People don’t usually like the words “cheap” and “fast” when referring to restaurants, unless you’re talking about fast food.

Well, how about Shabu-shabu?  Yup.  Fast and cheap Shabu-shabu in Little Tokyo at where else but Shabu-Shabu House.

For those of you that don’t know what it is, basically they bring you uncooked thinkly sliced beef, which you dip in hot boiling water, then dip in sauce and eat.

I know what you’re thinking.  You mean, I have to cook my meal myself and then PAY!?  Yeah, but it’s fun and delish.  Traditionally, shabu-shabu will also come with tofu, vegetables, mushrooms, maybe seaweed, and udon noodles.

In Japanese, “shabu-shabu” literally means “dip-dip.”  In fact, most traditional places will tell you to only dip the meat a couple of times, but I like mine just a little more cooked so I usually Shabu-shabu Shabu-shabu.

If you go to an expensive Shabu-shabu restaurant, it can run you $25 to $40 or even higher, but this one in the Japanese Village Plaza runs you only about $10 out the door (no drinks).  What you see pictured is an order of regular size, and “extra lean,” which you can request.  They also have a non-meat vegetarian plate but I’ve never tried it.  At this place, everyone sits at the counter and you can see the chef cut the meat right in front of you.

One thing that’s great and consistant here are the ponzu and peanut dipping sauces.  Personally, if the dipping sauce doesn’t taste good, I can’t eat Shabu-shabu, even expensive ones.   I guess that’s like their secret formula.

I’ve been going to this place for many years and I have to say that the price has not gone up all that much (or at all) since they opened, but the portions and quality of the vegetable has gone down.  Also, if I remember correctly, they used to give you pickels before and ice coffee after the meal.  All that’s gone now but it’s still a good deal.  However, they kinda treat you like cattle to get you in and out fast because it’s a small place.  But the price is right and the quality is acceptable.

Some people order the large meat plate but if I’m super hungry, I order extra noodles instead to try to keep my girlish figure.

This place is always crowded and they don’t take reservations.  So if you don’t like to wait, you’ll have to come about 20 minutes before they open for dinner, and put your name on the sign-up sheet.  There’s only about 23 seats so if you’re on the list after 23 people, just forget it or wait another 30-45 minutes after they open for wave 2.

Shabu-Shabu House
127 Japanese Village Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-3890
Lunch from 11:30am – 2:30pm, Dinner from 5:30pm – 10pm
Closed Mondays
Map

Inside the Japanese Village Plaza, there’s what I call a fast-sushi place called Frying Fish.  It’s the sushi version of fast food in that you can be in and out of here quick.

Two things are different here from other places.  The first thing you’ll notice is there’s only a sushi bar.  The bar has a conveyor belt that moves small dishes with sushi on it around and around the bar.  If you go here when it’s busier, they have ready made sushi that you can grab off the belt, eat, and be out of here in 30 minutes or less.  Of course, you can order what you want from the sushi chef too.

Now you’re thinking, “How do they keep track of what you’re eating?”  Good question.  That’s the second thing.  When you’re finished eating, the waitress comes and counts the plates to see how much you owe.  Each plate is color coded and the prices rages from $1.50 to $5.

They don’t really have much non-sushi dishes so only come here for cheap and quick sushi.  The quality is average and the size is on the smaller side.  So don’t come here for anything other than cheap and quick.  The good news is the hot green tea is free.

Frying Fish
120 Japanese Village Plaza
Los Angeles, CA  90012-3909
(213) 680-0567
Open 7 days a week: 11am-10pm
Map

Nigiri Sushi Combination - $24.50

Izayoi Restaurant is located on the side of the Office Depot in Little Tokyo.  You can park for free at the Office Depot parking lot.  Although the building and styling is brand new, the food here is old school Japanese style, with none of the Asian fusion type plates.  Click on the picture above to see the exterior of the building.

I’ve seen this restaurant described as a izakaya style restaurant but I don’t really agree with that.  Yes, they do have plenty of izakaya type dishes, but the ambiance here is too clean, and modern and more of a traditional Japanese restaurant with great sushi.  Izakaya places are usually older, dark, and more drinking oriented in my opinion.  No real izakaya restaurant would close at 10:30pm.  Right?  You have to be open until 2am to be an official izakaya restaurant. Ah, but what do I know.

The sushi bar (which seats eight) fronts an open kitchen where there are 6 Japanese cooks.  2 of them are for the sushi bar (4 customers per chef), which is a pretty good ratio.  The reson why I say the cooks are Japanese is because that indicates to me that the food is the real deal.

On this trip, I ordered the mix sushi (see picture above) which comes with a great assortment that will satisfy any sushi lover, and it was delish.  As per “real” Japanese restaurants, the miso soup and hot green tea comes with the meal.

There are tons of other izakaya great dishes here, including tako-su (one of my favorites) so I’ll review more plates in the future.

Izayoi
132 S. Central Ave.
Los Angeles, CA  90012
(213) 613-0554
Lunch: 11:30am-2pm (Monday-Friday)
Dinner: 5:30pm-10:30pm (Monday-Saturday)
Map

If you get tired of the curry at the Curry House, try their pasta. Their Spicy Shrimp with spinach is delish. For me, it is pretty spicy, but not for people who love spicy stuff. You can ask them for “less spicy, please…” and it does seem to be less spicy. They no longer give you the broiled onigiri (rice ball), and instead you get a garlic bread. I think the bread goes better with the pasta.

Expert customer hint:
Park all the way at the bottom of the underground parking and park right next to the elevator (if you have a regular car like me), or park in the one car only spot next to the up-ramp (if you have an expensive car).

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

Everybody is talking about R23 so I decided to check it out. It’s about 3 blocks East of Little Tokyo and you would never find it by accident in a million years. “Hidden” would be putting it mildly.  Not only is it in a semi-industrial part of the area, it’s in a building with other regular businesses and isn’t even in the front of the building.  I felt like I was going to an underground rave to get some “E”.

You’d think that in this part of town, parking would be ginormous.  Instead, it’s a tiny strip of parking and about 4 spaces of street parking.  But they do have valet parking for $3.

Enter straight into the main part of the restaurant. When they say that it’s a gallery, they mean they have some big paintings on the walls… and it does kind of looks like a loft/gallery.  My impression was that although it was small, it had a clean look to it, except for the weird artsy cardboard chairs.  It’s not any less comfortable than wooden or metal chairs in many restaurants. I just didn’t like the look of them. But that’s me. I’m no art connoisseur.

From what I’ve heard, I guess celebrities eat in another dining area in the back but I didn’t get to see that. There are only 8 seats at the sushi bar so if you don’t get there early, forget about sitting there. Okay, that’s enough about the place.  Let’s get to the food.  Click on thumbnail for larger image. Click your browser’s “Back” to come back here.

Rib-Eye steak with ponzu dipping sauce – $20
Sushi (Tako, Hamachi, Albacore, Sake) - $20
Miso soup – $3
Rice – $2

The lobster tempura is supposed to be the dish to check-out here but I’m not big on lobster, so I got the Rib-eye instead.  The steak was cooked to perfection and I love the ponzu sauce. By the way, there are no prices listed on the non-sushi menu.  That’s how you know you’re in a fancy restaurant.

As you can see, the sushi is somewhat oversized. In fact, they put 2 smaller slices together on the Tako to create the illusion of a single longer piece.  It was sliced very thin, and made it easy to chew.  This is similar to the way some places serve Tako-Su.  The miso soup was a tiny bit sweet for my taste because I like it more traditionally salty.  I had a little too much food for desert so that’ll have to wait for my next trip.

After your meal, your check comes in a wooden box with their logo, that looks like something out of “World of Warcraft” or Nintendo’s Zelda.  I thought I’d get a power-up when I opened it, but alas, just a hand written check.  No computers here.

All in all, although there are tons of great items on the menu, in my mind, the sushi is the main attraction here. I’ve heard people complain about the pricing here but I guess I must be used to crazy pricing and found the prices here reasonable for an upscale restaurant with good service.

R23
923 E. 2nd. Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 687-7178
r23.com
Lunch: Mon-Fri  11:30am-2pm
Dunner: Mon-Sat  5:30pm-10pm
Closed Sunday
Map

Albacore sushi - $3.22, Salmon sushi - $3.25, Hamachi sushi - $3.98

Zencu is a little hard to find and you’d probably never find this place by accident.  It’s located on the second floor of the building attached to the Japanese Village Plaza called Little Tokyo Mall. The parking is off of San Pedro so turn left on 2nd Street onto San Pedro. Then take the elevator to the second floor.

Zencu has a nice atmosphere with booths and a large sushi bar. There are plasma screens all over the place but that’s the not reason why people come here.  It’s the price of the sushi.

They do charge you 95 cents for hot green tea but you can’t complain when the sushi prices are so low.  It’s not the best sushi in LA, but it’s the best sushi for the price.  It’s fresh and prepared very nicely.

On this trip, I also had the Beef yaki soba for $8.95. It’s okay but stick with the sushi here.  They also have pasta, shrimp, and a bunch of other dishes to entice you.  A friend of mine comes here for the Kirin draft beer for only $1.50.  Cheap beer and sushi. What more do you want?

Zencu Sushi & Grill
319 E. 2nd. Street #206
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 687-7780
Map

Hiyashi-Chuka (cold raimen noodles in sweet sour sauce)

If you ever find yourself in Little Tokyo at 2am on the weekend, after drinking or strip clubbin’, stop by at Suehiro on 1st Street. It’s been there forever and although the food is more “Mom and Pop” than gourmet, it’s pretty good, especially at that hour. Late night, you can pretty much park anywhere on the street but the police station is real close so don’t park in the red zone. During the day, it’s hard to find parking so park at one of the lots.

During the summer, they have their Hiyashi-Chuka noodles. If you like noodles and want something different, try it out. I love their sauce that it’s in. Hmmm. You can also get “Somen” noodles, which are very think cold noodles.

For desert, ask if they have their home-made Japanese style flan. It’s a little like the Mexican flan, if you’ve ever had those. They are often out of the flan but it’s a nice meal closer if they have it.

Suehiro Cafe
337 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 826-9132
Sunday – Thursday: 11am – 1am, Friday – Saturday: 11am – 3am
Map

Shibuya is a slick and posh looking Asian slash Japanese restaurant inside the MGM in Las Vegas.

From the outside, you can see the biggest “screen saver” wall you’ve ever seen. They tricked me into thinking that there were 50 large screen plasmas but actually, there are only 6 x 3 or 18 in the middle area.  The other screens are the same size but are dummies that change color.  In any case, it’s impressive and must have cost a lot of money.

There are about 15 seats at the sushi bar with 5 sushi chefs. If my math is correct, that’s 3 customers per chef. I guess that’s why the prices are so high.  The other room contain most of the regular seating and looks like something out of a futuristic Asian movie set.

I decided to order a mixture of some of my favorite foods:
Yellow tail sashimi  – $16
Shrimp tempura udon – $16
Salmon sushi – $9.50

All items ordered were presented well and tasted as good as they looked.  However, you are paying extra for the ambiance and exceptional service.  Of what I ordered, I liked the sashimi the best. The Udon was good but not exceptional. The sushi was normal portions by LA standards, and certainly not what you may expect for $9.50.

For desert, I ordered the sake soaked dark chocolate cake which was to die for. It’s a tiny portion, but that’s about all you can eat because it’s so rich.

This would be a perfect place to come to impress your date.

Shibuya
MGM Grand
3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 891-3001
Map

OM rice with salad - $9.95

This restautant is in a strip mall with other restaurants and even a tiny tomato bank. If you come when it’s busy (like weekends), parking can be difficult but they do have valet parking.

Blue Marlin has recently been slightly remodeled with new furniture but the food is the same old great stuff. They have curry, pasta, and even risotto (delish!) all prepared in a slightly Japanese-trying to be-bistro style. It’s located in the “West Little Tokyo” area on Sawtelle, with all the other Japanese restaurants and stores.

This OM rice is basically rice wrapped in an omlet. I actually like the one at the Curry House better, but this one’s good too.  Be sure to try their salmon dinner, and any of their pastas.

Blue Marlin Mistro
2121 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 445-2522
Sunday: 11:30am – 10pm, Monday – Thursday: 11:30am – 10:30pm, Friday – Saturday: 11:30pm – 11pm
Map

Curry House doesn’t serve any sushi here but if you like Japanese style curry or pasta, you must check this place out. They also have branches in other parts of the city but the one in downtown is the best one, IMO.

For something simple, try the beef curry on rice if it’s your first time. Once you get addicted, try the different styles of curry and pasta. When you’ve graduated to the advanced levels, try the Ika  and Tarako (squid and fish eggs) pasta. Mmmm. Love it.

I’ve been going here for many years and their menu has changed slightly (I miss the asparagus salad) but the food here is very consistantly good. The house dressing is the bomb. Put it on your must try list.

If you want to get it to go, there’s a separate “to go” version on the first floor, but all they do is get the order from the restaurant.

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