Kappo-Honda

quail-yakitori style

grilled saba

blue crab and spicy tuna rolls

eggplant and chicken cartilage

pork kimchi

udon

natto and tofu

marinated raw baby squid

I picked up my mom and her husband from the airport Saturday night and they came off the plane very hungry because, as always, airplane food is an unsatisfying venture.  It was near 11 pm and the only place we could think of was Kappo Honda in Huntington Beach.  We often frequent Honda-Ya, its sister restaurant and a likely contender for our family's favorite restaurant.  Both restaurants are izakaya style, or Japanese small plates.  

Some of their menu items are definitely for the more adventurous diner--such as the marinated raw baby squid.  When I saw it on the specials menu, I got really excited because I love ika and I was imagining a ponzu sauce as a marinate.  Not so.  I hadn't realized that the squid was going to be be whole babies and they were slimy and marinated in its own sort of fermented juices.  Koreans use something similar as a starter in the fermentation of kimchi. So yeah, that dish was a bust.  Everything else was excellent though, especially the grilled saba.  Saba mackeral is one of the cheapest fishes you can by but when its grilled and with the crushed radish and lemon juice, its pretty great.  

I hear there's a Honda-Ya in Little Tokyo---I must try.  

Kappo Honda

18450 Brookhurst St

Fountain Valley, CA 92708

714.964.4629