n/naka & other Japanese options in LA

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

Any suggestions on how to get a reservation for the end of December. Fairly flexible on time and only need two people?

Are there services in LA like NYC where you can buy reservations?

Any other suggestions for Japanese - I know about Urusawa, Sushi Gen and a few other top places.

Are there any Japanese comfort type food places or food trucks?

Thanks in advance.

2

I don’t’ think it’s open yet, but I’m pretty excited about Shibumi:

3

Shunji, Kiriko, Tsujita, Zo
I’ve always been intrigued by Kiyokawa but have never been
Don’t know of any trucks, but like Nanbankan for “comfort” Japanese

4

Call in ask to be put on the waitlist, they tend to have cancellations. But otherwise SOL probably. There is a “reserve” app for LA but I don’t know if n/naka is on it where you can buy reservations.

  • comfort food: Check out Kinjiro in little tokyo. You’ll probably need to book a reservation now, they only do one seating a day. Total comfort food. They do an amazing wild snapper and mushroom congee to end the meal. Their agadashi tofu is homemade and slathered in a mushroom “gravy”. Really great. We do some wine dinners there. The pork belly is also incredible. (They accept reservations via email). They are doing dishes that no one places in LA is doing.

John’s recs for sushi are good. Mori/Q to also add on the list.

5

Thanks everyone. Made a reservation at Kinjiro.

Has anyone been to Takao?

6

Consider getting the bone marrow dengaku at Kinjiro. I’ve never been there but Jonathan Gold just put it on his Top Ten Dishes of 2015 list.

Unless I’m getting Takao confused with Taiko, it’s the place on San Vicente in Brentwood. I’ve been a few times. It’s good, not great. They were one of the first places to serve Japanese Wagyu. I like the fact that it has a broader menu beyond sushi. If you want mostly sushi I’d opt for elsewhere.

7

Any opinion on Alimento vs Redbird?

Thanks!

8

very different, and neither japanese [snort.gif] [snort.gif]

Prefer italian or american? that’ll make your decision really.

9

So simple…thanks!

10

Alimento is more of a neighborhood place that I happen to live close by and love. Redbird, imho, is more of a special occasion.

11

A will try to do a full LA writeup. Just wanted to mention that we ate at Yamakase and it was outstanding. Extremely high quality ingredients with unique combinations. Free corkage. It is a 4+ hour meal and there is a lot of food. Some online reviews commented that their was too much Uni and Truffles. I did not feel that way as it is not all of the same type of Uni and both the Uni and Truffles are used in different ways. Price adjusted I would say I liked it better than a meal last year at Urusawa. Dinner for two was just under $600 about half of Urusawa. I brought my own wine at both places.