no mazemen?! interesting thing i saw tonight…all white customers 
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I saw that interesting thing too… at first. Then it turned into that thing I love about L.A. - Hispanic, Asian, Black, White, Middle Eastern, Gay, Straight…Twins. Americans! We are definitely a city of food lovers and seekers.
P.S. No Mazemen or Takoyaki yet. We live pretty close so I knew it wouldn’t be a one-off thing. I didn’t want to glutton-out on the first visit. TBC…
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tai ceviche | pickled onion, radish, yuzu peper, sea salt
tai soup
takoyaki
chashu don | pork belly, sesame seed, scallions
softshell crab
temaki | yellowtail, salmon, blue crab, spicy tuna
tonkotsu | pork belly, kikurage, sweet corn, scallions, soft boiled egg, nori
yuzu ice cream
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Beautiful pictures - the chashu looks perfect! Thank you once again for your report!!
I could have done without the truffle oil
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Oh cool you covered it. Pass on the truffle oil!
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1 - 0 yesterday!
What a result, mate! Awesome to see you at the put the other day.
takoyaki
warung bali seafood bento | grilled snapper and shrimp, scallop and mushroom, urab sayur (balinese mixed vegetable), acar (pickled vegetables), matah sambal, special sambal, rice
Anything grilled over binchotan’s basically a winner. Upon opening this bento, that hit of unique sweet smokiness coming from the shrimp and snapper immediately had me salivating! This is a very well executed bento.
Loved the sweet and spicy special bali sauce over these perfectly grilled shrimp.
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The lone photo obtained because my friend was so sure that it was a tater tot and not crispy rice…
The ramen here is out of this world. We had the black garlic tonkotsu and the yuzu shio. Both were really fine versions, but the yuzu shio surprised me the most because the broth reminded me of chicken pho growing up where I would then squeeze in 2-3 lime wedges because I liked the citrus. Noodles were great and the charsu is probably the best charsu I’ve ever had.
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Iki is back to firing on all cylinders. Sadly, the soft tofu dish from the before times has not made its way back to the menu. I also think the mazemens are a tad different? But as @attran99 the yuzu shio is so remarkable. You can taste the yuzu with each sip of broth. Unbelievable.
Also a pro tip that I reckon has been mentioned here but maybe not: apparently, you can sit at Southland, the beer (and a few natty wines) bar next door, then order at the counter at Iki. The only difference is that you pay when you order! But it’s great for drinking good beer/avoiding the Iki wait. (We probably saved ourselves 30-45 minutes by doing this last night.)
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Wait…does Southland let you eat your Iki order inside Southland?
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Yes, that’s what I’m saying. At the very least, you can eat at Southland’s outdoor tables. The Iki waiter delivered all our food to us, portioned it appropriately, etc as we were sitting at Southland’s tables! It’s kinda a game-changer…
(From what I understand, you can eat in the bar too though.)
by the way the southland bartender recommended that we do this. they clearly want it to happen.
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Thank you! This is a great tip. I’m no beer expert, but I have enjoyed the selection at Southland the couple times I’ve been.
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It also allows you to completely avoid the Iki wait… 
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I was just here for lunch on Monday. I showed up around 2:15 and had the place to myself. There’s a small amount of outdoor seating, so I went for that.
I had the kaisen don, which was a beautifully presented and delicious chirashi bowl with an unusual wasabi sauce splashed across the salmon, tuna, and kampachi, and a yuzu sauce for the scallops. It was delicious, light, and refreshing on an extremely hot day.
Shio koji ice cream for dessert. That is some of the best ice cream I’ve had anywhere. It tastes a bit like malted milk, with a strong malt flavor and a mild salt flavor. Very creamy.
That was my first visit and I cannot wait to go back. When it’s less hot I’ll try the ramen.
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i believe they use kizami wasabi
Yes! That’s it.
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Had the omakase here last night and the food was real good with a couple of great dishes like the mazemen and tofu, but our whole meal of 10 or so courses was served in under 40 minutes. It was so fast we couldn’t help but laugh the entire time. The staff here is delightful, but the pacing definitely needs some work.
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