Mama Musubi

Mama Musubi
South Pasadena Farmer's Market-every Thursday

The South Pasadena Farmer's Market is open every Thursday.  The number of people at the market depends on the weather.  The better the weather, the more people.  During colder days, there aren't many people there.  There are many places to get a prepared food at the market, but one place, Mama Musubi, always has a line!  During the summer months, there will be lines 8-10 deep when the market first opens, and around 6pm, the line is 15-20 deep!
 

Spicy tuna-$3.75- This is basically a spicy tuna roll shaped into a ball.  It's good with a lot of fresh tuna, but it isn't spicy at all.  Everything is fresh and the portion size and quality make it worth the price.

Service is good.  People are nice and friendly.  The line does move quickly.

I don't always go to the South Pasadena Farmer's Market but when I do, I usually get something from Mama Musubi!

Tokoro Japanese Restaurant

Tokoro Japanese Restaurant
802 Fair Oaks Ave
South Pasadena, CA 91030
626-403-2542

Tokoro is near six restaurants that I have reviewed; Nori Sushi Wrap, Modan Artsian Ramen, Gus's BBQ, Mamma's Brick Oven Pizza,  Nonna Pizzeria, and Fairoaks Pharmacy.  Tokoro is owned by the same owners as Little Tokyo Restaurant in San Dimas, both have the same exact menu!

This is a very busy restaurant!  I arrived about 30 minutes early and there was a steady stream of customers.  Almost every table was taken and when people were finished eating, another group quickly filled the table.  Always a good sign.

Snow crab roll-$7.95.  Soy paper instead of seaweed.  Very good and fresh snow crab and I like the sushi rice. 

Blue fin tuna-$6.95.  First time getting blue fin tuna and WOW, I've been missing out!  This had tremendous flavor and texture.  Much better than even the best tuna sushi I've had!.  I would order this again, and the portion size makes the price a steal!!

Sexy roll, $13.95-spicy crab meat, shrimp, salmon, and sprout wrapped around cucumber.  A very light and refreshing!  Everything was very fresh.  A very good roll!

Shrimp tempura roll-$9.95-shrimp tempura, crab meat, avocado, and cucumber.  This roll is larger than most shrimp tempura rolls I've had.  But, very good, a huge piece of shrimp tempura and other fresh ingredients.

Service was good.  Our drinks were refilled quickly and the sushi came out quickly.  But, my friend ordered the salmon teriyaki, which took a bit longer to prepare than the sushi.  I got all my sushi before she got her salmon teriyaki.  Maybe they thought we were going to split the sushi, but I would have preferred we got everything at roughly the same time.

I would go back to Tokoro anytime.  I may even give Little Tokyo Restaurant a try soon!

Modan Artisanal Ramen

Modan Artisanal Ramen
700 Fair Oaks Ave
South Pasadena, CA 91030
626-799-2878

Modan Artisanal Ramen is owned by the same people as Nori Sushi Wrap!  It's in the same center as Bristol Farms, which is across Fair Oaks and a little north of Nori. I went with a friend, but I hate ramen.  I was glad to see other non ramen items on the menu.

Modan is a fairly small restaurant with tables along both sides as you enter and the prep area in the back of the room.  It's tastefully decorated in wood tones. 

Spicy Tuna rice bowl, $6.50, spicy tuna over sushi rice, pickled ginger, seaweed flakes and green onions.  I found out Modan had the same owners as Nori, when reading an advertisement about Nori, on the table.  So, since I loved Nori's spicy tuna fries, I knew I would like Modan's spicy tuna.  This was a very good with two huge scoops of spicy tuna-this is about a 7 on a scale of 10 in terms of spiciness.  The sushi rice was flavorful.  I hate ginger and a couple bites, but otherwise this was very good.

Service is good.  One guy took care of about four tables.  He was friendly and helpful. 

I would go back to Modan just for this rice dish.  My friend had a huge poke bowl and I may try that the next time!

Nori Sushi Wraps-Closed

Nori Sushi Wraps
711 Fair Oaks Ave Ste K
South Pasadena, CA 91030
626-529-2841

Nori Sushi Wraps is an interesting take on sushi.  They put everything you find in a sushi roll, into a sushi burrito!  Located in a strip mall on busy Fair Oaks Ave., Nori is a small place.  There are tables and high top tables as you walk in.  Then the counter is along the back wall, where you order and they prepare your food.

Spicy Tuna Fries, $8.00-Shoe string potato fries, cilantro, onion, and spicy tuna. Sauces are spicy mayo and eel sauce.  A friend who told me about Nori, said she really liked the spicy tuna fries.  After I got the order, I remembered she also told me the portion size is huge!  It was!!

The fries are standard frozen fries, but pretty good.  The spicy tuna is very good and they pile it on!  They give you a huge portion of the spicy tuna!   I wasn't sure about ordering this, fries topped with sushi, but it works!  Next time I will ask for the fries to be well done!

Shrimp Tempura wrap, $9.50-Tempura shrimp, cucumber, avocado, crab meat, spicy tuna, and kale lettuce slaw. Inside sauces are Spicy mayo and Eel sauce.  This was good, but a bit dry.  Ok, maybe I should have put some soy sauce or more spicy maco, but it was dry.  But, all the ingredients were good.  I'm betting the shrimp tempura was frozen, but everything else is fresh.  It's a huge portion and well worth the price.

Service is good.  The guy who took my order was new, because somebody was helping him take orders.  But, they were friendly and the guy did a good job.  The only thing that doesn't make sense is, after ordering they give you a number on a metal stand that you take to your table.  So, I figure they will bring my food to my table.  Instead they call out your number and you bring the number to them and they give you your food.  What a waste! Just say give customers their number on their receipt.

I enjoyed Nori and would go back anytime!!

Señor Fish

Señor Fish
618 Mission St
South Pasadena, CA 91030
626-403-0145

Senor Fish is a chain.  I've been to their now demolished location in Little Tokyo, but never posted a review, which was demolished to make room for the Regional Connector for Metro Rail.   So when I recently had dinner at their South Pasadena location, I figured I should post a review.

Orange Roughy over baby greens-avocado, tomatoes, jicama, baby greens, $11.45.  Orange roughy is a very expensive fish if you can find it the average price is about $20/lb.  I seriously doubt this is orange roughy, especially such a big piece for just $11.45 plus the cost of the veggies, ok veggies don't cost that much, but you get the point.  This fish was well cooked, maybe a little too salty.  I haven't had orange roughy in a long time, but this did not taste like orange roughy.  The veggies were fresh.  This salad is fine, but no way is the fish used orange roughy!

Service was good.

If you go to Senor Fish, stick to the Mexican food.