Every time I come to I-naba, it makes me ask why I don’t come more often. I love soba noodles and tempura which they do SO SO well. We came on a hot summer day for lunch and made sure to get here early because I know this is a popular restaurant. Good thing we did because we were second in line and the line grew and grew behind us. When we checked in, she asked if we had a reservation and we said no and she almost looked miffed about that. I don’t know what that was all about but she seated us in the regular seating area anyway. Weird.

It’s basically a retirement crowd here but they certainly acted like they were in a rush to go back to work. Many of them were barking out their orders as the wait staff were putting out cups of water and the edamame. It was a little irritating because I wish they would take orders in the order of people who were seated and not just anyone who would yell their order at them. Nonetheless, we got our order in and the food came out in a timely manner. I was a bit thrown off because my original dish was not available – sigh. So I had to do a quick change since I didn’t want to lose our ordering spot and totally omitted the tempura. Blah! Oh well, I guess that means I gotta come back sooner rather than later.

Tempura Soba | $30.00
2 shrimps, 1 white fish, veggie tempura and zaru (pictured) or kake soba

Bara Chirashi Bowl & Soba | $34.00
chopped some kinds (lol) of sashimi served over sushi rice. also comes with regular size zaru (pictured) or kake soba.

Some kinds of sashimi is a bit vague but I was very pleased with the quality of the some fish in my chirashi bowl. It was delicious! Love the pop of the ikura. My original order was for the hana soba which would have come with tempura. Dangit! I guess I could have ordered tempura on the side but this was way more than enough food!

Yummy and so easy to eat at home. But doesn’t everything always taste better when it’s cooked for you? What a great meal! I can’t wait to return!

Spam Musubi Rating:

Now that it’s summer time, I am more willing to venture out to various places because I know traffic won’t be a nightmare. Don’t you love summer? Less people, less traffic. I am a total introvert. Anyway, Fukuya Deli is located close to my work place but I hardly go because it’s always so crowded. Well, lazy me didn’t think to just park on the road. Why do I stress about parking in their lot? I’m so crazy. I go to work early anyway so I can go right when they open.

Medium Mixed Sushi | $8.20

Got this to share with some coworkers, ate a maki sushi and cone sushi myself. Was okay, nothing special.

Hot Dog Roll (lol) | $7.40

Of course I bought the hot dog roll cause I’m crazy. I didn’t even know they include a piece of spam in it? How funny. Fun to try but wouldn’t get it again.

2x Chow Fun | $7.50
1 Fried Chicken Thigh | $3.75
1 Spicy Tofu Stir- fry | $3.30
1 Nishime | $3.30

My first lunch plate – was good. I always gotta try the chow fun at the different delicatessens. I think what inspired the visit was someone bringing chow fun to a gathering and me trying to figure out where it was from. The chow fun is pretty on-par with Toshi’s. I liked the tofu stir-fry a lot and I love nishime – they do it well, the vegetables are nice and soft but not mushy.

1 Fried Noodles | $3.75
1 Chow Fun | $3.75
1 Nori Fried Chicken | $4.25
1 Ahi Burger | $4.00
1 Spicy Tofu Stir-fry | $3.30
1 Nishime | $3.30

Second lunch plate – this time I wanted to try the fried noodles to see if they were good. They were! The nori chicken is good but mochiko chicken has never been a favorite. I got the tofu and nishime again cause I like it! It’s a delicatessen so it’s pricey as usual but oh! I almost didn’t talk about it but the ahi burger is so good! Nicely seasoned and so soft, I would definitely get the ahi burger again!

Kamamalu Market Spam Musubi

This is my lesson in…just because it’s on social media doesn’t mean it’s good. This may be a controversial opinion since the ratings on Yelp are so high for this place and their spam musubi but it was not good. It’s just plain spam musubi. The spam I think is full sodium so no thanks already and there is no seasoning to the spam…so what am I missing here? I got the regular and the spam and egg one – both were just whatever. I mean, I make better musubi at home (sorry). Would not recommend.

Toshi’s Delicatessen & Restaurant | $18.70

I’ve expressed my love for Toshi’s in the past and will continue to do so. They have great food and I love that’s it run by hardworking folks but I definitely could not afford to eat here regularly. I’ll just continue to do my random check-ins when I have time and money lol.

This plate includes 2x chow fun, 1x veggie stirfy, 1 shoyu chicken thigh, 1 hot dog (lol). This was almost $20 – whew. But as always, I love the old school wrapping and we just don’t have shops like this anymore. Gotta keep them in business!!

Quick post today! I already posted about Ringer Hut before so Chan and I do come here once in a while. See previous post here. It’s a good casual sit-down restaurant. The food and service is good and they bring out the food pretty fast!

5 pc Karaage | $10.00

Our favorite appetizer, these are huge pieces of chicken so I think it’s worth the $10.00 price tag! You might be tempted to get the 10 piece but don’t, the 5 piece is PLENTY. Moist and juicy with a wonderful crust, delicious!

Spicy Karamaro Champon | $19.50
spicy, tantanmen taste

Spicy Saraudon | $18.50

Do I regret getting the spicy version? A little bit. Don’t tell Chan. This has somehow become my go-to dish, though I think I would like to try their tempura don next time. It looks so good and they give huge pieces of tempura! This dish is like a Chinese crispy chow mein dish, slathered in thick gravy. Delicious!