Lunching @ Mister Sushi And Some Updates

Hi all, a few updates..

I've been on a personal blogging hiatus of sorts and I didn't think it was a big deal going offline until I realized that Kirk (being a natural hub of SD food blogs) was getting emails on my behalf of people inquiring the status of A Radiused Corner. Oops, my bad and apologies for this inconvenience.

So I'm back online now with the Feed function disabled for the time being. On a lighter side I've added a few green dots to my Dots template background. Weee. It's subtle but hope you like. And while I continue to sort things out I wanted to quickly share another meal I had recently.

I first lunched at Mister Sushi quite a long while ago. A rather understated but cute little place along PB's Garnet drag strip. Great people and sushi (lunch menu here). My recent revisit I noticed they hadn't fallen into the 50% off bandwagon in these challenging times which is nice.

This day I had some Ikura (surprise), the La Bamba Hand Roll (sounded appropriately very Cali/Mexi/Japanese), and a special of the day Kohada (Dotted Gizzard Shad).



The gunkan Ikura hit the spot without surprise but the La Bamba hand roll actually exceeded my expectations for a "funky roll". Spicy chopped tuna with avocados and cilantro and other ingredients I'm not able to remember at the moment. I'd imagine something called the San Diego Hand Roll would be something similar except Uni should definitely be involved in one named such for sure.

Ordering the Edomae classic Kohada from the specials board made me feel very cool, haha. :) This fish is always served as a very light salt/vinegar marinade.



I imagine it's not for everyone but I personally really enjoyed it. To my amature taste buds it reminded me of shime saba but at a quieter volume. A nice to know is that I read that the Kohada is deemed a sustainable fish so have at it, though I believe we're at the trailing end of its season now.

The Kisu (a very delicate white fish) Tempura, was also good with a light crispy batter to match. The bonus Goya bitter melon tempura was because the Missus half of Mister Sushi is from my island hometown and we've exchanged conversations of this fact in the past.



But Hoo-wee, was the thick quarter sliced goya bitter! I still really enjoyed it though and I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had goya. It was a really nice gesture.



The Mozuku salad was another free dish (my Okinawa status is in full effect here). Slimy seaweed goodness with a sweet tart light vinegar dressing. I asked about if they would ever do a Mozuku tempura which they are looking into.

Other meals I've had in the past where I remembered to bring my camera.. (These photos are almost two years old.)
The No. 18 Roll was very good and if I remember correctly priced also ~$18. A bit on the high side but for what you get I felt worth it. Described with Spicy yellow tail, shiso leafs, tempura, caviar, with spicy tuna on top, and special sauce.




The moist and flaky Hamachi Kama (broiled hamachi collar) is available as a lunch set (with rice, soup and salad) and I remembered being quite satisfied at the end. The robust flavored dashi made the Agedashi Dofu something I can really enjoy to the last spoonful.

Aside from the special treatment (haha) Mister Sushi is really my kind of place. Good food in a nice but unpretentious environment. Next time I promised the chef to sit at the counter. I know my photos won't turn out as well there but I'd definitely make the occasion when the Itamae requests me to do so.. Wouldn't you?! :)

Mister Sushi, 1535 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA 92109

Omurice Drama - And Other Ramblings

Omurice Drama, in the literal sense...



This clip from Lunch no Joō (Queen of Lunch) is a bit long but if you're an Omurice fan, TV food nerd, or both, you probably wouldn't have too much trouble watching through the entire seven minutes (in Japanese but with decent subtitles). I still warn it's a bit yawning during some parts, specifically when they're just talking and making corny facial expressions. But that's how I feel about Asian melodramas in general maybe, haha. (The video was deleted so uploaded another version..)

So I had my second Omurice on Sunday taking Kat of Our Adventures In Japan's suggestion as an inspiration and used curry powder to flavor the rice. It turned out I had a bottle of it way in the back of my cupboard after all.. I had to give it a good *wack to use it if you know what I mean.. :)



The ad hoc first on Saturday ended up having me attempt my first Tampopo method but this second was the more popular (but still a fun challenge) roll-wrapping method.



Visual execution a B-, but the flavor a solid B+. Never underestimate the powers of the curry powder (Turmeric, Cumin, Pepper, Ginger, Coriander, etc, etc, etc..). Again aside from the seasonings the only ingredients were fine diced onions and carrots.

Cooking wannabe thought of the week:



I want to make my own (Japanese) Demi Glace Sauce. Step one, buy a big a** pot. Step two, take a week off of work. Working on step two.

Things I purchased but yet to try:



Dry Fish Powder! Which I think is very similar to what was used in Santouka's Awase-aji Ramen. I will soon find out. Kuro-Goma (Black Sesame Seed) Pudding. I bought the box and a quart of milk. Just need to make it.

But the coolest discovery was this here special packaged nori to make your own to-go Onigiri with fresh crispy crackly seaweed.



I'm definitely going to have fun with this.. :)