Restaurant Myth

I talked to the chef at Urasawa (Hiro Urasawa) and he told me about an interesting story. He said a few of his customers told him of a sushi restaurant in LA that is supposed to be super high class and expensive. They say the restaurant charges over 500 dollars a person. It's supposed to be a small place that is very exclusive. But he said, people hear about it but he have never actually met anyone who have gone to the place. So, I guess it's a myth then. Anyone know about this place? He also added that his restaurant is one of the 3 restaurants from LA that make it in the top 50 ranks in USA (the others are Spago and another one I cant remember). Then, he had two thumbs up and smiled.

Shabu Shabu: Shinsengumi

Shinsengumi (remember the Ramen and Yakitori restaurants ?) also has a Shabu restaurant. I just found that out this past week from my friend. He said it's very good too. I will force my friend to take me this coming Tuesday and promise to blog about it.

Address: 1695 W. Artesia Blvd. Gardena Ca. 90247 (310) 532 0728

Ps My friend told me they also opened another ramen restaurant near the original one. It's supposed to be the same stuf though. I guess they are doing pretty good.

Shabu Shabu: Mizu

Another of my favorite place is on Sawtelle. It's called Mizu 212. It's on the same line up as Orris, on the corner of the street with parking in the back. They only have 2 to 3 tables. Most of their seats are counter seats. This place is more contemporary looking with contemporary music, usually Jazz. And their shabu is as good as the place looks. You can order beef or chicken or seafood or combination I think. They have 3 kinds of beef: beef, vintage, and wagyu. Their seafood isnt bad too (the salmon is fresh), so you might wanna try combination of beef with seafood if you are not a beef eater like me. The order comes with rice (white or brown) and vegetables. You can order side beef or chicken or others if you want. In doing the sause, they hide Thai chilli in the back too; so if you like spicy, go for it. On the menu, their ice cream is supposed to be award winning or something. Dont believe them, they are just normal ice cream.

2000 Sawtelle Blvd.West Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310) 478-8979

Shabu Shabu: still in little Tokyo

There's a prestige shabu place in little Tokyo too. It's called Kagaya (I think). Next to Sushi Gen (which is not that good of a sushi place). This restaurant has only about 5 to 6 tables with a few more counter seat. They will give you a course menu with appetizer (which is absolutely great) and deserts. You can choose for a variety of beef and seafood. You can beef quality from US prime to Wagyu to Miyazaki (?). The price increase respectively too. The prime cost about 40 bucks (including the set menu) but they only give you about 9 pieces of sliced beef. You are gonna have to order additional sides if you eat like me. The soup in this restaurant is great. They use soup not just water like other places. And the pot isnt too hot so the soup isnt boiling. This is good because when you dip the beef into the soup, you can actually make it medium-rare or how cook you like. This is the way shabu is supposed to be. Other places, the beef just curl up when it gets into boiling water. The sause is great too. It's dense; not like watery stuff other places serve. They also serve a variety of vegetables too. After the shabu, they will ask if you want them to cook rice or udon with the soup. I always choose udon, and its superb. Dont forget the desert because they also superb (this is unsual coming from a person who doesnt eat desserts). Do get the green tea moose. Oh, absolutely do not forget to order, raw beef. It's not on the menu but it's one of the best.

I would recommend reservations if you are going more than 4
418 E. 2nd St., Los Angeles213-617-1016

Shabu Shabu: little Tokyo

There's another place arcoss the street from Zakuro. I dont know its name but its fully packed everyday. The wait is around and hour no matter what time you go. And I'm surprise people would wait that lng for this place. It's not that good. It could be because it's cheap. The place is so fucken arrogant too. They wouldnt give their customers too much green onions (which I use a lot). They dont care about their customers. If you go and put down your name for a certain number of people, that cant change. If more people come, they will have to put down their name and wait. If less people show up than what you've wrote, they scold at you. I dont get that shit. I'm not there begging for food. So I went there once, and never went back again. The food isnt that great either.

It's in the little Tokyo complex. On 3rd street. You cant miss it; there will be a lot of people waiting in front of the place.

Shabu Shabu

There are some good Shabu Shabu places in LA. The first that I recommend and the one that I used to go all the time is Zakuro. This one is in little Tokyo. It's a small place with 3 tables on Tatami and a bunch of counter seats. It's a cheap and it's worth the price. There is usually a short line each night; you will have to go and put your name down and wait. This is the only place I know that serve Sukiyaki. It is eaten with raw eeg as a dip, vegetables, and rice. The shabu itself is pretty good too. I used to eat there quite a few times a week. It costs no more than 20 bucks each visit. But the place has been closed for about a year now. I dont know what happened. They have a sign on the front door saying its for renovation but I dont see any thing going on. Not sure when its gonna open again. I'm waiting for it.

356 E 2nd StLos Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 680-0003

Pho: on Sawtelle

There's another Pho restaurant that I go to. This one is on Sawtelle. It just opened this year I believe. It's right next to Manpuku (a Japanese bbq restaurant blogged about earlier). This place has a more variety of dishes including rice bowls, rolls, and various pho. I went there only once mainly because it's far from my house and when I'm around the neighborhood, I usually go to other restaurants instead. The pho in this restaurant is better than Pho LA mainly because the beef in the bowl is raw (how it supposed to be). Other than a more variety in the menu and the beef, the two Pho restaurant I go to are quite similar. They are interchangable for me.

Address: I dont know the exact address because I dont even know the name of the restaurant. But it's on Sawtelle and Olympic. Right next to Manpuku across the street from the Nijiya market.

Pho LA

I have not been to many Pho restaurant yet, but there is a place I visit regularly. It's on the corner of 6th street an Alexandria called Pho LA. They serve pho with different toppings and three kinds of rolls. Their sumer roll is pretty good but they dont have it most of the time. Pho toppings include various seafood, meat balls, and beef. You can choose from different choices on the board. I always get pho with beef. It's the simplest one and because I love beef. The food is not that extravagant but they are alright. Their biggest problem that ticks me off is that the beef was supposed to be raw, but they are not. Overall, it's a good restaurant. It's best for the morning after a heavy drinking night, and it's good when you are hungry after a party because it opens 24 hours.

Wako

The restaurant specializes in Donkatsu (fried meat with rice). They offer pork donkatsu, chicken donkatsu, steak donkatsu, lobster donkatsu, etc. They also serves Udon and cold Soba. Everything is good in this restaurant. Depending on what you order, they will give you sesame seeds in a bowl for you to crush. Then you will fill will the bowl with sause for you order. The best thing about this place is that the Donkatsu are perfectly fried -- making them very crispy. The soba is good too. So I recommend that you order a combination in which you can order a meat (pork or chicken I think) with a smaller portion of Soba (this does not come with rice but you can order it separately). I used to order the combination with steak but they dont offer it anymore. But I still think the steak is the best so get my friends to order a combination and steal their soba.

There are a few branches but I one I go to is on Olympic. It's not listed on the internet. They are on Olympic a few blocks west of Vermont. If you are driving from USC, take Vermont north, turn left on Olympic, and it will be on your left on the corner of some road. Another location that I know of is in a plaza on Wilshire. The address is 3377 Wilshire Blvd. The plaza is on the corner of Wilshire and Alexandria.

Teppanyaki: New Otani Hotel

If you want to get a decent teppenyaki, you would have to go to the new otani hotel in little tokyo. On the garden level there's a teppanyaki restaurant that has about 6 pans. This place has Kobe beef (the greatest beef) from Japan. They offer various course menus. The one I order had salad, raw Kobe, lobster, sea bass, Kobe beef, and fried rice. The restaurant was the best Teppanyaki i've had here and one of the best ones i've had in my life. I would highly recommend this place. They open for lunch and dinner. But I was told that while the menus are the same, the price is much higher in dinner time. So go try it during lunch.

Address: 120 South Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 Phone: (213) 253-9263

Aod

There a Thai restaurant I just found out about and have been going there regularly since. The place is called Odd (I think). It's perfect for lunch because tey serve mostly noodles, some rice dishes, etc. The food are popular mostly for lunch. The duck rice is the best I've had here. It's as good as the ones in Thailand. I would also recommend their noodles. They as ones of the best here in LA. I thing I like about this place is that the dishes they serve are very similar to the ones in Thailand in terms of its portion. Most of the servings in the restaurant here are very big, but Aod offers an option of large and small. This is great because you can try a variety of their dishes in one visit.



Address: 5401 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles CA. 90027 Phone: 323-468-9302

Teppanyaki: Benihana

I just found out some days ago that Teppanyaki is not originated from Japan -- it was created here in USA ! I was quite surprised to learn this so I thought I would Blog about teppanyaki restaurants. The first Teppanyaki I've had here is at Benihana on La Cienega. To tell you the truth, they should not have even called the stuff they make food. It's all for show. They cook in front of you and do all these elaborate tricks like in the circus. It's more of a show going experience than a dining one. They throw their knives and shrimp tails in the air and play with them. I mean, it's fun to look at but the outcome of those acrobatic cooking is absolute shit. If I was to sum up the restaurant in one word: inedible

I wont even give you the address of the restaurant because it would just be a disgrace.

Sea Habour for Dinner

I went to Sea harbour for dinner a couple of nights ago. The food was phenominal ! This is definitely not a normal chinese seafood restaurant. The pigeon was absolutely delicious (dont forget to eat the head too). I was surprised that there werent that many people at the restaurant but perhaps because it was on a weekday night. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed the food. We got the Alaskan King crab steamed and stir fried with chilly and other stuff. Everything was perfectly made. We complimented them and the manage told us that they are one of the three best chinese seafood restaurant in the United States! No wonder their food is so great.

Address: 3939 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead Phone: 626-288-3939

The Cut

Finally I got to go to The Cut. Even though we had a reservation, when we got there we still had to wait for about 20 mins. As made obvious on their menus, the expertise of the restaurant was beef. They had dried aged beef of about 25 years and 35 years. Other than that, they had American Kobe beef and Japanese Kobe beef. I ordered a beef sashimi which was absolutly excellent. My friend had a beef tartar which was also great. Then came the main course. I ordered a Japanese Kobe Filet mignon. The dish was excellent. It was perfectly cooked and the quality of the beef was superb. Overall, this restaurant was probably the best steak house I have ever been to since I got here.

Address: Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel9500 Wilshire Blvd. (N. Beverly Dr.) Beverly Hills, CA 90212 Phone: 310-276-8500

Ps. I recommend that you reserve your table at least 2-3 weeks in advance or 1 month if it's a big party. I reserved the table through the peninsula's concierge and was lucky enough to get a table.

Dinner at the Penninsula

For the second night of my family visit, we had dinner at the hotel where they are staying: The Penninsula. It was a french restaurant I believe. The dishes were mediocre -- I had duck liver for the first course, the langostine for the second dish, and the rib eye steak for the main course. We opened champaigne and good wine. Although the food isnt worth a revisit, it was overall a nice experience.

The Cut

There is a new restaurant that is growing in popularity right now called The Cut. I believe its a steak house in the Regent hotel beverly hills. It's another restaurant by Wolfgang Puck. The reservation is very hard to make -- you have to make it at least 2 weeks for a small party. Since I have the funding from my parents during their visit, I tried to make a reservation. But there are too many of us that they could only serve us at the end of the month at the earliest. Knowing that Hiro (the chef at Urasawa) knows the owner, I called him wondering if he could help. He promised to try and we are waiting for the reply anxiously. I hope that we get it.