Josun

We were STARVING as we usually are after work on Sundays, and we ate these in about 5 seconds.

The panchan were so good! I loved these yellow pickles, and Sarah and Miko loved the tiny fish. 
I tried the tiny fish.

I was obsessed with this salad and ate two entire servings.  Sarah and Miko thought it was too spicy.
We asked the server what the greens were, but he didn't know the English word and I've forgotten the Korean word.

We also really liked the zucchini thing on the right.

Here's the extremely large bowl of parched rice and chicken.  There is a WHOLE CHICKEN in here.
I think the twig thing on top is ginseng root.

From the second round of panchan--we got Miko's favorite fishcakes this time! 
Definitely the best version we've had.

Rating: Two thumbs up; from guest: one thumb up
Date: 12/8/13
Time in: 6:00 PM
Time out: 7:20 PM 
Servers' recommendations: #50 parched rice and chicken, #55 stir-fried squid with spicy sauce
What we ordered: Parched rice and chicken, 3 hot teas, 2 orders of fried handmade dumplings
Number in our party: 3 (with Sarah M. as a guest judge) 
Final check amount: $37.79
Price per person: $12.60 each
  
Notes: 

• This used to be Old Village. The server told us that the owner has changed but the menu is the same. Maybe it was the items we ordered, but this meal left a much stronger impression than last time!
• The dumplings are lightly crispy all the way around! How do you do that??
• We like the dumpling sauce. They must have mixed it themselves -- it has chopped green onion in it.
• The panchan was delicious, probably the best we've had on Convoy! (The potatoes were a little undercooked, but everything else was amazing.) We've gotten used to seeing the same panchan over and over, so it was a nice surprise to see dishes that we didn't recognize.
• The parched chicken and rice was definitely new to us, and we had no idea how to eat it. The dish could have fed 5 people. The chicken is soft and tasty, but the rice porridge is completely flavorless. Maybe it's supposed to be? They gave us a tiny dish of salt each -- definitely not enough for all that rice. Although we probably wouldn't order it again, we enjoyed trying it, and the whole experience made us want to try more food here.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION  

Address: 4681 Convoy St, Ste B 

Phone number: 858.277.8625

Noise level: 2

Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Shared lot that's pretty tiny, but there's decent turnover, so you can usually squeak into a spot that someone's pulling out of. 
Ideal group size: 2-6
Available vegetarian options: Stir-fried rice cake and vegetable, vegetable and egg bibimbap 

HAPPY CONVOY DAY!!

The greatest day of all!

On October 3, 2010, we had our first official meal. 2 years, 10 months, 21 days, and 79 restaurants later, we celebrate the completion of our most noble quest. And what better way to honor our accomplishments than to spend a whole day on Convoy Street?

Miko provided the necessary uniform.

About to begin!  We parked in the middle of Convoy and walked everywhere we went. 
We logged over seven miles!

First stop: breakfast at Cali Baguette Express!

Here's Katie, our guest judge.  She makes lots of amusing faces.

We didn't want to get too full so we started out slow and shared a banh mi. Cajun shrimp with egg.

Me, devouring.

And a sesame ball, because I love them.
(Katie and Miko are not fans of these -- they taste a little banana-ey.) 

Next stop: breakfast dessert at Pangea Bakery!

Taro bun and coffee.  Part of your complete breakfast!

We had to take a photo in the FOTO (Fresh Out of The Oven) area!

Second breakfast: Jasmine Express!

Shrimp har gow and beef rice roll. 
The beef roll was even better than the shrimp one that we loved last time.

Look at this adooorable picture of Miko!

We found this EGGS box very entertaining.

Third breakfast/midmorning snack at Paris Baguette.  We were just here to kill time before meeting our lunch pals, but we saw this sandwich and HAD TO have it.  Sadly it wasn't quite as good as it looked.

The saddest face ever.

Lunch at Dumpling Inn!  We were each allowed to bring one guest.

My guest: Sarah!  Sarah was a guest judge at our very first conquest, so obviously she had to be here.

Miko's guest, Sarah P!  This is Sarah's first time as a guest judge, but she got right into the swing of things.

Ahhh.  What else is there to say.

We don't always get this dish (fish with black beans and asparagus) but I really love it.

Crack greens!! Look how shiny and delicious.

I'm so sad that I don't have this right now.

Katie making another enjoyable face.

Not quite sure why I took this, but it's such a typical Convoy scene that I thought I'd post it.

Lunch dessert at Sage Cake!
We really wanted to take a picture of the handsome baker but we couldn't possibly.

Caaaake!!

Pre-dinner drinks at O'Brien's!

Beeeeer!!

Pre-dinner foot massages at Lotus Spa!

Dinner at Sakura!  Our dinner guests were Howie and Laura, but we forgot to take pictures of them.

Miko's (and Howie's) favorite uni pasta (that I don't really like).

Everyone's favorite agedashi mochi!

Albacore tataki.

Another adoooorable photo of Miko!  She is just at her best when holding food.

I think this is still my favorite chicken karaage on Convoy.

Nikomi hamburg.

Tebashio.

Black sesame ice cream.

Done!  Time for karaoke!!

And the complete list:

Cali Baguette Express: $8.75
Green tea with boba
Iced Vietnamese coffee
Sesame balls
Cajun shrimp sandwich with egg

Pangea Bakery: $5.72
1 royal taro bun
1 caffe late

Jasmine Express
Shrimp har gow
Beef rice roll

Zion Market Paris Baguette Bakery: $9.95
2 iced black teas
California Roll Sandwich

Fruit Shop: $32
3 coconut waters
2 bags of mangosteens

Dumpling Inn: $51.05
3 orders of xiaolongbao
Chinese greens
Seabass with black bean sauce

Sage Cake: $24.57
2 fruit tarts
1 caramel mousse
4 iced teas

O'Brien's: $15
2 beers
1 glass of Chardonnay

Izakaya Sakura: $71.28
Uni pasta
Agedashi mochi
Salmon onigiri
Chicken karaage
Albacore tataki
Nikomi hamburg
Tebashio
Black sesame ice cream
Green tea

WHAT'S NEXT?
We have to catch up on the restaurants that have popped up after we had conquered the plaza already. Starting with the new year, we begin conquering the new Convoy!

Taste of Korea, 70 Bobcha

Beautifully fried chicken wings...but they didn't inspire me to obsession,
which is what I want in a wing.

Spicy rice cake -- just okay.  We missed the ramen and egg at Chon Ju Jip.

Stir-fried shrimp.

Panchan -- the thing in the upper right corner was VERY fishy.  
Predictably, Miko liked it and I didn't.

Corn cheese!  We thought Gorilla's was better.  
This wasn't sweet enough and the cheese wasn't all the way melted.

Toast and chocolate milk--most adorable menu item ever! 
We really wanted to order it but we were too full.  
We'll probably have to come back just to try it.

Apologies for the particularly bad photos this time--the lighting in here was very...romantic.

Rating: Two sideways thumbs; from guest: one thumb up
Date: 
Time in: 9:05 PM
Servers' recommendations: Chicken with sauce, boneless chicken feet, stir-fried beef tongue, chicken gizzard, spicy chicken with cheese (considered the BEST), steamed pork, pork hock, beef intestine
What we ordered: Stir-fried shrimp, spicy rice cake, chicken with sauce, corn cheese, beer
Number in our party: 3 (with Erik as a guest judge) 
Final check amount: $50.71
Price per person: $16.90 each
  
Notes: 

• The servers were very pleasant.

• The music was at a nice level, not too loud like everywhere else.  We appreciated that the sound on the TV is off.

• It had a relaxing atmosphere.  They would have X-factor if they'd wall off half of the restaurant.  It's too big.  One large portion is pretty much unused, with a few pieces of random furniture and kitchen equipment sitting there. Kind of eerie.

• I did like the squid panchan (which Jenne pointed out as being very fishy).  It reminded me of baby anchovy tsukudani, which I used to eat straight out of the bag.

• We didn't get the dish that was recommended as THE BEST because it had a ton of chili peppers next to it on the menu.  No way could I have handled the spice.

• The chicken and sauce: the breading was light and crispy and yummy, but the actual chicken underneat was mostly gristle and not enough meat.

• I thought that the shrimp was REALLY overcooked. (Erik did like it.)

• The corn cheese needed sugar and a milder cheese.

• We wanted eggs and ramen in the spicy rice cake!

• Guess what -- this was the last restaurant on our route!  We have finished our Convoy Conquest!!! (Although not really, because a lot of places have closed and new restaurants have popped up, but still, we have made it all the way down and all the way back!)  On Saturday, August 24, we shall celebrate CONVOY DAY.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION  

Address: 4805 Convoy St

Phone number: 858.436.4985 

Noise level: 2

Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Parking lot with lots of space!!
Ideal group size: 2+
Available vegetarian options: Corn cheese, toast and chocolate milk, spicy rice cake without fish cake?