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Last night DJKT, Louie’s Momma, FFF and I gathered for dinner at Honda Ya in Tustin. This restaurant must be one of the best, if not THE best Japanese eateries in the OC area. Its needless to say the experience was great!…so I’ll describe it instead. When we arrived I helped myself to the self serve sign-in sheet located just inside the door “Mike…5.” Seconds later DJKT poked his head in “Make it 4.” I scribbled out the 5 and wrote in the numeral ‘4′; Kim unwillingly decided not to join us due to her doctor mandated pregnancy diet restrictions. Alls good, 4 will do. After a short, discussion filled wait the hostess uttered ‘Mieek’ (It was at this point I wish I wrote in a secret alias I’ve never used… ‘Abraham.’) On our way inside we passed by FFF’s ‘neighbors,’ on their way out, wow this is a popular joint for Wednesday.

The Japanese hostess sat us across from the Yakitori grill (above) and we placed our order for beverages, Coke, Asahi, and Sapporo. FFF was quick to note that his Asahi beer was 1/2″ taller than my Sapporo. Harrumph. The Yakitori menu was a “mark-your-own” thin sheet of paper sitting on the table next to a supplied pencil. No 2 pencil? Maybe. Scanning down the list past “White Meat” “Gizzard” “Heart” “Special Heart” “Skin” “Quail Egg” “Special Quail Egg,” I checked off an order of asparagus w/ bacon and some mushrooms on a stick. Both were delicious…. fast forwarding a bit… DJKT had some chicken or pork served on a fajita plate, and Louie’s Momma had some Tempura. FFF ordered a crunchy roll and some other dish that I didn’t get a look at until his plate was empty. Just as he uttered, “I’m full, maybe I shouldn’t have ordered the…” A bowl of Udon appeared in front of him. He ate it all without objection. I had some albino shrimp shumai… wait, aren’t we in a Japanese restaurant? Followed 2 pork dishes, one with pickled veggies and the other with some other stuff, both were good, a bit salty, but they paired well with the Sapporo. This little restaurant was a spot on memory of 3am Saturday morning visits to a similar joint on St. Marks in the East Village. As Mayniac would say, only slightly slurring, “Letsss get some Japanese Skewersss!” Hahahahha

Once again a successful food outing in the 949. Food is always better with great company, and today was no exception!

Check out more reviews on Yelp.