lee’s chicken hoagie. and tell shahan barry says hi.
and avail yourself of the complimentary assortment of homemade pickles.
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their minds will be blown if they knew they are serving two different secret asian man…
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Lol…
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I’d wondered about Yui–thanks for the rec!
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Anyone been to Saso yet?
Thanks, JL!
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Well, I tried Sushi Karen for a sit-down dinner indoors (no sushi counter right now), and I’m afraid I can’t recommend it. I think I’ve gotten spoiled.
I ordered their “omakase” which was nothing more than the chef’s selections of half orders of sashimi and nigiri from the standard menu. Two sashimi dishes, 9 pieces of nigiri, nothing from the kitchen (except the amaebi head tempura), nothing off-menu. And nothing at all special. I ordered an oshinko roll and miso soup to finish. Total for food was $65.
The fish itself was “industry standard” for the price point, ranging from tasty enough (hotate, unagi, Santa Barbara uni–but $11.50 for a single piece!) to okay to mediocre (mealy, bland kanpachi sashimi–I think it sat in its citrus marinade too long). None of the fish was actively bad.
Service was not attentive. The restaurant wasn’t busy–a two-top and me–but after each order was brought out, my empty plate sat there until the next plate came, only at which point the dirty plate was removed, even though the wife half of the team wasn’t doing much else.
My issue wasn’t so much with the neta, or even the lackadaisical service, but with the shari. It was awful. Mushy and bland; at times it was all I could do to swallow it. Funny, until fairly recent years, I (like many self-proclaimed sushi-lovers, I suspect) didn’t pay that much conscious attention to the rice, but experience–and, I have to say, FTC education!–has taught me to take note and appreciate it. And I found nothing about Sushi Karen’s rice to appreciate.
Maybe it was an off night. 65 five-star Yelp reviews (plus one four-star and one one-star) gave me some hope for a pleasant experience (I know, it’s Yelp, but still…). But it wasn’t, and I just can’t get past the shari. I appreciate mom-and-pop enterprises, and I know it’s really hard for restaurants right now, and I want to support such places, but I won’t be going back.
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Not feeling particularly excited about any of these; I’m likely not the target market, though.
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Ive enjoyed Perle the couple times Ive been
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As a resident of the area, I’m a bit worried about the idea of Pasadena as a food magnet for the tourist trade. I’d be happy if it remained a “sleepy suburban city,” thank you very much!
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We got takeout omakase from Sushi Karen the other week, as well. Our impression is similar to yours, fish is decent, but nothing special. The rice was a bit cold and sticky for us, as well. I was hoping for better.
Off topic: but how do we get back to the Paris of 15 years ago?
Hot Tub Time Machine?
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grin As a fellow local resident, I share all those sentiments, @happycat! While I’m all for the restaurants thriving, I’m not thrilled at the idea of an influx of food tourists. Then again, I rarely venture to the Old Town area, so maybe I shouldn’t opine … .
We were considering Perle this week, @butteredwaffles - the vegetarian options look excellent! (We ended up with takeout from Zephyr - https://www.zephyrpasadena.com/ - and are saving Perle for a future special occasion.)
While I’m thinking of it:
Has anyone tried O’Seyo - https://www.oseyoshabushabu.net/ - either take-out or dining there?
How about Erva Brew Co. - https://www.drinkerva.com/ - for Yerba Mate or their empanadas?
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The apple tarte tatin is so delicious
i’d read the review, but i have to go back to sleep.
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Priorities. 
I disagree, I feel like our food has been so mediocre in Pasadena for so long - which is kinda bonkers to me for a city of this size, I’m glad there will be more options I’m willing to eat it on a regular basis that isn’t quick ethnic food. Restaurants play it too safe here because the general clientelle isn’t adventurous enough. We need food tourism. There’s a reason we have so many steak houses in Pasadena.
That being said, Eater LA listing outposts of other fast casual spots isn’t really that big of a deal to me. Not exactly food tourism as there are outposts elsewhere to go to.
U street is pretty good tho!
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What? Arroyo, Alexander’s, Flemings, Ruths Chris and ? What others? Are you going to count Smitty’s? I do agree about the play it safe angle, but that’s not steak. It’s more about salmon filet and mashed potatoes.