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.

The restaurant is very nice inside. Looks like a very traditional Japanese restaurant. It is a very…read morepopular restaurant as well. The service was okay. There were only two waitresses for the restaurant which seems like it's not enough. A bit of a wait for even water and drinks. The food was fine. The tonkatsu was fried well enough, very crispy on the outside. I feel the meat was a bit bland and could have used more seasoning. Overall food was decent.

Had the opportunity to try Kagura out a couple of days ago. Wife and I got there at 7:45 PM on…read moreSaturday and were promptly seated. After about 10 minutes, a server asked us if we wanted drinks and to order. We ordered. Drinks came out about 5 minutes later. Fantastic. About 30 minutes in, we were wondering what was taking so long with our food (2 katsu sets, age mochi, and shishamo). Nobody checked in on us and we couldn't flag anyone down. One or two servers passed by but were too preoccupied. We were pretty frustrated at around 8:45PM. At 8:50PM, a server comes up to our table (finally) and asks if we wanted to order anything for last call. I told her we did order but never received it. She was shocked and checked on the order. Turns out, the order was never placed in whatever system they have. As an apology, they gave us free edamame, but still never checked on the table again. Our food came out about 10 minutes later. It was okay. When we finished about 15 minutes after the food came out, I had to go to the main entrance to try to get our check. To no surprise, that came out quickly. I was excited to try this place. As stated, the food was okay. The lack of service is inexcusable. I don't suggest this place to anyone. Go somewhere else. There's so many other Japanese spots in Torrance. Try any of those.

Ichimi Ann is a must go to spot in Torrance! The soba noodles were delicate yet pleasantly springy…read more The dipping sauce was savory while still being refreshing enough that I kept wanting another bite. The tempura was just as impressive. Served hot with a light, flaky batter that never felt heavy or greasy. Everything worked really well together and made for such a satisfying meal. The service was also great. The person up front was especially patient and helpful with our group, which included four seniors, and that made the experience feel very welcoming. The best endorsement came from my grandparents, who enjoyed it so much that they ended up getting seconds. Definitely a spot we'd happily come back to!

I was in the old Torrance and was craving Japanese cuisine. This is the original location, and I…read morescored on complimentary street parking. I ordered the Yuzu chashu soba and sampled the Ten zaru soba with tempura. Both entrees reminded me of when I visited Hakone Japan last year and were outstanding in taste. The small eatery is very simple in decor with pics of the famous bamboo forest in Japan and gets packed with patrons on a Sunday. Service was on point and friendly. I highly recommend this hole in the wall gem.

Atmosphere - Clean, lots of indoor seating. No wait on Thursday evening…read more Taste - We ordered the Manager's Special, Matsui Bowl and Hand Roll Combination. Udon and Soba sauce was flavorful and authentic tasting. Shrimp tempura was crispy. Customer Service - Excellent. Staff were attentive and friendly. Price - Average

I was just starting to eat my meal when the sat a large group breaking them in to tables on both…read moresides of me. So people needed to squeeze by and then one guy asked if he could sit for a moment at my table. I said okay. But then I think he planned to stay at my table until finally my waiter moved him! There was a seat at one their tables the whole time. Then their waitress wedge herself with her back toward me in between the tables and I had to stop eating. Very disruptive and rude. Taking a while for the six people to order so I nudged her and I asked her to move and she seemed upset that I did that but didn't say anything no apology so it was very uncomfortable and I was rushing through my food so I burnt my tongue on the hot soup again even though I knew it was hot because I just wanted to get out of there. And then when I was done, I had to wait a while for the check and then they couldn't process the Apple Pay at the table so then I had to go to the front and wait for somebody to attend to me there overall this experience was not fun and stressful and I had got there right when they opened. I sure wish I had selected a different seat!! I wouldn't get the Nabeyaki soup again. It was really big and had a lot of end pieces of tough napa cabbage. There were two pieced of shitake mushroom and the standard thin fish cake slice. There was and egg in the soup and a three small chicken pieces. On the side were three small pieces of green bean and two tempura shrimp.

Check this place out for incredible tempura. Been here twice in the last week. Ordered the Shrimp…read moreTempura Plate both times. The Shrimp Tempura Plate comes with a variety of tempura-battered items including four shrimp, kabocha (squash), fish, seaweed, and a shishito pepper. On the side, you get a bowl of rice, tempura-battered soft-boiled egg, and dipping sauce that comes with a generous scoop of grated daikon radish. Everything is spot on. The tempura batter is perfectly coated on each item and crispy. I'm usually not a fan of kabocha since it tends to come out mushy. However, here, it's crunchy and delicious. If I had to choose my favorite parts of the meal, they would be the tempura-battered soft-boiled egg and seaweed. If you break the yolk over the rice, it's very satisfying to eat. And the seaweed is crispy like a potato chip. Maybe I haven't been to enough tempura shops, but I think these two items are particularly special. If tempura is not your thing, they do serve other stuff. The sashimi here is nothing to scoff at. I had some sashimi here including the bluefin tuna, salmon, and fatty tuna. The quality of the sashimi is up there with some of the better sushi restaurants in the South Bay. If it's not obvious from my glowing review, I really like this place. Maybe a little addicted. Not sure when I'm going to be back, but it's probably going to be sooner rather than later.

A mix of seafood plus tempura to satisfy a Japanese cuisine craving. The fatty tuna melts in your…read moremouth. It comes with ~4 large pieces of tuna sashimi on a bed of rice. The tempura had a good crunch and the shrimp was large. Pretty filling but a bit on the pricey side. They get busy pretty early during weekend lunch time

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

This restaurant is such a hidden gem! At first, I didn't even realize it was a restaurant from the…read moreunassuming storefront. It's a small restaurant, and it seemed like reservations are highly recommended, if not required. Luckily, they were able to squeeze us in right before another reservation. The restaurant has an authentic yakitori vibe where the tables are packed pretty tightly and you're dining elbow-to-elbow with other guests. That said, I loved the variety on the menu. They offer a huge selection of grilled, steamed, fried, and cold dishes, so there's something for everyone. The skewers were amazing, and the grilled onigiri was one of my favorites. Everything we tried was really enjoyable and I loved being able to order a little bit of everything! One thing to keep in mind: the rice pot takes about 45 minutes to cook because they start with raw rice. I wish our server had mentioned this when we ordered, because we probably would have skipped it knowing how long it would take. Overall, I'm really glad we stumbled upon this place. Definitely feels like a hidden gem, and I'd love to come back and try more of the menu!

Finally got around to trying this place and came by myself, so I ordered a bunch of different…read moreskewers to try. The negima was probably my favorite. Nicely grilled and had a good amount of flavor. The eel, wings, and liver were also really good. The pork belly was cut pretty thick and had a good balance of meat and fat. The cartilage was another favorite. It was juicy and had a nice crunchy texture. The tsukune was good and had some cartilage mixed in, which gave it a nice texture. It also came with a poached egg that was pretty tasty, although I would have preferred a pasteurized egg. The grilled squid and yaki onigiri were solid as well. A few of the skewers were a little on the salty side. The chicken breast was also a little dry, while the tongue was pretty thick and chewy. The tail was really fatty, but that's kind of expected. Unfortunately, they were out of hearts, which I was hoping to try. Overall, there were more hits than misses and I enjoyed most of what I ordered. Would definitely come back to try some of the other skewers.

Might be one of the best katsudon places we've tried ever since Japan! Cant believe this gem is in…read moreTorrance. We got the Premium loin 1/2lb and the marbling of the pork was crazy. Definitely melts in your mouth. Every bite was just so good. Service was amazing and they even gave 2 soups when I only ordered for . They were very nice. The place was small but they are soo fire . Would definitely come back if I'm craving. 10/10

Ever since we tried this place that first time in Tokyo and now in Torrance when it first opened,…read morewe've been craving it. On our second visit here, we weren't let down. We got the premium katsu and their new matcha drink. The fatty ribeye was so juicy and decadent. The matcha drink was so creamy and tasty, and it came with matcha ice cubes, which is a first for me. Worth the reasonable price! You order at the takeout screen and the food came out quickly. There are only 8 counter seats, but turnover is quick. It's very cozy and homey inside. Parking is ample and easy. They also had free snacks at the end!

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!

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

Party of two for lunch. Arrived as the restaurant opened and shown our seats promptly…read more They were out of soba for oyaku jyu combo so went with the udon. Friend order chicken katsu and was told they were out of cali rolls and subbed for gyoza. My lunch arrived much in advance, their lunch arrived incomplete. The rest of the order arrived as we were finishing up the meal and they had to take the rest to go. Staffing was sparse which could've contributed to the pacing and service. The food quality was just okay. My chicken was a bit tough and the udon noodle was a little bloated in the broth. The miso soup was a bit salty. Probably my fault as I waited to eat for our full order to arrive. Been here before and the food quality was good; providing a simple but tasty home cooked vibe. This time not so much.