Nikki's Cafe (R.I.P.)

This morning while viewing my Facebook news feed, an article by the Daily Press immediately caught my eye. The article stated that today would be the last day that Nikki's Cafe would be open for business (here's the article). Nikki's Cafe had been in business since 1983, any business that lasts that long deserves praise for their efforts. If you lived in Apple Valley, or any part of the HD for that matter, you most likely visited Nikki's at least once for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. When you find out that a place that's been around for over 20 years is shutting down, it feels like a piece of your hometown has died. I felt that it was only fitting for my Wife and I to pay Nikki's our respects and visit them for one last meal.

Every time that I went to Nikki's I usually ordered the Triple Nikki, the Triple Nikki is a simple turkey club sandwich with added avocado at request (I always added avocado). There's really not much that's special about this sandwich, it tastes great, but there's nothing that separates it from the crowd other than the fact that it will be the same sandwich every time you visit. The Triple Nikki has tasted the same ever since I first ordered it when I was 12 years old, the bread is the same toasted white loaf, the bacon is always crunchy, the turkey is always juicy, and the lettuce/tomato is always fresh. While there might not be much glam or glitter to this sandwich, I at least knew it would taste good and be served the same way EVERY TIME that I ordered it.
My Wife went ahead and ordered the cheese omelet with hash browns, the omelet was decent and the hash browns were properly cooked. This meal also offers nothing out of the ordinary other than the fact that it's cooked properly and is well seasoned. The breakfast at Nikki's is usually pretty good and never changed over the years, it's pretty hard to find a place nowadays that doesn't change with the trends.

While Nikki's might not have offered over the top food, the food was consistently decent and never tasted bad. I always knew that if I went to Nikki's I would not get burnt food, overly greasy food, or food that came out of a microwave. The down home country kitchen decor and knick knacks for sale at the front register was always extremely inviting. The food was always at a great price, and the portions were always big. Our meal today was just under $20 for 2 large plates of food.

The environment during our final meal at Nikki's was something I will never forget, in the background we were able to hear people talking about their first visits to Nikki's, parents telling their kids about how they used to eat here every sunday, and families reminiscing about previous visits together.

Over the years I can remember Nikki's being somewhere my parents and I would come for dinner if we were in the area, as I got older it eventually became a place where friends and I would gather in the morning to soften the blow from the previous night's hangover, towards the end it was still a place where my parents would sometimes take my Wife and I for dinner. With Nikki's leaving, it feels like a piece of the HD is leaving. Although we can't fight the uncontrollable, all we can do is hope the best for the owner and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors and thank them for running a great restaurant since 1983.

Sushiaru

In the HD sushi scene, it's extremely difficult for a restaurant to separate themselves from the pack unless they offer some sort of discount or daily special. Most places are starting to offer "All you Can Eat" specials and "Happy Hour" promotions to get people through the doors, Sushiaru offers both. On this particular night, we decided we would get together with friends and give Sushiaru's Happy Hour a go!

The menu showcased a pretty decent selection of rolls, sushi, and appetizers. The main perk to the happy hour looked to be the 2 for 1 specials on large beers and large sake.
The first item to come out was my baked mussels appetizer, keep in mind that the serving came with 3 mussels, I forgot to take a picture until there was only one mussel left. The mussel was topped with a creamy-mayo mixture and masago. The mixture was decent and the masago added great texture, but they accidentally left it underneath the broiler a little bit too long thus leaving some burnt strips on top of the mussel. My main gripe was that the mussel itself had a very strong fish aftertaste, i've never had a mussel before that had a strong fishy aftertaste like this one did. Unfortunately the strong aftertaste overshadowed the sauce and masago that topped the mussel. With a fresh mussel, this dish would've gone toe-to-toe with the baked mussels at Yoshi's, but unfortunately the quality of the mussel took the dish out of contention.
Our friend and fellow blogger Monique (A Profound Muse Poetry) ordered the veggie tempura roll (not on the happy hour menu). This roll was extremely tasty and included pieces of veggie tempura rolled just like a sushi roll. The roll was crunchy from the tempura, sweet from the carrots, salty from the teriyaki glaze on top, and tender from the rice. I would easily order this roll on a return visit to Sushiaru!
My first roll to come out was the Oceanite roll, the roll consisted of a california roll topped with baby lobster, served hot out of the broiler. The play of textures and temperatures is what made this roll incredibly fun to eat. The outside of the roll is hot, moist, tender, and covered in baby lobster with a spicy mayo sauce while the inside consisted of a cold california roll. The 2 opposing temperatures played well together and created a unique flavor and texture combination. The spicy mayo and baby lobster brought a quick flash of heat to the pallet while the cool and refreshing california roll extinguished the heat with cool flavors of crab and avocado. The Oceanite roll should not be passed up on any visit to Sushiaru.Coming in at $1 a piece, I figured it was a crime to not order a couple pieces of Albacore off of the menu. The albacore came in a light-garlic vinaigrette and topped with a small dab of sriracha (Japanese hot sauce made with chili paste). The albacore tasted fresh and the vinaigrette was sweet, the icing on the cake was the dab of sriracha on top! It added a nice spicy kick and a huge flavor boost to the albacore!
I decided I would try something new on this trip so I went ahead and ordered the "Snowballs" off of the menu. I had no clue what they were and didn't even bother to ask the waitress, when the plate arrived it had 3 tempura balls soaked in oil. The suspense was already killing me so I immediately broke one open and discovered that they were just balls of crab meat that were battered in tempura and deep fried. I guess it's safe to say that I was a little disappointed due to the hopes of receiving something different, something more unique than tempura fried crab crakes soaked in oil. The dish itself didn't taste bad, it was just a little too greasy for my liking, it's a good lesson learned on my part to always ask the waitress what's in a dish if i've never tried it before.
For dessert my Wife and Monique ordered Mochi Green Tea Ice Cream. Mochi is basically an ice cream ball with a gelatinous outer shell which is made from rice starch and a Japanese ice milk. The Mochi balls were cut into 4 pieces and served with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. The Mochi itself didn't have much flavor and had a gelatin consistency which played well with the creamy green tea ice cream. The dish was very tasty and easily earned a re-order in future visits.

While Sushiaru provided very good deals on food, the prices on beer and sake were a little bit on the inflated side which made the 2 for 1 deal not as good as it could've been. The service at the restaurant was ok, but numerous mistakes made it questionable at times. The environment is fun and inviting, and the happy hour is definitely worth checking out! At certain times during happy hour they even invite guests to come to the sushi bar to do a round of sake bombs half filled beer with a shot of sake dropped into it) with the sushi chefs! The above items, plus a Large Beer (2 for 1), Large Sake (2 for 1), and an extra roll came out to $52. Sushiaru is located at 15683 Roy Rogers Dr. in the Home Depot shopping center in Victorville.