Nozomi 2 Sushi & BBQ in La Jolla is a sleepy little sushi place near the Marriott. And this past weekend, I was at a conference at the Marriott so…….. guess where I wound up? lol
First of all…..and barbecue? Really? And then I started thinking: “hmmm…. asian bbq”.
I don’t know about you, but whenever I am near a restaurant that says barbecue, that’s what I order. And I was lucky to be at a table with 5 other wonderful eaters who of course ordered the sushi. So I went for the bbq pork.
Later I looked on yelp and now understand I should not have ordered the bbq. I should not have expected good service. I should have expected to wait for a long time.
But being a New Yorker, it’s not in my nature to wait! lol I found myself going up to the kitchen/register area several times, asking for a waiter and then finally saying: “I know you are busy. If you give me your pad, I will quickly write down the orders from my table and bring it back to you”. It was only then, that we got a waiter.
Now, in all fairness, the conference let out, and they were swamped. Every seat was filled. But yelp doesn’t lie. (Or do they)? lol. My rule of thumb is if one person says it, ignore it. Two, proceed with caution. And three? Well….. probably true. And many of the reviews talk about their lousy service. I mean, some people are seriously pissed!
My personal opinion is: It would be great if they took a Dale Carnegie course and got some people skills. But truly? I believe their hearts are in the right places. And their intentions are what is important to me.
Back to the food: The bbq pork was dried out. Come on! REALLY? Do you know how easy it is to pre-cook low and slow? There was some flavor there, but it wasn’t great. The ginger salad wasn’t ‘standard’. No thick orange color and flavor. Just a light liquid with limited flavor. So that was disappointing. But their brown rice was ‘bangin’ good. All kinds of dark rice grains. Very satisfying. You know, restaurants pay me to come into their kitchens and redo their menus to be healthier and more flavorful. So these are ‘pearls’ of wisdom. Things for that restaurant to consider.
The Sushi that everyone else ordered was, once again, just ok. Although I will say that on Yelp, people are really liking some of their rolls. So perhaps we did not know what to order. And later, I discovered something very cool. There are two sizes on a roll. So if you’re alone, you don’t have to stuff yourself!
The following evening, (very early evening I should say), I noticed the place was dead, so I went in for dinner and sat at the Sushi Bar.
Here’s the restaurants’ best asset.
Curious.
I ordered the Unagi.
Pardon me. The Unagi Crunch. Eel. Eel sauce.
Mmmmmmm. I noticed there were two different kinds of eel on the menu. So I asked David about it.
“Unagi is freshwater eel basted in teriyaki. The other kind of eel is called Anago. It’s a saltwater eel and the taste is more pronounced. Some people call it ‘gamey’. So it’s really for the eel purist” he says.
Now Eel Sauce is my all time favorite. And while I can go on the web and get a recipe, I though I would pick David’s brain for a minute. Did you know that eel sauce is reduced eel broth with sugar added?
Some people make their broth from oils from grilling eel. Some people boil some just like we boil chicken to make a chicken soup.
SIDE BAR
With that in mind, last night when I did chicken (stuffed inside the skin garlic, salt & pepper on the outside). I laid it over a mirapoix (carrots, celery & onions). Usually when I get done, I ‘plate’ a couple of pieces of chicken with the veggies underneath. And that’s the way I use it. Last night? I made soup as well. I saved a couple of pieces of chicken and shredded it into broth and then took ALL THE remaining veggies, including the liquid that had developed from the grease of the chicken and threw it into the soup. (The soup already was broth, with garlic floating in it). After cooking it down, I skimmed away most of the fat. And David is right. Using the juices of grilled chicken and veggies certainly makes that soup more flavorful!
Back to sushi….. sorry for the way lay….. I can’t help myself! lol
Sitting in that sushi bar, having had my first roll and ordering my second, David asked me: “Do you want Sprouts”? I replied…. “Oh yeah. Aren’t they sunflower sprouts”?
Here comes my next BIG ‘learn’…. It’s sprouts from the radish. Is that like “Songs from the Wood, Jethro Tull”? (No. No it isn’t. It’s nothing like that Chef Marian. You always have to throw something musical in, don’t you….don’t you)?
Boy! THAT’s a BIG Radish! ha!
And look to the right here ——–>
The sprouts are the sprouts of a radish and below it? That’s the radish shredded.
Talk about farm to table and making use of the entire vegetable!
Very cool. Good information.
So David is my hero. He’s not afraid to share…… and made my meal interesting. If that particular restaurant wanted to do something interesting and FREE…. to bring more people in, and have them enjoy their visit even more, they should train all the ‘wait’ staff to do exactly what David did — (of course, not when they’re crowded). Talk about the food and ask questions. For example: when someone orders a roll with eel sauce they could ask, “Do you know how eel sauce is made”?
In today’s world of foodies, it will start a dialog. And people will remember what a fun time they had!
Wishing Nozomi and their customers Happy Eating,
Chef Marian
mm@chefmarian.com