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

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.

The ambiance here is good but not as nice as the one in Vegas. I like the large open space, but it felt colder, perhaps because of the lighting.

Octopus

We tried out the octopus appetizer and it was delicious. It was a little different from what you would get in a Japanese restaurant (Takotsu) but that’s what it reminded me of. The slices were paper think so it wasn’t chewy at all.

Steak

We had the same main course as in the Craft at Vegas but for some reason, I liked the seasoning better with the Vegas version. Not exactly sure why this is.

Custard Desert

Unlike the deserts in Vegas, our picks were somewhat forgettable and I don’t even remember what we ordered. I think it was some type of custard.

All in all, good ambiance and service but I think the food was better at the Vegas location.

10100 constellation Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90067
310-279-4180
craftrestaurant.com

The day I visited was very hot so I decided to get the Hiyashi Chuka. For those not familiar, this is a cold plate with ramen style noodles topped with vegetables and meat.

Interestingly, even though this place tries to look like a home-style place, this dish was far from traditional home style. Almost none of the topping they put is what would normally be on this dish. The noodle itself was okay but otherwise, I did not like the strange mixture of toppings. However, keep in mind that I was expecting a more traditional version.

Hiyashi Chuka

Next, I got some Nigiri Sushi to see how their sushi was. Although the freshness was acceptable, some of the fish was cut too thick, kind of reminding me of the ridiculously thick salmon at California Roll Factory.

Nigiri Sushi

Since this was just a quick trip, I’ll reserve final judgement on this place and will return at least one more time. However, my first trip was not memorable and I’m not in any hurry to return.

Update:
Since I wrote this review, I returned there one more time and they are closing as of November.

Tenryoan
1248 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-474-1600
Lunch (Mon-Fri) 11:30am-3pm
Dinner (Mon-Sat) 5pm-10:30pm
Closed Sundays

We tried the Wagyu Tataki for an appetizer and although the sauce was a little heavy for my taste, the meat was fine. We also had the Edamame ($8.50) which was slightly over cooked. Normally, I wouldn’t think much of it, but at these prices, I expect better.

Wagyu Tataki - $28

My friend had the Sushi and Sashimi combo (shown below), which was average at best.

Sushi Sashimi Combo - $76

To be different, I had the Sushi Deluxe, which was also just average. Don’t get me wrong. There was nothing specifically wrong and the fish was acceptable, but again, at these prices, I wanted to be wowed. Instead, I was left feeling like we should have gone to a steak place instead.

Sushi Deluxe - $48

It’s surprising how hard it is to get really good sushi in Las Vegas. It’s a lot easier to find good sushi in Los Angeles. That’s for sure.

All in all, for the price, I’m not impressed.

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill
3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV
877-893-2003
cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

Nigiri course

As you can see above, the nigiri sushi looked pretty much the same as before, except for the plate that it was served on. Otherwise, everything was basically the same as my last trip, including the waiter coming to swap out my green tea almost every time I took a sip.

Mori Sushi
11500 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 479-3939
morisushi.org

Takami Sushi & Robata is a trendy Asian fusion type restaurant located on the 21st floor of what appears to be an office building. It’s also on the same floor as a trendy night club called Elevate, which is probably owned by the same company. So when you get off the elevator, make sure you are going in the right direction or you’ll end up dancing and drinking instead of eating and drinking.

Although the 21st floor doesn’t make this the tallest building around, you do get a spectacular view of the downtown area (including the top of the Standard) and there are tons of patio seating, where smoking might be allowed. Luckily, we were there early so nobody was smoking.

While there was no way I was expecting free green tea here, it was $4. This should tell you how much the rest of the meal will cost.  The waitress explained to us that there are actually 3 kitchens at this restaurant (Rabata, sushi/fish and “other” kitchens). Interesting setup. No wonder it’s so expensive here.

By the way, Robata is a Japanese charcoal grill cooking style, which is apparently different from the open flame method for Yakitori. To be honest, I’ve never heard of this type of Japanese cooking before and was ready to try it out.

We started off with our usual Edamame ($4) which was slightly overcooked. I’m being very picky but considering the upscale ambiance, I was expecting perfection.

When asking the waitress about the Sunomono, she said it was enough for 2, and she was right. Compared to what I’m used to, this is a ginormous portion and I’m glad the waitress warned me. Unfortunately, the Sunomono was very mild and almost tasteless. Obviously, this is not anything close to traditional Sunomono by any stretch of the imagination.

Sunomono - $5

Next, I had to try the Robata so I got the Lamb and New York with Asparagus. They don’t ask you how you want your meat cooked, so apparently they cook it the same way for everyone. For me, the New York was over cooked, but keep in mind that I take my steaks medium rare. This was well done at best. However, the spices used were tasty and the Asparagus was fine. The Lamb was a little dry and actually not as good as the lamb I had in Vegas.

So far, I’m not impressed.

Robata Lamb Chops - $12 and New York/Asparagus - $10

Next comes the real test. I ordered the Sushi plate, which comes with a variety of different nigiri sushi and your choice of California roll or spicy tuna roll (which is what I picked). Although everything was fresh, there was nothing here to write home about. The plate does come with some type of grated wasabi on a cut cucumber. It’s interesting but I didn’t really enjoy it. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to eat it with the sushi, or put it into your soy sauce but I ate it straight and it was definitely wasabi.

One thing that I liked was the Tako (Octopus) was sliced extremely thin. This is not the traditional way the Tako nigiri is prepared but I liked it because it wasn’t chewy as it normally would be. There was also some type of ponzu sauce that had an apple taste to it. My friend loved it but I hated it. I like my ponzu sauce traditional and having a sweet apple taste is not to my liking.

Sushi Plate - $32

We also got a Dragon Roll, which was again very ordinary and nothing worth noting.

Dragon Roll - $15

Since this place is on the 21st floor, we had to try the 21st Roll. To be honest, I was getting full so I didn’t partake this roll but the crab on top did look good and my friend said it was good.

21st Roll - $18

Even though I was pretty much full from this big meal, I managed to take a few bites of desert, which in my opinion was the only really good item we ordered from the entire meal. That’s sad because I was hoping to find another gem of a place like Sugarfish.

Chocolate Yuzu - $8

All in all, I was very disappointed with this place. The view and desert were the only things that I enjoyed. Frankly, even the slightly overcooked Robata was better than the sushi. I don’t think I’ll be returning here any time soon. However, this place made me want to try other Robata places.