I had a reservation there on 04022026 at 7pm Food and…read moreservice was great BUT Left my prescription prescription Ray-ban glasses there on the table but they don't have them on the lost and found,.. hmmm! Disappointing!

Good, but not great. Tasty, but not flavorful…read more Fun, but not memorable. Service was very attentive and prices were average for sushi. But the items were nothing to write home about. King Salmon, Nigiri Bluefin, Red Snapper, Pepper, Pork Belly, Prime Beef, Edamame, Barracuda, Fresh (no rice), and Sake were all edible, but it wasn't anything special. I wanted to enjoy this place, and I did, but it wasn't something I would drive from Orange County to LA for. A fun local spot, but then it would be too pricey for a local spot. Try for yourself. A5?Wagyu Gyoza

Amazing homemade tofu, Tempura is lightly breaded and fresh and just flavorful!…read more Sukiyaki was also good. Attentive service.

The last time I was in Little Tokyo in L.A. was 1996 - just before a six-week trip to Japan. So I…read morewas eager to return and wanted to find the most authentic Japanese restaurant in the busy, crowded, and somewhat commercialized tight walkways of Little Tokyo. I turned to Yelp for help and that - as always - was the right move! Izakaya Gazen is a chain, originating out of Tokyo with locations also in Honolulu and Little Tokyo, L.A. It's got the true feel of an izakaya (Japanese pub or if you read the Japanese characters, Stay-Drink-Place). The name Gazen refers to the chain and the "Gazen style food - approachable and shareable. Izakaya Gazen is known for its house made creamy tofu, often eaten with soy sauce and wasabi - and it was very delicious. Unlike the izakayas I visited in Japan, I didn't have to remove my shoes here - kind of nice, but I miss the true Japanese tradition. One tradition I appreciated was the large format Japanese beers (we chose Asahi) and the small, chilled glasses to pour into. I haven't found this Japanese touch on the glasses anywhere else in the USA. Usually, I have to ask for an old-fashioned glass or a juice glass and the servers just don't understand that this is how you drink from a large bottle in Japan. As with all Japanese dining establishments in Japan, you're warmly greeted the moment you enter, by the sushi chefs and the servers alike with "Konnichiwa!". It's a cultural thing in Japan and one I wish was more prevalent in the USA. Our server was delightful and seated us at a window table. We examined the excellent menu and went with two offerings - the Chirashi Sashimi Bowl and the Tempura Bowl - both served with a small sample of their creamy tofu, a tray of appetizers, miso soup, and a salad. A really good value ($32 and $25, respectively). I rated both of them five-star for presentation, taste, and the very fresh nature of the food. It was an outstanding hirugohan (lunch)! There are lots of great places to eat in DTLA, but we're seriously considering another visit to Izakaya Gazen this evening!

Looking for something light to eat is what everyone wants and found this Izakaya in downtown Japan…read moretown. Food % Service % Ambiance % It has a wide variety of dishes like yakitori, sushi, and robata skewers, alongside an extensive sake and beer menu. Located on the top floor of the Little Tokyo Marketplace! Check it out-food is delicious

Rarely being in the area because the vibe it offered just wasn't for me. If it's not my visiting…read morefriend, probably would never make it here and figured out about Bizan from Yelp. To my surprise, it's already pretty busy around 5-ish. It's quite easy to get a spot with walk-ins though, and the attendants were plenty so service was speedy. The vibe certainly reminded me of Izakaya spots in Japan. Coming for Izakaya experience, obviously we got multiple skewers including chicken, bacon wrapped enoki, chicken skin, pork belly, and many more. My friend got their Kake Udon while I got their Kimchi Tuna Rolls. Taste was decent at quite reasonable price. Wouldn't call it best of the best, but surely not bad at all.

My friend and I met up for dinner and stumbled upon Taberu. We ordered chutoro sashimi with house…read moremade pickled ginger that was the most delicious pickled ginger i've ever had. We also had the pork belly crêpes, and the most delicious crunchy and flavorful crab croquettes. For main course my friend ordered the salmon with crispy skin and I had a wonderful seafood soy with the most delicious and delicate broth. 10/10 would recommend

Definitely would not recommend coming here, especially if you are in a bigger party. We had 9…read morepeople here for a birthday celebration - food and drinks were really slow and came out staggered. Almost 1.5 hours before all the dishes finally came out. And service was also not great - the server brought out a drink that we didn't order by mistake, told us we could have it on the house, but ended up charging us for it anyway. Had already left when we noticed it. Also told us cake fee was $10, but ended up charging us $20. Food-wise, very hit or miss. The unadon, hamburger steak, and curry udon were all really good, but the yakitori skewers tended to be disappointing. The Tsukune was dry, the Negima was quite bland. The Miso Black Cod was also quite overdone, became quite rubbery when served and also was cold. Overall, I would not come back again, or recommend it. Given the price point, I expected that the food and service left much to be desired.

My precious friend Amelia G. treated me to dinner at Tsubaki for my 40th birthday last month. I…read moreloved this place went I went before kids and pandemic, apparently almost a decade ago. It was as good as I remembered, and probably even better. I can't imagine letting another eight and a half years pass without going back. The only negative is that parking is either difficult or $15, which feels bad in a pretty quiet residential area. Better to take a car in any case, so you can enjoy the extensive selection of sakes. We shared a full-sized bottle, I forget which but I think it was a junmai daiginjo, and it was lovely. Tsubaki is such a nice, welcoming little izakaya. Service is great, the atmosphere warm and easy. You just want to sit back and drink at a leisurely pace. The food is excellent, with a robust menu of creative Japanese food. We shared everything, starting with a stellar kanpachi crudo with ume ponzu, shiso, sweet onion and habanero pickles, and furikake. My favorite dish of the night was the tsukune katsu. I love tsukune, the tare-glazed chicken meatballs you'll find in any yakitori place. This was my first time having them in katsu form, panko-fried and served over cabbage with Kewpie mayo and tonkatsu sauce. The chawanmushi was delicious, silky steamed egg custard topped with Dungeness crab, truffle salt, and mitsuba. Likewise the kinoko tempura, an array of maitake, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms fried light and crispy, with yuzu shichimi and tentsuyu for dipping. We got a skewer of bonchiri from the yakitori menu, delightfully chewy bites of charcoal-grilled jidori chicken tail. Finally, a plate of yakisoba, pan-fried noodles with house-cured Peads & Barnetts char siu, pickled green garlic, and cracklin. We got the hojicha parfait, and it was more or less my ideal dessert. Roasted green tea soft serve with sesame black sugar burnt miso and candied walnuts with cornflake dust. Cold, light, sweet. I could eat a whole one by myself pretty much any time. After nine years in business, Tsubaki feels like an Echo Park institution, and the kitchen is as strong as ever. This was a wonderful dinner, one I hope to repeat soon, with more sake, more yakitori, and more hojicha parfait.

Wow, this is the best izakaya in LA. Though the prices are quite high the food is very high…read morequality! Interior is nice and feels intimate, almost reminds me of restaurants in New York. It's quite small inside and they happen to have a few tables outside. I have mixed feelings about the service though but it is what it is, just feel like we weren't attended properly and service was slower. The menu has tons of options, there is something for everyone. Unfortunately the rice balls I wanted to try were sold out for the night- which how do you run out of something popular at a 7 PM dinner? Anyway, we had the fried tempura, garlic fried rice, short ribs, and chicken oysters. Everything was delicious and I would get these dishes again. But my standouts were the short ribs, they were tender and the marinade was light and fresh. The fried tempura was another standout for me because the sauce paired so well with the lightly friend asparagus. And I'm going to to say the chicken oysters- I think they were grilled to perfection with a tiny bit of wasabi. It's so hard to pick, everything tasted amazing and you can tell everything is thoughtfully prepared and well crafted with a beautiful presentation. I really enjoyed the food here and will be back to try more items.

Budonoki was incredible! Our server Miguel was so kind and very accommodating. Everything we got…read morewas so delicious and the lighting in the restaurant made it even better!

I love this place and I'm drawn to it anytime I'm in the area--even if just for desert…read more Stopped by last night for their incredibly smooth soft serve. Experienced both the Black Sesame and Tokyo Banana. Smooth! Incredible texture! Amazing presentation!

Came here on a weekday for dinner and the restaurant was still pretty lively despite the rest of…read morethe promenade being closed. We had reservations and were seated right away. Staff was friendly and helped us with our order. We ended up ordering Cocktails: drinks were all very strong New Dawn Smoked Cocktail - very smokey and very good, highly recommend Tokyo Banana Poison Apple Dishes: Squid Ink Karage - 10/10 probably one of my favorites Beef Tongue - 10/10 super flavorful Agedashi Tofu - 10/10 really can't go wrong Chicken Heart Yakitori - 10/10 first time trying heart, and it was delicious Corn Tempura Tower - 10/10 Wasabi Wagyu Bolognese - 9/10 Black Fried Rice -9/10 only because I don't like ginger and it has lots of ginger, otherwise it is a very unique and wellmade dish Miso Pork Spare Ribs - 9/910 a bit on the salty side but meat was pull of the bone good Tip: They also do validations! Would highly recommend checking this place out. This was a great experience and the servers were very attentive even though we sat outside with our dog. They were also attentive to my dog, providing a fresh bowl of water when we sat down.

It's been a while since I've last been to Hatch (almost 3 years!), but I was in the area, was…read morelooking for a quick bite, and decided to give it another go. FLAVOR (3/5): 1. BEEF TONGUE A LA LENGUA: They changed the sauce of the beef tongue from when I last had it a few years ago. It was okay, but I noticed the sizing/cut was different between my skewer and my friend's skewer. Flavor-wise, I wanted more of the yakitori grilled flavor. 2. PORK BELLY: The pork belly was okay. I'm comparing it to the pork belly skewer I get at Shinsengumi Yakitori in Gardena, which is a slightly thinner cut and has a special salt sprinkled on top that's a little more umami than what they serve here. 3. THIGH & GREEN ONION: Good, but just okay. SERVICE (3/5): Service was okay. I was with my friend, and we ordered the same skewers, but received them at different times. I thought that made for a rather awkward experience as I was often waiting for him to receive his order before we could start eating together. We were also waiting on his last skewer and received word that it was coming out soon, but eventually, we realized they had forgotten about our order. AMBIENCE (3.8/5): I can see this spot being good for a date or a casual get together with friends. TAKEAWAYS: As far as yakitori goes, Hatch is not my favorite. The food is just okay (consistent with my last review), but the service is really what let me down this time.

Came here on a Saturday night. Food was great. But our server (a young white guy) was a bit rude…read more He kept telling us how much we should order, insisting that we ordered too much (by the way we finished all the dishes we ordered). At one point, even "lectured" on me how to drink a Suntory beer.. Throughout the dinner, he was talking and laughing loudly with a white couple sitting next to us. Very unpleasant experience. Wouldn't come back for that.

Came for Christmas Eve dinner. Typically need a RSVP here and was lucky to get one. Was seated…read morepromptly. Ordered salmon sashimi, adagashi tofu, chicken, wagyu short rib, some don, soup with plums, and panna cotta. Everything was delicious, as usual. Probably ordered one too many dishes though! Definitely an awesome time, and will be back for sure!

Good quality sushi in overall and also good udon. I've gotten the Japanese curry udon and also the…read moreuni cream udon before and both were great. Staff is nice too.

Came here for dinner on a whim & I'd say overall it's a solid spot! The staff are really nice and…read moreservice was fast. Seating is a bit limited, they have inside and outside. I'd make a quick reservation just in case. In terms of food, we really enjoyed the pork belly, beef short rib, and Chilean sea bass skewers!! They were grilled so well and delicious. We also liked the kimchi carbonara, yellowtail jalapeno, and the assortment of sushi we ordered à la carte (especially the yellowtail belly & scallops). I would pass on agedashi tofu (it was a big miss) and the miso crab salmon..was really odd..I know it was supposed to be crab but the texture felt like salmon wrapped with tuna..and it just didn't taste good imo. Overall, my friends and I had a great time & dinner! If you're in the area, definitely worth going to if you're looking for sushi and Japanese grilled skewers!

This place is beautiful, with modern ambiance, perfect for both a casual meetup or for a special…read moreoccasion. Initially they mentioned they didn't have uni available, but the attentive manager came to us and shared that he wasn't completely satisfied with the quality of the uni that day, though he was still willing to serve it to me. I really appreciated the honesty and passion for quality. I came here eyeing on the uni pasta, so I had to go for it. Maybe he was right, it was just OK. It wasn't necessarily the uni itself, but the pasta and cream sauce felt slightly overcooked and a bit dry. It could've used more sauce to bring everything together. Still, no ragrets (iykyk). It's something you should try here . We also ordered the hand roll trio and toro, which was yummy. The fish was fresh, beautifully cut, and served in generous pieces. They're partnering with Death & Co, known for their craft cocktails which explains why the drinks here are so uniquely curated and well mixed. Definitely worth exploring their cocktail menu.