ASA
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
18202 S Western Ave
Gardena, CA 90248
PHONE: 310.769.1010
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | Go Ramen | Chow

Finally found a good ramen place in my neighborhood!
Asa is located in the small strip mall on the corner of Western and 182nd (same lot as Sen Nari Sushi and Sanuki No Sato). And they're open till 2am!

AXE
Overall Rating (+++++)
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ADDRESS: (MAP)
1009 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
PHONE: 310.664.9787
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | Greenopia | Chow | Citysearch

One of my favorite restaurants in LA.
AXE, pronounced "a-shay" is a minimalist restaurant on Abbot Kinney, CA. Their interior is designed with sustainable woods, and their menu offers fresh seasonal ingredients with mostly local and organic sources.

Royal T
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
PHONE: 310.559.6300
RELATED LINK: Yelp

Hip Japanese Maid Cafe in Culver City.
I love their space, atmosphere, and the idea of the cafe. They transformed Japanese Maid Cafe from Nerd Otaku Culture into a hip urban Japanese cafe. It isn't a true "Maid Cafe" style you would find in Japan... Only thing that says "Maid Cafe" is the waitresses wearing maid costume :) Well, I like it this way better.

KOMACHI
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
2143 W 182nd St
Torrance, CA 90504
PHONE: 310.515.6147
RELATED LINK: Chowhound | Yelp

We tried newly opened Japanese restaurant in Torrance called "KOMACHI" from our friend's (Chef Glenn) recommendation last Friday. The restaurant is located where Shu-Chan Ramen used to be... next to Nijiya Market (Japanese super market). They've done really nice job modifying/upgrading the place from old ran down pop's ramen shop to a cozy modern Japanese restaurant.

I-naba
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
20920 Hawthorne Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90510
PHONE: 310.371.6675
URL: I-naba
RELATED LINK: Yelp | Organic MLT

Wonderful tasty small Japanese restaurant, I-naba in Torrance :)
Paul and I ended up having lunch there over the past few weeks during his jury duty. We kept going back again and again afterwards... Soooo good here.... Yummmmm....

We've known the name of this restaurant because of the free local Japanese magazine called Lighthouse. Frankly, I was never curious about even trying this place because of where it's located. It's right on the busy Hawthorne Blvd in a narrow parking lot with many old small businesses looking like they're just about to go out of business. The whole shopping strip mall looks very run down and depressed. Even the store front of I-naba blends into the location. But, since it was at a convenient location from the courthouse, we decided to try, and we ended up falling in love :)

Cho Dang Tofu, Torrance
Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (++) | service (+++) | price ($)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
22549 Hawthorne Blvd
Torrance, CA 90505
PHONE: (310) 373-7055
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | Chowhound | Citysearch

Nothing fancy, but their food is good :)
It's probably not worth the drive if you live far away, but I'm sure every city would appreciate a place like this. I'm just glad that they are near where we live!

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1-1-1 Kabukicho
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
PHONE: +81 (03) 5292-2933
URL: Cha Cha Hana

I received a phone call from my good friend in Tokyo about a restaurant we used to go in Hiroshima... :) And that got me thinking about "Cha Cha Hana".

URL: Whole Foods Market | El Segundo

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (++++) | service (++++) | price ($)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
760 S. Sepulveda Blvd
El Segundo, CA 90245
PHONE: (310) 333-1900
RELATED LINKS: Yelp

We've been going to this newly opened Whole Foods in El Segundo. The store is laid out very nice... and it's huge!! They have coffee bar (you can get delicious organic coffee drinks for less than Starbucks), tea bar (they even serve Matcha, beautiful flower tea, Oolong tea, Herb tea... you name it!), seafood bar, wine bar (Hmmm... we have to try!), cafe where you can get Brazilian BBQ, Tacos, Asian Food.... and more!

URL: The Belamar Hotel | Vibe Restaurant + Lounge

Vibe Restaurant @ The Belamar Hotel
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
3501 N Sepulveda Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
PHONE: (310) 750-0300
RELATED LINKS: Yelp on the hotel | Yelp on the Restaurant

South Bay's hidden oasis, The Belamar Hotel :)
We've been always curious about The Belamar Hotel every time we drive by. The street signage for the hotel (brown + light blue) is kinda nice and different, so it catches your attention. But the hotel itself (from quickly driving by) doesn't look as exciting since you can't really see much of anything from outside.

Bistro Miyoda & Sushi Ichiriki
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1220 Beryl St
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
PHONE: (310) 376-1081
RELATED LINKS: ICHIRIKI | Yelp

The entire name of this restaurant is called "Bistro Miyoda & Sushi Ichiriki", and I believe that the restaurant is co-owned by 2 different chefs. Bistro Miyoda (Mr. Miyoda) specializes in Japanese style Chinese dishes, and Sushi Ichiriki (Owner Peter) specializes in authentic Japanese sushi. I wrote a review on their Sushi bar (which is awesome and one of my favorite sushi places in LA) before, but I wanted to come back and write a separate review on their RAMEN from Bistro Miyoda kitchen.

Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (+++) | service (+++) | price ($)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1407 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
PHONE: (310) 396-7334
URL: Abbot's Pizza Company | MySpace
RELATED LINKS: Citysearch | Yelp | The Delicious Life

My favorite fast food, street pizza place in LA!! (...well in Venice on Abbot Kinney)
They are not fancy "gourmet pizza"... To tell you the truth, they are usually made rather sloppy, but I love their creative toppings on their pizzas with thin crispy crust. They always taste damn good and haven't disappointed me yet!

Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (++++) | service (++++) | price ($$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
2327 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90407
PHONE: (310) 314-7040
URL: Urth Caffe
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | Citysearch

Last time I was at Urth Caffe, I had my eyes on their Green Tea Latte. (I believe they called it "Japanese Blessing Latte" or something like that.) So, yesterday morning, I was in the area and had some time to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea with some of my magazines I haven't read in a long time... I decided to go to the Urth Caffe and try their Green Tea Latte :)

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
2700 Manhattan Ave.
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
PHONE: (310) 318-1556
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | Citysearch

La Sosta is one of my favorite restaurants in CA. This is a small quaint northern Italian restaurant on the corner of Manhattan Ave and 27th St. We always drove by and wondered how it is since it is in the quiet side of town, yet they always seem to have many people in the restaurant when it's open.

Rose Garden Tea Room
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
PHONE: (626) 683-8131 (Tea Room Reservations)
URL: The Huntington Botanical Gardens
RELATED LINKS: Yelp (Tea Room) | Chowhound

We always have a wonderful time visiting the Huntington Garden. They have many, many different amazing gardens (Japanese, Rose, Australian, Jungle, Desert and more) here, and it is like coming to an amusement park of plants! Even if you think you are not interested in gardens and plants, this place will probably overwhelm or inspire you with everything that they have to offer at this place (especially their Cactus Garden).

At the Rose Garden, they have a small tea room where you can enjoy English tea with all kinds of different finger foods (buffet) for $19.95.

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++up) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
11777 San Vicente Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90049
PHONE: (213) 622-0512
URL: KATSUYA by STARCK
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | LA.com | Citysearch

All of us went out to Sushi/contemporary Japanese cuisine, KATSUYA for my birthday. It was by Riki's recommendation this time (Thanks Riki!!).

KATSUYA is designed by Philip Starck and is a very sleek, sexy, cool, high-end, and very Hollywood-like place (in the good way) ;) I loved and enjoyed the whole experience of being there.

Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++) | price ($$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1855 Industrial St
Los Angeles, CA 90021
PHONE: (213) 622-0512
URL: Sweet Freedom Development
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | Chowhound

We had a fantastic night at Royal Claytons a few nights ago.
Our good friends Yosh and his wife Sawa from Japan were in town, so we wanted to take them to some place cool and unique in LA.

Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (++++) | service (+++) | price ($$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
4499 Admiralty Way,
Marina Del Rey,
CA. 90292-5496
PHONE: (310) 823-5451
URL: The Warehouse Restaurant
RELATED LINKS: usmenuguide.com | Yelp | CitySearch

This is where we went for our Valentine's day dinner last night :)
The restaurant has been there since 1969 and is Polynesian-themed with California/Mediterranean-inspired menu. They serve wonderful traditional American style steak and seafood.

Overall Rating (+++++up)
food (+++++up) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1-15-12Michinobe Honcyo
Kamagaya Chiba, Japan
PHONE: +81 (047) 445-7811
URL: HAKASE Noodle

HAKASE noodle "HAKASE RAMEN" is the world's best ramen (in my opinion)!!!
We've been back in LA from Japan for little over a week, and we already miss their ramen. During our short 2 weeks visit to Japan, we managed to eat there 3 times! Yes... We love their ramen that much :D

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
3221 Donald Douglas Loop S. 3rd Fl
Santa Monica, CA 90405
PHONE: (310) 313-0977
URL: The Hump
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | CitySearch | Chowhound | LA.com | kodapup

Since Karen was back in town from Portland, all of us Sushi Lovers decided to go to a sushi bar. This time, we chose to try The Hump.

The Hump is located right on the Santa Monica airport. You can observe airplanes taking off and landing from their outside windows. Yep, really cool location and very romantic setting if the budget is out of your concern.

Overall Rating (+++++)
URL: KOOTS GREEN TEA Japan | Seattle
* We just discovered that this place was out of Business at the Narita Airport :( (Checked on November, 12th 2007)
At the Narita Airport, we found this cool Japanese cafe called "KOOTS GREEN TEA". They specializes in serving high quality green tea along with delicious Japanese sweets and small portion (easy to eat) Japanese tea food. It is like Japanese version of Starbucks. You can pretty much find green tea in many variety of forms (It is like my dream cafe!!). They even have Matcha Americano :D

I talked to the guy at the counter, and he told me they opened 2 stores in Seattle, and they are planning on expanding more in the U.S. Very cool :D I'm really hoping to see them in LA soon.

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
PHONE: (213) 617-1766
URL: Orochon Ramen
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | CitySearch | Chowhound | Flicker

Orochon Ramen is located on the third floor of small shopping mall right by hotel New Otani in Little Tokyo. This place has been on my list of "MUST TRY RAMEN SHOPS in LA" for a while since many people seems to like it and has a good review!

Dan Sung Sa
Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++) | price ($$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
3317 W Sixth St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
PHONE: 213.487.9100
RELATED LINK: Yelp | Chowhound | All Kinds Of Yum (Blog)

Yay! We finally went to our first Korean Food night out with our friend Judy and her boyfriend Fabian! We've planned to do this for a few months now... so, you can imagine how excited I was :D

Dan Sung Sa is located right in the heart of Korea Town Los Angeles on the corner of Berendo and 6th St in a small strip mall. Since most of the signs in this neighborhood are in Korean, it is hard to tell which restaurant you are looking for. But, if you are looking for Dan Sung Sa, remember to look for the large painting of Kim Jong Il on the mural sign on the outside! Then you won't miss it for sure ;)

SUSHI SEI
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1040 Hermosa Ave.,
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
PHONE: 310.379.6900
RELATED LINK: Japanese Restaurant Info | Citysearch | Yelp

I was surprised to find a good sushi place right in downtown Hermosa Beach near the Comedy & Magic Club. We went there the other weekend with our friends by their recommendation. It is right in the heart of beach town, so they get an interesting cross-section of different customers from travelers to locals. So... they seem to serve a wide variety of dishes and not just sushi. But, we went for the straight traditional sushi and sat at the counter :)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
Harlem Place Alley @
108 W. 2nd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
PHONE: (213) 613-0000
URL: The Edison
RELATED LINKS: Citysearch

Light Returns to Downtown L.A.
I picked up a flyer/postcard for THE EDISON the other day. It is a cool vintage-looking postcard, and there was not much information on the card besides their logo, address, website, and text which simply said "Light Returns to Downtown L.A." So, I went to their website and found out what it was all about.

Pho Hong Long
Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (+) | service (+++) | price ($$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
15709 Crenshaw Blvd
Gardena, CA 90249
PHONE: (310) 679-5359
RELATED LINKS: Yelp | Pho-King | Citysearch

We finally found a good PHO place in South Bay!! When we wanted PHO, we used to drive all the way to Westminster (Vietnamese town) in Orange County! But Pho Hong Long is almost as good as the ones we get in Westminster :D

Hide Sushi
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
2040 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
PHONE: 310.477.7242
RELATED LINK: Yelp | Citysearch | Chowhound

The greatest sushi place to go when your wallet is tight!!
We had planned to go out for sushi when Karen is back in town. All of us love sushi, and we are pretty spoiled with eye popping mouth melting wonderful sushi at other sushi restaurants (like Hiko Sushi... Sasabune...). So, we are somewhat snobby and tough to please.

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
2143 W 182ND St,
Torrance, CA
PHONE: (310) 719-7102
RELATED LINKS: City Search
* We just went back to Shu-Chan ramen and discovered that this restaurant has closed their door :( No more Shu-Chan Ramen in South Bay...
Below is my old review.

I've been curious about Shu-Chan ramen since many people at this Japanese LA noodle lover's community on Mixi raved about this place. As a ramen lover, I had to go and check it out and see how it is!

Sen Nari Sushi
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
18220 S Western Ave,
Gardena, CA
PHONE: 310.324.1970
RELATED LINK: Citysearch | Yelp

We decided to venture out and try a new sushi place in a local area this time, so I went online and found a place that had a good review. The place I found, "SEN NARI SUSHI", had a 9.1 rating (out of 10) in Citysearch and 4-1/2 stars (out of 5) in Yelp. Sometimes, the reviews and ratings online don't exactly tell the truth, but this was a good find and so I decided to post about this restaurant in my blog! We had very good sushi and satisfying service along with friendly smile. :)

Overall Rating (++++)
food (+++1/2) | ambiance (+++++) | service (++++) | price ($$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1313 S Harbor Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92802-2309
PHONE: (714) 781-4565
URL: BLUE BAYOU
RELATED LINKS: City Search | Epinions | Chowhound | Other Blogger

Dreams come true! I've always wanted to dine at the restaurant right by "Pirates of the Caribbean" since I was a little girl, but I never got a chance to do it. And I stopped going to Disneyland for a long time. I think the last time I was at Disneyland was more than 5 years ago. Since my sister is a big Disney fan and was in town, we decided to go there with her this time :) We had a great time there, and there was definitely the magical spirit at Disneyland which I thought was lacking at my last visit. The FANTASMIC show was amazing with all the special effects including film projected on water, fiber optics and lasers, and the fireworks for the 50th anniversary "Remember... Dreams Come True" was impressive as well (although, they had to stop the show in the middle of climax due to high wind...). At least we saw Tinker Bell fly from the Matterhorn to the Castle which was fun.

Dine in experience at Blue Bayou was really cool. There is no place like this where creates interesting atmosphere and food is excellent considering we are at a theme park. It's so dark inside that everything seems almost ghost like, and you see all the riders go by... We are in the same room, but it creates weird distance between them. It's definitely a place to go at least once when you are at Disneyland! We will be going back there for sure!

Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
327 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
PHONE: (213) 626-1680
URL: DAIKOKUYA
PARKING: Street parking would be the best after 5pm if you can find one.
RELATED LINKS: Japanese Restaurant Info | City Search | LA Food Crazy

I've been obsessed trying to find some GOOD RAMEN places in LA where I can satisfy my crazy cravings until my next visit to Japan. Believe it or not, it has been very difficult to find a decent one for me (being that I am from Japan)!! I'm really, really picky when it comes down to food, but especially the pickiest with RAMEN. Probably because most places that seem to be rated with 5 stars usually end up as being 3 stars in my opinion.
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DAIKOKUYA is located right in the heart of Little Tokyo on 1st street. It's hard not to miss because they have a bright yellow roof sign (which almost makes it look like a hardware store) with classic Japanese red lanterns that say "大黒屋" (their logo) in Japanese. Nothing fancy and very much a hole-in-the-wall type of place. As we went in, I felt like I was back in "SHOWA era" Japan. It's very retro and old school inside with many vintage movie posters and advertisements all over the walls. We sat at the counter on the red stools and ordered their signature dish "DAIKOKU RAUMEN" and gyoza. BTW, I don't know why they spell "RAUMEN" this way.

Overall Rating (++++)
food (++++) | ambiance (++++) | service (+++) | price ($$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
2715 Main St,
Santa Monica, CA
PHONE: (310) 399-9939
URL: http://www.paninigarden.com
INTERNET: FREE Wireless Access

This is a little cute cozy European cafe on Main street in Santa Monica.
My friend was in town for a business trip from Japan, and we happened to stop at this cafe by accident between meetings. From the exterior, the store front didn't seem like anything special... until we went inside. Supposedly there is an outside patio garden in the back which we didn't think to check for this time!!! AHhhhh! But, we still had a good time hanging out enjoying their food and fantastic coffee :) This type of cafe is great for many different occasions. A great relaxing place to come with your friends or alone :) They do have slow service here, so I highly recommend to visit when you are not in a hurry and have time to relax.

Bistro Miyoda & Sushi Ichiriki
Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
1220 Beryl St.,
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
PHONE: 310.376.1081
RELATED LINK: Easy Reader

PICTURE ABOVE:
1. Ono (Hawaiian Fish / Usually prepared with thin sliced onions with ponzu sauce)
2. Kohada (good with wasabi & soy)
3. Amaebi (lemon & sea salt)
4. Hamachi (Yellow Tail)
5. Fried Asparagus with Halibut
6. Aji Battera (Shiitake Mushroom in middle)
7. Real Hon Wasabi on the side (The best stuff!)

We've been going to this place since they opened about 2 years ago, and we absolutely love coming here!! People travel far, far away just to eat their sushi because of their good reputation :) From our experience, Friday is the best night since both of the best sushi chefs (the owner "Peter" and "Glenn") are behind the counter.

Although, all the waitresses are super nice, I highly recommend sitting at the sushi bar and get to know the sushi chefs :) Otherwise, the whole sushi experience won't be the same. The best and cool part of this place is they serve a wide variety of many different things!! Even baked vegetable skin with sea salt (non-menu item)! These guys are always creative, and they are not limited to serve you what's on the menu.

Overall Rating (+++++up)
food (+++++up) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)

ADDRESS: (MAP)
11275 National Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
PHONE: 310.473.7688
URL: http://www.hikosushi.com

If you are ever in LA and feel like having traditionally prepared real Japanese sushi, you should try Hiko Sushi. It's in a small shopping mini-mall where you wouldn't expect to find any good restaurants. This place consistently serves high quality sushi. I don't know about you, but I'm really big on how fish is cut for sushi. The way this chef cuts his fish is amazing. The sashimi completely wraps around the warm rice. Hmmm... I feel like I finally found a place where I can honestly say it's as good or better than sushi you could find in Japan.