For the true menu highlights (Oshi and Jun Sama) scroll down.
The promise of living in a city is that you’re bound to have your neighborhood spot.
Dense population centers mean unique chef-driven restaurants can carve out a clientele and find success even without the backing of deep-pocketed investor groups or requiring celebrity status.
In areas like North Park or Mission Hills, this is common. Less so in Clairemont or Bay Ho, where we live.
This makes Chef Jun’s Japanese restaurant all the more charming and even more of a gem, tucked away across from a liquor store and a shopping center that, at times, appears to be a perennial renovation project.
Don’t let perceptions fool you.
Although the restaurant serves Japanese, Jun is, in fact, a popular Korean name, translating to “king” or “ruler”, and a nod to owner and head chef Myungchul Jun. (No surprise, the bbq kalbi they serve is perfectly flavorful and tender.)
Here, within the unassuming exterior, you’ll find cherry blossoms splayed across the interiors and a sushi bar, complete with tanks full of live uni (sea urchin) and prawns.
For a neighborhood sushi restaurant, the menu—and its execution—is impressive, featuring an array of techniques and offerings typically reserved for more high-profile settings.
Sure, you’ll find the typical poke bowl, spicy tuna roll, chirashi, rainbow roll, mixed tempuras, or teriyaki plates. They even have lunch specials during the week.
But, you’ll also find specialties like oshi (below), also known as box-pressed sushi that gets seared with a torch. This method turns a typical salmon nigiri into a delightfully playful and perfectly balanced combination of fat, smoke, sweetness, and tang.
It’s a must-have and, if you’ve never had it, worth the trip in itself.
The omakase, set at $99, is available at the sushi bar only—and, again, something you might not always find at a typical locals neighborhood spot.
Unlike some other omakases, there is truly no set menu and your experience is wholly at the whim of Chef Jun himself, or one of the other more-than-capable sushi chefs.
The omakase offering is part of a separate area of the menu under kappo. Less common than its more informal cousin the izakaya, kappo is meant to designate a multi-course meal designed to be cozy and casual.
Chef Jun’s kappo menu has three options in addition to the omakase: Jun Kun ($31), Jun San ($42) and Jun Sama ($69), a 9-course meal worthy of a visit. Each follow the same flow, though with varying degrees of courses.
We went big and tried the Jun Sama, for documentation purposes, of course. Here is every course:
Miso soup. Rich, traditional, solid. Nothing fancy, but it’s not supposed to be. In fact, I’d argue the best part of this miso soup is that it’s predictable and satisfying.
Sashimi salad (4 pieces assorted). Mine included salmon belly, yellowtail, albacore, and mackerel. This was perfectly balanced. Light and refreshing fish topped with greens bathing in a sweet, savory sauce.
Edamame. No pictures of those, because this soybean monster devoured them. But you already know what edamame looks like, so who cares anyway, right?
6 pieces of sushi (chef choice). Honestly, can’t remember what they gave me here, but I do remember fatty tuna topped with caviar, salmon with roe, and a bluefin tuna nigiri with truffle. All of them were fantastic, each with its own flair of flavor.
4 Pieces Salmon Oshi. We’ve talked about oshi already, but watching a sushi chef blowtorch some rolls never gets old, so here you go.
Seared jumbo scallop. Beautiful presentation, though this was maybe the most underwhelming dish of the bunch. Scallop was perfectly cooked and cut like a hot knife through butter, but the flavor was overshadowed by the previous dishes which delivered more punch. Perhaps if this was an earlier course, it would have stood out more.
Hand roll (chef choice). Blue crab with sesame seeds. Noticeably fresh and refreshing. Other than that, it’s exactly what you would expect.
1/2 bowl of udon. This was a nice touch. After several cold courses, the Kappo wraps up with a soul-warming bowl of voluminous noodles and savory broth.
Choice of dessert. Two options here: flavored ice cream mochi or green tea ice cream. I’m not sure where they get this green tea ice cream, but it is creamier and more flavorful than most I’ve had.
I highly recommend experiencing the Kappo, though you don’t need to do the Jun Sama, which is A LOT of food. Or share it with a partner or friend. If you do share it, I recommend doing the Jun Sama plus one more roll or small dish and you’ll be all set.
As for the rest of the menu, the cut rolls are all solid, from the basic California rolls to our favorites, the Hawaiian (shown here) and Orange.
I’ve also had the tonkotsu ramen, and, while it satisfied the craving, can’t recommend it. The noodles were tasty and had the right amount of chew, but the broth felt simple and the soy marinated egg had absorbed a little too much flavor.
Unfortunately, not many options for vegetarians, though there are a handful of salads (mainly for appetizer) and I can recommend the udon soup, which can be paired with vegetable tempura.
For plates, the salmon misoyaki is popular (so much so that it has been sold out a number of times we’ve visited).
One more thing, that makes Chef Jun an unmistakeable neighborhood mainstay is the $3 Japanese beers on draft every Wednesday. Perhaps I’ve buried the lede, but to me, this screams “regulars welcome.”
What can I say. The man knows how to please a crowd.
Chef Jun Details
Dining options: indoors, sushi bar, outdoor seating, takeout or pick up
Location: 4033 Avati Dr, San Diego, Ca 92117 (just off Morena Blvd)
Free wi-fi: Yes, although you won’t see many people with laptops during dinner service. Lunchtime may be different.
