go go sushi & tofu / mira mesa – san diego, ca

There’s this spot in Mira Mesa that seems like such a good spot for a little restaurant… and yet, over the years it’s been quite a few things. Originally it was a Hungry Howie’s Pizza, then it changed into one of those $5 pizza places, then it was a Pho shop, and THEN it was called Po & Pho – a Vietnamese and Po Boy sandwich shop. A few months ago Po & Pho shut down (probably due to it’s higher than normal prices for a bahn mi sandwich) and in it’s place this opened up:

It’s a Korean/Japanese restaurant that has bento boxes, Korean items, noodles, and sushi. Let’s just take a gander at what’s inside!

Here’s a smiling Lauren!

They actually completely redid the inside, unlike the last two restaurants in this same spot who kept it basically the same. The walls are painted a brown-taupe color, there’s paintings and nice flooring with some nicer furniture inside.

The changes make a dramatic difference and make it really feel like they own this space – rather than they just moved in and took over.

Here’s links to the menu: Menu Page 1 | Menu Page 2

I visited twice – once with my co-worker, Lauren, and once by myself.

First Visit

[edamame]

My first visit was shortly after their grand opening. We were given a little bowl of edamame. This was complimentary.

[vegetable spring rolls – $2.95]

Lauren and I shared all of these items. This is the veggie spring rolls. I liked how the cut the spring rolls on a bias to reveal the inside of the rolls. It’s served on a pretty plate with some lettuce underneath, making for a great presentation. We also got a little dipping sauce on the side, though you can’t see it in my photo. The spring rolls were tasty – though not really outstanding. The veggies inside were soft and had a good, mild seasoning to them. The outside was nice and crispy and pretty fried.

[miso soup]

Lauren and I ordered two specialty rolls which comes with a bowl of miso soup. I liked the little green onions floating in this miso soup.

[trophic thunder roll – panko crusted shrimp, spicy crab and avocado topped with shrimp and mango salsa – $8.95]

Now, I’m not one of those people who’s into super authentic sushi. I will totally fess up that I like crazy sounding rolls with different ingredients, I don’t really relish the idea of eating raw fish (yes, I know) and I dislike tuna. So.. yeah. I’ll take those crazy sounding Americanized sushi rolls. kthnx.

This is definitely one of those – it’s got panko crusted fried shrimp, with spicy crab, avocado on top and has a shrimp and mango salsa. I loved the amount of shrimp just running through this sucker. More shrimps, please!

While I did like the shrimp and all, I wasn’t a super big fan of the salsa. It was a little spicy and kind of weird paired with the rice and I just didn’t think the flavors of the salsa came together very well for this one. I still ate it though, it was totally awful… just not something I would order again.

[awesome – broiled shrimp tempura roll topped with salmon, dynamite sauce and eel sauce – $8.95]

This roll on the other hand was really tasty! Might I even say that it was … “Awesome”?

Yeah, I know. Totally cheese-ball since this roll is simply called “Awesome”. This is one of their cooked rolls as it is served warm. There’s tempura shrimp in the middle and it’s warm and has some yummy broiled salmon on top. I loved the sauces and the overall flavor of this one. So yummy, I almost ordered it again on my second visit until I reminded myself I was there to try something else.

Second Visit

[shrimp tempura – 6 pieces – $5.95]

Shrimp tempura isn’t really anything super special, but for some reason I love it. This version was a little greasier than I would have liked. It almost seemed like maybe the oil wasn’t hot enough. It was still decent though, the shrimp weren’t overcooked but it also could have used a little sprinkling of seasoning. The dipping sauce here helped out with that.

[chicken teriyaki rice bowl – $4.95]

I spied this chicken teriyaki rice bowl on my first visit. For $4.95, it’s really hard to beat the price. Happily, it tasted just as delicious as I hoped. There’s a very good bit of rice under the chicken here and there’s additional teriyaki sauce spooned over the rice (YES). It comes with broccoli and carrots and none of the cabbage that I often dread at other restaurant (DOUBLE YES). The chicken had a really nice char on it and the teriyaki had an excellent overall flavor. Not too sweet and thick enough to properly coat the chicken, veggies and rice all together. Excellent bowl!

If you come for dinner, certain menu items (like the chicken teriyaki rice bowl) cost a little extra ($1 more for rice bowls, $2 more for bento boxes).

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the food that I have tried here so far. I’ll have to venture in again to try out the bento boxes and Korean times and also a few more of those specialty sushi rolls. Yum!

Go Go Sushi & Tofu Korean & Japanese Restaurant
9430 Mira Mesa Blvd., #5C
(next to H Mart)
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 530-8600