The service from the minute you walk in was amazing. I love that I didn't have to ask for water ,…read moreJade immediately brought it while I browsed the menu. The sushi is fresh, clean with a soft buttery taste. It literally melts in your mouth. Shoutout to Jade for the suggestion! She was spot on! The steamed gyoza was a delicious. I will be coming back , absolutely my new favorite spot . I hate that I am writing this because I want to gatekeep this new hotspot but it was too good of an experience not to share!

4.8 stars huh? Lets see. The interior is clean but lack of interior design elements - like wall are…read moreplain white. Miso soup 3/5 - not a rich flavor, average. Crispy gyoza 3/5 - good presentation, i didnt feel any meat inside a meat paste rather, and the sauce was oily and pretty spicy. Not the best. Just ok Baked salmon roll 3/5 - again weird tasteless balsamic vinegar type of sauce, average rice, good salmon, good presentation Eel sushi 4/5 - good big crispy eel on a mediocre rice Wasabi was not spicy at all, sauce containers were too big. Everything needs polishing here and there The service was good and the food was served quick. Food is 3/5. One and done to me

Quality of meat was not bad at all and surprisingly good for AYCE. Our server Kevin was very…read morehelpful and very good about letting us know how much time was left so we could get our final orders in. A welcoming environment and we saw couples, groups of friends and families enjoying themselves.

Kevin was an amazing server and treated us very well. Was very quick, helpful, and nice. Will…read morerecommend 100%

Food top quality, service sharp and polite, can get loud in a small space, welcome to LA, I didn't…read morefind it bad.

Definitely my go-to place whenever I'm craving sushi. Their agedashi tofu, crispy sushi rice,…read moretempura udon, and sesame ice cream are really good options too. I recommend calling ahead for a reservation, but we were also able to be seated for a party of 3 without one in 20 ish minutes on a Friday night ~6:30 pm.

Whoever did this did everything right the food, the service the ambience…read moreIt seldom these days when I pay for food that I go that was really worth it, but this was worth every penny Thanks for the great experience Oh yeah, I can't forget the staff. Every single person was professional and helpful.

First time here! We were here for dinner and we love the cozy, dimly lit ambiance of the place…read more Alyssa was nice, friendly and helpful. She helped us understand the menu and the size of servings. Everything we ordered was delicious! We had salad, Agedashi Tofu, 6pc Wings, Sweet Potato fries, Salmon, and Steak. The only thing I didn't like is the 4% service charge they added to cover for the medical expenses of their team. And mind you, this 4% also gets taxed! So you're really paying an additional over 4% more (4% + 9.75% of that 4%). They said you can have it taken out and this is not gratuity. I''d rather be generous with gratuity especially if the service was good than help pay for benefits that I think should be the employer's responsibility. Until I am comfortable asking our nice server to have it taken out, which I probably won't, I most likely won't be back! So the low 3-star rating is because of this. Everything else is good. This addtl charge just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I would give Ototo 4.5 stars, but went up because of their great sake selection…read more My friend and I loved this meal. The chicken Katsu sandwich was soooo good. A little messy at the end, but so worth it. 8.5/10 The ode to MOS burger was also great! The bun was soft and pillowy, the burger was perfectly cooked, all of the flavored married well together 8.5/10 Rock Shrimp Okonomiyaki was delicious. HUGE, but delicious. I actually took some home and had this as breakfast the next day. It was soooo yummy. 9/10 Black pepper tofu was also really good. The standout was the Kanpachi Sashimi. Wow was that next level good. 9.5/10 The service was really attentive, really kind. It's a tiny little restaurant but we loved how intimate it was. The same selection is incredible as well. I loved it so much! They had a perfect cloudy sake that I loved. We ubered there, but they do have valet parking for $13, I will say, you'll definitely want to use the valet - parking looked rough!

I'd give Ototo somewhere between 4 - 5 stars and definitely already want to go back. I've been to…read moretheir sister restaurant, Tsubaki, many times and always love it but opted for Ototo since it's more casual and budget friendly. The parking was awful due to a Dodger game and we ended up utilizing the valet. Service was nice and friendly and very accommodating. There were some standout dishes that I'm still thinking of, let's get to that! Shaki Shaki Salad - 4 stars. This was a fresh and tasty cabbage salad. I personally think a different texture element would have added to this, like crushed peanuts or something, but did enjoy this. Spring Onion Tempura - 5+ stars. Delicious! Tasted like onion rings, but with a lighter texture. Bonus tip, request the bbq sauce like dipping sauce, it creates the perfect balance. Filet-o-fish Sandwich - 4 stars. This was really good, but was definitely improved with the bbq like sauce I had with the onion tempura. Yakinuku Steak - 5+ stars. I'm not a big steak person but thought this was excellent! Rich in flavor, great texture, and cooked perfectly! I need to have this in my life again very soon! They have tons of sake here, but I opted for a glass of Chenin Blanc which was excellent! I love the ambiance here, it reminded me of an Izakaya in Japan. Very elevated but casual and cozy at the same time. Well done Ototo, see you soon!

My husband and I moved away from LA, and since then we've been craving quality sushi. Whenever we…read morecome back to visit, we enjoy trying new places, and I happened to stumble across this spot while looking around for lunch. Upon entering, we were immediately greeted by the manager and staff, who were very attentive and happy to answer any questions we had. For our meal, we splurged on two lunch sets and one sashimi assortment. The portions were extremely generous for the two of us, and the freshness of the fish was incredible. I definitely recommend trying this place if you get the chance to visit Chapman Plaza. We'll definitely be back

Incredible meal that was made even better by the attentive and friendly service! My boyfriend and I…read morecame for dinner on a Friday night and had made a reservation for 7:30 PM. After finding parking in the residential area, we walked to the restaurant and got seated right away. Note for parking: there is a lot available for all the restaurants in the complex ($10/car) but it may be difficult to find parking here during peak meal times. If you're willing to walk a bit, park up the street near the apartments. We chose to seat at the bar and had a wonderful experience talking to our sushi chef and Tiger, the manager. We were told that our sushi chef was one of the best chefs from their Japan branches, and that was evident in all of the sushi we ordered. Every cut of fish was consistently thin and crafted with expertise. We ordered quite a spread (spicy tuna crispy rice, albacore with crispy onion, eel nigiri, sweet shrimp nigiri, agedashi tofu, wild cod nigiri, etc.), and every dish was on point. The fish quality is unlike anything I've ever had before. In fact, Tiger told us the tuna is brought in from Japan. After ordering from our iPad, we started asking our chef and Tiger what their favorite dishes were, leading us to try all these different, off the menu customizations. Overall, such a fun dining experience and really solid sushi. We will absolutely be back.

Late-ish lunch on Juneteenth. Of course there was a wait. 8…read moreparties down so we had plenty of time to pursue the menu. QR code at sign in. It's a typical sized place for a restaurant on First St. (I.e. small & narrow). They do make use of every space though. Parking is...Little Tokyo...sigh. IF you're lucky enough to get street parking, go buy a lotto ticket on your way home. Parking structures near by. We shared: Agedashi eggplant: Japanese eggplant beautifully "fan" sliced. Dashi was VERY good. Generous amount of grated daikon. Assort. Tempura: Saw this being served while waiting. Looked really good and it WAS! Large shiitake mushroom. Fan cut Japanese eggplant, kabocha pumpkin, shrimp tempura & two (2) shiso leaves. All VERY crisp not oily. Warm dashi side had deep umami rich flavor. Probably made the legit kombu & bonita flake method. #1 ordered the Miso carbonara: garlicky carbonara served with their signature house-rolled out udon. Wonderful dish. Portion sizes were adequate. #2 ordered the Uni carbonara: same garlicky carbonara with uni bits strewn about. Estimating one whole uni broken. This actually works for ease of eating. Plus, uni ranges in the $18/oz on the low end to $60 or more/oz on the higher end. Yes we love & appreciate their gonads. Udon noodles were chewy, bouncy & worth the wait. Yeah yeah....the dough is purchased. Not house made. But, seriously you've seen the YouTube videos of restaurants specializing in Japan? Yes there are places in LA who make their dough & roll it out. It's Hella lot of work! Yamachan produces large scale udon/ramen in San Jose. It's fine. Let them work out the dough to water ratio. Also portion size was decent since we shared a couple apps. Might want to consider the option of extra noodles. The table to our right full of younger male co-workers were there to socialize. They probably all grabbed an afternoon snack. Was it worth the 30-40 min wait? ABSOLUTELY! Michelle 2025 Star. Yes it's worth the wait even with the sucky parking. Got so excited forgot to take photos of our udon. That's ok. Just take a look at the 3,000 photos.

Sometimes you just want a simple well made meal…read more I love coming by to watch the udon masters make the udon, so freshly made! I love getting a kake udon, just great handmade udon with really flavorful broth and some green onions as complements to the noodle soup. Amazing!

My precious friend Amelia G. treated me to dinner at Tsubaki for my 40th birthday last month. I…read moreloved this place went I went before kids and pandemic, apparently almost a decade ago. It was as good as I remembered, and probably even better. I can't imagine letting another eight and a half years pass without going back. The only negative is that parking is either difficult or $15, which feels bad in a pretty quiet residential area. Better to take a car in any case, so you can enjoy the extensive selection of sakes. We shared a full-sized bottle, I forget which but I think it was a junmai daiginjo, and it was lovely. Tsubaki is such a nice, welcoming little izakaya. Service is great, the atmosphere warm and easy. You just want to sit back and drink at a leisurely pace. The food is excellent, with a robust menu of creative Japanese food. We shared everything, starting with a stellar kanpachi crudo with ume ponzu, shiso, sweet onion and habanero pickles, and furikake. My favorite dish of the night was the tsukune katsu. I love tsukune, the tare-glazed chicken meatballs you'll find in any yakitori place. This was my first time having them in katsu form, panko-fried and served over cabbage with Kewpie mayo and tonkatsu sauce. The chawanmushi was delicious, silky steamed egg custard topped with Dungeness crab, truffle salt, and mitsuba. Likewise the kinoko tempura, an array of maitake, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms fried light and crispy, with yuzu shichimi and tentsuyu for dipping. We got a skewer of bonchiri from the yakitori menu, delightfully chewy bites of charcoal-grilled jidori chicken tail. Finally, a plate of yakisoba, pan-fried noodles with house-cured Peads & Barnetts char siu, pickled green garlic, and cracklin. We got the hojicha parfait, and it was more or less my ideal dessert. Roasted green tea soft serve with sesame black sugar burnt miso and candied walnuts with cornflake dust. Cold, light, sweet. I could eat a whole one by myself pretty much any time. After nine years in business, Tsubaki feels like an Echo Park institution, and the kitchen is as strong as ever. This was a wonderful dinner, one I hope to repeat soon, with more sake, more yakitori, and more hojicha parfait.

Wow, this is the best izakaya in LA. Though the prices are quite high the food is very high…read morequality! Interior is nice and feels intimate, almost reminds me of restaurants in New York. It's quite small inside and they happen to have a few tables outside. I have mixed feelings about the service though but it is what it is, just feel like we weren't attended properly and service was slower. The menu has tons of options, there is something for everyone. Unfortunately the rice balls I wanted to try were sold out for the night- which how do you run out of something popular at a 7 PM dinner? Anyway, we had the fried tempura, garlic fried rice, short ribs, and chicken oysters. Everything was delicious and I would get these dishes again. But my standouts were the short ribs, they were tender and the marinade was light and fresh. The fried tempura was another standout for me because the sauce paired so well with the lightly friend asparagus. And I'm going to to say the chicken oysters- I think they were grilled to perfection with a tiny bit of wasabi. It's so hard to pick, everything tasted amazing and you can tell everything is thoughtfully prepared and well crafted with a beautiful presentation. I really enjoyed the food here and will be back to try more items.