Ogawashi

Yesterday was another sunny winter day in San Diego. Even though it rained the night before, skies were clear!

My vantage point from Horton Plaza of the folks ice skating near the NBC Studios. I parked on Cherry 6 and was on my way to meet up with friend and fellow foodblogger Kirbie of Kirbie's Cravings. Our lunch destination was only a few blocks away...

Located diagonally from the House of Blues...

and on the northeastern corner of 5th and C is the fairly new Ogawashi (which means "handmade" in Japanese). This  new Japanese sushi bar/craft beer restaurant used to be  the Ross department store and is conveniently located near the trolley tracks.

The doors are humongous.

"Pull, I say!"

Although this sushi place is a few blocks removed from the main Gaslamp action, I'm sure this place gets a lot of foot traffic from the folks coming and going from the HOB as well as downtown denizens.

They have lunch specials, rolls, hot entrees, and even a very LONG Happy Hour. You may see their complete menus here

Some of the photos are purplish tinged because of the lighting.

At first glance, the place seems small. Kitchen in the back. Booths in the middle and a bar on the side. Then you look up and see the second floor. Must be fun when they have their live dj's (if you're into the night life).


Kirbie and I decided to split a couple of rolls which were 20% off (thanks to Happy Hour) and a seaweed salad.

One of the rolls was baked and the other was fried.

The Crispy Rice Roll  ($11.50) - Cubes of fried sushi rice topped with tuna, a thinly sliced jalapeno, eel sauce and garnished with chili oil. The menu says "stuffed", but it's stuffed on "top".

Kirbie's had this before at other places, for me, this was the first time I've tried this type of sushi.

The Hanabi Roll ($13.50) - Spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, avocado, Spicy Salmon, crab baked with spicy mayo and topped with eel sauce.

Cross section of the roll:

Of the rolls, we liked the Crispy Rice one better. I really enjoyed the hard exterior juxtaposed with the creamy ad slightly spicy topping.  The baked roll was all right,  but it's something you could get at most sushi joints. I think I wanted it because it was served warm.  Earlier today, TC enjoyed the leftover Hanabi roll except for the piece that was touching the wasabi. I think the pickled ginger and the wasabi that was served with this roll was overkill and didn't even use it.

It was great having lunch with Kirbie and trying out this new place.  We also exchanged Christmas gifts (that will be a separate post).  I expect that Kirbie will post her take on Ogawashi soon.

Here's a blurb on what Ogawashi used to be via the SD Reader:
"Ogawashi's Coming!"

Ogawashi
1100 5th Ave
San Diego 92101
(619) 358-9170

www.ogawashi.com
and their wordpress blog

Dessert would be enjoyed later at home (courtesy of Kirbie's latest trip to the Napa Valley...)