When I heard the new all-you-can-eat sushi spot, Little Sakana Sushi Bar & Grill (8270-E Mira Mesa Blvd.), was landing in Mira Mesa, I knew I had to go. There has always been a collision between my firm conviction that there’s no such thing as good, cheap sushi and my guilty … [Read more...]
WORLD FARE: Surprising sushi in a Tijuana speakeasy
Finding good food in Tijuana is neither difficult nor surprising. Caesar salad? It was invented there. Tacos? Uh, yeah. TJ’s one of the best taco towns anywhere. High-end sushi? Eh, maybe some mariscosor some cheap Sinaloan “sushi,” but up until last month—when Chef Pedro Velardo … [Read more...]
WORLD FARE: Fast food transformed to art at Sushi Tadokoro
Sushi is often treated as either high art or commoditized fast food. Aficionados celebrate the uber-expensive omakase tasting menus of places like Urasawa in Beverly Hills even as a businesswoman grabs uber-cheap supermarket sushi on her way home from the office. No doubt high … [Read more...]
CITYBEAT RESTAURANT GUIDE 2017: Off the Strip (San Diego’s best Asian food outside the Convoy District)
When most people think about Asian food in San Diego they think about the Convoy District. They’re certainly not all wrong to do so. San Diego doesn’t have a “Chinatown” or a “Little Tokyo” (though it does, supposedly, have a “Little Saigon”). In a sense, though, the Convoy is … [Read more...]
WORLD FARE: Japanese style comfort food at Santouka and Musashiya
"Edible art" is an idea often attached to Japanese high cuisine like sushi or kaeseki. But the notion that Japanese food is inherently precious and high-end is exaggerated at best. Hokkaido Ramen Santouka and Musashiya, both inside the Mitsuwa Marketplace (4240 Kearny Mesa Road), … [Read more...]