Benihana

Pinks wanted his last meal with the crew to be at Benihana. I’ve actually never been to Benihana as I always imagined it to be filled with tourists or families with screaming kids. Well, I wasn’t too far off. There was a big family with three kids next to our group and most of the other people looked like they wanted to re-live their frats or sorority days. I was surprised how dark the restaurant is…I know it’s not a good picture. My camera was drunk..

So I guess what makes Benihana unique is that they offer traditional Teppanyaki --you sit around a grill and the chef entertains and cooks the food in front of you. I don’t know if they were understaffed that day but it took a really long time for us to order our food and for the chef to come cook for us. We waited almost a half an hour. Lunch is the way to go because it’s half the dinner price. You get a salad, fried rice, grilled vegetables and your choice of Teppanyaki entrees. The chef comes out with a tray of goodies..

and then he performs….





Everyone got all excited when he performed the “volcano” act…

The chef got a little upset when I told him that I was allergic to shrimp because had he known, he would have made space on the grill for me so my order wouldn’t be contaminated. I was upset because it’s the waitress’ duty to ask me if I have any food allergies! Why was the chef blaming on me!? Another chef cooked my food in the kitchen.

The salad dressing was surprisingly bitter.

The fried rice was boring.

There was nothing special about their grilled vegetables.

The filet mignon was aight. I've had better.

I think Pinks picked this place just because of the food amount. Our chef was entertaining. I was impressed how he was able to flip the shrimps' tails into his hat and pocket with his knife and spatula. Well it's good to know I didn't miss out on anything. Pinks shall be missed.

Address: 8420 W 3rd St, LA, CA 90048
Phone#: (323) 782-9536
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The Izaka-ya by Katsu-ya

Farts and I took Pinks out again for lunch to Izaka-ya by Katsu-ya, Pinks is moving to SF on Saturday. Izaka-ya by Katsu-ya is the less expensive version of Katsu-ya. We went there for their lunch deals. Farts and I misheard the lunch deal and thought it was $12 for salad, five sushi pieces and a roll and figured that wouldn’t be enough so we ordered additional rolls…it turned out the lunch deal came with ten sushi pieces….

We had a…
Crispy rice w/ Spicy Tuna. Farts love this roll but it’s overrated. The rice needed to be crispier.

Tuna and crab roll—I forgot the name of the roll since I’m allergic to crab…

Eel and avocado roll. I’ve had better. The rice was mushy.

As mentioned, the sushi lunch deal came with a salad lightly dressed in a non-Japanese sweet dressing.

I was annoyed that I couldn’t substitute the sushi/roll items that I was allergic to (the California roll, hokki clam, shrimp and salmon roe) with other fish. Well I could but I had to pay extra. It was an additional $6 to change those items. This is what their lunch sushi deal looks like….



and this is what mine looked like…



This was my second time at the restaurant, and I still don’t get why Farts love Izaka-ya. Their sushi is dull , overrated, and overpriced. The lunch deal is not a bad price for those who can eat all the items. I should have doused the sushi with the wasabi and soy sauce. Come here if you’re a Katsu-ya fan but not if you want good sushi.

Address: 8420 W 3rd St, LA, CA 90048
Phone#: (323) 782-9536
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Mikawaya

It was the third night before my intern departed for home, Turkey, and when I found out that she has never had a mochi, I knew I had to take her Mikawaya in Little Tokyo. It recently turned a100 years old and is more known for their pastries, but I always go there for their $1.00 mochi ice cream. It’s the perfect dessert –cheap and guiltless unless you eat ten of them…for those who don’t know what a mochi is like my intern, it’s a round Japanese rice cake dessert stuffed with red beans, fruit, or ice cream.

You can’t help but smile when you enter Mikawaya. They have two kinds of frozen mochis- mochi ice cream and mochi-lato (gelato). I am still trying to figure out the difference between ice cream and gelato. Obviously gelato looks different but my taste buds can’t differentiate.

We shared a strawberry, green tea, vanilla, chocolate and mango mochi ice creams (from best to ok). The staff let us tried a green tea mochi-lato, which was less sweet and the green tea flavor was stronger. It didn’t taste creamier than the green tea ice cream...

If you’re in Little Tokyo stop by Mikaway, you can’t go wrong.

Address: 118 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, LA, CA 90012
Phone#: (213) 624-1681
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Tokyo Table

Last Wednesday my Bible study group decided to meet up with another group at Dave & Buster since that’s the G-rated thing to do... It was my first time being at the adult version of Chucky Cheese. The organizer wanted us to eat there since you get a $10 play card with an entrée…but their food did not looked appealing whatsoever. I wasn’t in the mood to eat that shit. A few of us decided to dine at Tokyo Table instead, which is in the same mall and close by to Dave & Buster. I’ve been meaning to go to Tokyo Table and when they shut down their Beverly Hills location, I didn’t think I would eat there. I guess there’s a good reason to go to Dave & Buster.

The restaurant is modern. The height of the booths is slightly higher than normal booths offering privacy but at the same time, it might take awhile to get service. You might have to stand up to get the waiter’s attention. The restaurant is slightly too dark for me. If I’m tired, I will easily fall asleep in dark restaurants/bars, but luckily I wasn’t because I was so preoccupied with their lengthy menu --17 pages! I focused in on their drinks first. The Aiko (strawberry & cream sakatini) was my first drink. Purdy. It’s not sickly sweet but still very sweet.

Katz had the tangerine mojito (alcohol is shochu). Meh. I prefer my mojitos with rum.

Natz’s friend had the Konatsu, which pretty much just sake.

I later switched to the Kikuka, the lychee saketini. It tasted like they just open a canned of lychee and pour the juice.

As sweet as the drinks are, you will still get a buzz. When we left the restaurant, I thought it was cheesy that they made the outside looked like an out-doorsy patio…oh wait…we were outside outside and not in the mall…cough. Rewinding to the part when we were ordering our food… Thankfully the waiter explained their menu and recommended a few dishes. He mentioned that they make tofu every 20 minutes. Wow! Natz had to order their tofu. They should spend more time making a better tofu instead of whipping out subpar tofu. It was no where close to Asanebo's tofu in Studio City.

Katz and I shared the spicy tuna on crispy rice sushi. It was ok, not to soggy or greasy.

For our entrée, we split the chicken katsu gozen. Gozen means “complete meal” so it came with miso soup, rice, cold udon, pickles, and mashed potatoes, and that was certainly a complete meal for us.

The chicken katsu was tasty. I personally think it’s really hard to mess up katsu.

Udon is udon –another easy dish to make.

Drinks were better than food but then again, it might be my fault since I ordered the “whitest” food; Katz is Caucasian. I have to try their sushi pizza and honey toast dessert next time, and I’ll be sure to come after 9:30pm—that’s when their happy hours start, ‘til closing. Drinks are $3 and selected dishes half off. If only I lived closer to Tokyo Table…

Address: 400 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007
Phone#: (626) 445-4000
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Kazoku Sushi

After running 7 miles, there’s nothing better to do than to eat. Craving sushi, I decided to give Kazoku Sushi a try since it got good reviews, and they have Happy Hour until 7pm on the weekends! Kazoku Sushi is in Thai Town…and on Sunday it happened to be the Songkran (Thai New Year) Festival, so it was a real bitch getting there as Hollywood Blvd was shut down. I didn’t realized that Kazoku is in the same strip mall as Red Corner Asia, and I should have known better that the chefs are most likely Thai…It’s a small sushi bar. I sat at a bar and to the left were a bunch of drunk, loud frat boys. They were so fucking loud that I made it my mission to get the hell out of there really fast. They were buying the chefs drinks, so it's not like they could tell them to shut up. Happy Hour ended in thirty minutes so that made it easier for me to order. I ordered…
A spicy tuna hand roll, which was gross. My best bet is that they use sriracha in the sauce, which is too spicy for me.

A yellowtail sushi, which was the pinkest yellowtail that I have had in awhile. Do not order their yellowtail.

An albacore sushi, which was not fresh. In fact none of the fish tasted fresh.

an unagi sushi, which was the best item I ordered because it’s fully cooked.


My total came out to around $22. The sushi cost $2.95 and the roll was like $3.50??? I don’t know why people like Kazoku Sushi so much…sure I guess it’s inexpensive, but Sushi Don and Noshi Sushi are way better.

Address:5259 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone#: (323) 817-1002
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Sushi Don

I love sushi. I can eat sushi all day. However having a sushi addiction is expensive. Luckily there’s Sushi Don. I was in the Valley last Saturday, roaming around, craving sushi, and one of my “I’m hungry, you should go here” app told me to go to Sushi Don.

Sushi Don is in a strip mall so there’s plenty of parking in the lot. It’s relatively small, so I don’t recommend big groups to dine there. I didn’t realize that Sushi Don is set up more like a fast food joint and the interior is not fancy at all. You go to the counter and pick a meal, “I’ll take a Combo B,” then take a seat and wait for the food to arrive to your table. They make the sushi behind closed doors… Sushi Don is known for their Donburi. – rice bowl, basically like a chirashi but just with one type of fish for $9. They have two combo meals: A) choice of donburi, 5 pc sushi, miso soup or salad for $13.95 and B) choice of roll, 5 pc sushi, miso soup or salad for $9.95.Sushi Don also sells sushi a la carte. Their sushi is cheaper than Wholes Food. Oh, for you crab lovers, their California roll is served with real crab. I went with Combo B.

The rice for the spicy tuna roll was a bit too sticky for me and the spicy tuna mixture was a bit too mushy, but at least they don’t use sriracha. The sushi pieces wowed me. I mean look at it!? They’re like edible jewels.

They were just as good as they appeared. The yellowtail was my favorite, then the two albacore, then salmon and then the tuna . I will try their eel roll next time.

I discovered later that Sushi Don's owner is the same as Sushi Sasabune. Well, I guess that explains everything... They close at 8:30pm, which is a bummer. I guess I can only go there on the weekends. I heart Sushi Don!


Address: 4816 Laurel Canyon Blvd, Valley Village, CA 91607
Phone#: (818) 762-8720
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Tataki

After sobering up, I had to head back to SFO Airport for my ride to Napa; my ride was coming in. We were going to the most exciting restaurant on my list: Ad Hoc. Our reservation was at ten, and we were definitely cutting it very close. I waited at the car rental for her but as time passed by, I got really nervous and frustrated when she didn’t call at 8:35. Her plane was supposed to land at 8:30. Since there was a huge line to check-in at the car vendor, I stood in line, waiting, waiting for her to arrive. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Lo and behold she arrived at 9:15. Her flight was delayed by a half an hour and there was no way we could make it to Ad Hoc. Bummer.

Nonetheless, I was relieved that she arrived safely. The next struggle was to figure out what restaurant was still open at ten. She forgot who she was talking to and suggested McDonalds…I made the face. Since it was late I figured sushi was the way to go but the trouble was that most of the sushi restaurants in San Bruno were closed so we headed into the city. Tataki was our solution.

Tataki is located in Pacific Heights, parking nightmare, but then again it’s parking hell no matter where you go in San Francisco. We lucked out and found parking in less than five minutes. The restaurant is tiny, so you’ll most likely be waiting for a table for a while. We waited for fifteen minutes at 10:15. As we waited we discovered that Tataki is a Michelin recommended restaurant and they “avoid using fish caught on longlines, bottom tralws, and other devices that incur a large amount of bycatch.” This was a good thing since my friend avoids fish that contain mercury.

Once we were seated I ordered their sangria. I loved it! It's served with sake, white wine, strawberries and lychee. Yum!

We shared the Shiro Maguro (pole-caught albacore), Iwana (closed-famed arctic char), Aji (wild horse mackerel) and Faux-nagi (seared wild cod instead of unagi).

The sushi pieces were surprisingly big and each piece melted in my mouth. I was in heaven.


The spicy tuna roll was packed like the triangle sushi thing at Famima. I’ve had better spicy tuna rolls.

Stick to the sushi at Tataki. We decided to also order the Suzuki (closed-farmed striped bass) and Katsuo (pole-caught skipjack tuna).

The Katsuo was a bit rubbery and my least favorite. We should have ordered another Shiro Maguro or Iwana. To finish our meal, we had their green tea cheesecake.

The green tea flavor popped on my first bite but soon disappeared and the cheesecake flavor soon took over. Should have ordered the mochi instead…still the sushi and the sangria were enough to impress me. I’ll definitely recommend this restaurant to my friend Shaz who has stopped eating sushi due to mercury. Sushi is too good to stop eating and Tataki is making sure of that!

Address: 2815 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone#: (415) 931-1182
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