This is a new dish called Seafood & Calamari Kuro Curry. Kuro in Japanese is “black” and the black ink used in this curry is from squid ink. It sounds gross but it’s actually a nice change from the regular curry. One of the waitresses told me that squid ink is used in dishes in Japan but she personally doesn’t like it mixed with curry because she can’t taste it in the mix. I’m not familiar with squid ink so it tastes fine to me.

If you like calamari and seafood, and want to try something a different from the regular curry, try this dish.

Curry House
123 S. Onizuka St. #204, Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 620-0855
Map

If you sit at the sushi bar, the first thing you will notice is that the sushi chefs are standing in a lower pit which makes them about the same height as the sitting customers, as shown below.

According to their website, Yabu makes their own soba noodles in-house. So I decided to order the Yabu Soba combination which comes with soba, tempura and sushi, as shown below.

Surprisingly, the soba was amazingly ordinary. In fact, it didn’t even make my top 10 list. Maybe I’ve gotten too used to pre-made soba and I don’t know what freshly made soba is supposed to taste like. At least the sushi was consistent with the soba and very forgettable. Don’t get me wrong. All the ingredients were fresh. Just nothing to write home about.

My friend got the Sushi combination shown above. As you can see, the selections are mediocre and so is the quality.

If you’re a big soba fan, you can simply skip this place. And according to their website, they have another branch in West Hollywood but I don’t think I need to check it out any time soon.

Yabu Restaurant
11820 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90064
310-473-9757
yaburestaurant.com

The picture below is the real wasabi used at Kula. They only give you a tiny dab because real wasabi is expensive. It’s also really strong compared to the fake stuff.

Next time you’re at a sushi restaurant, checkout their wasabi. If it doesn’t look like the wasabi pictured above, it’s fake wasabi.

Apparently, Kula is a big successful chain in Japan, and they are determined to bring the same formula to the US as this is the 3rd branch in the Los Angeles area.

The concept is beautifully simple. All the sushi is pre-made and only costs $2 for each plate. The plates go around the entire restaurant on a revolving conveyor belt type system like at a factory. One difference here is they have figured out how to put booths next to them so that a group of 4 people can sit at a table instead of having to sit at the counter.

This place is small just like Frying Fish so come early or you will be on the second page of the waiting list. Once seated, they will bring you a soy sauce plate with a dab of wasabi. Since I found out that most places serve fake wasabi paste, I’ve been observing the wasabi carefully. The one they serve here is real freshly grated so it’s stranger than what some people are probably used to.

The sushi here is made properly, and the fish is fresh and tasty. The only thing I noticed is that sometimes they use parts that they would throw away at more upscale sushi places. You will see more fat or pieces that look like it should have been cut a little differently. That’s what you get for $2. If you don’t like how they look, go elsewhere and pay $4 to $6.

Obviously, for $2, you don’t get large portions. In fact, the Uni is only one piece (not 2) and the Ikura (see picture) is half cucumber. The tako (octopus) is not wrapped with a strip of sea weed, which I guess saves money and a little time to make. There’s nothing horrible about any of these little things. Just ways to save a little money.

As readers of this site knows I always check for free hot green tea. Well, unfortunately, not only is the tea $2 (like everything else), it’s also made from powder. That’s a big no-no in my book. I have to assume this is cheaper or they’d probably do it the old way. Strange how they use real wasabi but fake tea.

In any case, even with the powder tea, I still recommend this place for people who want to try inexpensive sushi without committing to a giant roll, or are in a bit of a hurry but still want fresh sushi.

Kula Revolving Sushi Bar – Little Tokyo Branch
333 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 290-9631
Hours: Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am – 10:30 pm, Fri-Sat 11 am – 11 pm
www.kura-corpo.co.jp/us/

According to Reuters, Starbucks will start serving beer and wine at a few of their retail outlets in Atlanta and Southern California by the end of 2012. They have already tried it out in Seattle where apparently it has been a success.

Hopefully, there will be at least one Starbucks “Bar” in Los Angeles so I can try it out. These Starbucks company executives know how to make their customers into addicts. First, make us hyper with caffeine and sugar in the morning, then have us return after work for some alcohol to smooth out the caffeine from earlier. They got us coming and going.

If cocaine and crystal meth was legal, I’m sure that would be next.

Apparently, this is their 3rd in their chain of 3 so far, starting with their 1st one in Torrance. When I worked in Torrance many years ago, there used to be some great Japanese restaurants down there. Not sure if that was because of the Japanese car companies being in that area or something else.

But I digress.

It’s interesting that I went here after going to Hakata because the formula is very similar. As with Hakata, you select the type of broth you want and what you want in the ramen. However, unlike Hakata, they actually put the side stuff into the bowl for you. The actual ramen is very similar, if not exactly the same as the thin ones at Hakata. I’m still not completely sold on this type of ramen noodles. I’m so used to the old thicker ones that it takes me a while to adjust to these new type of ramen noodles.

The good news is, if you like this type of thin ramen, it’s good. Unfortunately, the egg was still cold, even though it was in the soup. They don’t serve hot green tea so I just had water. The gyoza was nothing to write home about. I think it might have been pre-made and frozen. The spicy tuna roll was made creamy like tuna that you would have in your sandwich. I’ve seen this before and I don’t like it.

Overall, it doesn’t have the upbeat atmosphere like Hakata, but some people might like that it’s quite. There is counter seating but I’m not sure where you are supposed to park. Service is good and the ramen is very good, if you like the thin kind.

Come here if you’re in Westwood and you want ramen.

Ramen Yamadaya
1248 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Mon-Sat:　11am-9pm, closed Sunday
(310) 474-1600
ramen-yamadaya.com

The atmosphere of this place is like a sushi place where the workers all shout out “Irashaimasen,” which is basically “welcome” to our restaurant. But this place goes overboard and it sounds like somebody is getting attacked.

There is a big counter area surrounding the area where they make all the noodles. The extra items in the menu comes on a separate plate. So if you order eggs, or wan-ton, you get it on a small plate, then you have to put it into your ramen yourself. You’d think that if you’re paying for your ramen, they should at least put it in for you.

The actual ramen is a little different from what I’m used to. It’s a little thinner and maybe home made. It’s not as thin as Japanese somen, but a tab bit thicker than that. The soup is good but not the best I’ve ever had. I’m not sure if I ordered the wrong thing but my 6 piece Gyoza were microscopically small, but tasty.

There are better places for Ramen in Little Tokyo and elsewhere but for some fast Ramen, it’s a good place to go. Don’t come here on a date because it’s loud and you won’t be able to hear your date. Come here with a bunch of people to drink, eat ramen and make some noise.

Hakata Ramen
132 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 687-7108
shinsengumigroup.com

First of all, let me clue you into the fact that this one is near Mississippi, and not the one down the street. Yes, there are 2 of them within a block of each other. The other on has parking, but this one doesn’t so you have to park on the street.

It’s a relatively small restaurant and there is only sushi bar seating. All items are $2.75. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s like those 99 cent stores but for sushi. Yes, I know it doesn’t sound like a good idea.

Upon entry, the waitress will come over and ask want you want to drink and give you a form for you to use to check off the sushi, sashimi or other stuff you want. She gives it to the sushi chef that’s inside the bar and he starts to make your sushi immediately.

Not to sound too racist but I noticed that all 3 of the sushi chefs were authentic Japanese sushi chefs. This shouldn’t matter, but it makes me feel better. Yes, I know the difference so don’t try to trick me with some Mexican guy that looks Asian or Korean guy that can speak Japanese.

Normally, I don’t take pictures of each and every nigiri sushi that I order because it’s somewhat redundant. But in this case, I did this because for the price you are paying, I wanted to make sure you could see the quality of each and every piece. I was surprised that the Unagi was warm and prepared properly. I say this because I’ve been to low priced places where the Unagi was literally inedible.

The albacore was prepared with ponzu sauce which tasted as good as any ponzu I’ve had. All the fish was fresh and the only small complaint I have is that the rice was slightly dry and perhaps not enough sushi vinegar for my taste. Keep in mind that I’m being super picky here and comparing it to the way the top shelf sushi costing 2-3 times more would be prepared.

The rolls are cut and perhaps prepared quickly and not the best rolled job in the world. But nothing wrong with the ingredients.

So all the sushi pictured here plus my hot green tea, which I think was free, totaled less than $20. Now that’s really hard to beat at this level of quality. Yes, I’ve had cheaper but most of it was basically inedible. Not here. I’ve paid double this amount at fancy restaurants in Vegas for about the same quality.

But what I really liked about this place was not the price of the sushi.  It’s the service. Unlike Sugarfish, which has one of the best sushi in LA, but with the worst service, this place has one of the best service around. Between the waitress and waiter, I got my green tea re-filled 3 times without asking even once.

So between the cheap… low priced, good quality sushi and great service, I liked this place and will be returning.

Sushi Stop
2053 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 473-3999
sushistopusa.com

Back in the 90′s, Hurry Curry was a great place to come for lunch or dinner. Then it was sold, and the quality went down. I stopped going there many years ago.

Recently, I decided to give the place another try. In keeping with my usual favorite here, I ordered the Tokyo Curry on pasta. I should have known things were not going to go well for me when the waiter asked me if I wanted to substitute brown rice for an extra cost. I reminded him that I was having pasta. Hmmm.

My order came quickly. The included salad was good, especially the dressing. But that’s where the food stopped being good. The pasta came with the curry in a separate container as usual but I could tell right away that it was very watery. In fact, it was so watery, it looked like soup.

This was so ridiculous, I called the waiter over and gently asked him what happened to the curry. His response was strange at the minimum. He told me that the curry was the same as it has always been and that he has been working there for 10 years. I wanted to say, “If you’ve been working here for 10 years, you should know the curry shouldn’t be soup!” but I just tried to eat the watery curry.

Basically, I just ate the pasta and left the soup in the container. When I asked the waiter for the check, he asked me if everything was alright. I told the waiter again that the curry was not supposed to be soup. This time he declared that it was just a “bad batch.” That’s probably true. But no restaurant should ever be serving their customers a “bad batch.” They won’t be seeing me again there for at least another 10 years.

Hurry Curry of Tokyo
2131 Sawtelle Blvd.
West Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-473-1640
hurrycurryoftokyo.com

A few months ago, El Pollo Loco stopped making the Classic Chicken Burrito. That was my favorite dish at this fast food joint. I broke down and tried their new burritos. The new ones are bigger, and more expensive but filled with junk I don’t like. I hated the new burritos because it’s too watery and I like simple tasting meals without all the junk they put in these burritos.

So I stopped going to El Pollo Loco.  Then one day, I was complaining to my friend about this and she said, “Why don’t you just ask if they can make the Classic Chicken Burrito for you? They have to have the ingredients there.”

I was shocked. I’ve become so brain washed into being a victim of advertising of these giant companies that I never even thought of asking them to make me what I wanted. I was embarrassed that I never even thought of this option.

Soon after this conversation, I returned for the first time in months to El Pollo Loco and asked if I could get a Classic Chicken Burrito. The man behind the counter politely tells me that they don’t make those any more. Upon which I asked him if he could simply remove the unneeded ingredients from one of their new fancy burritos and I’d gladly still pay the higher price.

At this point, the man behind the counter told me in a sad voice that the ingredients are pre-made at some other far away place and packaged that way and cannot be changed.

So ended my attempt at thinking outside the box. I ended up ordering drumsticks instead.

“Feel the Mexcellence!” indeed. I felt it right up my behind.