EE NAMI Tonkatsu Izakaya — Restaurant in San Diego

This neighborhood gem is the best Japanese restaurant in San Diego.

I’ve been hitting Ee Nami for five years now, and at this point, Chef Jumon might as well start charging me rent. The Osaka-raised restaurateur has built something that shouldn’t exist in San Diego - an actual izakaya that doesn’t feel like it’s trying too hard to be an actual izakaya.

Jumon was raised in restaurants, and it shows. The man understands that comfort food transcends translation. His pork tonkatsu is the main event here: thick cuts of pork wrapped in clouds of artisan panko, fried until the coating shatters at first bite while the meat stays impossibly tender. The katsu curry looks like something Miyazaki animated after a dream - deeply savory, warming, with just enough heat to remind you it’s there. You take a bite and suddenly you’re nostalgic for a childhood you never had in Osaka.

But focusing only on the pork would be criminal negligence. The sashimi rotation stays fresh, the small plates range from crispy cucumbers that somehow justify their existence to salads with tons of character and bite to Hokkaido scallops that make you reconsider your relationship with seafood. The rice bowls have become my cold-day emotional support system; portable comfort that travels the three blocks back to my place without losing its soul.

What keeps me coming back (besides proximity to Barrio Danos) is that Jumon treats the menu like a living document. New specials materialize, sake selections rotate, and they’re constantly tweaking the space to feel more lived-in and throwing great community events that you need to follow their Instagram for. The staff and service has that rare quality of actually seeming happy to be there - most have been around for years, which in restaurant years is basically geological time.

After five years, Ee Nami has become less of a restaurant and more of an inevitability for me; I always bring friends here when they’re visiting town. It’s the rare place that delivers on the promise of transported authenticity without the theatrical exhaustion.

Jumon built a proper izakaya in San Diego, and somehow made it feel like it was always supposed to be...

We were quite impressed with this specialized Japanese Katsu restaurant! We dined here with seven close friends of ours and only two have eaten here previously. Their inside dining room seats 10-12 at most with tables for only 2-4 guests. Any groups larger than that will be sat in the outdoor covered (and heated) patio. Since it was our first time here, we ordered quite a bit: deluxe katsu, loin katsu, chicken karaage, dashi-maki (rolled egg), gyu nigiri (seared prime short rib slices over rice), dashi fried rice, & deep fried whole garlic. We just had water with our dinner. LOVED: deluxe katsu, loin katsu, gyu nigiri, & service. LIKED: chicken karaage. MEH: dashi-maki, dashi fried rice, & fried garlic. It’s highly recommended that you make reservations as this restaurant is liked by many and can only sit so many patrons at once. NOTE: they will only split a group tab a maximum of three ways and will only split equally (not itemize who ordered what). Might be best if one person pays and the rest reimburse via Venmo/PayPal/Apple Pay/etc. This is inconvenient to say the least but it’s the business’ choice to do so. We found out the hard way. Thankfully, that was the only inconvenience to our dining experience. If you love Chicken Katsu, you will LOVE this place! We can’t wait to take our youngest son here as he loves L&L’s Chicken Katsu! He’ll think he died and went to heaven after trying it here. We can’t...

Do not get me wrong the ambience was great and some of the food I had here the first time wasn't bad. The problem was that my friend ordered the katsu curry. I noticed when my friend was taking the first bite that the pork cutlets were still pink , and I jokingly said "you like your pork medium rare?" He checked the other slices were also pink. My friend returned the food and the waiter returned with the same plate and informed me that the cook seared it. I saw my friend stabbed the cutlets with my chopsticks and blood was coming out. He eturned it again with a new plate with better results.

I understand that you leave the meat juices to give it flavor and that its safe after a certain degree even if it's pink, but all it takes is one mistake to get someone sick. At this point my friend was asking for the pork to be cooked more, was a friendly request. But I guess asking for a well cooked piece of pork is to much emotional baggage to handle.

Also being rude and saying he didn't leave a tip is very unprofessional. Marco Might not had left a TIP but I did 20% exactly since it was both of us eating at one table. Why should we pay twice for tip? I'm sorry I won't be returning here again. The fried rice was good, the vegetable crockets as well. And the waiter had excellent customer service. Something that the supervisors can...