Yakyudori (ramen and yakitori)
| Address: | 4898 Convoy St #101, San Diego, CA 92111, USA |
| Phone: | +1 858-268-2888 |
| Site: | sandiegoyakyudori.com |
| Rating: | 4.5 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–11:30PM 11:30AM–11:30PM 11:30AM–11:30PM 11:30AM–11:30PM 11:30AM–11:30PM 11:30AM–11:30PM 11:30AM–11:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
JA
Jay Keyes
Yakitori Yakyudori is a Convoy Street ramen-ya by day, and a yakitori-ya in the evening (yakitori is only served after 5pm). Dont expect a white table cloth experience -- Yakitori Yakyudori is a small restaurant that doesnt offer a lot in terms of ambiance, but has great Japanese food at good prices, friendly service, and possesses charming authenticity. Having been to many of these types of places in Tokyo, Im comfortable saying Yakitori Yakyudori is as close to a Japanese yakitori-ya as Ive been to in San Diego. Like at any self-respecting Japanese yakitori-ya, affordable beer and sake are available. Must-order yakitori items include "Hāto" [Chicken Hearts], "Geso" [Squid Legs], "Gyūtan" [Beef Tongue], "Buta Shiso Maki" [Pork Rolled Around Shiso], "Shishito" [Peppers], and "Asuparabēkon" [Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon]. All of these are crowd-pleasers that should appeal to nearly everyone. The Torikawa [Chicken Skin] is offered three ways: 1. yakitori-style with salt, 2. yakitori-style with tare sauce (mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar), or 3. as a cold appetizer with the chicken skin seeped in ponzu sauce. All three must be tried, though the appetizer is probably my favorite. Yakyudori also does ramen, and my favorite is their "Spicy Miso Ramen," a thin-noodle ramen with stir-fried minced pork flavored with garlic oil, corn, bean sprouts, and chives in a spicy miso broth. The aroma of the steamy broth will heal you of your days ills before you even start slurping. I have a slight preference for nearby Tajima for ramen, but Tajima doesnt also serve yakitori. Even still, Yakitori Yakyudoris spicy miso broth is some downright delicious in its own right. If youre here just for the ramen, I recommend that this is ordered with the soft-boiled soy-marinated egg for an extra $1.50 and extra pork for an additional $2. In short, this is probably my favorite restaurant in the Convoy area currently. You cant live in San Diego without coming here at least once and, if youre from out of town, you must give it a try!
AR
Arlene Tan
Unfortunately the fact of the matter is once a place is guaranteed a steady flow of customers, the customer service portion starts to fail. The food here is so good that I dont care about customer service (which is a bold statement for myself, to say the least). I think the same can be said because there is ALWAYS a LONG LINE. Please read that as #1.) Reservations always recommended on peak hours, which includes after 6pm daily and weekends. I have noticed sometimes that the consistency of quality in the food is a little lacking. Regardless of the hit or miss, like a drug addict I continue to chase the high of the first delicious meal I had here. There was a time where I thought Mitsuwa had the best ramen in the land, well this place will make a fool out of you and I. My favorites here are the Nagoya shio ramen (for you spicy food lovers). Just thinking about it makes my mouth water, it has green onions, ground pork and bamboo shoots. The yakitori (after 5pm only) of quail eggs and bacon wrapped asparagus. They even serve the asparagus with japanese mayo (which to those of you who are familiar, is the holy grail of delicious -- which by the way you can ask for because I like dipping my quail eggs in it too). This place is COZY as in small, so this probably adds to the constant horde of people waiting outside to get a table. The price is also really reasonable for the amazing ramen and yakitori that they create.
BA
Barbara Lee
PROs: This is my FAVORITE place to go get ramen. At one point, I made a stop here at least once a week! I get the spicy Nagoya ramen. The nagoya ramen comes with stir fried mince pork, chives, & spicy bamboo shoots. Its spicy, salty, and savory so the flavors compliment each other very well. The noodles are fresh and chewy. Its all about the NAGOYA RAMEN! I also order a variety of Yakitori. I personally like the chicken heart with green onions, beef tongue and bacon wrapped asparagus. Keep in mind that you can order the yakitori after 5 p.m for dinner. CONS: 1 star off because service can be slow during lunch and dinner hours. And also expect a 20-30 minute wait on weekends considering how small the place is. TIP: You can mix and match the broth and toppings on the menu. (i.e - you can order the nagoya broth with shio toppings which usually comes with BBQ pork, bamboo shoots, green onion, corn & soft boiled egg.)
ER
Errhka
The food was mediocre. It tasted fine and the prices were reasonable. The wait was half an hour on a Sunday night so not too bad for a popular place on a walk in. But, I cannot in good conscience rate this restaurant any higher than 1 star due to the case of reprehensible hygiene I saw on display. The cooks are right in front of you, and I saw two chefs that were visibly sick. One was even touching his hands to his face, chewing his nails, wiping his nose - AND THEN TOUCHING FOOD. It was absolutely disgusting and I have never felt obligated to write a review like this until now. I highly suggest you avoid this overrated hipster ramen place (seriously, the ramen here is mediocre - a place like Underbelly smokes it, the nicer ramen places will tower over it) and spend the extra money for something 10 times better (and with cleaner staff)
MI
michael deguzman
I was in this restaurant before so I decided to come back and eat some hot ramen. I had to wait 30 minutes and finally was given a table to sit. The food was very average this time, and when I asked for forks and spoons, the waitress was rude and tried to lecture me about why I was asking those and told me, "by the way the spoon is already on your table". The ramen we ordered were very salty and the noodles were a little tough. In the end, I had to approach the cashier to pay, for I dont want to wait any longer and very disappointed. More importantly, I was not issued a copy of my receipt for the business I gave to them. This restaurant does not live up to other Japanese establishments I had dealt with before. Maybe they are so famous now and do not care anymore and they just care about the money they make.
JA
Jaymes Wenceslao
One of the best Ramen places in convoy area, next to Tajima Ramen House. Both have the tonkotsu ramen as their most popular. Yakyudori is actually one of the lesser known of the two. Both have similar menu styles both with a few entrees, having ramen as their most popular dish, and a variety of sides for you to choose from. The layout of the restaurant favors smaller groups, luckily this place is open late as well for anyone who needs a late night bite. I would highly encourage anyone who is a ramen-liver to try this place out, or anyone who likes Tajima as well, as this could be a possible alternative in case any other ramen places are closed or crowded. I would definitely come back here again.
AN
anh pham
I used to be a ramen FIEND-ramen everyday and I wouldnt give a damn about the sodium! I used to really like this place but more recently I have come to realize that it is not the same anymore in terms of quality--I use to really enjoy their broth and noodles but something is just off--probably because the last time I went here I had to wait over an hour for a bowl of ramen. Granted it was dinner time but the ramen ended up not doing the things it usually does for my taste buds. Lunch is a good idea because its cheap-- under 10 bucks for ramen. But dinner is not worth it if you want really yummy ramen. That I would recommend at Underbelly.
