42 San Diego Reader March 30, 2017


RESTAURANT Established 1949


Homestyle Cooking


Famous


Serving Breakfast All Day $


2.00 OFF


Any one menu entrée


of $9 or more. Limit 4 persons per coupon. Must present coupon at time of order. Not valid on weekends or holidays. Dine-in only through 4/13/17.


Mon.-Fri. Specials, 5am-11am Twin Double $


6.99


2 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 bacon or sausage


The Big 3 $ 8.49


3 pancakes, 3 eggs, 3 bacon or sausage


Open 24/7


2900 El Cajon Blvd. 619-282-8423


www.Rudfords.com


Salmon and sourdough for breakfast Royal Stone Bistro, 3401 First Avenue, Bankers Hill. The sign for Royal Stone Bistro, a Bank- ers Hill eatery on First Avenue, says “Seasonal. Savory. Sincere.” That’s an apt description of the brunch we had. I never thought of myself as


a brunch person, but my wife and I have been spending Sat- urday mornings for the past few months sampling brunch spots while our kids are rehearsing for a play. Friends of mine who live in the Bankers Hill area rec- ommended the spot because it was cute, cozy, and has a decent brunch menu. So off we went. Most of the


action in Bankers Hill happens on Fifth, so Royal Stone sort of pops out from all the residences, apartments, and granny flats on


First. The food pops as well. We couldn’t decide what to get, so we decided to go large. My wanted to start out with


something sweet, so she got the Silver Dollar Pancakes ($5): small pancakes served with powdered sugar and syrup. She said they were fluffy and a good start. I was more focused on the


House Cured Salmon ($15), which was like lox and bagels but with sourdough toast instead of the bagel. The caper-herb cream cheese, jalapeño, pickled onion, and side salad come together to make a light dish that is meaty, briny, and slightly spicy. I took half home, and it was a great lunch later in the day. My wife also ordered the


Vegetable Hash ($14). It’s two eggs any style with cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potato, rainbow chard, with a jalapeño vinai- grette and sourdough toast. We were impressed, not just with the flavor but the way that the textures melted together. All the veggies take different cooking


BreakfastFree


Purchase 1 entrée and 2 beverages, get 1 entrée of equal or lesser value free! Valid Mon–Fri, 7–10am. Excludes Acai and Pitaya Bowls.


No online or photocopied coupons accepted.


109 Jamacha Rd. El Cajon


619-373-1725


times, so you have to worry about one being too crunchy while another is too soft. That wasn’t the case: They blended well, the way a hash should. The jalapeño vinaigrette wasn’t as spicy as she expected. That was a good thing — it emphasized the vegetables but didn’t over- power them. I had high hopes for the


House Hash and Farmer’s Egg ($14), which had braised beef, house sausage, bacon, and cara- melized veggies with sunny side up eggs and sourdough toast (love that sourdough toast!). I enjoyed the sweetness of the braised beef. I would have liked it more if I had tasted more of the saltiness associated with the bacon or sausage. We will come back — me for


the House Cured Salmon, her for the Veggie Hash. by Patrick Henderson


The ramen life 3000 Upas Street, North Park. Take a look at the noodle land- scape surrounding San Diego’s urban core these days, and you’ll find a dozen dedicated ramen bars. But when Consortium Holdings opened Underbelly in Little Italy five years ago, most of the city’s ramen was found in Kearny Mesa. Underbelly quickly became a


regular stop of mine. Open late and conveniently located on


the way home from the gym, its ten-dollar signature Under- belly bowl of ramen stacked with soft boiled egg, pork belly, bacon, and kurabata sausage quickly evolved from habit to craving, and soon the whole staff knew me by name. But it wasn’t just the vari-


ety of meats, affordability, and ghost chili pepper paste that kept bringing me back. It was the rich, creamy white tonkotsu with hints of ginger, garlic, and sesame flowing through hours’-steeped pork bone mar- row broth. While some in town joked often about the soup car’s very Consortium-like refusal to provide spoons, I just grabbed the bowl by both hands and drank it in. It’s only after Underbelly


added a second, larger loca- tion in North Park in 2014 that it started to change. I was ini- tially excited by menu additions including a miso-based broth served with corn and chicken toppings, but the fried, bone-in chicken didn’t do it for me, and the miso couldn’t compete with its tonkotsu. Then a year or so back,


Underbelly brought in a new excutive chef, and the kurabata sausage disappeared from the Underbelly bowl in favor of adobo pulled pork. I embraced the change at first, but with the new topping, the broth also changed. It became less creamy


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Arrachera Steak, Al Pastor, Adobada, or Carne Asada Tacos $1699


PER PERSON PER PERSON


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white and more beige, acquir- ing a thinner body and a saltier earthier taste. In the meantime, names


such as Tajima, Yamadaya, and RakiRaki were moving into the downtown/uptown area, giving me plenty of other ramen choices. I didn’t give up on Underbelly entirely, but its top spot in my ramen-hungry heart gave way to other tonoktsu broths and chashu pork. Last month Underbelly


unveiled a new menu, brought about by another new executive chef. I was excited to revisit, hop- ing to recapture some of that old magic. I discovered the Under- belly ramen nixed the bacon. But when I learned a new chicken ramen featured a boneless chicken confit served with corn and bamboo shoots in a tonkotsu broth, I had high hopes. I was disappointed. Though


I’m a massive fan of sesame, the new broth had enough to give it a nutty flavor, slightly pasty texture, and a dull brown cloudiness, rather than white. Red chili paste added spice but compounded the separation of fat from the broth as a whole, further detracting from what was once a beautifully creamy texture. On the plus side, the pulled chicken confit was tender and juicy, its saltiness balanced nicely by the sweetness of the crisp corn. I added an optional veggie topping — carrots and broccoli — which didn’t make it better, but did at least balance the meal nutritionally. In most things I’m not averse


to change, but I wish the Under- belly of 2017 was more like the Underbelly of 2012. Perhaps its evolving ramen is meant to keep up with a local population more attuned to ramen life, but I can’t help but think that if that Underbelly had debuted with its current menu, I wouldn’t even be having this conversation. by Ian Anderson


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