Great location, Great Food! Clean, wonderful ambiance and kind staff! Perfect for a mid day mealread more

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!

Ben gave us one of the best dining experiences we've had at Chubby Cattle. From the moment we sat…read moredown, he was friendly, attentive, and incredibly knowledgeable. He took the time to explain the menu, offered great recommendations, and made sure our broths, meats, and drinks were always taken care of without us ever having to ask.

Nice clean place in the middle of little tokyo. Really enjoyed the food. Our server Troy was great!read more

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!

Established and well adored proper sake/izakaya place on the east side. Ofc sake here is dope…read more Food is delicious and straight forward. Very good quality (from the crisp of the batter to the tenderness). Although as a soft shell crab geek, I didn't enjoy the new addition of this on the menu (sorry) maybe it was the hint of spice that I didn't expect or the thick sauce instead of classic ponzu/kanopy alternative? Service can be a little iffy and I can't quite describe that's a disconnect to the Japanese or East LA culture but Ryan is awesome and saves the day with his chill laid back approachable but quitetly confident taishō swagger. This place deserves recognition despite some of (my perception of) its low key elitist vibes. They're committed to the craft and that's really hard to not admire.

You order from an Ipad, at the bar. The chef will tell you the freshest shipment of fish that just…read morecame in. You can order Nigiri in one piece. Robert, one of their servers, was super hospitable, and made some solid off the menu recommendations. Tiger, the manager, is also super kind, and always heard me out my requests, like putting quayle eggs on my sea urchin. I am a self-described sushi snob, and have made a point to go to the top spots. I am a regular in Little Tokyo, including Sushi Takeda. But the most important thing I have learned, just like movies and music, is that there is no one single best sushi place. Get off your couch and give Sushi Zanmai a try!

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

My friend and I came on a Friday afternoon for lunch and were seated quite quickly outside. I…read moreordered the Uni udon and she got the shrimp tempura udon. We split the eggplant tempura, Agedashi tofu, yuzu lemonade. The udon had a bouncy texture and the normal broth was clear. The Uni udon was creamy and not at all overpowering. I surprisingly felt lighter than I thought I would after finishing such a creamy dish. I can only speak of the outside environment since I never went inside. It can be a bit hard to wave someone down since they're so busy. We sat near the doorway and there were plenty of people waiting after we sat down but there was a nice waiting area so it wasn't so cramp.

Finally made it to Marugame Monzo and it definitely lived up to the hype! The uni udon was the…read morehighlight of the meal--rich, creamy, and absolutely worth ordering if you're a fan of uni. We also tried the seafood tomato udon, veggie udon, miso carbonara udon, and the fried chicken skin, and everything was delicious. Each dish had its own unique flavor, and you can really tell they put a lot of care into making their noodles. We came on a Saturday for lunch, so we expected a long wait, but it was actually very reasonable and totally bearable. Service was efficient, and once seated, the food came out pretty quickly. Overall, a great spot for fresh handmade udon, and I'll definitely be back to try more items on the menu!

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.

I did have the most amazing Caesar salad at tsubaki, maybe it's because of the little fish…read moreingredients they are adding to the salad. It's not fishy at all tho, but there's just the flavor from the sea that really elevates the salad. The whole time I'm looking for the fish lol, but in the end I just finished the leaves with great satisfaction. The skewers are pretty tasty but too pricy when I know that at the same price Nan Ban Kan in Sawtelle just does it with 20% better flavor, 30% less wait time and maybe 10% cheaper. Didn't like the fried rice at the end. It'd be better if only they kept the braised beef with the sauce. The fried rice is way too dry to enjoy on its own. Living on the west side, I'm definitely in no time to visit again