Mom’s Home Cooking, Japanese Style, Coming Via Okan Diner

One of San Diego’s top neighborhood gems is birthing a second location. Wa Dining Okan, which opened on Convoy Street in 2008, is spawning Okan Diner on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. Specializing in Japanese home cooking (okan is short for okaasan, which means mother); Wa Dining Okan is related to another Kearny Mesa-based eatery, Robataya Oton (oton is a Japanese term for father).

Well-regarded blog mmm-yoso spotted the new location, which replaces Izakaya Kanpai. While Wa Dining Okan is an intimate space, just a handful of tables around a central dining bar, Okan Diner will be at least three times as large. The restaurant told Eater that it will serve a similar menu to Wa Dining Okan, along with sake and beer, with a special emphasis on different varieties of udon noodles and kamameshi, a traditional rice dish cooked in individual pots . A soft opening is scheduled from 5 to 10:30 p.m. on Friday, March 17.