Rosa "Catty Critic" B.'s Profile

Tsuruhashi is a Yakiniku place on Convoy Street in San Diego. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, think of Yakiniku as the Japanese version of Korean BBQ.  The restaurant is tucked away in a small shopping center filled with plenty of restaurants and very easy to miss.  I recommend you don't as it was good eats.

The interior is very small.  It's filled with about 8 booths like in the picture and 3 tables.  Because of the size, or lack thereof, and the fact that they are only open for dinner, stick to small groups or go early.  Large groups should definitely go early so they can grab the 3 tables which are movable; otherwise, the group will end up being split between booths.  Tsuruhashi does not accept reservations and can get quite busy, especially on the weekends.

On each table is a grill.  In case you don't know, Yakiniku involves you cooking your own food.  You order cuts of meat or seafood and grill them.  At Korean BBQ restaurants, side dishes (panchan) and rice is included.  At Tsuruhashi, you have to purchase these things separately.  My friend and I opted to skip the panchan and just order rice.  The panchan menu consisted of a variety of kimchis, seaweed, marinated garlic, and green leaf lettuce with a miso sauce.

Tsuruhashi's menu boasts some wonderful cuts of meat.  There are a couple of US Kobe offerings, several types of USDA Prime beef, pork, chicken and some more exotic choices like organ meats, tripe and tongue.  There's also a seafood mix and a couple of vegetable-only dishes.  They also offer some soup, noodle and rice dishes.

We noticed a special on the menu that's offered only Monday thru Thursday before 8pm.  For $23, you get ribeye, skirt steak, boneless short rib and chicken.  My friend and I opted for that and an order of the seafood mix ($9.50).  The ribeye and skirt steak were not marinated. However, we were provided with two standard "sauces" to dip in.  I believe one was sesame-based.

The beef had nice marbling and color.  Because the pieces weren't big (two bites), they cooked quickly.  I recommend keeping an eye on the meat.  Otherwise, you may end up with overcooked beef and that would just be sad.  The ribeye and skirt steak were pretty tender; there definitely is a difference between grades and USDA Prime is gooood.  The short rib was a little tough and chewy, though, so that was a little disappointing.  The chicken was marinated and had good flavor.  This was a decent dish for people who want to sample a few different things or aren't adventurous in trying the more exotic cuts like tongue.

The seafood was wonderfully fresh.  We grilled the salmon and calamari first.  The salmon was okay and really could have benefited from a marinade or even salt and pepper.  I love mussels and these were great.  The shrimp were huge.  Because they are whole, you do have to peel them.  The scallops seared quite nicely and were plump.  For the price, this was quite a good deal.

The amount of food we ordered was decent for a comfortable meal.  However, I was enticed by the offering of black sesame ice cream ($1.50).  Having never encountered it before, I couldn't pass this up.  I'm so glad I ordered a scoop as this was the highlight of the meal.  It reminded me of coffee ice cream without the acidity.  Not too sweet, creamy...a perfect way to end the meal.

The Catty Critic gives Tsuruhashi 4 NOMs.

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I've been on the hunt for good Mexican food ever since I moved up to LA.  Nothing up here compares to San Diego's offerings so far.

Since I work in the area, a friend recommended I try George's Mexican Food.  Now this was more of what I was thinking.  The menu was extensive, offering combination platters, tortas, taquitos, etc.  Once again, I discovered that the carne asada burrito included beans (what is it with the beans?!?!?!).  I had them take it out and put in guacamole.  I also ordered a bean and cheese burrito for the husband and an order of rolled tacos with just meat and cheese.

The burritos were smaller than what we usually get down in SD joints.  The carne asada burrito was decent, about on par as the one I had at Taqueria Mexico though bonus pts for George's for having the option of guacamole.  The only issue was the tortilla which was starting to rip in places.  The husband thought his bean n' cheese burrito was just okay.  They got the rolled taco order wrong and gave me a taco instead.  Let me just say, this taco was a heck of a lot better than the crap we got at Tito's Tacos.

Not quite up to San Diego standards but decent enough to satiate the cravings.

I give George's 3 1/2 NOMs.

Oh and yay!  Drive thru!

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Well, so far this is the closest I've gotten to matching what I can get in San Diego at Roberto's/Sombrero's/Cotixan.  

While the menu isn't as extensive as what I'm used to, the fact that I can get something resembling a decent carne asada burrito makes up for that.  

The thing to get here, though, is the tacos.  Carne asada, onion n' cilantro, cheese and hot sauce form inside a little tortilla to become awesomeness in your mouth.

It's open 24hrs which is great for that late night drunken munchies.  Cuz y'know, nothing goes better with drunk than some awesome Mexican food...well, that or Denny's.

My husband brought his pug in for boarding over a weekend and had them examine him since it's been a while since he had a vet check.  Dr. Keegan(sp?) found issues with his eyes (no surprise) and were quick to call us and ask permission to do more tests to narrow down the issues and informed us of the possible conclusions and solutions.  She was very nice, informative and caring.  Thanks to her care, our puggy's eyes are doing much better.

Based on this experience, we also brought in our two cats who were examined by Dr. Wang.  She was really good with them and answered all our questions and concerns.

This office was extremely professional, friendly and seemed to love what they do.  

What really impressed me was how inexpensive they were.  I've taken my cat in to a Banfield hospital and walked out $300+ poorer after a regular "comprehensive" checkup that I wasn't even present for.  They were so booked that they had me drop my cat off and pick him up when they were done and tried to sell me on "extra" exams upon check-in.  Manhattan Beach Animal Hospital was the exact opposite. The checkups for our two cats only cost me $140-ish total and that included a bottle of a Petromalt type thingy which was recommended only after I brought up the abundant hairballs.  Plus, we were seen right away and present for the entire examination.  

I'm glad we found this vet hospital!

This place was super quick and professional.  It was a little pricey; I ended up dishing out $http://58.change.  They do retest for free if you fail on the first try.  The nice thing is that they electronically sent in the paperwork.  I just had to wait a few hours before I could finish my registration online.  No trip to the DMV == YAY!

This is my first time having to get a smog check so I really don't have a basis for comparison.  All I know was that this was fast, convenient and easy.  I just wish it was a little cheaper.

I heard The Counter had a Kung Pao shrimp burger as their Burger of the Month for September.  Being genetically pre-disposed to loving Asian foods and also being a seafood lover, this sounded nommy.  Fortunately, I didn't have to try very hard to convince the husband to go with me for lunch one day.

I guess I'm a fan of The Counter's non-beef burgers though I keep telling myself that I will try another beef burger again.  This shrimp burger was quite tasty - grilled jumbo shrimp topped w/ a pickled cucumber salad & fried rice noodles w/ lettuce, onions & a spicy Kung Pao sauce.

There were about 5 pieces of properly cooked large shrimp, enough to register with my taste buds in every bite.  The rice noodles gave a nice crunch to the burger and the sauce actually had a little kick to it.  It was a bit messy to eat and I had to, on occasion, use a fork.  But in my opinion, a good burger is going to leave you licking your fingers.

The Shake of the Month was a chocolate brownie coffee malt - Vanilla ice cream w/ real pieces of chocolate brownie, a hint of coffee, malt powder and topped with  whipped cream.  The husband ordered one so naturally, I drank about half of it.  OMG, this could give the apple pie shake a run for its money as my favorite.  The coffee was subtle and there was a nice balance of chocolate and vanilla.

The Counter is slowly growing on me and I'm figuring out combinations that I like.  If they made the Kung Pao Shrimp burger a regular item, I'd be happy.

This visit earned The Counter an upgrade to 3 1/2 NOMs.

Since my first visit to The Counter in Marina Del Rey (http://cattycriticfood...), the place has really grown on me.  Over the weekend, the husband and I went to the El Segundo location for dinner.

I tried their beef burger again, opting to use an English muffin as the bun and topped it with mixed greens, tomato, grilled onions, Gruyere and peppercorn sauce.  I have to say, this time around, the burger was better and tastier.  The peppercorn sauce is a real winner.  I am also a fan of the horseradish mayo.  It has a good kick to it and is a great dip for the sweet potato fries...or regular fries!  Considering I'm not a huge mayo fan, that says a lot.  I think I'll be using the English muffin again.  It's just the right amount of bread and the toasted state gives a nice crunch texture-wise.

I also got a shake.  I wasn't in the mood for apple pie so I combined peanut butter and banana.  A classic combo and oh so tasty!  The peanut butter was a little heavy and masked the banana a little;  the PB hit your taste-buds first but once that went away, you could taste the banana.

I have to say, a 1/3lb burger, shake and fries is really filling.  Two burgers, an order of fries and two shakes set us back about $36 and change.  It sounds a little steep but these aren't fast food burgers.

And as extra incentive to go visit this place, every Wednesday night, this location offers 4 slider-beer pairings for $12.  I haven't tried this as I'm not a big beer person.  However, if they ever offer up slider-shake pairings, you can be sure I'll be there!

When Nozomi first opened, I used to come here a lot because their sushi rolls were cheap, tasty and HUUUUGE.  As my taste buds migrated to preferring nigiri, I stopped coming here.  

Last week, I wandered back for dinner last night with a friend.  I noticed that while they still had their mile-long list of specialty rolls and non-sushi menu, they had added an "all you can eat" sushi option for $25-ish.  Starving, my friend and I chose to try it out.  BIG MISTAKE.  I've been to different sushi restaurants in San Diego that had all you can eat options and was never disappointed...till now.  

The nigiri and some of the rolls are half-portions, meaning instead of the usual two pieces of nigiri, you only get one.  Not really a problem...just got to remember to mark twice as much as you wanted.

The huge issue was the quality.  It was like they wanted to get rid of whatever old fish they had lying around.  The nigiri didn't taste fresh at all and frankly, some of it was disgusting.  The rolls were better because there were other things like sauce to mask some of that fishy flavor.  

I ordered an amaebi nigiri and this was probably the most foul thing of the night.  There was still a piece of shell.  The flavor seemed...off and I almost spit it out.  The shrimp head wasn't fried enough either.  

The quality of Nozomi seems to have gone down and yet this place was packed.  Frankly, even though the rolls were still okay, after that horrible nigiri experience, I'm not sure I'm keen on coming back here.  

The location in the La Jolla/UTC area seems to still retain some sense of fish quality as only a couple weeks before, I shared a sashimi platter with a coworker and was quite happy with it.  I think I'll stick with this location instead of the Convoy St. one.

Also, there seems to be some differences in the menus between the two Nozomis.

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I'm still on what is turning into a never-ending quest to find a good Mexican place in LA near me.  My latest attempt landed me at Tito's Tacos.  Some people, including LA natives, swear Tito's is the place to go.  And they have this wonderful commercial with a catchy song.

When I got there, the building looked sufficiently "hole-in-the-wall"-ish and there was a line.  The set up was like a large taco stand.  You went up to a window, placed your order and sat at one of the few picnic style tables outside.  Promising...  I looked around for the menu which turned out to be a large board behind the counter with only a few listings.  Hrm...  I see "burrito" and the only options were beans, meat w/ beans and...that's it?  What sort of meat?  Shredded beef?  No carne asada?!?!?!  Well, damn...there goes my hopes and dreams.

I ordered a meat burrito but without the beans; I'm a believer in the carne asada + guacamole + cheese + pico de gallo burrito.  None of that rice n' beans filler stuff.  I want MEAT!   I also ordered 2 tacos for my husband, plain with just meat n' cheese.  Since they only accept cash at Tito's Tacos, I had to make use of the atm machine on the side of the building.   I waited for about 5 minutes before my order was called.  I paid ($9 + change) and got my food which was packaged in a box (think In-n-Out) with a cover.

When I got home and opened up the box, I saw a fairly plump burrito, two very sad looking tacos, chips and a cup of salsa.

I didn't try the tacos but the husband said they weren't very good and that he would be fine if he never ate them again.  Taco Bell has better.

As for the burrito, it was stuffed full of shredded beef and some cheese but it was bland.  I kept throwing more and more Tapatio just to get some flavor.  It really was unappetizing and I had to force myself to finish it ("Thou shalt not waste food...").  The amount of meat in it was...heavy, almost bordering on too much.  It is a filling burrito and if there was something for my taste buds to latch on to, it would have been okay.

I guess the best part of the meal were the chips which were a little stale and the very mild salsa.  I should have dumped the salsa into the burrito...

I don't understand how people think Tito's Tacos is great.  What am I missing?  This was probably the worst Mexican food I've ever had and I doubt I will return. The fact that I dished out almost $10 for it just adds salt to the wound.

For the first time ever, the Catty Critic gives out a hairball rating.  I wish Yelp allowed 0 stars cuz that's what I really want to give Tito's Tacos.

Now to convince the husband that, no, we really should move back to San Diego, if only so I can get GOOD Mexican food again...

For those in the San Diego area, specifically near Carlsbad, there is a great little family-owned deli called Pronto's.  They sell fresh home-made pastas that are delish!  My husband and I tried the beef cannelloni last night for dinner.  Pasta sheets rolled around ground sirloin seasoned with herbs and cheese.  This was very flavorful and cooked up quite nicely.  Because I was tired and lacked ingredients, I didn't make a sauce from scratch; I just used classic Ragu and threw in some extra garlic and Italian seasoning.  Besides, the husband likes Ragu (*sigh*).  Despite that, the cannelloni really stood out and we both enjoyed our dinner immensely.

Pronto's stocks a variety of pastas.  I picked up a package of seafood ravioli, pumpkin ravioli, herbed gnocchi and a blue cheese ravioli that also has orange glazed pears in it.

Pronto's also makes sandwiches, pretzel rolls, salads, etc.  It's a popular place for nearby workers to go to for lunch.  I can vouch for their egg salad sandwich.  Yum yum.

They also have imported bottled wine for sale, including a blood orange mimosa that was pretty good.  Oh, and they are a bakery as well if you want something sweet.