Honda-Ya, Tustin

GameBoy and I decided to head over to one of our Orange County favorites, Honda-Ya, which is located in Old Town Tustin. It's also notable because it's the first, and best, restaurant that I've discovered while surfing food blogs. We parked, then dashed to sign outselves up on the clipboard outside the front door. Though it was relatively late- around 9:30pm- the place was packed. The list gives you the option of sitting in the tatami room and at the bar, in addition to the tables. Since it was cold out, we checked everything, and huddled with the others out in the cold. Honda-Ya's clientele on this Friday night was young, Asian, and very hip. I felt a little out of place in my office attire, but was very glad for my black coat, especially when I saw GameBoy shivering in his gray sweatshirt. After about a 30 minute wait, we were seated, surprisingly, at a table for four.

Immediately, I grabbed the pencil on the table and filled out the yakitori menu. It lists a variety of items you can get grilled on wooden skewers, all for about $3 a skewer. GameBoy, a bit of a Jack Sprat, chose items without fat- chicken hearts, chicken wing, and quail eggs. I, on the other hand, have no such qualms, and went with chicken hearts, chicken gizzards, quail eggs, shitaki mushrooms, and pork belly.

Having made our selections, we handed the waiter our order, ordered some hot sake, and then turned to the regular menu, which features both Japanese pub (izakaya) small plates and larger Japanese dishes, such as ramen, sushi, and teriyaki. Having ordered more skewers, I went for broiled squid, while GameBoy chose the more substantial tempura dinner.

Though it sometimes takes a while for yakitori orders to show up, this time they appeared rapidly, and all at once. I eat the eggs first, since their flavor is the most mild. They really taste just like tiny hard-boiled eggs, except for the fact that grilling them gives them this nice, subtle smoky flavor.

I go for the pork belly first, which is a thin strip of meat threaded on a skewer. It tastes like bacon, only better, with each taste oozing with salty smoky flavor.

Next are the mushrooms, which, like the eggs, are fairly bland on their own, but yummy to eat in order to appreciate the flavor of the grilling process, and the special salt they shake on everything. Yum.

I go for the chicken hearts after that. The hearts were tiny but flavorful, and very different from the special hearts. GameBoy and I made the mistake of getting those one time, and to me the flavor is too, well, hearty. GameBoy and I stick with the regular hearts.

Finally, the last skewer is my favorite- chicken gizzards. GameBoy doesn't like the "Fatty" part of these, but I pop them in my mouth as one crunchy and chewy morsel. They are a bit bigger and chewier than the hearts, but with similar flavor.

I look up from the bliss of eating my yakitori sticks to find that GameBoy has already begun to dig into his miso soup, which comes with the meal. His tempura and my squid arrive. The squid is a whole, broiled squid that is cut horizontally into thin strips and drizzled with some sort of sauce that's a bit like unagi sauce. In any case, it tastes like how it sounds, and I munch it up happily.

GameBoy's tempura was not bad, but not spectacular, and the mountain of fried shrimp and veggies proves too much for him to eat. We leave, tummies full and happily toasty. Another Friday night ended early due to food coma, but it was worth it.

Date of visit: 3/9/07

Honda-Ya
556 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA
714-832-0081
Open 7 days, dinner only
5:30pm - 1am, last order at 12:30am