Robataya Oton, the little Japan of San Diego

Shoes off when dining in the private seating areas of Robataya Oton

Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa, just a couple of blocks off-Convoy Street

Price: $$$ (Depends on how much fresh sushi you order!)

Vibe: This dark little restaurant, with private wooden booths gives us all the feels for an authentic Japanese dining experience

If you’ve read this blog before, you know how much I love Convoy Street (Kearny Mesa) and all that this area of town has to offer. We are SO lucky to have such an eclectic selection of wonderful Asian restaurants right here in San Diego. If you haven’t explored this part of town yet, please get out there and try something new next time you dine out. P.S. my blog offers a ton of our favorite offerings at different restaurants along Convoy Street. Just search “Kearny Mesa” here to see some of my suggestions.

Back to this fabulous little restaurant that is Robataya Oton! Located in a little strip mall off Kearny Villa Road, just bordering the 163 freeway. You must make reservations because the restaurant is small, with only a few private dining booths and some seats at the sushi bar. As customary when visiting someone’s home in Japan, you take your shoes off before climbing into one of the private booths, and immediately you feel a little more relaxed in this charming dining spot.

Our view of the sushi bar from our private booth

The owner and chef, Takumi Sakurai, prides himself on choosing only the finest local ingredients and actually sources some of the seafood selections straight from Japan! This is ever-so-evident when we start getting our dishes delivered. I’m a little embarrassed by how many orders of the yellowtail belly nigiri and fresh Hamachi carpaccio we ordered, so I won’t exhaust you with the details. The sushi here is so unbelievably fresh that it literally melts in your mouth. We were so into our eating experience that I failed to get a picture of the Hamachi carpaccio, except for one last piece, oops!

Yellowtail belly nigiri

The only picture I got of the Hamachi carpaccio — a testament to how delicious it was.

We also ordered the chicken karaage, lightly battered and deep-fried and seasoned to perfection. This was a delicious crunchy bite, and yes, we ordered this twice because the first order went so fast.

Chicken Karaage

Tara Saikayo

Though the image above doesn’t quite do it justice, I also must recommend the Tara Saikyo — an appetizer of black cod cooked and caramelized in a delicious Saikyo miso marinade. I could have eaten 10 of these!

Our fixens for Shabu Shabu

The grand finale of this eating adventure of course had to be one of the hot pot options on the menu. I love a good hot pot, and while we typically order the Chanko Nabe (with miso base and pork — incredible!), this time we opted for the Shabu Shabu - just to try something different. It was a great selection of Premium thin sliced beef and vegetables, mushrooms, and tofu cooked in Japanese "Dashi" soup stock. The Shabu was a fun change, but the dashi soup stock didn’t have that knock-you-down flavor I was hoping for. It’s served with sesame sauce and ponzu sauce, and we found that adding some to our individual bowls and using it for a dipping sauce was a needed addition to the Shabu Shabu.

Shabu Shabu

Robatay Oton is a truly special restaurant in the off-Convoy area. A great way to taste a variety of Japanese offerings in a place that feels like home.

Robataya Oton

5447 Kearny Villa Rd.

San Diego, CA. 92123

Shabumi - eat your heart out with all you can eat hot pot

Neighborhood: Strip mall off Balboa Ave. in Kearny Mesa, San Diego

Price: $$

Vibe: Large restaurant space is super casual; they even have a button on the wall to call your waiter over for more food or drink. You are not here for the atmosphere; you are here to eat!

Sure, I’ve heard of all you can eat Korean BBQ and steakhouses like Fogo de Chao, but all you can eat hot pot? Is it true?

Recently, my favorite foodie friend (whom I Food Club with at least once a month) shared a new hot pot place she has been keeping a secret from me. You see, we love our hot pot, and traditionally visit our mainstay, “Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot” for our fix. But Little Sheep closes at 9:00 SHARP. They will literally start cleaning around you until you are ushered out by the smell of Lysol and vinegar overtaking your hot pot steam. So, this calls for an alternative if say you’re having a late dinner and are still craving your Chinese hot pot. Which brings me to Shabumi. This joyous little spot is off-Convoy in a shopping center on Balboa Avenue, open late and providing a much different foodie adventure for the hot pot enthusiast.

Shabumi offers both “all-you-can-eat” hot pot AND Korean BBQ. So, you get to choose your own adventure. A cool option for groups that may want a little variety. Kind of like Fogo de Chao, Shabumi offers this amazing “salad bar” of offerings — this is where you grab your veggies and dumplings for your hot pot from an assortment of options. They also have some cooked offerings like egg and scallion pancakes, gummy rice noodles and more. The assortment changes and they are constantly bringing out new items to freshen up the bar area.

Salad bar

They also have a pretty large offering of different sauces to either use for dipping your hot pot or BBQ, or I tend to take some of that spice and throw it right into the hot pot. One unique feature of Shabumi is that there is no “shared” hotpot or BBQ — everyone has their own personal burner in front of them, so you can create your own flavors and spices and don’t have to worry that someone may not like it. It’s your own personal meal!

We chose hot pot (of course) for our meal - one of these days I’ll try to Korean BBQ, but the salad bar items seem more geared toward hot pot, and I just couldn’t resist those dumpling and vegetable options! We started with the chicken broth base, which I’ll admit, is not the same umami goodness that you get from Little Sheep (the broth that tastes like it’s been steeping for days like a good pho). The broth can definitely use a little spiciness or at least you’re going to want to dip your goods to get a little more flava. For meats, we chose the prime top blade beef, lamb leg and pork belly. The meats are delivered quickly, in smaller portions about 6 pieces a plate. We grabbed veggies, dumplings and some noodles from the bar (unfortunately, no Udon noodles, which are my fave). Everything is marked with a description at the bar, so it’s fairly easy to pick and choose your fixings.

This is a really fun, individual hot pot dining experience— and open late to provide more flexibility for your dining needs. Don’t forget the sake, oh and there’s a button on the wall next to your table for immediate service to meet your needs. Check out Shabumi and have fun!

My individual hot pot creation

The “can I get another sake immediately” button

Shabumi

Located in: Balboa Mesa Shopping Center

5667 Balboa Ave

San Diego, CA 92111

Clairemont

Sometimes it’s better when you make it. Recipe ideas for entertaining or just for you.

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. Where it all began…

All spicy, all-day-long hot pot

When I think about how this adventurous food sampling all started, I think of Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot.  There are a lot of new hot pot places joining the restaurant scene in San Diego, but the real “OG” is Little Sheep.  This is what lit a passion inside me to start exploring the wild world of Convoy Street in San Diego. I don’t think I would have dared to attempt this unknown world of spicy delight, if it weren’t for a friend who took a group of us novices here for the first time.  Because, if you have never been to hot pot, it can be a little intimidating (and don’t expect to be guided by the servers here – no time, no patience).  So here are some tips for first timers ready to try this spicy, salty food adventure:

Choose your broth:  A lot of people say they like spicy food (and I believe them, I’m not saying they don’t), but Chinese spice is a lot different than say, Mexican spice.  I always suggest starting with the yin/yang pot. This smart design offers both the mild and spicy broth in a yin/yang pot split down the middle.  This is great if you have a table of mixed spicy lovers because there is something for everyone.  I’ve also been told by friends that the vegetarian (mushroom) broth is divine, but I have yet to stray from my favorites.

yin/yang broth

Choose your meats: some favorites are Supreme lamb shoulder, Supreme angus beef and pork belly….mmmm!  For the more adventurous eaters the meat options get more adventurous the further down the menu you go – intestine, anyone?  Choose your own adventure!  I suggest for a party of 4 to start with at least 2 meat options, and if you’re hungry order the large for each.  It’s important to note that you can always order more.

Selection of meat, veggies, wontons and noodles

Choose your veggies:  This may be my favorite part of the hot pot, well who am I kidding, I love it all.  Some of my favorite veggies are cabbage, spinach, pea shoots, baby bok choy, watercress and mushrooms (I love enoki and wood ear).  I suggest getting a small of each.  They do offer a vegetable “combo”, but I don’t feel like it includes enough of the good stuff. 

Choose your noodles & stuff:  the favorite in our group is the large udon noodle and the house lamb wontons (I’d get a large too) – you’re welcome!  The other noodles are ehhhh…long, and harder to pull out of the pot, and well, just less delicious.

Sample menu

Other stuff:  You can also add seafood to your hot pot, things like fish balls, etc. but I’ll be honest, I stick to the above.  Call me less adventurous, call me whatever, but the seafood does change the taste of the broth and I just want spicy, meaty goodness.  This is your hot pot, so you do you.  They also have side dishes like potstickers, which are delicious.  But they will probably come halfway through or near the end of your meal, or sometimes not at all.  Additional spicy dipping sauces to customize your bowl are available on request - do it.

Dipping sauces and extra spices available upon request

How to pot hot:  Because you’re getting hungry…especially once the server brings your pot of broth to the table and that spicy aroma starts to sting your nostrils, I suggest starting with a little meat appetizer. First — and this is the hardest part – wait for the pot to boil!  It’s best to avoid prematurely adding things to your hot pot. This has not been scientifically proven, but I’m pretty sure you will prolong the boil and have to wait longer. (FACT, almost)

Select some of the meat and drop it into the broth. The meat cooks quickly, like a few seconds in the hot pot.  Maybe throw some fast-cooking veggies in too (spinach, watercress).  Everyone, grab an appetizer.  You are given two different spoons – a slotted spoon and a regular ladle.  The slotted spoon is for selecting your favorite items without making your cup runneth over.  But don’t worry, this will happen anyway.  I usually keep my bowl on top of my plate for overflow, you’ll see... 

After the appetizer round, start adding to your hot pot.  Things like dumplings and noodles will take longer to cook – so I suggest throwing in about half of each to start.  You don’t want those dumplings boiling in there too long or they may get a little mushy and fall apart (still delicious).  Make sure that you check with your tablemates before throwing new items in, no one wants a scoop of raw noodles or meat, and this is a communal meal (unless you’re hot potting alone and that’s wonderful too).

Some tips for you:

·         Do not wear white or anything light in color, because that broth will drip down the front of you, and it’s oily so it may stain.  I wear black to avoid showing anyone how much hot pot missed my mouth.

·         You WILL get excited and burn your mouth at least once, this isn’t a tip, just more of a fact.  You can try to prevent it and if you do, congratulations (liar).

·         Beware of inhaling that spicy broth – you will choke and cough a little and maybe cry, but this is all part of the experience.  Keep eating.

·         The lamb wontons and any dumplings in the hot pot are extremely hot and will stay hot even in your little personal bowl. I like to pull out the wontons and let them cool on my plate for a while before consuming.

·         Didn’t finish?  Have leftovers and you have reached your limit?  Throw them in the hot pot and cook that shit and take the leftovers home.  Warm them up on the stove and voila - spicy soup for lunch!

My ideal hot pot night looks like this, and don’t forget the sake and Asahi.

Saki and large Asahi

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

4718 Clairemont Mesa Blvd,

San Diego, CA 92117

Interested in making it yourself? Check out our recipe section for some inspiration!