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