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Lai Lai Ken - CLOSED
Categories: Restaurants Japanese Restaurants Sushi Bars Japanese, Sushi Bars [Edit]
3024 W Ball RdAnaheim, CA 92804
(714) 952-4217
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
25 reviews for Lai Lai Ken
Review Highlights
"The $9.99 AYCD beer can't be beat."
(in 5 reviews)
"10 All You Can Drink Sapporo."
(in 4 reviews)
"I'm a newbie when it comes to Japanese Ramen."
(in 9 reviews)
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25 reviews in English
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Review from Cora k.
Baldwin Park, CA
5/11/2008 1 photo
It seems they are now under new management.
No more "All You Can Drink Beer", but tast of food is better than before! Especially Fried Rice and Ma bo Tofu are awesome!
They are the sigature dishes that you must try.
Service Team is refreshed and they promptly greet "Welcome" in Japanese. -
Review from FoodSlut ..
Los Angeles, CA
10/27/2007 ROTD 11/6/2007
Not a foodie destination, but definitely a drinker destination.
9.99 for all you can drink. C'mon now! 9.99 for AYCD beer.
Skip the mugs...give me tiny drinking glasses. Kampai!
Where else can sit & drink with friends all night for 9.99? Where? Where?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?
Even though I might be a foodie to fine dining, I'm a cheap slut when it comes to drinking.
All you need is 10 dollars to make me become gravy in your hands... =) -
Review from David G.
10/28/2007
EDIT 5/20/2008: This place no longer offers AYCD (all you can drink) beer. Under new management. LLK is now AYCS (awww, you cock suckers!)
==========
The woman of your dreams just asked you to marry her. What do you do?
If you have to spend more than two seconds thinking about your answer, then you don't deserve to be at Lai Lai Ken. Some questions shouldn't be so difficult to answer. And if deciding you want to partake in the endless pitchers of beer is a hard question to answer, GO AWAY.
Also, focus on what's important: all you can drink beer. Spare the details on the shoddy bathrooms or how the tiles don't match the legs of the chairs.
Oh and for the non-asians out there, "Lai Lai Ken" means "What are you stupid? You drink lots of beer now, hippy!" in an 18th century variation of a chinese dialect. Now there's your factoid of the day. Take that, Snapple with your snooty bottle cap facts!Listed in: My liver wants a divorce.
-
Review from Sarah S.
Los Angeles, CA
2/10/2008 ROTD 4/18/2008
*all-you-can-drink sapporo for $10*chugging pitchers*passing pitchers*playing card games and chugging*playing categories*playing scandalous categories and not knowing a thing*BeeBeeKa and being good at it*forced to drink if you need to pee*yelpers knocking over premium empty sake bottles and pretending like they didn't do it*drinking a pitcher on an empty stomach*drinking cuz you're late*nice servers cleaning up after our mess and refilling, refiling, & refilling*sad I can't comment about the food from having beer-filled tummy*meeting friendly creepy people*finding a izakaya in the ghettos of anaheim*30-min stay that turned into 3 hours
yeah, that about sums it up. my first and last AYCD. -
Review from Ronnie M.
West Los Angeles, CA
2/6/2008
I better get my review in before y'all whore it up with reviews.
Then my review would get lost in your drunken tales and not get the useful, funny, and cool it rightfully deserves.
First off, I came to this place BEFORE I got my GPS. I'm a simple minded girl ok? I see the word Anaheim and I think Disneyland! This must be near Disneyland! Must be classy yo!
Jesus christ. This is an All You Can Drink place. How classy can it be? So i'm driving. and driving. and driving. I see a dingy ass strip mall a couple miles down from Knott's Berry Farm. It hosts an El Pollo Loco, seedy tattoo shop, and a liquor/cell phone store. Sexy.
$10. AYCD. I would comment about what I ate but I honestly don't remember. I think it was some meat thing, fried udon, sashimi (was it sashimi? if it wasn't i don't wanna know), edamame, squid?... i just know we ordered a shit load of food.
So anyway, i've been on a diet lately (beer = carbs yo!) so hit me up if you need a DD for friday. Designated Driver.
Not Dainty Dancer pervs. -
Review from Judy H.
10/28/2007
I will admit...when I pulled up and noticed the tattoo shop next door, I thought there could be trouble. This being my first AYCD UYE, I had no idea what to expect. Good thing our second destination was karaoke and not tattoos.
The $9.99 all you can drink beer should be the only reason you come here. The food was simply not very good. I was confused about the menu. Was it Japanese or Korean? I'm still not sure.
Mini appetizers (and I say mini because the portions were mini), some noodle dish and a really spicy curry were what we ordered to try and soak up the beer. I ate it because I needed it, not because it was that good.
And hello? False advertising with their little pictures of $9.99 AYCD showing a beer mug and edamame beans. The beans were not free.Listed in: I'm Proud of These..., UYEs
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Review from Jinra I.
Anaheim, CA
11/6/2007
I got 99 problems, but 9.99 all you can drink Asahi beer ain't one!
Regarding bad food reviews from this place...those people just weren't drunk enough. Shame.
Also, please note that it is a JAPANESE owned JAPANESE izakaya-like restaurant. -
Review from Summit S.
Los Angeles, CA
2/19/2008
Come here for the AYCD beer....
Skip the sashimi....
The staff was pretty patient with the Yelp Circus....
and if you are GPSing this place, be sure to include the "West" before Ball Rd., otherwise you'll be in front of a Church scratching your head and begging for forgiveness... -
Review from Dave S.
Brea, CA
10/27/2007
We had a UYE here last night and the $10 all you can drink was pretty nice. Tony's idea to get small glasses and pour from pitchers was also a nice touch. Kampai! .. wait, you're not Japanese. Gom bui! .. that's better.
So yeah.. the food was aight.. we ordered a lot of appetizer type stuff. The fried clams were kinda "meh", the fried calamari was pretty good, the beef noodle dish was the best thing we had, the chicken skewers were a little dry, and the fried tofu was simply fried tofu.
Crap effort on this review, right? Well the place never made me think "i better remember this tomorrow." All you can drink, though.. that makes everything all right. -
Review from Kealoha V.
Long Beach, CA
2/22/2008
I had my first UYE here and I'm so happy that I made it out that night. I got there fairly early and was a little nervous because I didn't know anyone yet save for the little that I had picked up while reading and posting on the Talk threads. It didn't take long before the drinking games had commenced and I had downed 5 glasses of beer in the matter of just few short minutes. What can I say... I'm not very good a categories :D
AYCD Sapporo was such a nice change of pace for me. Typically I spend my time drinking Guiness, Bass or Newcastle. It felt like St Patrick's Day 2007, where the beer was flowing and nobody had a care in the world, tonight's objective was to have a great time and drink a lot of beer while doing it.
I wish I could comment on the food, but I only nibbled on a piece of chicken which reminded me of Hanamaulu Chicken. But that could not really tell you as I was way too full on beer and a bit inebriated.
Got to meet quite a bit of really nice people who I can't wait to hang out with again.
Not much else I can say about the place. The waitresses did their best at taking care of us, but after a while we just took care of ourselves. It was just easier that way. -
Review from Serina T.
Northridge, CA
10/28/2007
My first UYE and I have to say that it was great. I thought I misunderstood at first but I was very excited to find out that it was really all you can drink beer for only $10! You can't beat that. All you can drink deserves 5 stars. The food is OK but you're not coming here for the food. I think we had calimari, gyozas, udon, chicken skewers, fried clams, and some other stuff I can't remember. So minus 1 star for the lackluster food.
Oh and it's a good idea to carpool or bring a designated driver =) -
Review from Steven P.
Irvine, CA
8/3/2006
Lai Lai Ken take 1.
As much as I love my midnight ramen runs into the heart of los angeles, it would be nice to have a standby japanese noodle house less than a freeway's hop away from my house. Such a place did not exist though, at least I didn't think it did, until a mysterious yelper gave me this quiet tip: "there's a place in the 'heim, they have ramen there, ramen there they have..."
I grew excited at the prospect of a neighborhood tampopo of my own, but was also wary. For I had been burned oh too many times, by promises of authentic beautiful food, only to be left with styrofoamed disappointment and angry angry tears. So I kept my sneeze guard up as I drove, expecting a panda express counter, with perhaps a hot pot in the back for the msg broth. So imagine my surprise when I walked in the plaza, to find Lai Lai Ken, next to a shiatsu house AND a comic book store! Right then and there, one star went up.
I stepped inside, and was greeted by that familiar japanese how you doing from the ramen counter inside. Yes, a ramen counter! There was no orange chicken and kungpao sadness waiting inside, no it was a bona fide japanese noodle house. I looked around the quiet and roomy place, and saw older gentlemen of the japanese business sort, eating ramen and making merry. So the mysterious yelper had not lied, it was true! 2 more stars went up.
I sat down and went with the Shoyu. A few minutes later, the bowl came. Decent size, healthy heaping of sprouts, and a large slab of pork greeted me. Hello pork, how are you? I will see you later. 4 stars!
I took a spoonful of the soup, it was rich and flavorful. Though not piping hot. And a little too salty. Next I picked up some noodles. They were okay, a little too al dente for my preference though. I chewed a bit of root. It was sweet, a little too sweet, even as taro goes. I moved on to work on the pork. It was, large. And very porky. A little too porky. Putting it aside again, I finished my ramen. I wasn't hungry any more after I was done; but I can't say I was full. Minus one star.
I drove away, happy to have found a ramen house only 5 minutes from my home. But it was indeed as the mysterious yelper had said, "the ramen there, I don't like it." I'm no ramen expert, but it was not the greatest, and definitely no Koraku.
Still, it was only the first time. We were both nervous and it was rather rushed. I must go back at least two more times, and this review is
to be continued. -
Review from CJ J.
2/11/2008
Beach/Ball. In the same center with El Pollo Loco and Outer Limits Tattoo!
$10 All You Can Drink Sapporo? That itself get's 3 stars from me! I will come back and try the food. At that time maybe I will keep it at 3 or upgrade it to 4. :)
A lot of people came to Tony's UYE at LLK so it was kinda crazy.
I didn't eat anything here so I cannot comment on the food, but it was a good time.
They have booths, tables & chairs, and from what I can tell it was Japanese food and Chinese food as well.
Tips:
** MAKE SURE TO EAT BEFORE YOU DRINK! :)
** Don't stand next to the fridge with the AYCD kegs and knock down the entire shelf.
** Don't bring a whole bunch of crazy people (including me), get too loud, break stuff, and then irritate/piss off the staff. ahahaha hmmm did we do that on uye night?
Go for AYCD. $10. Get a booth. Chill with the homies. Case closed.Listed in: Damn I need a big ol' drink!, Yelp Made Me Do It!
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Review from Lena B.
Buena Park, CA
2/9/2008
1 star for the hallmark moment produced by frank k. and dave g. as they spoon-fed each other the ramen (a decent one compared to all the other food we had).
1 more star for the hall of famers of yelp who were forced to drink sapporo from the pitcher, thanks to tony. o yeah, make sure to keep your oral hygiene clean because you never know when you will be begged (more like trapped) to play that "bonding game" :) -
Review from helenhana c.
Los Angeles, CA
2/10/2008 3 photos
it's more of a restaurant than a bar
but i think this place should be better off being a bar than being a restaurant.
food (fishy sashimi.. true sashimi lovers should know what i mean by this) didn't impress me at all. the service (the unapproving looks and gazes) umimpressed me. the atmosphere depressed me. but what am i complaining.. LLK offers all-you-can-drink beer for $10/person. if you are doing this all-you can-drink marathon, you better have a good bladder. warning: there's one bathroom stall in the lady's room.
the uye hosted by our one and only foodslut was too wonderfu, and the close to thirty-some yelpers were amazing, but i really don't see myself coming back here for dinner. however, for all-you-can-drink sapporo...i will be back. -
Review from Sam Y.
Los Angeles, CA
2/8/2008
i know nothing about their food here as i didn't try any.
there was a time i used to live in orange county. and in orange county all i did was drink. if i had been aware of an all you can drink establishment... i seriously may have never moved away. leave it to yelpers to find all the cool spots. i gave up drinking for a bit but when i make my fighting come back, i will return here on an empty stomach ready to eat and drink and smash and destroy!
to yelpers finding cheap drinking spots, i salute thee... -
Review from Leighs A.
Irvine, CA
10/27/2007
Well it isn't trying to be something that it isn't. Come with a good group and enjoy the large refrigerated keg of Sapparo here. The $9.99 AYCD beer can't be beat! Foodwise, it is Japanese, Korean, Chinese and everything in between. Lots to choose from, as the menu is huge! Its like the Cheesecake Factory of Asian food really. The restaurant was very nice to put up with us, but you gotta think that they get the drunk idiots as "if you offer it, they will come!"
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Review from Talle R.
Irvine, CA
4/29/2008
service was slow, our server wasn't very good, i ordered the beef/seafood ramen but left out the seafood and they aren't offering the aycd sapporo anymore.
BUT i would come again b/c the food was delicious! Hubby's curry katsu was amazing and because of Lai Lai Ken, I'm a new fan of ramen. Make sure to skip the sushi.
Personally, I think it's okay to frequent a restaurant for its food, not service or experience. And this place is exactly that for me. -
Review from Ed L.
Westminster, CA
8/17/2006
I'm a newbie when it comes to Japanese Ramen. Lai Lai Ken is only the second ramen house I've ever eaten at. I must say that the ramen was very tasty. I also got a side of Unagi-Don which was quite high on my deliciousness meter. The food was not the problem at all. It was the service. My friends and I entered the restaurant at approximately 5pm (dinner time). However, we were not served our meals until oh let's say around 5:45pm. We finished our meals at around 6:15pm but did not get our check until 6:35pm or so. After sitting patiently for about 6:50pm I took the bill up to the counter and stood there for another 10 minutes to finally pay. Food=Good Service=Poor
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Review from Diana Y.
Irvine, CA
12/8/2007
Kae's Bday bash was a hit, and Lai Lai helped it a lot with their All You Can Drink beer for $9.99. We were definitely a pretty big and rowdy group but the waitresses were all very nice and accommodating. I had imagined a dingy hole in the wall type of place, but the restaurant is actually pretty nice, and fairly big too, our party of over 20 fit nicely in a corner section with still lots of room and tables available. The majority of what we ordered and had there that night was beer ( of course =P). One drink that was a hit with the girls was the Lychee Sake cocktail. It was very yummy, you can taste the sake but the lychee flavor was noticeable and overall a very good drink for the ladies.
We also tried many of their hot dishes too. I didn't come expecting too much from them food wise thought. Ordered the Mabo tofu, sauted eggplant with ground pork, katsu-don, broiled saury, spicy ramen (that's what we ordered, but I think what they actually brought out to us was just regular shoyu ramen), spicy chicken, and a squid appetizer dish. All the food was decent, nothing was horrible but nothing stood out either. My favorite would probably have to be the spicy chicken dish we got, I like the sauce that was on it, not as sweet as a teriyaki but something similar and it goes well with a nice cold beer. I didn't really like the saury fish as much and the ramen broth wasn't too flavorful either, it seemed like they added extra salt to make up for the lack of flavor. I agree with other reviewers when they say you really can't come here expecting excellent food, it's just not that type of establishment. For me the food ranks around 3 or 2.5, and the AYCD beer is a 4. -
Review from Jonathan Y.
Placentia, CA
8/11/2007
My roommate introduced me to this venue way back when it was purely ramen. Since then the place changed owners and is now more of an appetizer/small snack oriented eatery. The food is decent and most appetizers are tasty and satisfying. Try the pork and garlic stalk, katsu curry, all you can drink beer, tonkatsu ramen, or pan fried squid. There is never a huge wait or tons of people inside, and the atmosphere appears authentic enough to my Chinese tastes ^_^
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Review from Brian L.
Los Angeles, CA
12/26/2009
I used to come for the all-you-can-drink for $10 special and their ramen before they closed. It has been closed to months. I drive by Beach Blvd often and have stop by a couple times. I think this place is closed for good.
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Review from Kristen R.
Mountain View, CA
9/10/2007
Lai Lai Ken has a good variety of Japanese comfort food. The menu mostly consists of appetizers and small dishes. I had the ramen, which was pretty good, but I wish the menu had more types of ramen on it. The gyoza here is really tasty. I also had the yakinigiri, which was also yummy. This place is really hard to notice...I only knew about it because someone recommended it. It's open really late at night, which is a plus.
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Review from Ryan Y.
Berkeley, CA
3/21/2009
I used to come here all the time with my friends until they stopped being open during the day. They changed owners and it became a night place. The ramen and fried rice combo was really good. I hear theres AYCD beer now. haha
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Review from Kae Ching S.
Irvine, CA
12/1/2007
I just had my birthday party there recently and it was a blast. You really can't go wrong with 9.99 all you can drink beer. No one has to buy anyone drinks and all your friends get to save a ton of money on liquor. The staff is friendly and food's not bad either. They can hanlde big parties and you can be as loud as you want. My party basically turned the back area into a bar and lounge with as many people as we had and all the noise we were making. My friends and I will definitely be paying this place a visit again soon.
