WHY Trust your waiter and order the specials he recommends, perhaps corn, Australian lamb, mixed mushrooms, burdock rolled in pork, yaki onigiri (rice ball) and ninniku no me (garlic sprouts sautéed with mushrooms and scallops). Just make sure you get some of the amazing chicken wings. WHAT For three decades Nanbankan has been L.A.’s yakitori [...]
April 12, 2013 | Posted in
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WHY Chef Akira Hirose, who trained with Joel Robuchon and has cooked at Citrus and L’Orangerie, brings his particular brand of culinary artistry to the French-Japanese restaurant that bears his name. WHAT Picture a townhouse on the Upper East side of Manhattan and you’ll have an idea of Maison Akira’s décor. Its quiet opulence—in the [...]
March 8, 2013 | Posted in
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WHY Real shabu-shabu made with exceptional ingredients, notably the Wagyu beef. Best of all: When you finish cooking and eating your meat, seafood and veggies, they take the pot back to the kitchen and turn the now-rich broth into a heavenly thick soup with rice or udon. WHAT It’s a modest-looking place, and shabu-shabu (meat, [...]
February 16, 2013 | Posted in
Discoveries |
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WHY Lovely small dishes—Japanese fried chicken, crab claws with cucumber, black cod with miso, braised eggplant—at reasonable prices given the quality. WHAT Years ago, in its original low-rent Hollywood location, this restaurant introduced izakaya (small plates) to Angelenos, who followed the place when it moved to this more stylish industrial space on Beverly. What’s on [...]
February 13, 2013 | Posted in
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WHY Because sushi masters are judged by their rice. WHAT ‘No cooked stuff’ warns a hand-scribbled notice at this no-frills Tokyo-style sushi restaurant in a generic West L.A. strip mall. They’re not kidding—there’s no edamame, no California rolls, no attitude. Just Hitoshi Kataoka’s glistening, warm sushi rice topped with supremely fresh fish, plus a simple [...]
January 18, 2013 | Posted in
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WHY A forward-thinking izakaya for the Downtown set. WHAT Aburiya Toranoko, it has been said, is the hip-hop equivalent of its rocking sister restaurant, Lazy Ox. It fits that description in soundtrack and style, but the kitchen hews closely to traditional izakaya cooking. There’s sumiyaki (every conceivable bit of chicken as well as vegetables and [...]
November 27, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Brothy and flavorful ramen with lots of add-on toppings, like enoki mushrooms, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and boiled eggs. WHAT This joint in the back of Weller Court serves some of Little Tokyo’s best ramen. There are seven kinds, but it’s the tan-tan men that keeps us coming back. The noodles are chewy, and [...]
October 19, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Intelligent and sometimes almost whimsical dishes like ground chicken with a light miso glaze in lettuce wraps, as well as exquisitely fresh, flown-in-from-Japan sashimi. WHAT This modern izakaya hidden in a shopping center has an airy open kitchen and sleek lines that give it a quiet dignity. Ultra-fine as well as more modest sakes [...]
October 12, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Fantastic paiko (fried pork in curry spices) and owners so fanatical about quality that they won’t let you take the noodle soup to go—they don’t want to ruin the ramen’s characteristic bite by letting it sit too long in the hot broth. WHAT Come here for imported Japanese ramen meticulously cooked and served in [...]
September 30, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Because the chefs are impeccable, the fish is fresh, and the location is…neither of those. WHAT Smooshed in a sleazy Hollywood strip mall, Sushi Ike is not a place to go for a posh night of extravagant nigiri and imported sake. This place is all about the fish, so if you’re into molecular gastronomy [...]
September 21, 2012 | Posted in
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