mmm-yoso!!!

Circling Back to Sushi Tadokoro

On a recent weekend, while grabbing an Americano, I heard someone call out my name, "Kirk-san, Kirk-san, how are you?" My goodness, it was Take-san from Sushi Tadokoro! We stopped and chatted...and I realized, it had been a while since we'd visited. Like over four years! Oh my.....how time flies and all that. I needed to correct that situation ASAP. So we headed back down to Tadokoro.

Sitting in front of Take-san was a treat. It was the usual for us; make sure the Missus gets Her Ankimo, and nigiri (and sake) until we say "no mas".

Things started out with three wonderful dishes.

From right to left; a perfectly fried, meaty Shishamo (smelt) wrapped in shiso which added that nice herbaceous almost mint life flavor, the crisp tempura batter adding texture, the wonderful reduction contributing a nice acidity and a mild spice to really balance things out. In the middle was what I thought perhaps might be goma tofu; but I was told it was "Yuba".....it was so smooth and creamy, amazingly beany.

And of course, the Missus's favorite, the savory-oceany Ankimo, still as good as ever.

Take-san served us items with his tare or seasoned in a way that we didn't need that bottle of soy or wasabi.

A good example was the amazingly tender Hirame (halibut), treated with a nice balanced tare.

Really enhancing the mild sweetness of the shiromi (whitefish).

The Aji (Spanish Mackerel) was amazing in texture, tender and meaty, unlike the usual chewy Aji.

This was prepped perfectly, the mild savory tones enhanced by a touch of ginger and scallion. Still, that texture was quite surprising. Take-san told me this Aji was line caught "Ougon Aji", which makes a lot of difference.

The tare really brought out the richness of the Iwashi (sardine) and the acidity really balanced out the oily-richness of the fish.

So meaty and savory.....

The Missus is not a fan of Saba....but in this case, Take-san told me he doesn't over-cure his Mackerel and there seems to be a nice balance achieved.

Meaty-moist, slightly rich, not overly salty, not overly fishy-oily. That thin slice of seaweed really did wonders for flavor....Take-san told me that there are only two women he knows of that still make this.

The Maguro-zuke is a standard for us here. Though this time he added yuzi kosho, for a nice, mild, spicy-citrus hit.

Next up was a surprise.

At first glance, I didn't know what it was. Take-san told me he had a surplus of Kinmedai (Golden Eye Snapper), so he simmered it with bones and all in a typical soy based sauce until the fat-bone-connective tissue gave off all the flavor and gelatin. This was so savory....it had the Missus wishing for rice!

We love Hokkaido Uni, to us, even though it's smaller, the uni in Hokkaido is sweeter and wonderfully briny.

This was no exception.

By this time, the Missus and I had thrown in the towel....we were perfectly satisfied. But Take-san asked if he could make one more item for us. He brought out a package of nori and made us an Ikura Hand Roll......the amazing thing about this wasn't the ikura, nor the perfectly seasoned rice, but the nori. It was crisp, like it had been toasted, there was a smokiness to it.

During his last trip back to Japan, he decided to taste as many different nori from the Sea of Ariake, an area known for having the best seaweed in Japan. This is the one he brought back with him. It was a wonderful end to a fabulous meal.

It had me wondering...since it had been several years since we last visited. While Tadokoro still deals with tons of sushi rolls and such; it seems that Take-san has stepped up his game. Or is it just me?

As we walked out of Tadokoro the Missus told me; "this has me really missing Japan." I guess I know where we're going later on this year!

Sushi Tadokoro
2244 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110

Like I said before:

Go early for best selection and a more relaxed pace and atmosphere. Even better, make reservations and go early.

Mikami Revolving Sushi and Bar-a first look (Clairmont Mesa)

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Cathy is writing today while Kirk stays busy at work.

Another revolving sushi bar has opened in San Diego. Located at the South West corner of Clairmont Mesa at Ruffner, in the same mall as PT Eatery, Katsu Cafe, one of the original Lolita locations, the Tea Station location  I write about.  The corner across Ruffner Street has the Original Tommy's.  The other corner, across Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, has Ajisen Ramen.  The parking area is plentiful and free (compared to the parking area by the other San Diego revolving sushi restaurant, Kura).

 The Mister and I were here on a weekday (and Mikami is still in the 'Soft Opening' stage) and only one Conveyor was open.  The second photo is looking into the Bar area, which has no conveyors, but where appetizers, entrees and 'buckets' can be ordered.
The rolling conveyor (kaiten) had a good variety of choices, although a good 1/3 were salmon based (The Mister doesn't really like salmon), each group of plates proceeded by a plate with a description on one side and number on the other.  All conveyor plates are $2.80.  Beverages are $2.85 (and the hot tea is really good).
As always, we like to try the salad offerings. This was plentiful and filling.  Fresh vegetables as well as good quality krab along with avocado. 
 We got all wild and crazy and chose a 'Las Vegas Roll' from the rolling belt.  The breaded fried roll had a filling including real crab and cream cheese.  It was fresh and tasty. We also shared this half and half (tuna and salmon with cucumber filling) roll, which was also fresh and well made.

 Then we set our eyes on the touch pad ordering system. Pretty simple to navigate; we did order one item at a time.  First we decided to try the fried calamari rings ($7). 

 The smooth running wood railed trolly delivery system was pretty much silent.  Once you take your order off the rocket ship, you can send it back by pushing the button on the table or it will eventually automatically go back to the kitchen.
The sea salt topped (where else does salt come from?) fried calamari rings were quite nice, well fried, not greasy, and served with a slightly spicy dipping sauce.
 We also ordered a Blue Crab hand roll ($2.80) which was quite large and fresh made (the rice was still warm). Really nice quality.
The soy wrapped spicy scallop hand roll (also $2.80) was  wonderful and also much larger than expected.  I would much rather have this than three smaller spicy scallop rolls from the conveyor for the same price.
We didn't see any soft shell crab on the conveyor nor on the menu, however when we asked, found out it's the 'Spider Roll' (again, $2.80) and wow, we will order two of these next time!  Perfectly fried half of a soft shell crab.

A nice alternative in a good location.

 
Mikami Revolving Sushi and Bar 7319 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 Sun-Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

Kotobuki - It's "R&R" Week

I'm sure you're asking what the heck "R&R Week" is......and no; it's not "Rest and Relaxation", though I wish it was. This week; other than travel type posts, I'll (finally) get around to posting some of the "Recommendations and Requests" that I've gotten. I've often said; this blog would not exist without the wonderful comments, question, recommendations, and requests I get. Right off, I'll say that my definition of "R&R" might be rather broad; it could be just a quick email, comment, you know "have you tried????" kind of thing. But, I hope you enjoy these posts......

Several months back "Julie" mentioned Kotobuki in the comments of my most recent Kokoro post; saying "fish quality is fantastic". So, over the last couple of months I made a couple of visits to this rather low-keyed location (I believe it used to be Wa Sushi), in the corner of the strip mall that houses Khan's Cave, Boll Weevil, and La Miche.

In between meetings I headed over to Kotobuki right after opening for lunch.

The place is rather spartan; on both my lunch visits, a charming little girl was coloring and doing other things at one table. The Itaemae is an older gentlemen.

The sushi bar is "walled off"; so you really can't ogle the fish, nor watch the Itamae in action.

The lunch menu had several items priced rather reasonably; so I ordered the Chirashi Lunch ($14.99).

I wasn't a big fan of the watered down miso soup. The sushi meshi had a nice balance that I enjoyed; not too over-powering sour tones; but was quite pleasant and the rice was prepped nicely.

Of the fish; the salmon was nicely fatty and tender; the maguro quite decent, meaty with no off flavors, and the Hamachi was tender, almost buttery. The tamago had a nice eggy-sweetness and was fairly supple. The shiromi; the whitefish was dry and the shrimp mushy.

With some tea; this made for a decent meal.

A few weeks later; I decided to drop by for lunch again and got the Sashimi Lunch Combo ($15.99).

The miso soup was the same as was the Hamachi, very nice texture.

The maguro wasn't the best cut this time around; on the tough side and dry. The Tai was pretty good, slight chew, mild sweetness. The salmon was fine, though not as good as on my previous visit.

The rice was fluffy and moist.

This was fine; though I had enjoyed the chirashi a bit more.

After my two lunches; I decided to drop by for dinner and was seated at the bar. That wood paneling really separates you from watching the Itamae and he seemed to not want to converse with his customers. In fact, you order by menu from the Server and have no interaction with the Itamae. This kind of takes away form the experience in my mind. I've always thought that eating at the sushi bar was a very personal, somewhat intimate experience......

I did ask the very efficient young lady what was good today and was told, "it's on the menu...…." Ok......

I placed my order and was served all my nigiri at once.

The nigiri are on the smaller size; even smaller than the Edomae stylings of Tadokoro; though it makes for a decent small bite.

The Kanpachi was a lot whiter than what I've seen in the past. It also seemed a bit fattier, with a mild sweetness.

I'm fairly certain it wasn't escolar and was told in no uncertain terms it was Kanpachi; which to me is Greater Amberjack. Whatever; this , in terms of texture was quite good.

The Hotate, scallop was sliced a bit too thinly for my taste and wasn't very sweet.

The Maguro had that "tinny" flavor that I don't care for, though in terms of fat and texture, it was the best of the three portions I'd had so far.

And it had that "center cut" to ensure it could be folded over the rice.

The Toro was very good; nice texture, meaty, buttery, no off flavors.

It was a pleasure to eat.

I had requested my Tamago to be served last, which they did.

It was a nice piece of tamago; just as good as what I'd had in the Chirashi and with a mild sweetness and the light handed touches to the shari; this was a nice "dessert" of sorts.

As you can see; I'm not a real big eater and this enough for me. Kotobuki seems like a decent neighborhood sushi bar; though the service seemed all business. Or perhaps it was just that "wall" in front of the sushi bar and the Itamae not engaging customers. The prices are good, the quality decent. Perhaps I'll drop by in the future again.

Kotobuki
9340 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123
Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 2pm, 5pm - 9pm
Saturday  5pm - 9pm

Thanks for the recommendation Julie!

Revisits - HiroNori Craft Ramen and Sushi Yaro

A couple of revisits for a busy Monday

HiroNori Craft Ramen:

I had meetings in the Hillcrest area; which conveniently finished at 1130. Sometimes things just work our right. I had wanted to revisit HiroNori since my first couple of visits in March. I was seated at the counter by one of the cheerful staff and of course I ordered the Shoyu Ramen, which I really enjoyed during a previous visit. I guess I really liked the flavor of barrel aged shoyu used for the tare.

So, how would it fare four months later?

The noodles were every bit as good a on my previous visits, with a meaty chew, the chashu tender and "porky", the ajitama was warm and seasoned well. The menma; bamboo shoots were too cold though. The broth was interesting; still good, the tongue feel was excellent for shoyu ramen; still it didn't have that level of complexity; the lightly sweet-umami I enjoyed previously. It was also a bit too salty this time around.

Don't get me wrong; this is still my second favorite ramen in San Diego. But, having had this before, I expect some consistency and this wasn't quite as good as what I'd had previously.

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

Sushi Yaro:

Well, I hadn't been to Sushi Yaro since our office moved to the UTC area. First off, Sammy stopped doing lunch service, second, well life had just been too busy.

So, a few weeks back, wondering how the place was doing, I decided to head on over.

And ordered my typical sashimi; which delivered. I especially loved the engawa.

I know, you go into Yaro and see all the really "interesting" rolls.....which is not my thing. But they always have some good fish on hand for old fogies like me.

This hit the spot!

And, as a super bonus, my good friends Candice and Quanito dropped by for some beer as well! Just like old times. I've missed you my friends!

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

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!