[Tustin] [Japanese] Honda-Ya

Honda-Ya
556 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 832-0081

To celebrate finishing another semester, Dr. P treated me to dinner.  He told me I could pick any restaurant I want.  I picked Honda-Ya because I wanted some icy cold beer on an icy cold winter night!  haha....


Sapporo ($5.50)

Ahhhh!  Beer!  When celebrating, you just gotta have beer!



Cucumber

The meal started with complimentary cucumber.  The cucumber was marinated in something.... something I couldn't figure out what it was.  It has a slightly salty flavor, and lots of spiciness.  I couldn't tell the cucumber was spicy at all just by looking at it.  But it was a nice surprise.


Tako-wasa ($3.95)
Octopus in spicy wasabi marinade

Tako-wasa was raw pieces of octopus with a spicy wasabi sauce.  The octopus tasted fresh and slimy.  The wasabi sauce was tangy and tasty.


Yellowtail with Jalapeno ($6.95)

We had Yellowtail with Jalapeno last time, and it was really good.  This time the yellowtail wasn't so good.  The pieces that we got had a lot of tendons.  It wasn't the "melt-in-your-mouth" kind of yellowtail sashimi that we liked.  But the taste of ponzu sauce, jalapeno, and cheery tomato was still great.


Nikujaga ($4.50)
Pork, potatoes, and assorted vegetables

Nikujaga wasn't exactly what I was expecting.  I thought it would be a big piece (or a few pieces) of thick pork stew meat.  But it was actually just thin slices of pork in a stew sauce.  It came with a giant piece of potato.  And the assorted vegetables mentioned on the menu was just carrot.  The flavor was good.  I could definitely taste the sweet mirin in the sauce.  But I would much prefer stew pork rather than sliced pork.


Agedashi Tofu ($3.95)
Deep fried tofu in tempura sauce

Agedashi Tofu was yuuuuuuummmmmy!  I really want to learn how to make this at http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com!


Poki Bowl ($9.95)
Marinated sashimi with spicy miso over rice

I was afraid that the small dishes won't fill Dr. P up, and decided to order a Poki Bowl.  There were a lot of sashimi in the bowl, salmon, tuna, and albacore.  It was marinated in a really tasty spicy miso sauce, mixed with some crunchy cucumber, and served with sushi rice.  The crab salad was really good, too.  It even came with a bowl of miso soup.  I would go back to Honda-Ya anytime to have this Poki Bowl again!


Chicken Zosui ($5.95)
Egg and rice porridge with assorted ingredients

We had Chicken Zosui last time, and I have been craving for it since.  How do they make a simple porridge with chicken and egg so delicious?


Mixed Yakitori ($9.95)

We decided to try Honda-Ya's "famous" yakitori.  They had a Mixed Yakitori special that day.  It came with 5 different yakitori.  I LOVE the chicken balls.  It was soft, juicy, and a hint of sweetness.  The rest of were just alright.  Dr. P didn't really like any of it.  The Chicken thigh with green onion was juicy, but lack flavor.  Bacon wrapped asparagus wasn't too memorable.  Chicken gizzard definitely needed more flavor.  And chicken breast with wasabi was overcooked and dry.  Our conclusion, Black Cheery Garden has much much better yakitori!  But that chicken balls.... yum!


Green Tea Ice Cream ($1.95)

We ended the meal with a scoop of green tea ice cream.



There were some hits and some misses for this visit.  But overall, we still enjoy the food at Honda-Ya a lot.  Definitely will return again to try more of their dishes!

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