Little Italy...home of...great ramen?

If you've read my post about Monta, you understand my love for a good bowl of creamy tonkotsu ramen.  Now that I've moved back to San Diego, I feel like there's a big soup bowl sized part of my stomach missing I just had to fill.  This brings me to Underbelly located in Little Italy, a stones throw away from the downtown area.  Underbelly takes the traditional Tonkotsu concept and fuses modern ingredients into the mix to create a refreshing ramen experience.

Before I get to the food, I have to mention one of the things I enjoy most about this place, the location.  Sure it's small and if it's cold the open concept can be a little chilly, but I appreciate the view and the modern ambiance the area has to offer.  It makes this location not only unique but adds to the whole experience of being in Little Italy.

And here it is, aptly named the underbelly ramen bowl.  The broth is subtle, light on the cream factor but definitely enjoyable with all the traits of tonkotsu I enjoy.  And yes the pork flavor is there, prominent in it's own right.  The noodles here are the thicker type with a thick bite and aren't my favorite but definitely gets the job done.  The meats are what makes the ramen really shine here.  On the right is the Chashu Belly, roasted tender with a good fat:meat content ratio and a really straight forward pork flavor that goes well with the broth.  At the top of the picture is Kurobuta sausage, a pork sausage with great snap and smokey flavor.  The sausage takes a different approach on the pork flavor you don't commonly find in tonkotsu and creates a great contrast to the broth and adds flavor that goes well with the starch of the noodles.  On the left is an applewood smoked bacon.  The bacon is thick and carries the flavor of the smoking process into the soup.  As any bacon would be, this is fatty and carries the applewood flavor adding a great dimension to the ramen.  The way I look at it, it's kind of a re-imagining of the traditional chashu that makes Underbelly so unique.

Sorry for the quality on this pic, this was taken on a night visit and let's just say the lighting isn't the best!  Anywho, this is another offering from underbelly, this one being called Belly of the beast.  The noodles and broth are the same found in a bowl of Underbelly as described above.  Again, the winning factors for this bowl of goodness are the house made meat toppings.  What you can slightly see over top are the hoison glazed short ribs.  The meat was very tender with a great beef flavor.  The glaze over the surface created a char from the cooking process which added a very welcomed burned flavor to the meat which was great in depth of flavor.  On the left is the brisket which also was tender but took on a very straight forward approach to beef with a more subtle flavor and added the much needed meat content to the ramen.  The dumplings on the right were probably the most interesting being filled with oxtail.  For those not familiar with oxtail, the meat is high in fat and collagen content pretty much due to the bone marrow aspect of the meat.  These properties carried over well into dumpling form as each bite was very rich, fatty and beefy working very well with the pork broth.  This ramen was definitely a dive into the fusion aspect of this place.

Sure they have the red Togarashi pepper you can add, but they also have a chili sauce too!  Look for this little jar, it contains a dialed down ghost pepper puree that caters to those heat seekers.  Although the sauce is made mild, you have the hottest pepper hidden in there and the more you add, the hotter it gets.  The ghost pepper sauce isn't even just about heat though, they managed to get fruity properties of the pepper to come through to add a great flavor to your soup.  Add with caution, but definitely add some.

Until now I've been relegated to the most traditional of Tonkotsu ramen which I enjoyed more than anything.  Underbelly has opened me up to the potential of ramen, using different ingredients to add depth and complexity that I frankly didn't see possible until now.  Underbelly goes beyond simply adding odds and ends to your ramen but rather well thought out meats that compliment the flavors rather than overpower them.

Quick Tip: For you first timers, be prepared to drink from the bowl!  Underbelly does not serve soup spoons, ironically they take the traditional approach and prefer you to slurp the broth straight from the bowl just like the mainland....enjoy!

Underbelly

750 W. Fir St.
San Diego, CA 92101

619.269.4626

Back to Basics

Ok so obviously I've been MIA...but after graduation and taking the NCLEX, it's been a blur moving back from Vegas to San Diego and the blog unfortunately fell to the wayside.  I wasn't sure I'd even come back to it but now that I'm in the middle of the job hunt I've found a few minutes to update and even though I might have lost all my readers, I just can't help but find the joy in talking about food I love!

So without further delay, this post is about my favorite San Diego spot, Sab-e-lee, a tiny little Northern-style Thai food spot in the Linda Vista area that really brings the heat.  The ironic thing about this place is that despite the high yelp ratings, I was never really motivated until a local blogger talked it up soo much.  Boy was I glad I listened because this place is not only a favorite, but I'm a consistent regular and I have yet to be disappointed.

This is actually the dish that drew me in, spicy raw beef.  I know what you're thinking, raw beef?  If you're feeling brave and are into the unusual, this is your dish.  A mixture of good quality raw beef, Thai spices, green and purple onions with mint and garlic slices.  With the strong seasoning, you lose the iron-like flavor of the beef.  You then get the strong flavors of the other ingredients that just blends to make a tremendous mix of flavor and texture.  A notable seasoning for the beef is the rice powder which adds a little bit of a harder crunch which actually adds to the complexity of the dish.  Obviously this dish is spicy, and being able to order on a scale of 1-10, the masochist I am, I can't help but order a 10 every time.  The spice is from a blend of Thai chilis and lime juice that will make you cry in your chair, in the best of ways!  This dish is definitely not common in most Thai restaurants and this definitely ranks high on my all time favorites list.

Through my various trips to Sab-e-lee, I discovered this little gem called Nam Sod.  This has literally become my favorite dish, I find myself having a hard time trying the rest of the menu because I just HAVE to order this.  Nam Sod is a preparation of ground beef, raw sliced ginger, purple onions, cilantro, Thai spices, pork belly and peanuts.  These ingredients are all mixed with a spicy lime juice and served as a salad although I have no problem throwing it down on some rice.  This is just the epitome of the flavors that Thai food is all about.  A little sweet, salty and sour, spiced up with chilis.  Not only is there a great contrast of flavors but the bite of fresh ginger and crunchy peanuts add great contrast to the dish I can't get enough of.  The most unique part about getting the dish here at Sab-e-lee is the pork belly.  Those translucent slices you see in the picture are actually the pork belly themselves, probably steamed or boiled then sliced thin.  This is more of a gelatinous texture but with the rest of the ingredients just adds depth of flavor and just another welcomed contrast in texture.  Again, I order this at a 10 and the mix of flavors have proved to be a perfect vehicle for the chilis and it really does burn.  I've ordered this dish in several restaurants, nothing comes close to what Sab-e-lee offers.

A few notes on this place:
Take the spice scale seriously, I go with a 10 knowing it burns so good, but for those not soo inclined, start low!  The spice also depends on the season of the chilis and if they are in season they are even hotter, kind of adds to the intrigue every time I order.  The restaurant itself is actually very small, seats around 20 more or less so plan accordingly.  A lot of the dishes are catered to Northern-Thai specialties so it's kind of cool to get past the pad thai and panang and order something a lot different than usual.  And finally, one of the best things about this place is that the dishes range from about $5.95-8.95, hardly breaking the bank but definitely fills you up!

Original Sab-E-Lee

2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

(858) 650-6868