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Komachi
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
15 reviews for Komachi
There was a drastic change to the menu , service, and quality of food when we visited for lunch around April of this year.We really liked the old Komachi of 2008. We inquired about it and the waiter told us the owner was the same, but the chefs and staff were all changed out. Our experience that day was not good to say the least (waiter's didn't know what was on the menu, we were told they were out of salmon 40 minutes AFTER we ordered it - but decided to give them another chance after they had some time to stabilize. Went for lunch last week, place was empty, owner was acting as the waitress, no sushi chef behind the counter. The owner explained the specials and items not on the menu. We had the sushi and lunch set specials. A sushi chef popped out from the back kitchen and started working on the sushi items. It was a while before the cooked special was ready and both the sushi and the cooked lunch came out at the same time. The sushi chef didn't give off that confident (I'm a master iron chef) type aura and moved very slow.
The food was ok but not up to the standards of the old Komachi.
Without any words being spoken between us and the owner, we got the feeling that they are trying their best to try to save the restaurant or turn it around, but the end may be near...
I hope the restaurant survives, but I think it's in need of some sort of new inspiration or focus. I hope the owner can respond to us and let us know - what is your goal with the new Komachi? Is it a sushi bar? Or something else? What is the dish that you are most proud of and want the customers to remember you by?
Perhaps some insight into what's going on behind the scenes would give us reason to come back again.
What HAPPENED here?
Ooh.. I guess they changed ownership/chefs/management, according to the other reviews. Wow. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!
This place USED to be absolutely amazing. Great sushi/sashimi, and full of very high-quality Japanese dishes. However, I came here for the first time in a couple years last weekend for lunch, and WHAT?
First of all, our family friend used to be the head chef here. They didn't even know who he was when we asked for him, so we were VERY confused. I guess it all now makes sense.
The place was dead empty for lunch on a weekend. Not a single customer in sight besides us. Well... the food explained why.
We tried to order sushi... the waitress tells me, "Oh the sushi chef isn't here today, so we can't do nigiri.. Oh but I can do it for you if you want." ...Umm.. no thanks.
I ended up ordering the katsudon -- okay, so this was good, but you can't open a Japanese restaurant in Torrance without getting something that simple wrong, right?
My sister had some tempura + soba combo. The soba wasn't very good.. if you want good soba, go to Otafuku in Gardena. This place just was not even close to as good as Otafuku. And the tempura..?? It was totally what I like to call, "typical Americanized almost deep-fried cheap tempura". You know.. the kind that comes with teriyaki chicken and rice on the side. It was NOT good for a Japanese restaurant in Torrance.
We had the king crab roll too.. I was expecting something delicious, but nope. It was just 6 pieces of just plain crab, cucumber, rice, and nori, rolled up. Did I really just pay $15 for this?
They had some lunch special that was called the "Karoyaka lunch", which basically translates to "Light lunch". This one was actually okay, but nothing to rave about.
I'm horribly disappointed at the "new" Komachi. Bring the old chefs and management back!!!
Wow am I really going to be the first one to talk about the hot waitress at this joint? Yea she's really really great looking, and best of all, she's also really really kind.
Anyhow, came here for lunch today and it was just A-Ok. Had the sushi combo. You can pick two sides with it and I chose fried oyster and broiled fish (mackerel). Yes I understand that I'm not supposed to eat sushi on a Monday, but date was paying so I wanted to the get a fairly expensive dish without looking greedy :P The fried oyster was good, it was perfectly breaded and fried to a golden crispy finish. Inside it was soft and extremely delicious. The broiled mackerel was somewhat disappointing, the meat was good, but the top was too charred that it left a bitter taste in my mouth. And Monday sushi was well Monday sushi.
I'm having a tough time deciding whether to give this place a 4 or 3 star rating, it should be 3.5 really but hot waitress and free lunch will boost it up to a 4. I guess I would come back again next time for hot waitress and lunch combo sans sushi.
KOMACHISUSHIKOMACHISUSHI
"HALF-PRICE SUSHI" from 3/14/2009
celebrating our NEW start
with NEW chefs...
Our sushi bar offers
hHALF-PRICE SUSHIg
At dinner time
Order anything you like from sushi menu...
and Enjoy!!
from
... Restaurant KOMACHI ...
2143 W. 182nd Street, Torrance CA 90504 PHONE: 310-515-6147
At the intersection of 182nd Street and Van Ness Ave. (Nijiya Market mall)
7 days open: L 11:30-2:00 D 5:30-10:00
1 Previous Review:
-
3/10/2009
having a 1/2 off sushi alll day!!!!!!!!!!!!! go now!!!!!! it's worth it!!!!!!!
My friend wanted to come here so we went. I thought we were going to some other Japanese restaurant in the area and was a bit disappointed when we pulled into this parking lot. But I didn't say anything. The place was near empty for a weekday lunch, when most other restaurants are full or have at least more than one table occupied. We both ordered the special, which was written on a portable chalkboard and had calories of each item listed next to it. The presentation was good, but most of the dozen or so dishes were either tasteless or didn't taste good. Decor and service were fine but the food was definitely lacking. That is likely my last time in this place.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
3/27/2009
I was warned this place has changed since mgmt. changed, but I still expected better. What… Read more »
I came in for Lunch.
Even though the place was pretty packed, I was seated promptly.
I ordered Chilean sea bass " Saikyo Yaki" combo.
It came with salad, miso soup, otsukemono( Japanese pickled veggie), and main dish. The sea bass was nicely presented on the white squire plate along with Japanese potato salad, sliced & sauteed matsutake mushroom, boiled bok choi, and chopped tomatoes with mayo sauce.
The portion was perfect and sea bass was pretty good. The sea bass was not dry and it was cooked perfectly. I could taste the sea bass had been marinated for 2-3 days. Nice!
The salad was OK. It didn't make me excited.
I think they use salad mix from Trader Joe's ( which I like) and added sliced red onions with mayo sauce.
The hot tea was room temperature and I expected " HOT TEA"
This lunch was $16 plus tax and tip.
I went there before visiting my friend. Since I got there a little earlier than expected and didn't want to eat a bento box at Nijiya to comfort myself from a tough day at work, finding this restaurant in the same mall as Nijiya was a relief.
The interior's color scheme is white, with nice accents from wall decorations, including a framed photograph with stones arranged like food in a white plate that made me imagine what kind of food I'd have :P and kimono-cloth hanging at back. I kinda needed that calm, yet modern setting. But then, all clients at the time I visited were all Japanese. I was treated alright, but can imagine non-Japanese might not very occasionally.
Anyway, I ordered soy sauce-cooked flounder dinner special. Salad that came beforehand was very mild with mayonnaise as the foundation and pepper and vinegar as accents. While the salad overall did not have a strong characteristics, it definitely wet my appetite.
The main dish unfortunately did not fully reach to my expectation. First, there were only two pieces of flounders. I paid $18 for this dinner set! That's not a lot! Either a half of the whole fish or three pieces would satisfy me more. Their taste was good, if no different from other places that serves this dish more reasonably. I could sense a bit of sophistication in terms of seasoning, but at that time, I sought hominess more than sophistication.
Complimenting veggies on the other hands were very good. Two slices of tomato were marinated with mayonnaise and vinegar, which deepened the flavor of already sweet and tasty vegetable. Sauteed Eringi mushroom was also good. Hijiki was ordinary but good. Pickles actually held up on their own with other ingredients. Setout for these foods were very good with, again, a white square large dish.
Speaking of white, the ceramic tea cup was also white, but with nice texture for good aesthetic and ergonomic reasons. Too bad that the second serving was lukewarm. For such a nice cup, I would expect the tea itself to be nice as well. The rice and miso soup were good, if not exactly standing out.
In conclusion, while most of stuffs were very good, none really stood out. It's one of those 4.5 star places that I ended up rating 4 star because I could not find anything special that encouraged me to rate higher. I have a feeling that this place would serve well for Japanese who would stay here for a short period of time (about two weeks) and pay a little extra to eat homey food. For me who've stayed so long and expect the good balance of quality and value, this places falls short slightly.
I love yelp. I do. But I hate telling everyone when there's a good deal because I don't want you to invade my space...yah know? What can I say? I'm a selfish food slut.
But since I feel like being mother teresa tonight, I"ll let you in.
This place is da bomb. What do I mean? 12 bucks. For a three course meal that'll leave you wanting to smoke a cigarette afterwards...yup, that good of a lay. From the freshest sashimi to the perfectly fried oysters, the chef pays attention to ALL the details. Did I tell you about the time I saw a man cutting grass with sissors in Japan? Well, I think the same guy put my lunch together...the plate was so pretty I almost got a stiffy.
Now, don't look back. Don't look any further to another joint. Is it 10-2????? If it is, you better get behind that wheel and head your ass over here.
Anyone have a light? Cuddle me please.
Do you know why I love my job?
Well.. besides the fact that I live 2 minutes away and can take a 2 hour nap, I work next to a bunch of cute little japanese eateries.
So I was driving home today for lunch and I run into my mom just as she was leaving. I was like FoO! Stop! MOM! take me to lunch! She reluctantly pulled over and i hopped into her car with the quickness.
My mom hates routine and commitment so she was like "let's do something new". We settled on this dingy looking place in the Nijiya plaza two blocks from the pad.
We walk in and woah. we're transported into a cute, modern japanese bistro. White interior, intimate, colorful art pieces, subtle sushi bar, wine rack. Classy.
We were quickly seated towards the back and served hot tea. After quickly scanning the menu, I settled for the komachi lunch special that was $12. It consisted of 2 a la carte items of your choice (I chose sashimi and fried oysters), miso soup, rice, and a salad.
The salad came first in a sleek blue bowl. House salad - nothing special but presentation was clean. Then came my sashimi - 3 slices of tuna, 2 slices of salmon, 2 slices of yellowtail, 2 slices of some white fish - all arranged delicately on a glass platter. The fried oyster (4 huge pieces) came next with a side of potato salad, pickled veggies , and tonkatsu sauce. Each plate was arranged artfully. I was impressed.
I think my mom liked it too cuz she kept taking pictures. I was like oh mom. she should be a yelper. Speaking of which, my mom was rocking a rocafella black/gold sweatsuit today. I was like wtf. Next thing you know she gon be wearing apple bottom jeans and the boots with the fur.
Back on topic, it's a great secluded date place. Very "in the cut" to show that you're "in the know." I think me and you should go on a date. Don't you think?
Came here with the lunch crew last week and the place was packed . We managed to be seated right away, and we all ordered Sashimi lunch combo that came with 2 additional items. I chose fried oysters and Chikuzen-ni (bunch of root veggies simmered in soy sauce base).
Sashimi
I've never seen that thin sashimi in my life before!!! Well, I've seen thinly cut raw fish, like as carpaccio, but not as sashimi. It was pathetic! So thin! Paper thin!!! The taste? Though they gave us 4 different kinds of fish, they all tasted similar and I couldn't really tell what they were, aside from the obvious salmon. Definitely not fresh.
Fried Oysters & Chikuzen-ni
...meh.
Miso Soup
Extra point for not just throwing seaweed and tofu cube, but additional greens. Very nice touch. But still, tofu cubes were microscopic.
Over all, ton of food for $14. Aside from Sashimi, everything was ok. I say we were quite gutsy to order raw fish at C rating place, but nobody complained or suffered from stomach issue afterward, so that was at least good. I don't think I'll ever come back here though...
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. My first omakase* experience! I've always understood omakase to mean "chef's choice" and today the chef's chose to play a prank on us.
Why? We're big guys so the chef decided to give us the smallest portions available. No joke! Look at this thing! ( http://static.px.yelp.... ) **
38 bucks! But after we got punked, we decided to go sinner (second dinner) at gaja, where we got punked again.
Arg.
* From wiki: Omakase is the Japanese word meaning "entrust" or "protect". It is most commonly encountered at sushi bars, where the customer gives the chef authority to prepare what the chef wants to make for client at the price that the chef sets. Ordering omakase can be a gamble; however, the customer typically receives the highest quality fish the restaurant currently has in stock at a price cheaper than if it was ordered la carte.
** We had bitter greens ( http://static.px.yelp.... ), chicken in bean curd ( http://static.px.yelp.... ), seared salmon, daikon with salmon eggs, and seared duck ( http://static.px.yelp.... ), tofu ( http://static.px.yelp....) , katsu ( http://static.px.yelp.... ), grilled salmon collar and beef ( http://static.px.yelp.... ) and dessert ( http://static.px.yelp.... ).
I liked this restaurant. But I have one issue with Japanese-owned places in Torrance. Especially those that have a faithful following of Japanese clients.
What I really love in a Sushi restaurant is when I'm the only "Gaijin" Caucasian guy in the whole restaurant! Umm, well tonight there were a couple of other gaijin but they were leaving as we sat at the bar. WAIT A MINUTE!!! How come I am the Gaijin??? NOOO it does not make sense... this is US of A, so you, the Japanese folks, are the Gaijin here!
Hehe, never mind (I am kidding)... Or even if I am not kidding, it is part of the "experience" and we, the "Gaijin" are accustomed to be treated in a "weird" way :).
What I DON'T LOVE is, if you let me give you a piece of criticism tonight, when I see a preferential treatment and a clear difference in service between "Gaijin" customers and Nihon-jin customers! When I bring my beautiful date to a new restaurant (I have been here before, for lunches that were always great, but she was here for the first time tonight) I expect our experience to be absolutely impeccable. Tonight we went to Komachi and our experience was NOT impeccable...
We were seated promptly (after making a reservation... because the previous evening they were so busy that we couldn't make it) at the sushi "counter" A.K.A. bar. The chef who was cheerfully preparing the sushi and chatting with a couple of Japanese customers, never really made an effort to address us. Come ooon, the whole evening! I had the impression he was avoiding eye contact, and didn't say anything to us until the very end... especially after I order the higher-end Omakase. When a customer orders Omakase, it is like a message. It tells the chef that I'm reaching towards him, trying to establish a connection. Here, however, the Omakase menu is fixed, and we didn't get any personal attention from the chef whatsoever. The restaurant was not even full!
A lone Japanese guy came, some 15 minutes after we arrived, and got seated right next to us at the sushi counter. Hmm! I really wish I was that guy- from the very beginning he was in the fast lane. Smokin fast service. They made me and my date wait for every single dish at least 10-15 minutes. At the same time this fine Japanese gentleman got all of his dishes right on time, and he ended up leaving at least 15-20 minutes before us... The waitresses were very kind to him. They spoke to him some soothing polite Japanese words. So sweet and accommodating. There was perfect harmony. I am sorry people, I am JEALOUS! I happen to understand Japanese; the communication with me was kind of stiff. I realize I am a caucasian guy, OK? I know you feel so much more fond of your own people. But my date is Asian.. Can you please make effort at least for her sake? It's not Japan here.
I am intelligent enough to see a fine line between different kinds of Japanese restaurants: ones that are orientated more towards Caucasian customers, and ones that are catering to Japanese customers mostly. A Caucasian guy who prefers a Japanese-aimed sushi restaurant, means he is not to be patronized and treated differently. When Japanese people go to Europe (where I come from) and enter a high-fashion store to buy clothes, apparel or jewelry, they want to be treated with a lot of respect- like VIPs... I kind of want the same... but I felt second class citizen at Komachi tonight. Gomen ne?
One more small detail. For the Japanese customers, Chef Abe-san opened a pretty fresh box of amazing looking Uni (sea urchin). Wow! We saw that, and we were so excited!!! But when our turn came, and he had to make the Uni sushi for our Omakase, he took out from his fridge another box, where the uni was almost finished- at the very bottom end, the ones that are still good but don't look as appetizing anymore.. Kind of slimy even.. I am sure those of you who love Uni as much as my date and I, would understand how we felt. We are powerful self-educated Uni connoisseurs: the quality of Uni is how we judge the food quality at a Sushi restaurtant. Your Uni didn't taste bad, so we give it 3 stars....
Most of your fish was 4 stars. The service was 1 star (because of the enormous and difficult to justify gaps between the different courses). The Uni = 3 stars. Final rating from us: 2 1/2 stars. I am sorry Komachi. We really wanted to like you, but you decided that you prefer to keep your clientelle exclusively Japanese. I can't blame you- you don't need a nasty Japanese-speaking excited "Gaijin" to seat at the Sushi Counter, and gawk dreamingly at the exclusive morsels of fresh fish. If that kind of impression was your goal tonight, I can congratulate you: you achieved it, and I don't really feel like coming to spend over $150 for 2 people at your restaurant anymore. I forget fast, in the near future I will try again; show me a bit more love and attention- please?.
So... until then- Mata ne.
Like all of the other unassuming restaurants in Torrance, this one sits in a strip mall--specifically the Nijiya plaza.
On a Friday night at 9pm, all of the tables in the minimalist dining room were filled with parties quietly chatting in Japanese. Like all of the other Japanese restaurant in Torrance, we were the only ones speaking English.
The menu is divided into raw&cold, hot, larger dishes, and the dinner combinations. There's a $23 sushi combo, and two omakase kaiseki menus at reasonable $36 and $42 per person. Having left he Yelp party early, where we filled up on some snacks, we shared the $36 Sushi Gozen omakase and it was more than enough for us.
We started with a salad and ordered an additional plate of seaweed and watercress in sesame sauce. The salad was forgettable. but the sesame on the seaweed had a deep nuttiness that I'd come back for.
The meal progressed onwards as follows:
Trio of Starters
Dashi-braised veggies, seared beef w/pureed potatoes, and a single mussel in gelee.
Nimono [stewed]
Stewed bok choy and turnip w/poached fish.
Sashimi
Not the freshest I've had, but not fishy at all.
Agemono [deep fried]
Chicken [both dark and white meat] and onions skewer w/ mushrooms. The skewers were still shiny from the oil in the frying process. Unappealing.
Yakimono [grilled]
Beef, fish, and bok choy with natto. Both of the proteins were dry.
Chawan mushi
Gohan mono [rice dish]
Shrimp onigiri served with radishes. The best thing we had all night
Dessert
Store-bought vanilla ice cream mochi
Unless noted otherwise, most of these dishes were pleasing to the palette, but nothing to write home about. However, it is one of the most reasonably priced omakase meals I've had yet.
Tonight's meal was decent but not as good as I was hoping. I ordered the sashimi combination which included a salad, miso soup, chawanmushi, tsukemono, and rice. All the side items were okay but not great. For example, the miso soup lacked depth and flavor. It's as if they used the second dashi rather than the first. The chawanmushi also suffered from the same fate. The texture was good but again, the depth/umaminess just wasn't there.
I could have overlooked all these points if I had been impressed with my main course. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. My primary complaint has to do with how they cut their fish. The slices were so small and so thin that I didn't get the enjoyment of chewing through it. All the pieces were thinner than usual but the thinnest pieces (salmon) were barely 1/8" thick. And the 2 slices together were barely half the size of a single slice of what I've normally seen at other restaurants. I would have preferred fewer pieces that are cut right than many small, thin pieces. Kinda takes the joy out of eating, you know?
The one surprise of the meal was in my boyfriend's order. The fried oysters he got with his combination were outstanding! Perfectly crisp panko crust on the outside and the freshest oyster on the inside.
Overall, it wasn't too bad but with so many other great choices around, it may be a long while before we venture back here.
We went here for dinner last Friday after getting recommendation from our friend (he is a great chef) :-) So I was excited to try!
As I suspected, this place was packed with Japanese people with a few Caucasian (including my husband) dining. Not sure if the restaurant has been reading yelp's review (I cracked up reading Miki's review here... I totally understand how it can be!) to make the restaurant better, but we felt that their service was excellent and the volume of their food was more than enough! The waitress spoke English to us (even though I speak Japanese). And she was very friendly to both of us :-) There was a Caucasian couple at their sushi bar, and I saw the sushi chef chatting up and warming up to them with some help of our friendly waitress. So, I think they're making the effort.
We ordered Chirashi-Sushi. There were amazing amount of fresh sashimi including Toro, Uni (Sea Urchin), and Ikura (Salmon Roe) over the sushi rice... which came with Chawan-Mushi, Miso Soup, and Salad. This was our favorite dish of the night!
And we ordered Kurobuta Kushi Katsu (Fried Black Pork Skewers)
which was served hot and crisp with 3 different garnishes (Mashed Potato with Garlic Chip, Marinated Tomatoes, and Grilled Eringi Mushroom with green beans) ... Yummy! The pork was so juicy and tender... It was perfect! And then... Grilled Beef with Olive Oil and Salt (Aburi Yaki). This dish was a little disappointing though. We ordered it medium rare... but it was more than medium... way overcooked :( And, if I didn't dip in Ponzu sauce, there were not much flavor... totally killed good flavor of the meat. I guess we should have stuck with Japanese dishes... Japanese places usually don't know how to make good steak.
Anyway, after having 2 bottles of beer... we were soooo full. We ordered Onigiri which came with pickles and Miso Soup.... but couldn't finish it!
Next time, I want to try their Omakase Course! But, their Chirashi-Sushi is definitely my recommendation from this place though :-)
I posted more details on my blog as well.
http://www.fpr302.com/...
