Before heading out to a cabaret show, R and I stopped by Chinatown to grab some vittles. I hadn’t been to yakitori boy in awhile, so that’s where we ended up. R went with sushi and I went with non-sushi.The rolls at yakitori boy have fewer pieces than at other restaurants, but that’s ok, because the price tags tend to be smaller as well. Here are two philly rolls. And a couple sets of tuna and salmon nigiri. Even though it was actually fairly warm out, I still wanted noodle soup. So I went with the tempura soba. This is a fairly small sized bowl, but it’s a decent portion for the price. One big piece of tempura shrimp and firm soba noodles. I like their udon broth here. I also got the tatsuta age, which is a deep fried marinated chicken dish. These were super duper hot! As in temperature hot. This chicken is awesome. And I totally dug the dipping sauce that came with it. I would put it on everything if I knew how to make it or if I could buy it! The food here comes out as it’s made. There’s no waiting for everything to be ready or appetizers showing up first. It just comes out when it’s been made and ready. My chicken didn’t come out until we were pretty much both done with everything. Which is bad timing, but that’s part of their concept. And all the dishes are delivered by different people as well. Service is ok. Nothing bad, nothing great, somewhat inconsistent. But it’s not fancy dining so it doesn’t really matter to me. I did order a side of rice though and I had to ask for it again before they brought it out.

I walked like a fiend this day (as google maps calculated, about 6 miles… that’s on foot people!!!) in light misty rain and rewarded all this hard work with some japanese food. Located in the Japan Center San Francisco, Mifune Don is a tiny offspring of Mifune, a japanese restaurant (duh) specializing in udon and soba. Whilst roaming japan center, there were so many restaurants I didn’t know how to choose. I simply chose Mifune on the name alone. And simply because of the Mifune of Kurosawa movies. I’m strange, I know.
It’s a teeny little lunch and take out spot, or so it seems. They do have these built in burners, so you can cook your own stuff. Hot pots and what not.I wasn’t in the mood for hot soupy noodles, so I went with one of the lunch specials, which was zaru soba and curry. The curry was just plain, no real veggies hunks and certainly no meat, but it was still pure delicious japanese style curry through and through.For those of you not familiar with zaru soba, it’s a cold noodle dish. You get a pile of cold soba noodles, which are buckwheat noodles. These are topped with some shredded nori. You get a little bowl of cold broth, soba tsuyu, and you dip your noodles in and then eat away. You can also season your broth with green onions, grated daikon, and japanese mustard, if you so choose. It sounds odd but it’s quite delicious. Just ask my mom. When I was a wee lass, we used to have to go for weekly doctor appointments for her. And when we did, we would always stop for some eats. And even at my young age, I would eat platefuls of zaru soba. Who knew a little kid could pack in so much noodles? Not much has changed. I still love zaru soba!

This is a no frills place with simple and tasty food. It’s all cooked by one dude in the little kitchen, and you can watch him do it the whole time. It’s not a secret. The service is just fine. The prices are alright too. For a place selected on its name, it wasn’t a bad choice.

After snagging a deeply discounted ticket for the show at the orpheum, I walked through some choice areas of SF for a coveted bowl of ramen at Katana-Ya. I had consulted yelp and it had gotten good reviews.
It’s a teeny little place with a tiny sushi bar with 4 seats and a handful of small tables. It’s definitely not made for big parties. And you will wait during lunch. They have ramen and udon and soba and tons of sushi, as well as other japanese treats. The menu was actually surprisingly large. I figured it would be ramen, ramen, and more ramen.
I went with the buttered corn ramen. Why? Because I was clueless, and the chick next to me ordered it. So I figured I’d give it a go. And plus, I love corn in just about anything. I got the soy broth, and you can order the broth is a certain strength. I did not indicate, so by default, I think they give you light. This is a big bowl with a good sized helping of noodles. And the noodles were awesome. The broth however, was a bit on a bland side for me. It definitely tasted pork-y, but there wasn’t much actual flavor. It was underwhelming. But the noodles definitely rocked it. And the corn was great. Like I said, you could put corn on just about anything and it would make me happy. I haven’t had enough authentic japanese ramen in my life to know whether this was good or not, but I was definitely a fan of the noodles and the value. Perhaps I would need to try the miso or the salt broths to know more. But it was definitely a good and hearty bowl that filled my belly plenty. But I certainly have a feeling there are much better bowls of ramen out there.

Katana-Ya
430 Geary St.
San Francisco, CA
415.771.1280