Sushi and Ice Cream
These past months I’ve been on this Sushi and Ice Cream Kick. There are several casual dining Sushi restaurants and creameries that have opened in our area that I’ve been wanting to try. Well, I’m not into Sushi like Screg but I do like Japanese food. I must say the new sushi places that have opened in the South Bay area have all been disappointing to me.
The first place we tried was House Sushi or is it Sushi House located on Telegraph Canyon Road. The second and third places were Sushiya and Tokyo Grill, both located in the Otay Ranch Town Center and the fourth was California Sushi Bar across from Otay Ranch Town Center. I usually order the combo bento of beef and chicken teriyaki with soup, salad and tempura or California rolls.
With all of these places it was mostly the way the beef was prepared that was a disappointment. The beef was tough, chewy and the teriyaki sauce was drizzled or basted on top of the beef at the last minute instead of being cooked in with the beef. I’m not a big fan of chicken breast which is usually how chicken teriyaki is served, but the chicken was rubbery and undercooked instead of tender and juicy plus the teriyaki sauce was added on top of the chicken the same way as the beef.
I have this thing with sauces in which I prefer that their cooked-in with the meat instead of being poured on top at the last minute; I especially despise it when restaurants do this with bar b que sauce. I’ve known some restaurants to cook the meat and dip it in the bar b que sauce or serve the sauce on the side or at your table.
Sukiyaki, my favorite Japanese dish seems to be hard to find at Japanese restaurants, you don’t see it on menus too much; but when it comes to teriyaki beef I do prefer for the meat to be thinly sliced. There is still one more new place, Kyoto Sushi that will open soon in the new Shops at San Miguel Ranch that I want to try and hopefully I won’t be in for a let down.
With ice cream, both Screg and I have tried years ago dull, blah, bland “Cold Stone Creamery.” We are not fans of Cold Stone, we 
have the same opinion of Cold Stone and that is Yuck & Boring! We find the taste of their ice cream to be flavorless, not sweet enough and we don’t like the texture. Other places with the same concept of ice cream being mixed-in or blended with fruit or dry topping; Maggie Moo's located in the Park Valley Center, Marble Slab, Moo-Time and Carvel. Well, we’ve tried them all and both Moo-Time located in Coronado and Carvel in the Shops at San Miguel Ranch ice cream is overly sweet. Marble Slab in the Otay Ranch Town Center taste is similar to Cold Stone. 
Although our preference in ice cream is hard like Baskin 
Robbins over soft serve like Diary Queen, we have never been disappointed with Maggie Moo's; their texture and taste, just right!
The first place we tried was House Sushi or is it Sushi House located on Telegraph Canyon Road. The second and third places were Sushiya and Tokyo Grill, both located in the Otay Ranch Town Center and the fourth was California Sushi Bar across from Otay Ranch Town Center. I usually order the combo bento of beef and chicken teriyaki with soup, salad and tempura or California rolls.
With all of these places it was mostly the way the beef was prepared that was a disappointment. The beef was tough, chewy and the teriyaki sauce was drizzled or basted on top of the beef at the last minute instead of being cooked in with the beef. I’m not a big fan of chicken breast which is usually how chicken teriyaki is served, but the chicken was rubbery and undercooked instead of tender and juicy plus the teriyaki sauce was added on top of the chicken the same way as the beef.
I have this thing with sauces in which I prefer that their cooked-in with the meat instead of being poured on top at the last minute; I especially despise it when restaurants do this with bar b que sauce. I’ve known some restaurants to cook the meat and dip it in the bar b que sauce or serve the sauce on the side or at your table.
Sukiyaki, my favorite Japanese dish seems to be hard to find at Japanese restaurants, you don’t see it on menus too much; but when it comes to teriyaki beef I do prefer for the meat to be thinly sliced. There is still one more new place, Kyoto Sushi that will open soon in the new Shops at San Miguel Ranch that I want to try and hopefully I won’t be in for a let down.
With ice cream, both Screg and I have tried years ago dull, blah, bland “Cold Stone Creamery.” We are not fans of Cold Stone, we 
have the same opinion of Cold Stone and that is Yuck & Boring! We find the taste of their ice cream to be flavorless, not sweet enough and we don’t like the texture. Other places with the same concept of ice cream being mixed-in or blended with fruit or dry topping; Maggie Moo's located in the Park Valley Center, Marble Slab, Moo-Time and Carvel. Well, we’ve tried them all and both Moo-Time located in Coronado and Carvel in the Shops at San Miguel Ranch ice cream is overly sweet. Marble Slab in the Otay Ranch Town Center taste is similar to Cold Stone. 
Although our preference in ice cream is hard like Baskin 
Robbins over soft serve like Diary Queen, we have never been disappointed with Maggie Moo's; their texture and taste, just right! Isn't Maggie adorable?
posted by HotFudge | 11:59 AM
7 Comments:
great post HF! I agree with you. I do not like the teriyaki sauce to be just drizzled on top of the meat. it should be marinated with the meat, then it will be more flavorful. it tastes awful when it's done that lazy ass way.
i am also not a fan of cold stone. they are too expensive, number one, and number two, i don't like the texture of their ice cream. having someone smash it with paddles just to put candy and shit in there doesn't do it for me. i would prefer to eat my ice cream the way it is and not add extra stuff in there. when they smash it around, it becomes like some sort of thick pasty texture. it's airless and dense. i don't like it. i prefer ben and jerry's. they don't mess with their ice cream. if you want it smooth, you order a flavor without stuff in it. if you like additional ingredients, they already make ice cream that has a multitude of stuff in it!
i think maybe that these 'pick your flavor and pick your mix in' places want you, the customer, to feel like you have a say in how you want your ice cream, instead of pointing and choosing and getting what's there. that's not a bad thing for those people who want to personalize their choices, i guess. but i don't feel like personalizing my ice cream by adding extra shit to it.
whew. sorry that took up a lot of space.
by the way, that california sushi place is owned by the same folks who own 'california sushi' on third ave in downtown c.v. it's 'mexicanified' sushi. everything there has some sort of hot sauce in it.
hot fudge! i wish i'd known sooner that you like sukiyaki so much - i would have made it for you...
YAY! now we have a good excuse to have you over.
my other top excuse is, "i miss you guys - dinner's at 6!"
;)
I was at first taken in by the "DIY" hook of cold stone, but also intuitively realized that the flavor must be coming from the "mash ins" and not the ice cream. I guess the theory is that the ice cream is meant to be the glue or "tofu" of the desert and that would explain it's relative blandness. I think a normal amount of sweetness would overwhelm the whole concept of a "mashed in" ice cream.
I don't mind the concept, but i agree with canine that it is WAY too expensive. if you're gonna go that way, get the quart or gallon with your choice of mash ins.
I'm more of a shake/malt guy myself, and the place to go is Peppertree in Vista. Can't be beat.
Canine, you hit it right on the nose when describing cold stone; airless and dense. Oh and Ben & Jerry's is the bomb!
Mulysa, let me know when the next time you'll be cooking sukiyaki for dinner and we'll be right over.
Kilatzin, the next time Screg and I are in your area to pay you, wifey and J a visit perhaps we can do Kimsue in Little Saigon for dinner and Peppertree for desert.
What a professional looking post.
Two big Thunder Claps from me!!!
I guess I am so much of a purist, that I have never even had ice cream from any of those mix-in places. It just never appealed to me.
I am all into the creaminess of the dessert along with the taste.
The Gelato I had in Florence was the best ice cream I've ever had in my life. Nothing here has ever come close. But I do still have a place in my heart for Double Chocolate Malted Crunch from Thrifty. But only after it has softened a bit to give it more of a creamy texture.
Mmmm... 1000 calorie deserts...
Hey Thor,
I agree that Italy's Gelato is the best ice cream that Screg and I have ever had too.
Oh and Thrifty's Double Chocolate Malted Crunch along with Medieval Madness are 2 of my all time favorites!!
I remember back in the day when my mom would take my brother and I to Thrifty's, their ice cream was 5 cents for a single scoop, a dime for a double and 15 cents for a triple; boy those were the good old days.
Although Thrifty's ice cream has gone up since then, you still can't beat their prices for great tasting ice cream. Their is also another flavor of theirs that I like (can't think of the name right now), it’s a coffee flavor (not Mocha Almond Fudge), but it has bits of chocolate covered coffee beans in it, mmmm... delicious!
thrifty ice cream, now that's a good memory i have.
in the early 80's, it used to be .25 for a triple scoop! we would beg our mom for a triple scoop. i agree w/thor - the double chocolate malt crunch rules!
for baskin robbins- mint chip or the jamocha almond fudge.
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