We were intrigued by the concept...
Apparently, the recently opened Juan Chou replaced a previous Mexican restaurant, El Camino. I don't even remember El Camino at all. This is next door to Rebecca's Coffee House.
We thought that the 'tacos and sushi' proclamation was interesting. It reminded me of Memelas Thai in Bonita - "Tacos + Thai + Rock". You know, that fushion thing going on.
TC and I arrived at 2:05 and they were CLOSED even though their posted hours stated a 2:00 pm opening on Saturdays. We were going to leave then decided to drive by and saw they were open at 2:15, so we nabbed an empty spot right in front of the coffee house and took our chances.
By the way, the hours posted on their door and on their website are wrong. We tried going here last Sunday for lunch but found the place CLOSED. Website says it's open on10:30 am on Sundays. Sign on door says 4:00. Fk. We ended up going to Sicilian Thing Pizza instead which was a wise choice.
Only a few folks were in here. But curiously enough, they already were served their chips and salsa. No servers to be found. No one greeted us. We felt lame standing there with no servers in sight. We ended up seating ourselves. I also got our menu myself since no one was there. Well, actually the waitress saw me getting it myself. I was kind of irritated. She was the only worker there. One guy was setting up at the bar.
Their menu had Mexican food and Japanese food.
WTF - $10 for a carne asada burrito??? I could go to Los Primos and get it for $3.99. But wait, is it farm raised beef? And $12 for two steak tacos? Hmmm...maybe the food has a pedigree?
The sushi rolls - the items with a yellow pepper symbol are mild, green are spicy and red are HOT. I chose one roll from this menu, the Juniper. The waitress recommened the Juan Chou roll and the Coco Island Roll, but the idea of coconut flakes on top of my sushi roll did not seem appetizing. She said it was a popular roll there, but I guess that depends on the audience. These rolls are very 'fusiony' and I'm sure you wouldn't see these at a traditional Japanese place.
TC chose the...(sigh), California roll. In retrospect, we should have tried two of the Specialty rolls since this was our first time here, but she wanted something familiar (i.e. safe), so I rolled with it. Pun intended.
The view from our corner table. There are two dining areas, this one and the one near the bar. I liked the table tops that had bold graphics such as the red "Loteria" table.
Our waitress was apologetic. She knew we had seated ourselves and that I got the menu. She finally brought over our chips and salsa (the one of the left was a chipotle mayo; the one on the right, a dark and spicy sauce---they tasted good mixed). I liked the presentation.
We got the Edamame appetizer ($3)...needed to have something green besides the wasabi!
Our superlong sushi rolls (10 pieces instead of the standard 8). The one one the left, California. On the right, the Juniper roll which was tempura shrimp and crab topped with avocado and chipotle sauce. There was a slight kick to it but it wasn't super hot or spicy. Even TC could handle it.
While we liked how our rolls tasted, TC and I did not like how these rolls fell apart. If you notice the shape, the rolls are flat on the bottom, thus the bottom layer of rice was thinner. When we picked up the pieces with our chopsticks, the piece fell apart.
The foyer before you enter the bathroom. Pretty Japanese parasols there and cool Day of the Dead tableau. For you non Spanish speakers, Hombres means 'men' and Mujeres means 'women'.
The very cool wall painting near the bathrooms.
We only tried the rolls this time since it was just us two. If we do go again with Bert, we hope that the service will be a little better. It seemed short staffed. That waitress ended up dropping someone's food and also gave us salt and pepper shakers at the end of our meal, huh? But hey, I'm sure they're working out the kinks (at least I hope they are). She ended up being really nice but I did not have a good first impression of the service. That being said, we may give this place another try for their other rolls.
Juan Chou
3023 Juniper St
(near 30th)
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 487-0455
juanchous.com
Up next, dessert next door.
4 comments:
I forget where I first heard of Juan Chou but I've been really curious about them. I actually kinda wished there was more Mexican/Asian fusion going on. Looking at the menu it seems the two cuisines are kinda separated?
i would be curious to hear your take on this place (if you ever do go). keep me posted!
The rolls look good. I hate it too when the rolls fall apart. Um, $12 for 2 tacos is a bit much for me. Those better be some big-ass tacos for that price.
hi c - they may look good but yeah, the construction could be better.
and forget those sky high prices for those tacos!
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