Trip to San Diego (Winter 2010)...Mexican to Japanese to Vietnamese

Jason and I drove down to San Diego for a 2-day trip this week. I'm sure this would be my last trip of this year.

On our way down, we made a quick stop in Encinitas for lunch snack. We went to El Nopalito, which is a popular Mexican hole-in-the-wall place in the area. I had a chicken tamale (with mole sauce...it was a good saue) and a carnitas taco. Jason had a nopalitos & huevos (cactus and egg) plate. I wasn't sure why Jason picked the dish...

Shortly after, we were in San Diego. We hung out at Balboa Park. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. We saw a cute rabbit...I thought it was a lucky sign for us to see the rabbit just before the year of the rabbit!

Our dinner was at Robataya Oton in Kerny Mesa. The restaurant was absolutely packed and there were also people waiting outside. I was happy to be back here for another authentic izakaya treat. We got a private room and did our own "bonen-kai" (year-end dinner). The dinner was great.

The next morning was a rainstorm in San Diego. So, we had to change our plan and decided to leave town in the morning. By the time we were in Orange County, the weather was a little better. So, we took a detour and decided to have lunch in Little Saigon (Westminster). It was actually my first time to come to area, and I was so surprised to see all the Vietnamese restaurants/ shops/ businesses over many blocks. We checked out Quan Hy Restaurant, which is one of the most popular places in Little Saigon. We started with Banh Beo (rice cakes, topped with fried onions and crab meat), then Jason had the Bun Bo Hue (spicy soup noodle with meat...it's a thick noodle), and I had a vermicelli dish with BBQ pork and shrimp egg rolls.

We got very full.

We came back to LA safely in the afternoon.

Trip to San Diego (Fall 2010)...Tacos lunch at South Beach Bar & Grill

On the 2nd day in San Diego, it was still drizzling in the morning but the sky eventually cleared later on.

I drove to Ocean Beach to try the fish tacos at South Beach Bar & Grille. Ocean Beach is a very relaxed and cute beach town (very hippie-ish), and it's also a popular surfing destination. I used to come here often to hang out when I was an exchange student at SDSU long time ago, so I became a bit nostalgic.

I decided to go to this place because I heard about their killer fish tacos, without knowing it was a typical sports bar...! When I got there, I was a bit overwhelmed by the ambience (sports bar is normally the last type of place I think of hanging out at), but soon I found myself enjoying it. It was fun for a change and the bar tenders were very cute (beach girls!). The place was quickly filled up by midday with seemingly all locals. There were many guys in football jersey and the music was so loud!

South Beach Mai Tai and Oyster Shooter. Oyster was shucked to order and topped with cocktail sauce and grated garlic. I squeezed a lemon wedge and tasted it. It was very good!

This place is known for seafood tacos. I had Grilled Mahi Mahi Taco and Fried Calamari Taco with Bean and Rice. They were so big! Both tacos were fresh and tasty. Nice bar food! For everything I had including the oyster and strong mai tai, the lunch was only $18...what a deal!

Trip to San DIego (Fall 2010)...Night at Oton and Okan

I had such an inspiring fantastic night in San Diego tonight.

My new Japanese friends, who are both locals in San Diego, introduced me to their regular hangout spots for dinner. We first met at Robataya Oton in Kearny Mesa, which is an eastern community of San Diego. We went there because Oton serves authentic donabe dishes in Iga-yaki donabe!!! I was so excited to try their donabe dishes there.

I was so delightedly surprised when I entered the restaurant with the beautiful look and ambience of this place. It felt just like a nice izakaya in a district like Ebisu of Tokyo! There is a small counter seating over looking the kitchen, and the rest are all the semi-private dining rooms with hori-gotatsu (the low table over the whole on the floor). The interior design has both modern and classic decorations, it's so stylish and cozy at the same time.

The menu is very extensive and includes many seasonal specials. I wanted to eat everything. The sake list is also extensive with some are very rare artisanal items. I started with Japanese COEDO Beer (black) from Kawagoe, Saitama. We also had Kikuizumi, Ginjo, from Aomori, which is a rare sake to find in the US.

Wow...everything was so authentic and so delicious! I never expected I could taste the real quality Hiryuzu (that's how they call Ganmodoki in Kansai region...stuffed deep-fried tofu in light broth) in San Diego. So precious. Every dish was prepared with the real professional "work" with care, and they were all served in beautiful dishware.

It was time for the donabe dish! We chose Kaki no Dotenabe (Hiroshima-style deep miso hot pot with oysters, tofu, and vegetables). It was prepared in Nagatani-en's donabe at the table. The dish was so beautiful by both visual and taste. For "shime", we chose ramen noodles. My stomach was so happy. We even had the dessert...black sesame flan. So yummy.

I had a top-notch izakaya experience tonight. I was so impressed by everything. The service was very nice, too.

After the dinner, we went down to Okan, which is a sister restaurant of Oton and located nearby. We only had drinks there (we were already beyond full), but my friends told me Okan's food is as great as Oton's, and they serve upgraded homey Japanese dishes. Their space was also beautiful and felt just like in Japan. I want both Oton and Okan in LA...seriously!!

I had a real blast with wonderful food and the wonderful people. Thank you, Hiroko-san and Tomomi-san!!

Trip to San Diego (Fall 2010)...Chirashi Lunch at Sushi Ota

I drove down to San Diego for a 2-day trip by myself yesterday. I've got some missions to do while I'm here. The distance from Los Angeles to San Diego is just about 120 miles. Although I hit some traffic (there was a car on fire on the freeway!), it took me less than 2 hours to get down there. It's been a couple of years since my last visit to SD, so I was quite excited.

As I entered the city, I drove straight to my first destination. It was Sushi Ota in Pacific Beach. The place was a recommendation by a local friend of mine. She said it's the most popular sushi restaurant in SD. I was so hungry after the drive and ready to grind. Despite the simple look (in a mini mall) outside, the restaurant has a nice authentic feel inside and the space is quite large. They were still very busy when I got there around 1.30pm.

I ordered Delux Chirashi Sushi ($25)...it was a little early birthday gift for myself:-) The side fried salmon was so fresh and nice. And the chirashi sushi was outstanding! Sushi rice was generously topped with slices of toro (fatty tuna), tai, surf clam, salmon, uni, eel, etc. Tamago-yaki (omelet) had the cute baked mark of their name "OTA". The quality of seafood was really high and the slices were nicely thick. Toro was the real deal. I was so satisfied!

Next time, I want to come back here for dinner (at the sushi bar) with Jason, for sure.