Amazing homemade tofu, Tempura is lightly breaded and fresh and just flavorful!…read more Sukiyaki was also good. Attentive service.

My son asks to go here every time we go to Little Tokyo. He calls it the steak place because he…read moreloves the teriyaki steak. I like how the entrees come as a set meal with salad, miso soup, tofu, and small vegetable dishes. I've tried the nigiri sets, sushi rice bowls, and beef/rice bowls. Sushi is standard, nothing super wow but good enough. The servers are all nice and service is good. One of the servers was so sweet to my son last time. She was patient when he worked up the courage to ask for some items and brought extra cucumbers for him to snack on. We sit on the patio since our kids get a little rowdy and messy.

Looking for something light to eat is what everyone wants and found this Izakaya in downtown Japan…read moretown. Food % Service % Ambiance % It has a wide variety of dishes like yakitori, sushi, and robata skewers, alongside an extensive sake and beer menu. Located on the top floor of the Little Tokyo Marketplace! Check it out-food is delicious

Rarely being in the area because the vibe it offered just wasn't for me. If it's not my visiting…read morefriend, probably would never make it here and figured out about Bizan from Yelp. To my surprise, it's already pretty busy around 5-ish. It's quite easy to get a spot with walk-ins though, and the attendants were plenty so service was speedy. The vibe certainly reminded me of Izakaya spots in Japan. Coming for Izakaya experience, obviously we got multiple skewers including chicken, bacon wrapped enoki, chicken skin, pork belly, and many more. My friend got their Kake Udon while I got their Kimchi Tuna Rolls. Taste was decent at quite reasonable price. Wouldn't call it best of the best, but surely not bad at all.

Definitely would not recommend coming here, especially if you are in a bigger party. We had 9…read morepeople here for a birthday celebration - food and drinks were really slow and came out staggered. Almost 1.5 hours before all the dishes finally came out. And service was also not great - the server brought out a drink that we didn't order by mistake, told us we could have it on the house, but ended up charging us for it anyway. Had already left when we noticed it. Also told us cake fee was $10, but ended up charging us $20. Food-wise, very hit or miss. The unadon, hamburger steak, and curry udon were all really good, but the yakitori skewers tended to be disappointing. The Tsukune was dry, the Negima was quite bland. The Miso Black Cod was also quite overdone, became quite rubbery when served and also was cold. Overall, I would not come back again, or recommend it. Given the price point, I expected that the food and service left much to be desired.

Taberu is no longer Taberu…read more With new management, a new kitchen, and a completely new menu, it honestly feels like a totally different restaurant--and I think they should consider changing the name because it's pretty misleading if you're expecting the old experience. The menu now leans much more toward fine dining, and the prices definitely reflect that. As someone who's more of a casual diner and really enjoyed the previous menu, this new direction just wasn't for me. The staff were very kind and took the time to explain all the changes, which I appreciated. However, we ordered about six dishes and were surprised at how small the portions were. On top of that, most of the items were unfortunately pretty bland. Sadly, I won't be returning, and I really miss the old 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.

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.

The food, the ambiance, the drinks...all of it so well curated at Budonoki…read more This restaurant offers Japanese style bar foods with an elevated twist. Everything we ate was delicious. My favorite dishes were the zabuton and sweet potato. For dessert you can't skip out on the soft serve.

spicy tuna handrolls ($15) - im usually not a big tuna lover…read morebecause it's less juicy and fatty than a good old salmon but this was surprisingly REALLY YUMMMY - tuna was well seasoned with spicy mayo and the chili crisp added a fun, crunchy texture - i like the diy hand roll concept - every bite was with a nice amount of flavor, refreshing, chewy from the rice, and crunchy - a must! charred sweet potato ($12) - flavors and texture were not what i expected! - it was nicely mushy, blended with miso butter; abundance of chives on top - sweet and savory - not too heavy and i enjoy it as an appetizer or snack negima 2 skewers ($17) - this was BEYOND my expectations because i always feel like skewers are so expensive for something so short, tiny, burnt, and mid - HOWEVER, this was exactly the opposite; while it is still expensive, everything on the stick was juicy whether it was the jidori chicken or the scallion - skewer itself was already flavorful so i avoided the sauce on the plate as it was a bit too salty for my liking - a must order! It was just so impressively juicy and tender with great flavors scallop crudo ($24) - juicy! Solid appetizer although i feel like the cuts can be thicker and more fresh - i especially liked the slices of citrus pairing; it didnt feel extra but a nice complement to the smokey, strong green sauce on the side - ive had better crudo but this was pretty good still yakisoba ($19) - i love noodles omg although i dont know why the noodles here were cut very short LOL and it is on the softer side - the sauce was really yummy; sweet and savory; i believe it's okonomiyaki sauce or something similar; on the saltier side so itd be nice if they just lessen the amount of sauce - the texture was slightly crunchy with cabbage and veggie which i liked - wagyu was tender - not a must order because you can make this easily at home and for way cheaper! 6 pcs wings ($15) - i got enticed by the soy garlic hot honey flavor but the wings from bbq chicken are lowkey better - still a good, tender, juicy wing, but nothing memorable or impressive than your average wings that you can make at home rating: 4.5/5 - ordered 6 items and everything was solid! Of course there are areas for improvement but they're not anything jarring that would lower my rating for this spot - it is also extremely rare for me to like everything i order at a restaurant so the quality is definitely there - super friendly and genuine service! Server took her time to explain and accommodate us - casual date night tapa vibes; not your typical bright japanese izakaya spots but more so a dark, moody bar vibe, which is cool - would recommend and come back to try other items! IG: @nom.noms.only

Without exaggerating, I have to say this is the best culinary experience I've had since visiting…read more"how to cook a Wolf" in Seattle well over a decade ago. The bone marrow was probably the most delicious savory and overall explosive - wow taste buds experience. The squid Inc. fried chicken was the best fried chicken I've ever eaten in my life miso marinated ribs are fall off the bone and absolutely delectable. This was a Thursday night date night with my wife and we also had the pleasure of the consummate host Dez, who made us feel at home. It was an excellent date night and an Elite culinary adventure.

Hatch has been on my bookmark for a while and we got a chance to try it for my Aunt's birthday…read moredinner. It's located in the heart of Downtown LA. We order 2 sets of their EGGCELLENT DINNER at $55 a set, definitely worth the price. It came with: MISO CORNY SOUP FIRE HAMACHI HANDROLL MISO BEER SPARE RIBS SQUID INK KARAAGE CHICKEN MEATBALL SKEWER PORK BELLY SKEWER MUSHROOM PARTY SKEWER UNAGI YAKI ONIGIRI We also ordered their: Agedashi Tofu Beef Tongue Black Fried Rice Chicken Heart Corn Tempura Tower And Grilled Fuji Apple for dessert. The our favorites were the Squid Ink Karaage, Unagi, Corn Tempura Tower, mushroom party, and the chicken Thigh & Green Onion. Each had a unique flavor that we haven't had at other izakaya places. The black fried rice was good as well but on the sweet side. We also really liked the Grilled Fuji Apple for dessert. The other dishes were okay. The hamachi handroll lacked hamachi flavor and I mostly tasted the sauce. The miso beer spare ribs, chicken meatball, and onigiri were way too sweet for our liking. I wanted to love the beef tongue but there was way too much of the topping and it really should be on the side. The vibe of Hatch was nice. Their service was pretty good. And if we come back again, we would definitely get their Eggcelent Set Menu.

Came for Christmas Eve dinner. Typically need a RSVP here and was lucky to get one. Was seated…read morepromptly. Ordered salmon sashimi, adagashi tofu, chicken, wagyu short rib, some don, soup with plums, and panna cotta. Everything was delicious, as usual. Probably ordered one too many dishes though! Definitely an awesome time, and will be back for sure!

Kinjiro is one of those places that makes you slow down and savor every bite. The truffle udon was…read moreeasily the star of the night! The noodles had just the right chew, coated in that rich, earthy truffle flavor that felt both indulgent and comforting, but not too heavy. The beef tongue was surprisingly good too. It was crispy on the outside, chewy and good on the inside. It paired really well with wine and the sauce that goes with it is not to be missed. The portions lean on the smaller side and can be quite pricey. Service was warm and attentive without being overbearing, and the vibe is intimate yet lively. If you're into elevated izakaya dining, Kinjiro hits the sweet spot. I'd come back just for that truffle udon alone.

Wow the food is so good!! Recommended by a friend that this place was like Izakaya Osen several…read moreyears ago. Chirashi - the fish is QUALITY. 2 types of each fish, so it's still shareable with a friend. Standouts: their Uni was so creamy and fresh. Also loved the kanpachi pieces - firm and flavorful. Hamachi was also so buttery and fresh. The Miso Chilean Seabass skewers were the best. So tender, soft and grilled and marinated perfectly. What a nice thick satisfying chunk. This is a must order. Pressed sushi - these are hard to find outside of Vancouver so it was a delight to see them! We had the salmon and hamachi version. Loved that the Hamachi had a delicious spicy kick to it! The matcha mochi chocolate cake was so soft, gooey with strong matcha flavor! Great way to end the meal. It's on a poppin street on West Hollywood. We walked to Dayglow for matcha and the Pacific Design Center for inspiration.

10/10 Experience!…read more We stumbled upon this spot since it was within easy walking distance of our hotel, and we are so glad we did. It has the warm, welcoming feel of a family-owned business. We ordered the Kiss of Fire roll, spicy tuna roll, and a selection of nigiri (I've attached photos of all of them). Everything was delicious and clearly made with very high-quality fish. On top of that, it's incredibly well-priced compared to nearby alternatives. Excellent value for the quality. We will definitely be returning!