the fish was much better quality than earlier. The salmon and hamachi were decently fatty; though the amount of rice seemed on the small side; like the amount for an onigiri. Also, just having had the Chirashi from Kokoro ($3 cheaper and better quality/execution) probably had an effect a well. Still, this was not bad.

I the end; I'll probably wait to "eat in" at Chef Jun and try the nigiri/oshizushi/etc......

After all, the place has potential, so I'd like to see them at their best.

Thanks for inspiring my visit Derek. I wonder if you've had the chance to check them out yet?

Chef Jun
4033 Avati Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
(858) 886-7331
Hours:
Tues - Fri 1130am - 9pm
Sat - Sun 4pm - 9pm
Closed Mondays

Chirashi-zushi To Go From Kokoro

A few weeks back I was thinking how hard the pandemic has been on those mom-and-pop places that I'd visit on occasion. You know, places not in the standard rotation, but one's I enjoy for a nice lunch or dinner and Kokoro came to mind. Akio-san and his wife are getting on in years, which had me wondering how things were going for them. I went ahead and checked their website and along with outdoor lunches and dinners, they were doing takeout. It had been a while since my last visit and I'm sure that the late Ed from Yuma, who loved Kokoro would be wanting me to check in and see how things were going. Kokoro is quite "old school" and though they have their lunch and dinner takeout menus on the website; you'll still have to call in your order. Also, please note that even if you call in your order at 1030, the place doesn't really open up until 1130.

Of all the lunch items I'd had at Kokoro, I had enjoyed the Chirashi the most; so I decided to go with that.

I arrived at around 1135 tp pick up my lunch. The place had blacked out the doors and windows and for all the world looked closed. Looking closer, I noticed the door was ajar, so I walked on in.

And wouldn't you know it; my lunch was ready and waiting for me....such efficiency.

Once back at the office, I unpacked my lunch eagerly.....I really wanted to see how different this was from the very good chirashi I'd had for lunch before. Especially since the lack of business can mean supply chain issues and limits flexibility with stock, as in you'll probably only get the "usual suspects"....especially in the case of fresh seafood for sushi restaurants.

The one thing that I enjoyed right off hand was the miso soup. It wasn't watered down and was full of flavor.

The selection of fish was decent; though the shiromi (whitefish) that I'd had before in the chirashi was not present this time around. The anago was quite good, light, mildly sweet, I wish there was more of it. The maguro was of good quality, no "sugi" (connective tissue), moist and tender. The tako tender as well....the saba did well with bites of ginger before and after to help prep, then cleanse the palate of the richness. The hamachi was decently fatty.

 The salmon was fine, the shrimp and kanpachi were my least favorite items both were tough and the kanpachi had a bit more fishiness to it then I enjoy.

The rice was moist and fluffy. And as expected based on previous visits, the sushi meshi here is quite bracing at times; they do like their vinegar.

I like the tamago as it was light and not too sweet; a perfect way for me to end my meal.

It was good to know that Kokoro is still in business and I did enjoy my lunch; I'll definitely be back once we're in a better position in terms of dining in. I'm sure Ed from Yuma would be happy to know that Kokoro is still in business.

Kokoro Restaurant
3298 Greyling Dr
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 565-4113

An Update on Sam and Sushi Yaro.......and I Dine In For the First Time in Nearly 400 Days

If you follow our little blog; you'll know that back in January, Sam, owner and Itamae of Sushi Yaro suffered a stroke. Of course my good friends kept me appraised of how Sam was doing, when he was discharged, when the restaurant was reopening, and such. I tried not to bother Sam much since he obviously had a lot going on....though the Medical Professional in the family always had a battery of questions for Sam. Once Sushi Yaro was reopened, I still waited......mainly because I wasn't ready to dine outdoors yet.....though finally, two months after I'd received my second shot, I decided I needed to see how Sam was doing and show some support. The Missus was working a night shift, so I decided to head on over to Engineer Road, and dine al fresco at the outdoor dining area I'd seen set-up in the parking lot. Except when I arrived, shortly before opening time......I really didn't want to be around too many people, this is what I saw.

The outdoor dining area for Sushi Yaro was gone! And the reason for that soon became clear. So, now there was a decision to make....yes, we're in the "Red Tier" which means indoor dining can operate at 25% capacity, yes I've had both vaccines, yes the restaurant was just opening so there were no other customers in the place, and yes, Sam called out my name when he saw me and waved me over to the sushi bar. And so it came to pass, 380 days since I last dined indoors I decided to have dinner at Sushi Yaro. After all, I really wanted to support Sam and see how he was doing.

The reason that the outdoor area is gone, besides San Diego being in the Red Tier is that Sam is running a one man show. And with all residual effects of the stroke, well, he just isn't able to handle too many customers. In fact, he told me about 8 people max.

As for what I ordered....well, Sam knows me, and after a short wait....he's moving pretty well considering, but there's obviously some motor deficits and such.....he had my dinner for me.

I'm not really going to go into the food this time around, I'll do that in a future post....except to say, it did hit the spot. Especially the sashimi which was perfect on a day when temps were hitting the low 80's....so much for spring, eh?

We spent most of the time talking about how things are going for Sam...residual effects and accommodations he's had to make after the stroke, his family and such. After all, I've known Sam for 20 years.

Soon enough, a couple of other couples arrived, when Sam hits his max, he'll ask folks if they want to do takeout and return a bit later. It's probably a good idea to make reservations if you plan on arriving after 530. There are also times when Sam's therapy and such runs late, or if he's really tired that he'll close early, so definitely, call.

Honestly, it was kind of tough seeing Sam run back and forth to the kitchen......to deep fry rolls for folks, to get ingredients, to get customers their drinks (I decided to forgo my usual Sapporo on this visit). But Sam seems to be handling it fairly well....he's a bit slower than before, but seems to be making progress, and I'm happy for that.

Soon enough there were eight folks in the restaurant; it was making me a bit uncomfortable....oh my how Covid has changed us. It was time for me to leave. I was glad to see Sam and said I'll be back soon.

As I left I told him, "take care of yourself; I'll like to be seeing you still in good health 20 years from now."

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 560-1782

Our Pandemic Takeout Rotation

I was recently pondering what our Pandemic Takeout Rotation is....that is, the places we've done a bunch of takeout from over the last year......I'm guessing that this post is somewhat timely since (not a great thing) the WHO declared Covid-19 to be a pandemic on this day a year ago.

What I did notice is that things like weather, work, cravings, or indecision kind of drove the decision process. So I've categorized places by that process

So here goes.....

For cold weather - Menya Ultra and Woomiok:

Like I mentioned before, I'm not if it's because we're spending more time at home; but this fall and winter seems to be much colder then I recall.

So, of course Menya Ultra's Stay at Home Kit...….so well and thoughtfully put together; love the fresh noodles (i.e. fresh made and uncooked) is our rotation.

It's basically at least two meals......there often is too much noodle; so I'll often use it for another dish.

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
858-571-2010

When the Missus or I feel somewhat tired......we enjoy the Emporer's Soup along with an extra side of bone broth from Woomiok.

We enjoy the restorative effects of the bone broth....even if it might be "all in our heads".

This was especially nice after the Missus or I felt some of the side effects from our vaccines.

Woomiok
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 737-4599

And then when we're experiences unseasonal warm weather - it's the Market at HFS:

That's an easy one, right? It's also a handy fix when I'm missing "home".

Of course, you know the Missus right? Eating poke just ain't the straightforward for Her......there's a bit of prep involved. Can you imagine when I actually deliver this for Her lunch at work?

And I blew this one because one thing was missing....shiso leaves...sigh....

Hawaiian Fresh Seafood Fish Market
6491 Weathers Place
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 282-0591

For that "special" takeout dinner - it's Tadokoro:

I guess this one should be pretty obvious based on some of my previous posts.

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 297-0298

And when we can't make our mind up? Well, it's probably Noble Chef or Sizzling Pot King:

For those times when we don't really know what to get.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

Though I think we've been getting Sizzling Pot King weekly now.

It's usually two meals for us.....and heck, if you're wondering what I do with those leftover noodles form Menya Ultra.....

 I save all the drippings from the dry pot and use it as a sauce for the noodles....I know, kinda weird, but I like this strange version of Liang Mian…..

Sizzling Pot King
8058 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 279-0088

The Missus's weekend coffee fix from Birdrock:

I'll usually drop off pour over from Birdrock on Morena.

She loves the fruity acidity of African beans and of course when there's Geisha (caution - over $12 a cup for pour over)…..

The folks there already know me by name and make an awesome pour over......even though their spelling can be a bit iffy......

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters
1270 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

And then, there's my weekly reward for working from home - Zgara Greek Grill:

Another pretty obvious pick. I'm not the biggest fan of all this WFH stuff; but Frankie needs and deserves the attention and care. So, once a week I'll reward myself.

Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110

You know looking at this list makes me wonder why other places from my usual rotation like Mien Trung aren't here.....there are some obvious reasons for others; like Yakitori, Yakiniku, Korean BBQ, and some of my regular Japanese restaurants....well, I just think takeout wouldn't do justice to the food.....though maybe EE Nami might make this list soon.

Anyway; here's looking to brighter days....I'm hoping the light at the end of the tunnel is coming into view.

And of course, I want to know, what has your takeout rotation been?

You don't mind if I indulge myself tonight, do you?

Just a quick post....man, so far it's been a pretty intense 2021 and both the Missus; who has been putting in 6 day weeks and I wanted to indulge ourselves. I hope you don't mind. You know where this is from, right?

Man, this was the best takeout we've had during the pandemic......well, perhaps it was just what we wanted?

What's your favorite takeout place?

Hope you're staying safe and having the best week possible!

Take care!