Sake House Yu Me Ya

So it's one of those rare Friday nights where I haven't been scheduled to work, so that means I have some free time to blog for my loyal followers (aka. me). I went on two food adventures this week--the first being Sake House Yu Me Ya! I'd bought a LivingSocial voucher to Sake House Yu Me Ya several months ago after noticing that it had decent ratings on Yelp and have been waiting ever since for the right time to go, so when I got off work early on Monday, my lovely housemate Brian and I drove down to Hillcrest to use that bad boy.

This is a picture of the bar area in the restaurant.

The location itself was kind of difficult to find, but after we got inside, what a gem! I always appreciate authentic--or at least, authentic-looking--decor. Another restaurant that comes to mind is Izakaya Masa, also in the Hillcrest area. I say authentic-looking because I've never been to Japan and have no way of knowing whether or not this is what Japanese bars or restaurants actually look like and I don't want to be presumptuous. Not pictured but on the right hand side of the frame is a flat screen TV conveniently playing Japanese anime in case a) you're on an awkward first date b) you've lived with your dinner date for so long, sometimes you've talked about all that can be talked about for the day.

This is the beginning of Sake House Yu Me Ya's menu. You can see the rest of their menu here.

Spicy Tuna Carpaccio, Avocado on Wonton Skin

Our server, Mai, told us that, like most other sake houses or izakayas, Sake House Yu Me Ya was known for their tapas plates. She told us that the spicy tuna carpaccio was one of the most popular cold tapas items so we chose to start with that. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. When I picture carpaccio, I picture thinly sliced meat, whereas this was just finely chopped tuna. Also, the spicy tuna wasn't spicy at all. Now that I think about it, it actually wasn't particularly flavorful either. The portions were very small, and as one of the most expensive items in the cold tapas section at 8.95, this was a classic case of food sounding a lot better than it tasted.

Takoyaki Octopus Ball

The second dish that we tried was the takoyaki. Takoyaki is famous street food from Osaka, Japan and is composed of a fried mashed potato and octopus mixture, topped with bonito flakes, seaweed flakes, and mayonnaise. Although it tasted similar to the takoyaki I've had at other Japanese restaurants, this dish was much better than our first. Ordering a hot tapas dish was a nice contrast to a cold tapas dish. I know the takoyaki balls were obscured by its toppings in the photo, but underneath all that bonito flake goodness were 4 takoyaki balls.

Broiled Black Cod with Kyoto Miso Flavor

Although the black cod was on the hot tapas list, I chose it to be my entree. Brian chose the super ramen, but I forgot to take a picture of it. The cod was well-cooked and the miso really came through on this dish. The only complaint that I had was that it was a little bit small, but for a tapas dish and for Japanese food, it's to be expected.

Mushroom Salad with House Dressing

I was still a little bit hungry after finishing the cod and had about half my bowl of rice left, so I asked Mai for another recommendation. I knew that I wanted something light, so I asked her which of the salads were the best and she suggested the mushroom salad. She told me that the salad had oyster mushrooms sauteed in a garlic and onion sauce served on top of a bed of mixed greens. This dish was really satisfying. The portions were big enough to fill me up and the sauce was very addicting. The only complaint that I had with this dish was that the mushrooms were very salty, and would have done better with more mixed greens to even out the saltiness.

Mai was a really great server and took the time to ask us about ourselves (probably because there was only one other party in the restaurant). Her service was friendly and very prompt, and many of her recommendations were very good. I only wish that Brian had tried their sake here; they have a pretty extensive list and she seemed to know a lot about sake.

I really wanted to love Sake House Yu Me Ya and while it was good, it was a little pricey, and there are better and cheaper izakayas out there. We might come back because I did enjoy the mushroom salad and Brian claims this is the best ramen he's ever had. We also might go to the Encinitas location as well, because apparently, its the original location and it has better ratings on yelp. LivingSocial voucher well spent.

Sake House Yu Me Ya

3882 4th Avenue

San Diego, CA 92103

The Melting Pot La Jolla

So hello again everybody! I'm back for post numero dos and today I am featuring my fantastic little restaurant, The Melting Pot, no less! This is monumental. Rarely do I follow through with anything, so let's keep our fingers crossed that this lovely little blog keeps rolling.

I apologize if this post isn't as thorough as my first; I've been to The Melting Pot so many times I'll probably take a lot of details for granted, but I'll do my best! And my pictures didn't come out as great or look particularly appetizing, but there is a super cool video of chocolate on fire that I will hopefully be able to upload for you, my pyromaniac friends.

This is a copy of The Melting Pot's a la carte menu.

Traditional Swiss Cheese

Gruyere and Emmanthaler Swiss Cheese with White Wine, Garlic, Nutmeg, Lemon, and Kirschwasser

I usually get the spinach and artichoke cheese when I'm at the Melting Pot because I like it the best. It's the most mild and who doesn't love spinach and artichoke? Another plus is that the spinach and artichoke is made with a vegetable bouillon base while all the other cheeses are melted down with an alcoholic base. But to keep from getting too complacent, I thought I'd jazz it up and try something different so we decided to order the swiss. I've only had the just bites of leftovers of the swiss here and there during my shift and while I've had it once where it was really good, this swiss didn't really measure up. The Kirschwasser was incredibly strong--as was the nutmeg--and we got through maybe half of it before we decided to order another cheese.

Cheddar Cheese

Aged, Medium-Sharp Cheddar and Emmanthaler Swiss Cheeses, Lager Beer, Garlic and Seasonings

The cheddar cheese was a lot more mild--at least, the alcoholic after taste wasn't as strong. I still like the spinach and artichoke cheese better though. I like the white blend of Butterkase and Fontina much more than I like the cheddar. All of the cheeses are served with apples, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mixed bread. Ordering the Fiesta Cheese warrants a side of tortilla chips, too.

Virgin Sour Patch Cocktail

Originally made with: Stoli Raspberry Vodka, DeKuyper Sour Apple and Watermelon Puckers, Strawberry Puree, Lemon and Cranberry Juice, Sugared Rim

When the right bartender works, I usually get my pick of non-alcoholic drinks. 

French Quarter and Land & Sea in Bourguinonne

Premium Filet Mignon, All-Natural Breast of Chicken, and Pacific White Shrimp seasoned with Cajun spices accompanied with Andouille Sausage

Premium Filet Mignon, Herb-Crusted Chicken, and Pacific White Shrimp

The entree course is brought out unprepared on platters and then presented to you with instructions on how to cook your meat. We chose to do the bourguinnonne cooking style, which is a pot of canola oil. Pretty standard, very similar to Chinese hot pot. What differentiates The Melting Pot from the myriad of other hot pot-esque places are the accompanying sauces. Entrees are served with teriyaki, a yogurt-based curry, sweet and sour ginger plum, gorgonzola bleu cheese port, spicy horseradish cocktail, and green goddess sauces. You also get a basic tempura batter and a sesame tempura batter if you end up doing the bourguinonne. The best part of doing the bourguinonne is making stuffed mushroom caps! You stuff the mushroom cap with green goddess--a mix of sour cream, cream cheese, and chives--and then dip the mushroom in sesame tempura batter, after which you deep fry the battered mushroom cap. I'm pretty sure we also got the Pacific Rim entree, which includes teriyaki sirloin (my favorite) but it's not pictured here. Each entree plate is about $20-$30 and comes with several pieces of meat and although it looks small it generally ends up being really filling.

Flaming Turtle with Marshmallow Fluff and Amaretto

Milk Chocolate, Caramel, Candied Pecans, Marshmallow Fluff, Amaretto

Dessert is served with fresh strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, pound cake, brownies, Rice Krispie treats, oreo-crusted marshmallows, and graham cracker-crusted marshmallows. I feel like the bananas, Rice Krispies, and marshmallows pair really well with the chocolate, but everything else with the exception of strawberries--which I like plain more than covered in chocolate--is too rich to eat along with chocolate. I really like the dark chocolate here. Usually I order the cookies and cream, but Lucy doesn't like oreos at all so we got the Flaming Turtle instead. All the desserts are highly customizable and the marshmallow fluff and amaretto really added to the dessert. You can request for any of the desserts to be flambeed tableside, which is always fun. 

The servers at The Melting Pot really go above and beyond, but Tony is especially great (we had him tonight). Service at The Melting Pot is generally very attentive and personalized because the dining experience takes about 2-3 hours, giving the server a lot of time to get to know their dining patrons. I probably wouldn't dine at The Melting Pot without my employee discount, and even with it, I can only afford to go once every two months, but it's always fun as long as you go with good company.

The menu has since been completely revamped since the pictures taken for this post, as we are now catering to a more family-style and value-oriented approach. It has a lot of the same options from the old menu but some new offerings and I can't wait to try The Melting Pot under this new menu philosophy. 

The Melting Pot

8980 University Center Lane

La Jolla, CA 92122