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

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ

Neighborhood:  Kearney Mesa, San Diego

Price: $$-$

Vibe: Small, casual and lively – make reservations. Japanese room dividers separate most of the tables for a little privacy. Can accommodate larger parties of 8-10 with beer towers to boot!

If you’ve read anything else in this blog, you’ll know that I’m kind of obsessed with Asian food.  There is so much to explore in this cuisine!  I promise I won’t stop until I’ve tried it all….at least that’s the goal.  Which brings me to my discovery of Japanese BBQ.  I’m sure that you’ve tried or at least heard of Korean BBQ. Where you are seated at a table with a mini grill in the middle where you cook and flip the meat yourself. A lot of Korean BBQ joints offer an “all-you-can-eat” menu, and while this is delicious, it can sometimes feel like quantity over quality. Japanese BBQ is not the all-you-can-eat type of fare.  You still order meats and cook it yourself, but as you can imagine when it comes to anything with Japanese, it’s meticulous.  The cuts of meat are perfect morsels - probably cut and defined for both the perfect cook and the perfect bite.  It’s an experience.  One that you must try at least once.

Tsuruhashi is in a little strip mall off Convoy Street in Kearney Mesa – where most of the authentic hole-in-the-wall gems are found in San Diego.  You’ll immediately be greeted by the warm buzzing atmosphere of the BBQs sizzling and the diners happily engrossed in conversation as you walk in the door.  The tables are all separated by large booths and wall-hangings, so you are able to stuff your face in privacy. 

The food options are many and there is really nothing that isn’t good – some of the more ethnic options (tongue, intestine, heart) are not for me, so this won’t be a review of those menu items. But we did try a lot of food and had a lot of fun cooking and eating it.

Our order:

Assorted Kimchi

Assorted Seasoned Vegetable

Waygu shortrib

Waygu sirloin

Prime Cap Rib Eye

Onion Prime Rib

Garlic in butter

Stone Pot Bibimbap

Assorted Kimchi and Assorted Vegetables

To start, I suggest getting the assorted seasoned vegetable and the assorted kimchi (if you like kimchi).  These are great appetizers – the assorted vegetable is unique and fun to try, featuring a small sampling of bean sprouts (LOVE), Royal Fern and spinach.  Try this.  The kimchi sampler is the same with 4 different types of kimchi made with different types of cabbage.  These are also great to eat with your meats as you BBQ!

Another side dish that is fabulous and goes well with the meats is the Stone Pot Bibimbap.  All vegetarian, this comes out in a sizzling stone pot.  I recommend letting the server stir and serve it up for you.  Lots of unique flavors and spice in this yummy side.

For BBQ, they were having a special on the Waygu – so we simply could not pass that up!  We don’t always go so bougie…well, that’s kind of a lie, we love to splurge at Food Club!

Waygu Short Rib

Onion Prime Rib

There really are no rules when it comes to how and when you want to BBQ.  What we like to do is cook each cut of meat at the same time.  The grill is not that big, so it’s not meant to smother with loads of meat. Take your time with Japanese BBQ and savor each bite, the meat deserves it.  Because the pieces are small, they do tend to cook fast, so keep an eye on your gill!  A couple of minutes on each side is all you need, typically.  I like to alternate between the dipping sauces as I enjoy what we pull off the grill.  All of the meats are fabulous and if you don’t feel like splurging on the Waygu (which is absolutely divine by the way), I highly recommend the Prime Rib!

BBQ, drink, and eat to your heart’s content!  And repeat.

Do you have a favorite order at Japanese BBQ? Share it with us!

Tsuruhashi

3904 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111

Yakyudori for delicious ramen, gyoza and wings?

Nagoya ramen - spicy bamboo shoots, chives, stir fried minced pork

Neighborhood: Convoy Street, Kearney Mesa, San Diego

Price: $

Vibe: Intimate and smokey, there are a few small tables and seats at the bar/BBQ where you can chat up the chefs cooking up yakitori

I often talk about Convoy Street in this blog. For those not familiar, Convoy Street is bustling little Asia-town, situated in the heart of Kearny Mesa in San Diego. This area is teeming with delicious delights of all ethnicities and varieties. One goal for this blog and our “food club” is to explore this area more. There are many Convoy restaurants that I know and love. But for each that I know, there are a dozen others that have not yet been explored. There’s a lot of eating to do and I’m working on it.

Until I get around to exploring some new Convoy restaurants, let me share with you one that I’ve frequented for at least the last decade, probably longer. Yakyudori is a small and unassuming Japanese BBQ restaurant tucked away off-Convoy next to Starbucks. I realize that typically one goes to a yakitori restaurant to get, well, yakitori.  Yakitori is a Japanese BBQ style of cooking that involves skewering the meat or vegetable with “kushi”, a type of skewer made of bamboo or steel and cooked over a charcoal fire.  This usually makes for a smoky atmosphere in the restaurant, and it may overwhelm at times, but it’s a good smoky.  Yakitori is delicious, don’t get me wrong, but when I crave my favorite bowl of ramen, with the spicy broth that makes my nose run, with ground pork (instead of chatsu) and bamboo shoots – my favorite is Yakyudori.  This amazing little BBQ joint is a lot more than just yakitori and I’m here to share with some of my favorite, non-yakitori items.

ipad to order your meal

The appetizers are wonderful. The gyozas are always a good option, you can order them steamed or fried, and the chicken wings are just delicious! Very crunchy and great seasoning.

Gyozas

Salt and pepper chicken wings. Try them!

Let’s get down to the real reason I keep coming back, my favorite bowl of steaming spicy broth – the Nagoya ramen.  People looking for some spice in their ramen are probably going to get swayed into ordering the “spicy miso” or “spicy tonkotsu” broth, but don’t let the simple name fool you. Nagoya is spicy!  The kind of spice that makes you watch yourself as you inhale before a good bite or wow, it’ll get ya! This simple ramen dish is minced pork (my fave), spicy bamboo shoots, and minced chives. Feel free to make your add-ons, but I like this one as it is.

Have you been to Yakyudori? What dishes do you love? Share in the comments below!

Nagoya ramen

Yakyudori

4898 Convoy Street #101,

San Diego, CA 92111