Ramen Jinya 11239 Ventura Blvd Studio City, CA 91604 Dining date: 3/18/11 I first heard about Ramen Jinya from Jonathan Gold’s raving review of it last year. He even called their tonkotsu ramen one of the 10 best dishes of 2010. I really enjoy a good bowl of ramen, so that was more than enough…
Maison Akira 713 East Green Street Pasadena, CA Dining date: 2/3/11 My last dineLA meal of this past season was here at Maison Akira. Maison Akira has been somewhere I’ve been interested in trying, but not enough to actually plan a trip there. One of my high school friends recently moved to Pasadena, so it…
Mori Sushi 11500 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064 Dining date: 2/19/11 Mori Sushi has the distinction of being one of three Japanese restaurants (Urasawa, Sushi Zo, Asanebo) to have garnered a Michelin Star in the latest guide…a distinction which seems to be indefinite. I’ve been to Mori once before, but for lunch. I…
Aburiya Toranoko 243 S. San Pedro St Los Angeles, CA 90012 Dining date: 2/11/11 I dropped by Aburiya Toranoko on a spur-of-the-moment idea. My friend and I were wondering where to eat and she asked, “was there anything around here you wanted to try?” A lightbulb went off as I thought of Michael Cardenas’ new…
Katana-Ya 430 Geary St San Francisco, CA 94102 Katana-Ya is generally regarded as one of San Francisco’s top ramen houses, if not the best. The line to dine here begins before the restaurant opens (see picture below), and remains late into the night (often past midnight). Reminds me of LA’s Daikokuya. I was a little…
SUGARFISH Downtown 600 W 7th Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 I’d been hearing a lot about SugarFish’s latest location in downtown with everyone raving about fresh, delicious fish at reasonable prices. Given that I live and work in downtown, it was only a matter of time until I paid a visit. SugarFish is a more…
Chaya Downtown 525 S. Flower St. Los Angeles, CA 90071 I work downtown, and Chaya Downtown is in my regular rotation of lunch spots. I really enjoy their bento box, though it’s fairly steeply priced at $24. The box includes a meat, a fish, sushi and a salad. Surprisingly, you can substitute out the salad…
Asanebo 11941 Ventura Blvd Studio City, CA 91604 Asanebo would be the last stop of a Japanese-food filled weekend with my dad (see Urasawa and Sushi Zo). Asanebo’s emphasis was more on their appetizer-like small plates, and less on the sushi. Whereas the previous two restaurants had 20+ courses of sushi in their omakase, Asanebo…