5/5 food: cleanest, tastiest Japanese quick eats in LA. My veggies were so delicious (just steamed), and mackerel was amazing!! My husband had tempah and he loved it. 5/5 service: food came out super fast. 5/5 ambiance: it's located inside a store and it's actually awesome because we were too busy looking at cute stuff while food was being prepared. I highly rec! Will come again. read more

M Cafe - Yuzu-Miso Saba Bowl - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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For $20 you get the best fried rockfish sandwich and fries you're ever had in your life. It comes with a special ketchup that is maybe the only special ketchup I didn't wish was just Heinz. The restaurant is in the back of a store that sells home goods. Relaxing place for lunch. Also the matcha is great. Service is great. read more

I've known M café as a pioneer in health food from years ago. However, I had not been able to visit any of their locations until this one. And what a great experience! It is located inside a beautiful houseware store on La Brea. So in addition to having a nice meal, or, while you're waiting for your food, you could browse a store for their many interesting merchandise. If you like mackerel (Saba) I think you would find many interesting items on their menu. I am not a fish person, but their albacore salad sandwich tasted quite nice to me. Don't expect greasy, salty, or full of artificial flavor, type of food from this place. Some of their dishes look plain. But overall, many items are under $20 and that is a great bargain for this area in town. This specific location used to be a French restaurant, so you would find beautiful art, deco bar, and. French posters and art inside, juxtaposed with M's current offering of Japanese cuisines, and products from Japan, it is quite an interesting experience dining here or just browsing through the store. Only in LA.... read more

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Absolutely wonderful restaurant tucked in the back of a gift shop! We tried the lunch offering for dineLA January 2026. I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the cooking, presentation and ingredients that we received as part of our dineLA lunch deal . We were served our lunches in a very cute bento box, featuring an adorable tray which made an excellent souvenir. Each dish was perfectly prepared and yet unique, truly a showpiece of culinary skill. Our meal was vegetable-intensive and seemed very healthy. Service was helpful and friendly. Ambiance was relaxed and calm. Warning: Street parking only and beware the Anti-Gridlock parking restrictions! They are stricly enforced. Highly recommended. read more

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M Café is a "sleeper" place to enjoy a healthful meal with soothing music to tame the inner savage beast. Great place to chill out with soothing Brasilian Bossa Nova vocals lulling you for peaceful dining. M Café has great lineage having La Petite Chaya & Chaya Brasserie as its forbears. This delightful eatery is in the same space as the late, great Zozo which featured cuisine by noted Chef, John Sedlar, and Sara S. Business Manager who was the catalyst of the such fine hospitality. It is placed within a gift shop specializing in patio furniture and other accoutrements. Go way to the back to the ordering window. Omakasè Bentō Fish: 1) Gomoku Rice: Nice, nutty, mildly starchy rice with soy sauce braised Hijiki, fine, small brown kelp leaves. This serves as a bland palate contrast to more strong flavoured foods. 2) Wasabi Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad: The extra starchy sweet potato, sweet-sour, juicy Pomegranate melds well with bitter radicchio, mixed greens. 3) House Pickled Beets & Braised Hijiki: With orange beets salt brined, touch of Japanese vinegar. Extra crunchy Lotus root pickled with Yuzu Japanese citrus. Goes great with the Gomoku rice. 4) Steamed Garden Veggies: Bright green broccoli with understated dulcet citrus sauce. 5) Grilled Faroe Island Salmon: Touch grilled, moist, flakey yet plush wild Salmon. Chimichurri sauce is thick, buttery virgin olive with green, medicinal fresh oregano. 6) Cacio e Pepe: Translucent, Cappelli d'Angeli (angel hair), limp, and soft. Unusual in that the pasta ingredient is made from nutrient rich Kelp. Black pepper, cashew nut cream. 7) Curried Cauliflower 1-7a) Organic Minty Green Iced Tea: Japanese Sencha green tea infused with a soupçon of spearmint 8) "Dessert" was Matcha Latte with almond milk and a touch of agave sugar. Clean, light, healthful, mostly vegetable based cuisine that has subtle complexity and requires time consuming techniques. After eating this Omakasè (oh mah kah seh) Bentō in its charming, colorfully patterned Bentō compartmentalized tray, you feel elevated. Based on Japanese Macro biotic principals, slow fast food that approaches fine cuisine for fraction of the cost. I was impressed by the almost curative aspect of this Bentō box. 5 Stars PS However, not recommended for fast food aficionados who dearly love smash burgers, cheeto encrusted burritos, county fair battered & fried oreo cookies, etc. read more

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I can't comment on the food or service because I wasn't the least bit tempted to give this place a shot. I was an occasional customer at the former location on Melrose. The other day, I stopped by the new La Brea spot for a grab and go lunch. Their to-go case had a VERY meager selection that looked fresh but not very tempting. (They don't do takeout bento boxes...you have to dine in for those.) The seating area is tiny and feels a bit smooshed into the back of the retail store. I don't quite understand who the customer is for this place, but it feels like another Maison Midi dining experiment. read more

Absolutely love the atmosphere here! The amount and balance of food felt just right - I love that it wasn't too filling and delicious. It is tucked inside the well curated store full of beautiful goods and delightful jazz mixed music. Came here during dineLA and got the Omokase Bento Fish. The salmon was cooked just perfectly and tasted delicious with the chimmichurri sauce. I was surprised by how Cacio e Pepe Kelp Noodles tasted, I was expecting it to be heavier but it was surprisingly lighter than I thought. I love the Wasabi Sweet Potato and Pomegranate Salad, this is something I would love to eat more of at home alongside the salmon. Seating? Indoor & Outdoor available. Indoor there is a seating table that can accomondate 8+ people. And there's a couple other 2 seaters. Outdoor has a couple 2-3 seaters as well. Restroom? Not sure. Parking? Street Parking or parking lot nearby. read more

M Cafe - DineLA Special - Omokase Bento Fish - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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M Café is back, and it is genuinely great to have this kind of healthy organic food back in the heart of Hollywood. For those of us who remember the old Melrose location, this feels like a real return, not just another reopening. M Café opened in 2005 and built a real identity in LA around organic, macrobiotic, plant-based food at a time when that still felt more rare and specific than it does now. When that Melrose location closed in September 2023 after an 18-year run, it felt like the loss of one of those places that had actually earned its place in the city. Part of why M Café always mattered is that it was never just "health food." Back when it opened, the Los Angeles Times gave it serious praise, describing it as chic, wholesome, and unique, and other coverage from that period made the point that the food was hearty, satisfying, and beautifully presented rather than austere or joyless. Later on, M Café also became part of the larger Jonathan Gold-era LA restaurant conversation, which says a lot. It was not just a niche place for one crowd. It had real credibility. That history is why this comeback lands. The food still feels like the point. It still carries that identity of being healthy, organic, thoughtful food that you actually want to eat, not food that feels like punishment or branding. In a city full of places that can be all image, all trend, or all rules, M Café still feels grounded and real. What makes this new version especially good is the feeling of the spot itself. Being tucked inside Maison Midi / the American Rag world gives it this hidden-in-plain-sight quality that is hard to fake. It feels discovered. It feels relaxed. It feels like the ultimate below-the-radar meeting spot. Not too loud, not too scene-driven, not trying too hard. Just a genuinely great place to meet someone, have a conversation, and eat food that leaves you feeling better, not worse. And the match makes sense. American Rag's La Brea flagship has been part of that stretch since the mid-1980s, and the connected Maison Midi / Café Midi side had already built a long history of combining retail, design, and food in one tucked-away setting. So M Café coming here does not feel random. It feels like one old LA institution finding the right home inside another old LA institution. That is really why this works so well: the old restaurant had history, the new setting has history, and the combination feels natural. You get the return of a longtime LA organic food spot, but now in a location that gives it even more charm. The result is something rare for Los Angeles: a place with legacy, real quality, healthy organic food, and a tucked-away atmosphere that makes it feel almost like a secret. So yes, M Café is back, and this feels like the right comeback. Amazing organic food, a great under-the-radar energy, and a real sense that something valuable has returned to Hollywood. read more

M Cafe - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Clean, hearty, deeply thoughtful food. I had been looking for a macrobiotic restaurant similar to a spot I loved in New York called Souen. On a whim, I asked ChatGPT and it pointed me to M Café literally one block from my apartment. A very welcome surprise. The restaurant is tucked into the back of a beautiful home goods store, which immediately sets the tone. I was starving, and the gentleman helping us was incredibly kind and patient, walking me through the menu with genuine care. The food came out impressively fast. Everything was outstanding. All of the sauces are made in house, and it shows. Every element on the plate felt intentional, balanced, and carefully prepared. You can genuinely taste the thought and love behind the food. I ordered the burger, which was excellent, lightly crisp on the outside and perfectly tender inside. The fries were ideal: thick and hearty on the inside with a golden crunch outside. Even the ketchup stood out, house made with beets instead of tomato. My partner ordered a bowl with brown rice and seasonal vegetables, topped with a frothy carrot ginger dressing that was exceptional. We also shared the salmon salad with a green goddess dressing that was truly out of this world. And then the cookie. Incredible. Light, satisfying, and the perfect finish. Despite everything feeling clean and nourishing, we left completely full in the best way. Beyond the food, the experience itself made us happy. The service was warm, welcoming, and full of great energy. The server even mentioned they just signed a lease, which honestly made my day knowing this place is here to stay. Safe to say, I will be back often. read more

Glad you're back but def had a subpar order today. Chopped salad really anemic for price and you REALLY, REALLY need to cut holes in your fry delivery box to keep the fries crisp. Totally soggy mess. Ketchup still great, though. Bottle it again! read more

M Cafe - Soggy, soggy fries. No. - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Saw the review in the Larchmont Buzz and wanted to give them a try. So good! Everything we ordered was so delicious and flavorful!

I am so happy that MCafe is back !!! We've picked up twice now and it's just as good as it was when it was in its original location. I want this place to explode again so they can bring back more menu items (cough cough, strawberry shortcake, cough cough) read more

Delicious, healthy food. Terrific service. Cool venue inside the American Rag Cie store! And parking to boot!

I used to go to M Cafe several times a week and when they closed, was SOOO devastated. Absolutely love the crispy fish sandwich and their probiotic slaws. I hope they succeed. Really rooting for this place! read more