We wanted to see a movie, so we headed to the Kabuki Theater. Little did we know that no regular showings were happening due to the SF International Film Festival. Doh! So after roaming around a bit, we got hungry, so we just decided to take advantage of being in japantown and went to Tanpopo again. Yes, we’re addicts.

J got the Ankake Ramen, which was a thick starchy soy sauce flavored soup with sauteed vegetables and ground pork. Oh this thing was so beyond good. The broth is indeed thick, and it has a lovely nutty taste, which I assume is from sesame oil. It isn’t overly seasoned, so when he added a few drops of soy sauce to it, it became just right. This thing comes with mostly veggies, including shitake, cabbage, onion, green onion, carrots, and been sprouts. And the ground pork is a nice touch.

It was really really hot out, so although I wanted ramen, I didn’t think I could do it. So I just stole some of J’s ramen and got the curry instead. Even though it had its own heat, it was just what I wanted. It had chicken, onions, and carrots in it. As a trade for stealing his ramen, I forced him to eat my carrots. It’s a fair trade!

We adore this place. The food is great, cheap, and the service is efficient. But their bathrooms are pretty gross. I say hold it and go across the street in the Japan Center instead. I could eat here every day if I didn’t live on the other side of the country.

It was pretty cold out, so I thought I wanted some udon noodles. So we started looking for some new and different japanese spots. I found Sushi Time so we headed up to the Castro to check it out. This place is so cool. It’s on a lower floor and it’s teeny weeny. It almost feels like you’re walking into a secret spot in Tokyo, even though I’ve never been to Tokyo. It just feels right! It’s just a sushi bar and some tiny little tables. The place is just one narrow strip. All the staff is super friendly. It felt like I was going back to an old favorite haunt. It’s just comfortable. Even though it was teeny, we lucked out and got two spots at the bar without waiting.

I felt like I needed some greens so I got the organic tofu salad. It comes with mixed mesclun greens with a garlic soy sauce dressing. This thing was perfect. As long as you like big hunks of tofu, then you will like this. The dressing is not overpowering and it adds a nice touch to the greens and especially to the tofu, which is just plain tofu.

J wanted to try something different, so he got the hamachi kama which is grilled yellowtail collar. Man, when this thing came out, I could see the terror in his eyes. Ha! It was just a big hunk of fish collar, with skin, and even with the gill. He’s skittish about food that looks this “real”, so at first, he was terrified. Once the skin was removed and he tasted this thing, he loved it. Oh this was just a terrific piece of mildly smoky grilled fish. It came with just a little bit of a soy-based dipping sauce. You know fish is good when you can just grill it without any frills and it just tastes great. He also ordered a kamikaze roll with yellowtail, avocado, scallion, and topped with tobiko. This roll was particularly big and tasty!

I got two awesome rolls. The first was the astro boy roll with spicy scallop, mango, cucumber, and topped with tobiko. This roll has a little bit of everything… spicy, sweet, savory. And it all just works really well together. And the scallops were marinated with some spice, but their sweetness still came through. And you’d think the mango would be a bit odd, but it’s actually great in this. The sweetness of it just works. The other was spicy walu roll with butterfish, avocado, a little spicy stuff, and little sprouty green things. Oh man, the butterfish was so great. And well… it indeed was buttery soft and melt-in-your-mouth! I just loved both of these so much. The freshness of the ingredients was beyond noticeable.

It’s my new favorite sushi place in San Francisco! Seriously! I just loved the vibe of the place. It was not expensive at all. The ambiance is just homey and intimate, not fancy or snooty. After all, it is in a basement!

We spent the last vaca day roaming around downtown SF. It was a weekday, so I wanted to stop in a place that is typically for the salaryman. I definitely wanted to check out Muracci’s, which specializes in japanese style curry. I love me some japanese style curry. The place is teeny tiny, but they do have some stools and one little table for those choosing to dine in. But really, take-out is where it’s at. Pretty much the rest of the space is just the kitchen and the fridge. They do have some sushi and other deep-fried offerings (all the deep-fried stuff is made to order) but really, it’s about the curry here. They say that their curry sauce is simmered for 2 days. Ok, that sounds like a long time, but I hope it’s true. You can choose your level of spice – mild, medium, or hot. Japanese style curry is a dark tan/light brown color, with herbs and spices, and has no coconut milk in it whatsoever. So get the idea of indian and thai curries out of your head, as this is nothing like it. There’s no green, red, yellow curry. Japanese style curry is a style of its own and my curry of choice.

J got the veggie curry, which has big hunks of fried tofu, broccoli, carrots, and bell peppers. He got medium spice, and it was definitely a bit spicier than my mild. You can choose white or brown rice and we both went with brown.

I got the chicken curry and it comes with some chunks of tender chicken pieces. It had no veggies at all, which was slightly disappointing, but really, I didn’t care. My mild sauce was excellent, and it still did have a tiny bit of a kick. You get a good portion of rice and curry and it’s a good value. I could eat this all day, so if you’re into japanese curry, then you should definitely test this place out. All the curries are served with a little bit of pickled cabbage and pickled daikon. I like to get a little bit of everything in each bite. I want to try the soups, which have a curry-based broth and are served with udon or ramen noodles. Man, putting noodles and curry together… sounds like a dream!