eiji's Profile
Hamakawa in Little Tokyo...what happened?
Sold location to Korean ownership now called Tenno Sushi.
One of the chefs Jun went to nearby Sushi Go 55.
AYCE Hot Pot/Shabu Shabu: Still Exist?
Though not is SGV or SFV, in Little Tokyo Kushi Shabu in Weller Court has an all you can eat Shabu Shabu for around $20.
Downtown LA Recommendations
I'd like to add Kokekokko for the yakitori. One of the best. See if they have the smoked chicken salad. To die for.
Chicken hearts is amazing. Sounds gross but tastes great.
Any ramen place better than Daikokuya?
I go through phases on which ones I like best.
For better than the regular Daikoku ramen, in my opinion if you do not get it either kotteri or add the garlic paste, it lacks flavor. When you do add garlic or make it kotter, it's much better. Their pork is wonderful. The kurobuta is the start. Only Santouka can compare. I'm a broth, noodles, and toppings person:
Santouka Ramen Shio-Tonkotsu ramen (Costa Mesa)
Hanaichimonme Champon or Spicy Champon Ramen (Little Tokyo Shopping Center above Mitsuwa)
Shinsengumi Hakata Ramen (Rosemead and various locations), get the kaedama (95 cents) for second helpings of noodles and choose the firmness of the noodles to your liking and oilyness of the broth. The noodles are thin.
Although not tonkotsu, I used to love the mabo ramen at Umemura where Orochon is right now.
Sushi Gen for the 1st Time Today
Toro collar is very fishy in smell. It's very big as well.
Hamachi collar is much better.
Stick with the sashimi special. Get what they do best. It's like going to Langer's and not getting the hand cut pastrami.
There is a reason why 80% order the sashimi lunch and not the sushi lunch.
The nigiri lunch is disappointing because they are made by the sushi helpers. The one thing that is good with the deluxe is the whitefish appetizer in ponzu and momiji oroshi.
Torafuku- Okay Sushi Lunch for $14
They have good tonkatsu and fry items. Good value for lunch.
Dinner is a different story anywhere from $30-50 per person.
old-school. late night. kouraku ramen in little tokyo (review)
CarlieInLA is right on. Their fried rice in a bowl then topped with egg omelette and smothered in gravy is great. That's the thing to get.
It's a great late night place.
Japanese restaurant in LA (Downtown or Pasadena area) to take my wife for birthday??
The kitchen dishes at R-23 are outstanding. Their fried oysters and dungeness crab salad is to die for.
The sushi is average to good but not great.
best shabu shabu in LA?
Kagaya is the best. Around $45 per person to $100 per person for Wagyu and Kobe.
Shabu Shabu House is the best quality for the price $10 (Medium) $12 (Large) for lunch and $2-3 more for dinner. It is underpriced. Normally Shabu Shabu is around $20-25 at restaurants even back in the 70's and 80s where they share a big pot.
Tacos Baja Ensenada - let's get real
I don't know if it's the best Mexican restaurant since it's like a fast food burger joint, all I know is that it's the best Ensenada style fish tacos I've had. They make great seafood cocktails as well.
Those white peppers in a chile lime seasoning are outstanding especially if you are lucky enough to get them warm.
Best Mexican is tough since there are so many subcategories. For fish tacos, they get my vote. LA magazine should have stated best fish tacos instead.
Who has the best Vanilla based Birthday cake?
Thank you all for your recs.
I went with the Saint Honore cake w/o chocolate mousse and they substituted whipped cream instead. Will report back after we have it on Sunday.
Thank you! Can't wait to try the other recommendations as well.
Who has the best Vanilla based Birthday cake?
Hi all!
This Sunday is a very special B-day. She loves vanilla and not chocolate, not much fruit maybe if it's on the size.
She is very selective and very high standards, for example it is a small b-day party for 10 people at a BH mansion where top stars rent out and we have a $600K Bentley at our disposal.
However for food, she likes Trader Joes and Whole Foods and saving money and snacks with vanilla tapioca in those little cans.
What's something that won't break the bank and still be the best?
Thank you very much.
Change at Haru Ulala?
No it's the same owners. Many of the employees are students from Japan and left back for Japan.
There are some thoughts on changing the decor even more like being in an izakaya in Japan.
The phone number listed was the fax number and we corrected it.
The owner has been spending more time at Sushi Go 55 recently.
Takumi: Watch Out, Sushi Gen (long review)
The white kelp is called shiroita konbu marinated in vinegar. Used primarily with saba as battera, Osaka style sushi.
Pretty common at most of the better sushi restaurants.
Where can I find the best tasting healthy B-day cake?
Healthy meaning organic or natural that tastes good. Not meaning low fat or sugar free using artificial ingredients that may be worse.
I realize there is no such thing as a healthy cake so a healthier alternative to the traditional tons of egg, tons of sugar, tons of dairy.
Thank you for asking.
My friend wants to celebrate and one of her main goals to eat healthy. It is like having a organically grown steak with the fat trimmed off or taking the skin off of free range chicken. It is for her treat to go off her eating pattern yet making it healthy as it can be with it tasting good.
Does that makes sense?
Echigo Omakase lunch special
I believe the 12 or 13 is the lunch special. That consists on tuna, yellowtail, albacore, salmon, halibut, and their blue crab hand roll.
Omakase is chef's choice and serves you until you say when. There is no way that you can get Toro, skipjack, butterfish, their blue crab hand roll and a few other pieces for $12 or $13 bucks.
I am curious on how much it is as well. Kiriko has one for $27.50. I would guess it would be around $30.
AKSLA2006 could you share with us how much it was?
Where can I find the best tasting healthy B-day cake?
If anyone can help, chowhounds can.
Please, thank you! Thank you! I appreciate it.
Sushi Catering for a Wedding
I am curious. How steep was it? How much was Sushi Roku?
Calling Irori Sushi Regulars in MDR...Wherefore Art Thou Shige??
I'm curious. Is Masaru still there? I remember Perceptor's report that look fabulous!
Asanebo questions
judge dee is right. They are one of the best sashimi places in LA. Originally they did not have sushi, only sashimi.
Omakase is wonderful. Small place maybe seats around 20-30.
I've been there on a Sunday and quality was top notch.
Quality and freshness is more dependent on the chefs and the owners to buy the right amount of fish and what standard they set as servable and non-servable.
Japanese Style Soft Serve Ice Cream In LA?
I may have found it! I thought it was going to be regular soft serve since the machine was from Taylor.
It was a little foamier and less sweet like most Japanese desserts. Reminded me of if there was a soft serve from Japan this would be it.
Oiwake on the second floor in the Japanese Village Plaza in Little Tokyo.
Went there for a Business Association meeting. All you can eat buffet nothing great but great value for under $10.
Yokohama Kaigenro
Agreed. Their spicy champon rocks with their tonkotsu broth. I had the Kasen ramen (Shoyu ramen with seafood) last week and that was very good too.
"All you can eat" shabu shabu in LA area?
There is one on the 3rd floor of Weller Court in Little Tokyo called Kushi Shabu. Somewhere around $20 per person.
Sushi Gen last night - YUCK!
This is coming from my experience working in the sushi industry and from a restaurant mentioned quite frequently on this board, I believe like most sushi restaurants there is a difference in quality from the sushi bar and dinner sets or table service.
One of the main factors is time. At the sushi bar you can eat it not long after it was created. Like a handroll it is supposed to be eaten immediately so you can bite into into with a snap versus it getting soggy. Plus there the best is saved for sushi bar customers near the belly versus near the ends.
Sushi Gen has a top notch sashimi lunch special and one of the best values anywhere. They train the helpers to make the sashimi well. I occasionally go eat there for lunch.
What I noticed is that most people get the sashimi special and very few get the nigiri lunches. It may be just my imagination and this is coming from my experience only is that the nigiri sushi is not great at least from the table perspective and I can not speak about the sushi bar experience. I could be wrong that the sushi rice is inconsistent with rice wine vinegar. While many people like unagi, traditionally it doesn't belong in chirashi.
In general, coming from my own experience, the sushi is better at the sushi bar. And to take it to another level, instead of asking for what you want, trust the sushi chef or ask him to make you something special to test the creativity and the mastery the itamae has with his knife.
It is a shame sometimes to see sushi chefs full skills not being utilized and in turn their creative juices are held back. For example, seared engawa sushi (halibut fin muscle) with some yuzu kosho or toro takuwan (yellow radish) roll with no seaweed, or mentaiko(spicy cod roe) wrapped in ika (squid) with shiso sushi. Fresh Shiitake sushi. Tamago with narazuke sushi.(Egg omelette sushi with sake pickled vegetable) Yakitoro (seared toro in nikiri soy sauce with a touch of yuzu kosho. Tastes like high quality beef). It is only shown to a few regular customers who trust the chef to create whatever he wants.
Just from writing this and maybe as a manager, I will encourage the chefs to be a little more vocal to ask the customers to try something new or trust him.
Omakase at Sushi Zo
Sounds great! Are they open on Mondays? What about lunch?
The Bluefin Tuna market is very interesting. Sometime it's from Spain, other times Turkey, Canada, or Boston based on the availability rather than the restaurants choosing where the bluefin comes from.
Just Another El Parian Question
I've had similar experiences at El Parian.
The carne asada seemed dripping of juice from the grill where it tastes like black residue of the grill. The juice is black.
Never had problems with the carnitas or the birria which is great.
I know El Parian receives a lot of raves for their carne asada but the 2 times I've had it lacked some salt to give the meat flavor. Been late at night and on a weekend around noon. It was busy and a wait around 1:00 pm on a weekend.
I make my own version with a cross rib steak cut 1/8 inch thick marinated in citrus juices.
Issen Joki - good Japanese entrees
It's on the 3rd floor of the Little Tokyo Shopping Center above Mitsuwa Marketplace.
Not to be confused with the Little Tokyo Mall next to Japanese Village Plaza.
Recs for late sushi in Little Tokyo
Most Little Tokyo sushi restaurants close around 10 pm.
The two that I can think of that are open later are Hamakawa on 2nd street and Oomasa on 1st in Japanese Village Plaza. They are open to at least 11:30 pm.
Hakata or Santouka for my only ramen meal?
I've been to both and they are both good. You can't go wrong with either.
My vote would be for the Santouka and get the shio ramen.
The pork is wonderful.
Honda Ya (Review)
Honda-ya is looking to open a Little Tokyo location early next year in the Little Tokyo Shopping Center where Mitsuwa market is.
Never made it out to OC and am looking forward to something closer in LA.
