San Fran Part 3

So, we drove around the city a bit on the way out. Here's some more random photos.








Then we headed back south. We stopped at one point along the way and got some beef jerky. Whenever the Food Pimp is on a road trip, he has to eat beef jerky. That's just his thing. For me, I must always have a bottle of water and at least one other drink in the car at all time - or I get anxious. Although, this time, we thought ahead because we really had to watch our money, so we brought like 2 gallons of water and 2 gallons of gatorade and a 2 liter of diet coke and a cooler - so I was pretty secure with my beverage situation.


Here's the packaging.



Here's the product. I believe we both like the stuff in the smaller bag better (I almost wrote "smaller package" but that sounded funny to me, and it's 6:31 am, too early to be cracking dirty jokes. Anyhoo, we both like the dryer beef jerky. I think it's much more... pleasurable in the mouth (damnit - there I go again).

Moving forward. We drove back through LA. Here's some smoke pictures





So we don't really know our way around LA too well, but we exited and drove around to find somewhere to eat for dinner. Guess where we ended up? Little Tokyo. So we parked and went menu reading. We looked at a couple places, but they just weren't what we wanted. The FP was on the phone on a business call, kinda just following me. Then I spotted a place across the street - exactly what I wanted. Izakaya Haru Ulala. So I ushered the FP across the street. He didn't know why, but he followed.

So, it's relatively small. It's got a long curved sushi/bar area and then a few tables. The sushi bar and grill is very open, and they have a pretty display area with seafood and stuff. And then the menu - it's written in crayon. The two Japanese women that were serving were so... Japanese. Teeny, skinny skinny supermodel skinny chicks. One was hanging out at the bar talking to one customer a lot. I seem to recall him buying a pitcher and sharing it with her. So I made up a story about how he was in love with her and went in there every night to talk to her. She obviously has a boyfriend, but she doesn't discourage, cause a loyal customer is like money in the bank. Do other people make up backstories for strangers in restaurants?

Anyhoo, we were pretty hungry for a good meal.

We got pickles! I love pickles. And I know you can get the pickles in all varieties vacuum packed at Mitsuwa, but it was fun to get them at a restaurant.


Spicy roll and salmon nigiri. Both fresh tasting and yummy.


BBQ shortrib? Nice and tender and... small. But that's how portions are supposed to be at an izakaya place, right?

Anyway, that concludes Part 3 of our odyssey. More to come.




Ohhhhhhhh....hamachi kama. They didn't have the large, so this was the medium, which to me was small. It was good though. It's the simple things in life. All you need is a yellowtail collar with the skin all browned and crisp and the meat in the collar all tender and succulent. Succulent. I can't think of a more appropriate word to describe it. Now, I'm going to delve in to racial stereotyping, but that's allowed because I'm not white - right? Anyhoo, mexican cooks that I've observed tend to cook and often overcook meat and fish. They have a lot of braised and roasted meats, and deep fried fish and stuff, which is good really cooked. But then, when we've had hamachi kama cooked by a mexican cook, it's not really cooked as crispy and dark as we like it. It's usually barely brown, and a good portion of the skin is soft. What is the deal with that?