Consistenly delicious Japanese food, worthy of 5 stars…read more Feels like a mom and pop Japanese restaurant with tasty food. It's a small eating area with a nice rustic wooden ambience--somewhat darkened with Japanese decor. It's in the Tozai Plaza immediately east of Western Ave. There are a bunch of mostly Asian restaurants in this plaza, but you can't see them easily from the nearby streets. I have eaten the Mini Katsudon Set twice, which is a pork cutlet on rice with a sweet and savory egg included. It includes Udon as well, which is also great. I've tasted the Kalbi, macaroni salad, and house salad, and all of the food is of high quality. The help are also nice, and that's where I got the Mom and Pop vibe from. They gave me a complementary macaroni salad when I picked up my takeout order.

*** Credit cards accepted ***…read more Kotohira Restaurant is one of several old school Japanese restaurants in Gardena and the restaurant specializes in Okinawan food (Okinawa soba) and Sanuki udon. The restaurant is located in a fairly busy strip mall with other popular restaurants and drink shops located within the same mall. Renowned food critic Jonathan Gold from the Los Angeles Times wrote an article about this restaurant back in 1992 ( https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-09-fo-2127-story.html ). [Parking]: The strip mall has a big enough lot and our party had no issue finding an available spot during weekday dinner hours. [Interior]: Old school Japanese mom-and-pop dining vibe. [Menu]: The restaurant offers various combo sets with tempura, bento, udon, and seafood (unagi, salmon, grilled mackerel, etc). Their specialty dishes are Shoyu Udon and Tanuki Udon. *** Tendon Combo (assortment of fried tempura with a semi sweet sauce poured on top of rice $15.95): The fried tempura pieces were not as good as the tempura from Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr. as the combo lacked variety. The miso that came with this combo was really good. *** Overall a mediocre experience with the tempura combo that I ordered, but I sampled the udon and liked it a lot better than the tempura so I would definitely recommend getting their specialty like udon for a better experience.

Love love love this place! Been coming here for years. Definitely my favorite kagura branch…read more Everything on the menu is delicious. I personally just prefer to get sushi or sashimi. The fish is super fresh and the variety is good. The sets are really filling with lots of side dishes. I usually always have leftovers. Staff is great and attentive. Overall a 5/5 experience.

I've been to a few Japanese restaurants in downtown El Segundo over the years. How on earth did I…read moremiss this gem!? Huge props to my coworker for suggesting this place. Hidden in plain sight, Kagura is a top tier Japanese dining experience. It should be noted that this place is more $$$ than it is $$, and that's a compliment. I dropped $50+ here and it was easy to say it was worth it. I treat myself to the Kagura Gozen chef especial that was limited on how many was served per day and a Orion Okinawa draft beer. Plus, I had leftovers. The chef special came with more-than-a-little of everything. Each dish was unique and delicious. I was treated to a full spread of amazing Japanese cuisine. Sashimi was fresh, katsu was thick and juicy with a lightly breaded crust, eel was flavorful and soft, and the soba noodles were perfect. The restaurant is clean and beautifully laid out. I got vibes of actually being in Japan. If you have a reservation, you can get a private booth. The attractive staff were fantastic. Friendly and fast. Water glass was always full and empty dishes were promptly removed. Last tid bits. Two clean solo bathrooms and street parking.

Very good ramen, definitely recommend the food came pretty fast and nice friendly serviceread more

The place is a hidden gem in Westchester…read more It is clean and friendly with old Japan feel counter/bar. The karaage was fresh, crunchy and had the right seasoning. Along with the pork belly fries which are a a bit on the sweet side. The sides were great. The ramen was very good. Silky, thick and full of flavor. I order the DANGER hot , and it still tastes great. BE CAREFUL IT IS HOT!!!!! Best to come during happy hour and take advantage of the discount. Price point is adequate for the quality and quantity of food. I will come back.

I stopped in by myself and had such a great experience. Everything arrived incredibly fast, and…read moreevery dish was delicious. The kanpachi jalapeño was fresh and silky, with bright ponzu and just the right amount of heat from the jalapeño. The four oysters on the half shell were cold, briny, and refreshing, and the savory sauce and scallions made them even better. The A5 Wagyu was incredibly tender, buttery, and practically melted in my mouth. The Phoenix Moon was probably the most decadent bite--rich chopped toro topped with creamy uni, lightly seared and finished with truffle sauce. Everything was beautifully presented, the service was quick, and parking wasn't difficult at all. I'll definitely be back!

I've been going to their other Kanpai location for literally decades so Kanpai holds a special…read moreplace in my heart. My favorite thing about Kanpai is their spicy yellowtail rolls. No one makes a spicy yellowtail roll better than Kanpai and I have tried many! Service is always friendly and if you come at off times you get your food really fast. They also do a lot of to go orders which is nice since they're efficient and package the food well which isn't always the case for Japanese/Sushi. I come here just for the spicy yellow tail rolls although they have many other delicious menu items too that I order from time to time.

My wife and I aren't from the area and found this place through TikTok. We made a reservation and…read morewere seated immediately upon arrival, right on time. The customer service was great, the food was amazing, and everything had a unique flavor that we really enjoyed. The presentation was also aesthetically pleasing (bonus points for my wife ). I also tried the Orange IPA, which I definitely recommend you fellas try. Great experience overall and we'll definitely be back!

Good food, great experience. Karolina, our waitress, provided great service. Will be coming back…read morefor more!

Authentic Japanese food. You can ask for what you want and they can prepare it for you.read more

YUM! I mean these…read morewere not cheap, but LOOK at the portion. if I wasn't dancing the night away at Gardena Obon this night, I would've saved half for lunch the next day. I still had some leftovers, though. sashimi were thick cut pieces, needed 2 bites per piece to eat. beef teriyaki: get it. even if you JUST get this, get it. I knew something was up when my mom AND sister both ordered some kind of combo, but my sister called dibs on my mom's as soon as she said she was going to order it. this led me to ordering my own beef teriyaki combo. oyakodon was classic and hit everything just right, the cheapest of the entrees but just as filling. love it here!! will be back soon

It's a nice old Japanese restaurant. Great service, good food, with a lot of options for you to…read morechoose from. I had a great time!

The restaurant has a very old school Japanese vibe. Has a good amount of tables for two or a bigger…read moregroup. The service is okay. A small family run restaurant so things can be timed weird but the people are very friendly. The food is good. I ordered the special tonkatsu combo plate. The cold udon is delicious. The tonkatsu is crunchy and juicy. Made very well. Overall a solid 4.7

Really tasty ramen! The temperature was just right, and the noodles were cooked perfectly with a…read moregreat texture. The broth was flavorful and satisfying. Definitely a good bowl of ramen--I'd come back again!

My daughter and I had dinner here last night. There is plenty of party in a surface lot adjacent to…read morethe building. The setting is modern and clean. My one small "complaint" is that I found the seat/stool to be a bit uncomfortable. The food and service was very good. We had: Crispy Chicken (5/5) - Their version of chicken karaage. Very flavorfully seasoned and perfectly fried. I thought the dipping sauce was delicious as well. Shoyu Ramen (4.5/5) - This is what I had. Really good version of shoyu (but based off chicken broth) ramen. I had the thick noodles which is a bit thicker than the traditional ramen noodles. Portion size - lots of broth, could have used a bit more noodles. Tonkatsu - This is what my daughter had. She said it was very good, one of her favorites. A bit pricey for ramen, but I guess it's to be expected nowadays in LA. The bill includes a 17.5% service charge (which is stated on the menu) but the server also made sure we were aware of this before we ordered. The menu is a bit limited (3 types of ramen) but what we had was very good.

The food was delicious and the service was amazing!…read more We felt so welcomed and definitely enjoyed ourselves and would be coming back.

I got here right as they opened on a holiday weekday, and the place was already half full! I was…read moreable to try a bit of everything, and these were my personal favorites: Beef tongue with lemon pepper, okra, shiitake mushroom, and fried oysters. I enjoyed the chicken thigh meat texture more than the chicken breast, but I loved the seasoning of the chicken breast with shiso pun and chicken breast with wasabi. The yakitori was made fresh in front of me, and all of them had a nice smoky and griled flavor with a variety of seasonings. It took a while for our first few orders to come out, probably because they had just opened. Great casual spot for yakitori; I would recommend getting here early!

I came for dinner on a Monday with my sister and we were seated immediately with no wait. The…read morerestaurant is clean, modern, and located right off the water. I've had other Kazunori locations, and this one lived up to my expectations. I opted for The Nozie, which is $1 more than the standard 6 hand rolls. It includes a few more unique hand rolls at the chef's discretion. I loved all the rolls, especially the Ankimo, Eel, and Mountain Yam. My sister ordered the classic 6 hand rolls and was able to substitute out a few she didn't prefer. The fish here is fresh and the service is quick. They were easy to flag down for refills on ginger/wasabi. Bathroom is clean and shared with the restaurant next door, which surprised me because I exited the other way and ended up in that restaurant. Overall, Kazunori is always consistent and a good value for the price. I will definitely come back again next time I'm in the area and craving hand rolls!

Seating was awful. Leaving open stools for 20 minutes or longer when smaller parties could have…read moreeasily filled. Said we were in a rush and the lady still did not make our order before I had to leave. I have been to many Kazunori restaurants and this was the worst experience. Topping it off, the food was not great. Miserable experience and poorly run.