In this case, it was with seasoned Sakura-fans, Dennis of A Radiused Corner and Cathy of Mmm-Yoso...
Look for the strip mall sign above...This is the strip mall AFTER Nijiya's (if you are headed North on Convoy). No signage for Sakura. It's been the Army recruiting station and Shabu (looks like "Swab") World.
Lunch was on the later side. Dennis wanted to make sure the sushi chef was there when we had lunch.
Part of their menu. It's a huge square, like scrapbook paper size. The other side is in Japanese. Each menu had different background paper
Their bento lunch specials:
It was cool to hear Dennis order in Japanese! Below was an item that he ordered which was NOT on the menu, the Ika-Somen or raw squid cut to resemble noodles. The squid was resting in a soy based sauce with finely grated ginger and thinly sliced scallions. Very refreshing. I've never had squid prepared that way before.
An order of Chicken Karaage was also shared between us three. Nice and crunchy exterior with a soft (almost too soft, like I was afraid it was kind of raw) interior. Since I wasn't doubled over in pain atop the toilet and spewing out both ends, I assume that the chicken was salmonella and e coli free. Sometimes I get really leary of soft chicken.
Cathy's beautifully prepared Spicy Fish Salad - filled with all kinds of raw fish like salmon, tuna, and whitefish, and topped with daikon sprouts.
And yes, the "noodle-scored" squid was also in her salad which she really enjoyed.
I got a basic lunch set (rice, miso soup, pickled vegetable, salad and some other sort of rice appetizer) with the Grilled Saury (also known as Mackerel Pike), an elongated fish with a strong flavor and tiny tiny bones.
I knew what I was getting into. It wasn't really a fish for "beginners", but I didn't care. I just saw "saury" on the menu and wanted to try it. I had to employ the use of a knife and fork because chopsticks weren't going to do it for me. I know how to use 'em but I'm not that dexterous when it comes to this particular fish's tiny and thin bones. The fish itself smelled tasty and smoked. It was a lot of work just to get a little bit of the meat, especially since I was worried about choking on the bones. And I thought Bangus (milkfish) had a lot of bones!
There's my saury looking at me...
Dennis had the Uni Don bowl - loads and loads of uni topped with salmon roe and on the outer edge of the bowl, strips of nori tucked into the rice. Very pretty! He also got to have watermelon with his lunch set!
Our lunch...
The saury skeleton. You can still see many bones left in the meat. I barely finished half even though it was such a small fish.
This was the intestinal tract that Dennis warned me about. While some people choose to eat it and enjoy it's bitter flavor, I pulled it out and separated it!
In all, a very relaxing lunch outing just catching up with two great people.
Who else ate at Izakaya Sakura?
Cathy was here recently as was Dennis who posted on our lunch in record time.
Of course, Kirk has been here many times (this post links previous visits), along with Dennis, and Kirbie.
Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St. #121
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 569-6151
Izakayasakura.menutoeat.com
And that's not all folks...we made a quick visit to the market next door to pick up some dessert and snacks!
6 comments:
Looks like a great spread!
Dennis and Cathy had prettier meals. Mine was the hardest to eat.
This was fun. And thanks again for the gifts!
hi dennis - glad you liked them, especially the ketchup pringles!
It was a great lunch and a nice time. Always good food here. Thanks again for the Canadian gift bag!
hi cathy - glad you are enjoying the canadian goodies! glad i finally went to sakura and with good company too of course.
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