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Going to San Diego is always a treat. I have many friends here, from my University days, and good friends at that. And new friends. July is always a must for a roadtrip to San Diego, because the SD Comic Con is this month. My brother and some of his friends have been on the staff for a number of years, and this is a perfect time to see them, and get a glance of all the latest and greatest film/sci-fi/cosplay that sends its fans into a frenzy. But first, we must eat. And we must go to Sakura for izakaya. Valerie and Rob had been there earlier in the week, and I had been to izakaya earlier in the week too, but the plates are so small and the morsels so good that there is always room for more.
1. Crab cream croquettes – served well hot. So much, I burned my lips on the searing hot cream and dealt with the blister on my face all weekend. But worth it. 2. Grilled seabass – whatever sauce they use, like a sweet miso glaze, it transforms a delicious fish into a heavenly delicious fish. There is not enough of fish in this dish for three people. Next time – order a second one. 3. Spinach and uni. I love spinach, I love uni. We gobbled it all up. 4. Fried burdock root. Loved this. More please. 5. Eggplant gratin – it was cheesy and okay. But the other dishes were so much better that this was comparatively did not impress. 6. Seafood fried rice. Another acceptable but not wow-ing me dish. The seafood element was not terribly relevant. We had some of this leftover. 7. Cucumber and eel. Oh, this was a very good one. Valerie threatened that if we did not dig in and eat it fast enough, she would, so we dug in and finished it fast. I thoroughly liked that was eel was prepared differently than the sweet eel sauce way I often see in Japanese restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, I like that way too, but appreciated a little more variety. 8. Grilled tomato and bacon. Another very good one. The token vegetarian at the table ate it too, it was that good. The smokiness of the bacon came from the grilling. Finally, I had an order of Chirashi Don, $22. It’s a handsome portion that would have been a meal itself, but can be a part of a larger meal if you skimp on eating all the sushi rice as I did. It also came with some miso soup and vegetable spaghetti. Oh, what, was I supposed to share this dish? I’m sorry, I did not.
The bill was about $90 for three people, after tax, before tip. A great value for all the good things we got. Parking is tough. Seating is tough if you want to dine during prime time. Just fyi. Sakura (Convoy area) I went to Kobachi on a whim. It was cold and raining, it felt like the right thing to do. Wayne for up for the task of dining with me and we got a 2-top before the place got too busy. And actually, we stayed until the crowd had died down for the night. Ken-san had remembered it was birthday around this time and sent out a bottle of sake. Which of course we had to consume entirely. I wasn’t in a photography mood, and while some of the items were omakase and I probably won’t ever see the likes of them again, this is all I got:
Oysters with salmon roe. Delicious. I also have to add that tonight’s shiitake nigiri was Kobachi’s best yet. It was so flavorful tonight, deeply smokey, and spicy. Past posts. And there are a lot of them. Kobachi Izakaya Dining SBIFF burn-out, I wasn’t up for going to the final party at EOS. Instead, how about some small plates at Kobachi? I ran into two of the filmmakers I’d spoken to earlier in the day, by coincidence. It turned out great, I joined their table and we all enjoyed some sake together. It had been my birthday the day earlier, and it would be Sam’s birthday the following day. Kobachi right in the middle. I only got a couple photos of the dishes ordered, but I’ve taken so many before it’s not a big deal.
Tsukune rendon-an – chicken meatballs stuffed in lotus root and served in a thick mushroom sauce. It’d been a while since I’d had that, I’d forgotten how good it is.
Shiitake nigiri, ordered at my insistence for the table, because nobody thinks shiitake nigiri can be all that amazing until they try Kobachi’s. More often than not, I’ll get shiitake nigiri before albacore, even though they’re the same price. Crazy, huh.
Last but not least, some zaru soba. Past posts. And there are a lot of them. Kobachi Izakaya Dining All through December, Kobachi was giving away coupons as Christmas gifts. Between two people, we’d collected about $15 in vouchers, so on this time we were in the mood for sashimi and thought we’d combine these, along with another $30 and request sashimi omakase. Ken-san was in, and agreed. First, though, some drinks and nibbles. We had Asahi on draft and some seaweed salad.
Good, as usual, but this was more what we were waiting for – a big platter of luscious fresh sashimi! Ooooooh.
Simple, wonderfully cut, and so so good. I’m not sure I can remember everything we got, but I’ll try. Starting in the upper left and going clockwise: two kinds of maguro, premium hamachi and standard hamachi, Santa Barbara uni, snapper…then two other fish I cannot remember, and finally salmon roe. Jebus, the premium yellowtail was so good. Everything was so good. And to think the people next to us got some boring California roll and pot stickers. Sorry guys!
Then we had an additional small sushi roll, I *think* it was a spiced yellowtail roll. I do know for sure that it was very good. Finally, a wee bit of dessert with ice cream and fresh fruit. I love Kobachi! Past posts. And there are a lot of them. Kobachi Izakaya Dining Tory and Sibel are visiting, woot woot.
They’re on a giant roadtrip from Utah to California, and stopped in Santa Barbara for a visit. Kobachi? But of course. We started with some simple vegetable tempura, and moved on from there.
Top row: fried oysters, uni shooters, and crispy shima ebi. Finally, a round of albacore nigiri for everyone.
Kobachi Izakaya Dining Blah blah blah, Kobachi, blah blah, small plates, uber yummy. The usual! I’ve posted so many photos of the same delicious foods at Kobachi that I didn’t really bother on this visit. Except!…
Something from the kitchen. Tempura battered roasted pumpkin. Kobachi Izakaya Dining This dinner was to introduce Olivia to the yumminess that is Kobachi. She had a good time.
Hot sake for Olivia, and cold shochu with oolong for me. The food starts with a green seaweed salad.
Near the end we ordered nasu dengaku – broiled eggplant, and a round of ama ebi shrimp which first come has raw bodies, and the second course is their heads, tempura battered and fried.
Delicious, as usual. Olivia, being vegetarian + pescadarian, had so many good things to choose from. Kobachi Izakaya Dining Another yummy dinner at Kobachi!
Top row: Bottom row: We’d joined Vo after he’s already started eating, so we shared a few more items, then ordered for ourselves. We weren’t expecting to have much sushi, but the fish seemed very fresh tonight, and we treated ourselves to some fine albacore nigiri as our last dish.
Kobachi Izakaya Dining Like last year, the first thing we did upon returning to Santa Barbara is get dinner at Kobachi. A birthday dinner, in fact, for Pauline. We got a lot of the old favorites, but tried a couple new things.
Top: cold sake, mame aju nanban, chicken tsukune.
Above: Gobo chips, salmon roe nigiri, and raw oysters. Now for the cool new stuff. An item I’ve had a couple times before, but never had a good photo is the crispy shima ebi. It’s a big bowl of little shrimps, battered and fried, and lightly dusted with curry powder. This is not a snack for one person, but a hefty portion to be shared with several people. Amazingly, it only costs about $6.
Also new to the standard menu is a beef dish, recommended by Yoko. It’s seared beef that’s served cold with a fruit sauce. There was not enough to go around.
When Ken-san heard there was a birthday girl in the midst, he prepared a few custom dishes which we were not expecting at all, and they were lovely. One was a selection of sushi rolls, but rather than using nori, these were wrapped in grape leaves. In the rolls was snapper sashimi and it was topped with cheese, apricots, pecans and lime slices. Like nothing I’ve ever had before.
The second custom creation from the chef was also great. It was salmon sashimi with dried apricot, fresh figs, salmon roe and a curry cream sauce. A great reminder that figs were in season and to get down to the market to buy loads.
Finally, a little strawberry ice cream and fresh fig. It’s a small picture because it’s a very small serving! We couldn’t eat more anyway, we were utterly stuffed by this feast. Abel still managed to lick a plate or two!
Kobachi Izakaya Dining I think I can squeeze one more trip to Kobachi before going on vacation. This dinner was for a visiting Belgian woman, who was staying with my parents while researching another Belgian that my mother dated many many years ago. It’s a long story.
Top: octopus and scallops, pork belly skewers with red miso glaze, oshinko mori – assorted pickles. This was the first time my parents tried the pork belly skewers and the chicken meatballs, they loved those. The hanpan before was “katsu” with fried breading and this wasn’t breaded. I was underwhelmed, as the fish cake now tasted dry and puffy. Nobody complained, though, so it was fine.
Finally, an eel roll. Sated! Kobachi Izakaya Dining |
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