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