Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Market Japanese Wagyu Beef Los Angeles

A5 Wagyu at Chateau Marmont's new Japanese restaurant, Chateau Hanare
Photo: Courtesy Chateau Hanare/Jakob N. Layman

Here's where to notice the all-time Japanese restaurants in Los Angeles

From Little Tokyo to the South Bay, go your kaiseki and shabu-shabu on at Fifty.A.'s best Japanese restaurants

L.A.'s devotion to sushi is and so farthermost that you'd think it was the but Japanese cuisine in town. To go you lot out of your spicy-tuna estrus, nosotros've rounded upwards L.A.'s best Japanese restaurants, where y'all tin can sample everything from an exquisite bowl of tofu made in front of you to steaming, chewy ramen and a cook-your-own $135 meal.

L.A.'southward all-time Japanese restaurants

one. n/naka

You could say that the Netflix documentary Chef'due south Tabular array helped shine a spotlight on n/naka, merely in L.A., the Palms eatery was already on the map—front and center. Chef-owner Niki Nakayama is a protégé of the legendary Morihiro Onodera (who'south currently running the evidence at Inn Ann), though Nakayama focuses her talent on kaiseki, a classical style of Japanese cooking that dictates a specific progression of textures, temperatures, tastes and seasonal ingredients. À la card is not an option: n/naka offers either a xiii-course modern menu ($225) or a 13-course vegetarian carte du jour ($200), and both tin can be paired with wine for $95. The menus change daily and seasonally, but in that location is always something to please in: a glass filled with sea urchin and lobster in a bath of chilled dashi, perchance, or a seared diver-harvested scallop cuddled next to a warm okra pod. It can take two or three hours to get through a repast here, and a month or ii to country a reservation, but information technology's well worth it. Nakayama is i of L.A.'due south best culinary talents, and scoring a repast at her restaurant is money well spent.

2. Shibumi

Many of chef David Schlosser'south dishes require the kind of time, care, effeminateness and attempt that defines kappo cuisine, a kind of specialty-driven Japanese tasting carte du jour, or omakase fine-dining meal. In an near-hidden dining room Downtown, Schlosser tenderly ferments shrimp in its own juices, grinds nubs of fresh wasabi and steams pork jowl with California-grown rice in a heavy iron pot to create some of the most intricate flavors that tin can take months to develop. Society à la carte, or, more recommended, get for the omakase, which starts at $75 per invitee and runs to $150—y'all'll be in fantabulous easily. Be sure to sit down at the bar to meet the master at work, and always trust the squad when it comes to the sake pairings.

3. Hayato

Brandon Go is one of L.A.'s humblest chefs, simply he consistently turns out immaculate kaiseki dinners and phenomenal bento lunch boxes from behind the counter of his nine-seat restaurant. Become Effigy. Tucked discreetly into the ROW DTLA complex, Hayato offers a traditional Japanese ambiance in a surprising location. Inside the eatery it'south transportive, all warm woods and handmade ceramics but like y'all might find across the body of water. Get'due south precision and technique come up by style of training under Michaelin-starred Japanese chefs, and he uses this expertise to craft painstakingly-detailed and seasonally-driven morsels such as tender, charcoal-grilled cod; delicately steamed abalone in liver sauce; or days'-marinated agedashi eggplant. Whether you're stopping by for dinner ($200 per person) or the bento ($46 per box), you'll need to program alee: The kaiseki often fill up up a month in accelerate, while the bentos require at least 24 hours' notice.

4. Nobu Malibu

While Nobu Matsuhisa's eponymous eatery is null new—his Japanese-meets-Californian-meets-Peruvian nutrient is now global—the Malibu outpost is a sight to behold, with a minimalist, zen-meets-the-Pacific space and an oceanside setting that leaves diners speechless. Just equally stunning is what's on your plate: Mini tacos are filled with creamy uni, rib centre is topped with truffle butter, and tangy lobster shiitake salad with spicy lemon sressing showcases elegant, raw preparations that featherbed the typical sushi and sashimi menu.

5. Marugame Monzo

Niggling Tokyo's nigh exciting eating place might just be Marugame Monzo, where freshly-made udon is the star. Inquire for seats at the counter so you can watch the noodle-making action up close: Behind a big glass, the udon chief will ringlet out the dough and cut strands and strands of the thick, chewy noodles for each order. The traditional bowls are perfection hither: Attempt the hot kitsune udon ($eight.25) topped with fried tofu, or the common cold plum shiso bukkake udon ($9.25). Or, for a fun mash-up of Japanese and Italian cuisines, go for the very popular miso carbonara udon ($12.95). Only be sure to avoid height dining hours, or get in with a small grouping—wait times can easily reach past an hour at this no-reservations spot when information technology's busy.

6. Totoraku

The sign reads "Teriyaki Firm Pico," only don't permit the unassuming facade on a nondescript cake fool you. The tiny makeshift restaurant may non be much to wait at, but one time inside this clandestine shrine to beef, you'll be served sublime plate afterward sublime plate. The kaiseki-way dinner begins with fragile preparations, from seared beef tataki and marbled sashimi to a daikon-and-pine-nut–flecked tartare—and an enlightened version of natural language that'south impossibly tender and circuitous in flavor. But the principal event is yakiniku, grilled preparations of tongue, rib middle, short rib and other varying cuts, all prepared over a tabletop charcoal grill. The night will set y'all back roughly $300 per caput but it's ane of L.A.'due south best—and all-time-hidden—meals.

vii. Shunji Japanese Cuisine

Shunji almost looks like it belongs in the Shire—with its circular frame and depression ceiling, Bilbo Baggins would experience right at home. Non so Shire-like is the fantastic sushi inside this Pico Boulevard restaurant, including the well-curated omakase available at tiffin and dinner. Simply first, enquire virtually the fried oysters, which come four to an lodge and will convert even the oyster-averse amidst united states with its soft, pillowy outside shielding a juicy helping of mollusk inside. In fact, while sushi is the specialty here, we can't help only lodge from the daily specials (and fifty-fifty make full up on them). Items like steamed black cod with porcini in dashi butter sauce; the silken chawanmushi; and halibut with soba are all worth an order. When your plate has been picked clean, a steaming cup of green tea helps ease your manner into the exterior world—L.A., non the Shire, in example you needed a reminder.

8. Takao

Simple and cozy, this twoscore-seat Brentwood joint elevates fifty-fifty familiar dishes such as the ubiquitous edamame: Fresh pods are slightly steamed and salted at the hands possessor-chef Takao Izumida, a Matsuhisa alum. Something as elementary every bit the grilled salmon-skin salad ($13) has both sweetness and depth thanks to the high-quality ingredients, while flashier dishes such as white-fish new-fashion sashimi with truffle ($25)—garnished with chive, ginger and yuzu—bring a whiz-bang twist to a Japanese archetype. Takao is also a great tempura destination—sublime fried foods ($28) can include everything from traditional vegetables to fresh scallops—and if yous actually trust Izumida (and you should), he too offers a daily-irresolute omakase.

9. I-naba

If ramen is the attention hog of the Japanese-noodle family unit, then soba is its more refined cousin. Soba's beauty lies in the delicate, slightly nutty flavor of buckwheat and a skilled touch in hand-making each thread. Whatever purist will tell you that the best way to relish these noodles is plain or zaru—served cold, topped with nori shreds alongside an umami-rich dipping sauce. Only at this South Bay noodle destination, we prefer tensoba, an upgraded version with the addition of light, crispy tempura on the side. The all-time fashion to sample an accurate sense of taste of Japan is a fix dinner: I-naba's seasonal omakase ofttimes includes sunomono (pickled vegetables), grilled fish, miso soup, a mixed plate of nigiri and maki sushi, that etheral tempura, chawanmushi (egg custard) and a small bowl of soba. Only if you're only hither for that tempura—well, they even have a special tempura kaiseki (just you should still order some soba on the side).

ten. KaGaYa

That same friend that always tells you to buy investment pieces instead of an armful of Forever 21 will love KaGaYa, arguably home to the best shabu-shabu in town. You can just guild by the ready here and the basic beefiness volition run you $58. Wagyu ($156) and seafood ($72) upgrades are available and y'all'll be rewarded with eight to 10 slices of exquisite quality meat to be lightly cooked in the bubbling broth, then dipped into a smooth merely circuitous sesame sauce. The luxe, DIY meal commences with a modest, lovely serving of the day's fish specials and i soup special, followed by beef-enriched–broth–turned udon or rice porridge—a couture dining feel, topped off with your choice of dessert such as ethereal crème brulée.

11. Yabu

Those who frequented the Westward Hollywood location of Yabu were devastated when it closed, but fear non: The original Sawtelle location however stands, serving every bit a comfortable neighborhood walk-in eating house. The dish to order? Yabu's signature business firm-fabricated soba. It's perfect in any iteration—our favorite is the kamo nanban, with broiled duck and green onion—but traditionalists would insist that yous endeavor the zaru soba, served cold with seaweed flakes and a dashi dipping sauce, the perfect cooldown for an especially hot day.

12. Robata Jinya

Carved woods, glowing lights and tastefully kitsch elements—samurai armor, lights fabricated of sake bottles, hanging demon masks—make this glass-walled storefront on West Third feel similar a stylish Shinjuku den that's always packed with diners in outfits from nearby boutiques. The eating place welcomes à la carte dining, simply the omakase menus are well-constructed here—fifty-fifty the $48 menu gives you an overview of all the favorites, like the perfectly crisp tempura Brussels sprouts and the smoky, charcoal-grilled chicken oysters. Whatsoever you do, be sure to order the tableside, soft-as-pudding house-made organic tofu to start.

An e-mail you'll actually love

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Expect out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

butlinellostaid1943.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/restaurants/best-restaurants-in-los-angeles-las-best-japanese-restaurants