My Japanese favorites:
(I’m not into telling y’all what to do, so I just added notes about how I enjoy each place to add more depth.)
Shibumi // Downtown ★★★
I sit at the counter, drink sake & shochu, order chinmi, whatever chef is experimenting with currently, smoked sakura masu
Inaba // Tempura+ // Torrance ★★★
I sit at the tempura counter, order a la carte, order seasonal items, order ebi shinjo and kakiage, don’t sleep on their sashimi
Otafuku // Soba+ // Torrance ★★★
I order zaru soba
Chinchikurin // Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki // Little Tokyo ★★★
I order okonomiyaki crispy, eat straight from the hera (spatula) and sit at the counter so that I can enjoy the show
Venice Ramen // Ramen // Marina del Rey/Venice ★★★
I order chuka soba or tonkotsu, gyoza, buta no kakuni
Torimatsu // Yakitori // Gardena ★★★
I call in advance to order chicken sashimi, liver sashimi, drink beer & shochu
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Komatsu // Teishoku // Torrance ★★
No frills, just good classics. My favorite tonkatsu in Greater LA.
Note: Somebody mentioned not giving away their sleeper hits on the SGV/Chinese food board. This is my sleeper hit.
Aburiya Raku // Izakaya // West Hollywood ★★
I order liver sashimi, rotating sashimi (get them to make hone senbei with the bones), yakitori, and reminisce about how good their foie and beef tendon were
Shoya // Oden+ // Lomita ★★
I order oden, drink shochu
Tsujita // Ramen // Sawtelle, Burbank ★★
I order any ramen or tsukemen (and I always get soup-wari to add to my tsukemen dipping soup after I am done with my noodles)
Josui // Ramen // Gardena ★★
I order miso ramen
Tempura Carlos Jr. // Tendon // Torrance ★★
I order tendon
Tanota // Osaka-style Takoyaki // Little Tokyo ★★
Chinchikurin okonomiyaki plus Tanota takoyaki gives me a one-two punch of Japanese regional favorites (Hiroshima & Osaka) under one roof
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Wadatsumi // Teishoku+ // Torrance ★
I go during lunch and usually get the sashimi teishoku
Yamaya // Yakiniku & Motsu Nabe // Torrance ★
Yakiniku, Motsu Nabe, and Mentaiko all under one roof!
Hachi // Izakaya // Torrance ★
I usually stick to the izakaya items and stay away from the large format items (e.g. nabe)
Gyu-Kaku // Yakiniku // Torrance (many locations around SoCal) ★
I think their Prime Kalbi is just ask good as what similar items from Manpuku, Yazawa, Tamaen, etc and is much more reasonably priced
Hannosuke // Tendon // Torrance ★
As you can see from their superior ranking, I really like Tempura Carlos Jr… But they basically are doing exactly what Hannosuke has been doing for years with–but with better execution. I order the tendon.
Gindaco // Crispy Takoyaki // Gardena ★
I get the original takoyaki
Chantilly // Patissier // Torrance ★
My favorite sweets in LA
Suehiro // Teishoku // Little Tokyo ★
I used to work nearby and took advantage of the insane QPR of their Daily Lunch Specials (~$6). Wednesday’s Assorted Tempura was my favorite
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Holbox // Sushi // South Central ★★★
I don’t eat sushi in LA because $$$$. Holbox fills the raw seafood void.