Gunco Ramen revisits

We were sans TC two Fridays in a row last month...

While she was off for a school event, we went to one of our "go-to" rotation restaurants...

Gunco Ramen in Chula Vista...

The room where we normally sit was all full so we sat in the "middle room" for the first time. This is the space in between Gunco Ramen and Kanpai. Our favorite waitress was there as well, a young lady in her 20s who noticed that TC was missing.


Another waitress told us she would honor Happy Hour prices for us even though there was only five more minutes left 'til it ended. Well, now, that was nice so we took advantage. We ordered some favorites such as the seaweed salad, butter corn with shrimp, and sausage with potatoes (we loved the whole roasted garlic cloves that came with this)...




Everything on the Happy Hour menu is only $3.95.  Below, my salmon skin roll with beautiful bonita flakes that quivered when the dish was set down; it was paired with spicy tuna (Bert's choice).

We hadn't had this dish in a while, the Lemon chicken - These were great little lemony bites.

A new Non-Happy Hour item that we tried was the grilled black pork belly.

We were so glad to have tried this item; the pork was thinly sliced with a few pieces having some delicious fat on the edges.

Bert wanted ramen and was surprised that it came in a half serving (for $2 less I believe). This was offered by the young waitress. We didn't even know it was a choice and now that we know, will consider the half portion for future visits. Bert's soup came in this cute small bowl (ramen with salt base and bbq pork). The portion was just right for both of us.


We noticed this sign near our table and wondered about the cold ramen. As if reading our minds, another waitress came by with an unfamiliar dish on a tray and served it to a table near us. When we asked what it was, found it it was the cold ramen.

So next visit, we told ourselves, we would try that cold ramen dish.  As luck would have it, the following week, TC once again had a school event so we went back to Gunco.

This was my ramen with the shoyu base and bbq pork. Nothing too wild for me.


Bert ordered the cold ramen which was described by the waitress as a refreshing old noodle dish with a ginger sesame dressing. Here is is below, composed with radish sprouts, cor, seasweed, strips of ham, a dollop of hot mustard on the side, and fish cake.

It doesn't look like a lot, but trust me, that bowl was wide and held a lot! Bert and I liked this cold noodle dish a lot and wouldn't mind ordering it again. According to the waitress, it is seasonal only for the summer.

Happy Hour sushi roll - tempura shrimp:

Plus our favorite sausage with potatoes (and those whole roasted garlic cloves)...

And a new non-Happy Hour item, the boneless short rib (nicely grilled and tasty with a squeeze of lemon):

and more rolls (spicy salmon, tuna and salmon skin)

These made for another nice night out.  The restaurant happened to be super busy that evening, more so than usual but the wait for our food wasn't too long...

The meats aren't happy hour prices, but they sure are good.

We were in the middle room again...

Below, ginger pork (sorry it's cut off but know that it was good) another new item plus the sausage, garlic and potatoes again.



Previous visit to Gunco Ramen:
September 2015

Hopefully TC will be able to join in for our next dinner here. It's one of our favorite spots and we do enjoy taking advantage of their happy hour specials.