On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Category: Sushi Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: DowntownMon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
"When I have the taste for sashimi, I fill up the car and drive 80 miles to go to Sushi Go 55. There are probably 500 other sushi…" read more »
Loading...
Cheap sushi, friendly service, with nice decor. I don't know why there are so many negative reviews. For how much I'm paying, this is probably one of the best if not "the best" sushi restaurant I've gone to. The beers are dirt cheap too. I would give it 5 stars, but I reserve that for only the best of the best. Can't be handing out 5 stars like it's Halloween.
Zencu is a cool, chill place to go to. Ignore the not so nice reviews. I've gone there roughly 5 times and it's been pleasant every single time.
i used to work at the union bank building right next to this spot. i used to love going here after work just for a quick sushi fix. i still go here once in a while just for fun.
pros:
-cheap $ sushi, half off
-teriyaki chicken is good
-nice decor, very chill
-staff is friendly
cons:
-the parking structure is the worst i've ever had to park in(had to cause of work also)
-might be a little hard to find if you don't know your way around little tokyo
"A-OK."!
My boyfriend actually introduced me to this place. Its a little hard to find, unless you're already in the area and happen to come across it. I hate parking at the parking structure because its so narrow and steep inside, so I always just have my boyfriend drive us whenever we come here. Haha. On to the restaurant...
I think that sitting at the bar is a lot better than getting a table. The food seems fresher, gets to you faster, and I always get better service. However on busy days, their waiters might be a little hard to flag down. Their head chef Ryan is always very attentive and friendly. They play KIIS FM music and always have the game playing on TV, so it does get a little loud there. The crowd is on the younger side; sometimes there can be some really loud and obnoxious people there. I don't know about the reviews on here about the food not being good - I've always had an awesome experience here.
Thank you, Yelpers, for giving a sushi restaurant the average rating that it deserves: three stars. I'm sure if most of you were in northern California, this restaurant would have at least 4 stars. *gag*
Honestly, back in July 2008, I thought this place was absolutely fabulous. I was really shocked by the quality, honestly, and I probably would have given it 4 or 5 stars. But last night they lost some of my interest. The yellowtail toro, which I have ALWAYS enjoyed even at the worst of restaurants, was so, so, so fishy. I was quite shocked. Salmon wasn't that great, either.
I give them two stars because they're cheap and it's worth the money if you're looking for a quick sushi fix.
After battling the crowds and traffic at the garment district, my sister, mom, and I were hungry. I drove us down to J-Town. My mister has an iPhone and I don't, so we had to wing it to find a place to eat. We settle on Zencu because the ramen places were packed for lunch. The place is spacious and wasn't crowded for lunch. My mom ordered the teriyaki chicken and bbq ribs combo that comes will rice, miso and a salad. My sister and I order and shared the sushi. The rolls: b.s.c.r, beef asparagus, and rainbow. The nigiri sushi: octopus, tuna, red snapper, mackerel. My mom's dish was good and tasty. The sushi was just alright. I've had better sushi. They have a lot of choices on the menu and they are open until midnight. It was good to try it, but I don't think I will be back.
This is like my weekend retreat. It has a younger feel, relaxed atmosphere. Once I came here 2 days in a row. That said, it is still far from my fav place to dine. We come here because it's close, it's cheap, and it's opened late. We usually order a Downtown Deluxe, rainbow roll and some albacore sushi/or the lettuce wraps. Their tempura is surprisingly tasty. The salad is the BEST I have ever had at any sushi place. I wish I could buy a giant bottle of the dressing to go. Plus, it's much healthier than ranch or some creamy dressing.
I have also tried the udon and some other noodle dish (can't remember the name) and it was decent. Their rainbow roll and california rolls are good, not the best but okay -wish they were bigger. I also wish their ponzu sauce for the albacore sushi was as good as other places. The ponzu sauce disappoints. Sometimes we get a girl who doesn't speak the best english and seems to have a lil trouble understanding our requests. Oh yeah and they validate parking (yay! free parking!) but you have to park in the right parking lot, NOT the Japanese Village Plaza parking lot.
I guess you should come here for hot meals not sushi..They're hot meals are alright but that sushi. man ..so not good..they always burn the eel..the salmon skin roll was sooooo dry. The tuna had not been thawed all the way for spicy tuna..oh god it was bad :(.. ..i know this is not blow you away sushi but when im on a budget i look for the best cheap sushi in town and this sure isnt it!
Good to great food, but horrible service.
I work close to hear, and find the food sometimes comparable to the upper echelon of all Sushi restaraunts. But sometimes it's just average. It's always cheap, as most of the sushi choices, and some of the roll choices are always half off.
There California Roll is awesome!!! And if you get a roll that has it as it's base, you should be ok.
Caterpillar & Rainbow are my two faves.
Beers from the tap are usually bitter. They need to clean the taps!!!
To be fair, I went here with a large group (around 30 people). That being said, the service was pretty horrible and the food was kind of gross. If you're in Little Tokyo, there are so many better places to eat.
Zencu- is a mediocre overpriced sushi restaurant in Jtown-owned by Koreans. Rolls are expensive; please do not use Zencu and authentic in the same sentence.
The service is extremely slow (especially with large groups) and they are not very accommodating. One time, they messed up on my friend's order near closing. As a result, my friend's order was forgotten and went hungry because Zencu refused to "open up" the kitchen again- even though they didn't close for another half hour.
In addition, they are very stingy on validating parking. You would think that after spending $20 for a roll and green tea- they would at least validate your parking- definitely not the case. Rather, they said "it is not our problem and not worth our money to validate your parking"
In essence, I will never go back! I have been spreading the word to boycott this restaurant until they realize their customer service needs improvement.
Yes! I am a fan! I really liked how quickly we were greeted, seated, and served.
The restaurant was in the back of the "Little Tokyo Mall" it wasn't the first restaurant we saw but I am glad it was the last one we saw. We chose it because there were plenty of tables, the music sounded good, the server was friendly...AND there were half off sushi & $2 beers!
Let me tell you, the seared tataki was so good! so did the ono. try their Downtown Roll too!
See for yourself!
Awesome for the price, who can beat 2 dollar draft beers? Sapporo and Kirin. I had a BSC roll which was nothing out of the ordinary but not horrible either. It was pretty much scallops put on top of a CA roll. Also, they had a list of rolls that were 50% off which were budget friendly to choose from. Being a recent grad student, I can definitely appreciate that.
Overall this place is good for cheap food and alcohol. It's pretty big and spacious with big, clean bathrooms. It's a perfect place to drink and eat before heading over to oiwake's for karaoke.
I went there over the weekend with my sister.
I'm not Japanese, nor am I a huge food snob. If it tastes good I eat it.
So anyway, the atmostphere, I think they are trying to attract young people. There was lots of top 40 music..They loved LAdy GAga at this place. The atmosphere is very spacey, there is room.
THEY HAVE A SODA MACHINE so yay! if that matters to you, NO COLD CANS! you get FREE REFILS HERE
I had the Zencu roll, which had Yellowtail, tuna, and it was freaking good. I loved it. My sister had the Teriyaki chicken. The chicken was very well coked, thin strips, and grilled...and NO CHICKEN FAT HANGING OFF IT! OMG! IT WAS GOOD! the strips were just fabulous. Maybe a little too well done, but we didn't mind as we liked it.
The service was pretty good. The staff can actually speak English..so to me that's a plus, cuz look, I'lm all about perserving cultures, but I dont' speak Japanese, so it's harder for me to tell someone stuff.
I say check it out. I'm going back.
So woo!
If I could give ZERO STARS I would.
We arrived a little late, around 30 minutes before closing and was told my the waitress about 4 times that our order will be the last call. That irritated the both of us; we got it the first time she told us! (We ended up leaving before most of the people that were already there)
Since we were rushed and felt that if we didn't order a lot of food we would go hungry since it was the last call. We ended up ordering a lot of HORRIBLE HORRIBLE food. We ordered spicy tuna rolls, BSCR roll, eel & cucumber rolls, salmon rolls, sesame chicken, and oysters. We could not finish our meal because it tasted THAT bad.
The eel had a bitter and dry taste. It was def not fresh.
The spicy tuna was the WORST I have ever tasted. It was just MUSH. I don't think it was even fish :(
The rice in the sushi was also terrible. It was hard and did not taste like sushi rice at all.
The only decent food was the sesame chicken and oysters. Two items which are not hard to make at all. Oysters don't need to be cooked and all they did was simply fry chicken.
We ended up going to Suehiro Cafe one street over on 1st and had a much much better meal for only $17.
DON'T COME HERE! Trust me.
I'll admit that I go here. Often. When I'm in Little Tokyo. Its probably the cheap Japanese beer on tap for my friends who drink and to help spare them the extra dollar or more somewhere else. Its probably also because of the prices, and that the food is okay for the prices.
Not great. Not fantastic. But certainly not gross. Just okay.
I admit that I like the darkness of the interior, the black and red themes used throughout the restaurant, and the tvs all over the place with ESPN playing.
Its a sushi bar for the poor, the tight budgeted, who don't care that there are great sushi bars nearby, but can only really afford this one at the moment. The sushi bar and grill that has other non-sushi items, so that non-sushi eaters, and sushi eaters, and Japanese beer drinkers, can enjoy without blowing their bank accounts.
Sure, there are also other better places in walking distance that may counter this insane idea of settling for this place, but, some times, you just want to be away from the main flow of the foot traffic, away from most tourists, and just chill with your drink in your hand, the wooden chairs not being so comfortable, and sushi not being overly priced. The sushi / raw meat cuts themselves are quite big and actual bigger than the rice which is perfect because really, the nigiri is all about the fish, not the rice, and the way the nigiri is done there, it's awesome and gives the mouth more to taste than just rice.
By the way, in terms of beef or non-sushi meat, the spare ribs are actually pretty tasty and probably better there than their teriyaki beef. Just saying....and their gyoza is quite meaty, which is a good thing. Because some things gotta coat your stomach when you pump it full of $1.50 Japanese draft beer.
I'm giving this place 3 stars, because its better than a 2 star place, and at least my wallet isn't crying after I leave. Nor is my stomach.
Hey Yelpers!
I thought this place was great for the price, atmosphere and food quality. For a "Super Oyster"-containing oyster (given), uni, salmon roe, smelt egg, and quail egg- is sold on a half shell for only $5.95 and the quality was top notch! During our dinner my girlfriend and I ate a Unagi Combo, a whole freshwater BBQed eel, for only $13.95. For all of you who eat sushi regularly, I mean twice a week like my girlfriend and I do, you know this place is a great deal for their food. To makes this even more enjoyable they have a Premium Dynamite Roll that's amazing. Drizzled in their spicy mayo is a California roll with scallop and salmon...delicious. I think what topped the whole night off was a tsumetai beeru for only $1.99 16oz draft Sapporo!! Great place I would recommend this place for young hip cool cats and the rest. I would take my grandma here! Enjoy!
The atmosphere was good. A lot of young drinking happy yelpers were eating their sushi lives during that night. However, what's disappointing about the Japanese village is there's barely anything there. So many great stores went out of business, which discourages Yelpers from trying these great places because of the lack of population. Well I for one will be a regular and pour all my hard worked toll booth money to Zencu! Ganbatte! Yorushiku!
I love salmon eggs. I forget the Japanese term. They LOAD them on there... well enough. They aren't stingy like some places I've been.
Their Philly rolls are good. We order two Phillys. :) So is the soft shell crab (though pricey) Fatty tuna. Yum.
Miso and edamae costs extra :( 1.50$ and al a carte tempura is 7$ ... rip off! most of it was beans... :( BOO.
Lobster roll = not good. Lobster was chewey
Just a regular place. WAY BETTER then lets say... Kabuki. :P
They play the game though (if you like playoffs) and they have so much alcohol. The table next to us did 7 consecutive sake bombs while singing... and being overall silly.. I think they are a frat. -__-
Otherwise... I would go there RIGHT now because I'm hungry.
ZENCU! ZENCU! ZENCU!
I rant and rave about the Miso salad with shrimp, it's one of my FAVORITE dishes of all time!!!! Every time I go in to eat, it's delicious and magnificent.
BUT, twice I've ordered it "to go" and twice I've been let down. The first time the lettuce was browning. I figured this was a one time thing, maybe a new chef, someone was having a bad day, who knows.
Today my boss and the secretary went there to dine in. I asked them to pick up a "miso salad with shrimp" for me and bring it back to the office. I couldn't wait! Today I was extremely let down!
The purple lettuce was brown, and a lot of pieces of shrimp were a bit blackened. The crispy strips were not so crispy - STALE STALE STALE!! Do you guys use the crappiest ingredients for "to go" meals because they more than likely won't send it back?? I don't understand and am a bit heart broken...
I'm not super mad at this place.... but im not super happy about it..
last night i was mad.. like hella mad... Daikokuya was closed and i looked like a jackass cuz i totally hyped it up to a friend visiting from Taiwan and she didnt even get to try it.
wandering around jtown i saw a sign for 1.75 kirin draft?! oh HELLS YES
was seated promptly, followed by water and edamame. i ordered
2 orders of salmon
BSCR
Scallop sushi
Chirashi Bowl (sorry yall i was hungry)
all if this was around 25 which isn't too bad.
as everyone stated the sushi is aiiite for the price... its a good place to get your drink on and have a little sushi.
I don't eat sushi, I don't eat salmon or anything else that comes from the sea (besides tuna) but I went there last Saturday to have some beef and chicken teriyaki.
I tried a plate that comes both plus rice and an amazing salad - and I am not a fan of salads.
I tried the pineapple juice and I love it; it wasn't sweet, but it was fresh and really good. I didn't have dessert because I was full :)
It is a quiet place to have some nice lunch. But beware that the service is good but slow. And it was pretty empty there.
Zencu is one of those places that reminds me of a chill version of Tokyo Delves. Cheap beer, sushi is mediocre at best, but good for groups, lots of tv's for the game, lots of seating, and an overall good area for lots of people.
Salmon and Tuna sushi were okay. It's not the freshest ever. It's like $3 so I guess they wouldn't get too many complaints due to price. :(
The spicy tuna tempura roll sucked big time. No bueno at all.
$1.75 Kirin (I think)? Can't complain about that!!!!!!!
Go for the beer. Get sloshed. Have some sushi because at that point it won't even matter. Bring a bunch of friends and have a good time. If you have time beforehand walk around Lil Tokyo, shop, get little trinkets, and cute desserts if you want. Don't go after getting hammered and scare all the japanese grandparents k?
I think this place gets underrated quite often and it's not because of a lack of menu or anything - it's just a very hidden restaurant in downtown Little Tokyo that not many people know about.
Situated on the 2nd level of a very quiet building with the sign "Zencu" on it, I was curious to see what this place was. Once you're upstairs, I noticed the Japanese paper panel windows and you see people inside. Then, at the entrance, I saw this big sign with the sushi menu on it. It said "1/2 off on all sushi and beer". So, me and my friend decided to check it out.
Their menu offers all kinds of sushi. From your hand rolls to the speciality rolls like Spider Roll, Salmon Roll, etc. Let me just say their sushi is YUMMY! I was in shock when we got our food - the beautifully made sushi platters kept piling on and on and both our tummies and eyes were so happy - it was truly a heaven on earth experience!
I also invited a group of friends the next time I visited and they loved the place, too. This is definitely a great place to host group gatherings or if you want a great price and quality sushi. I would totally visit there again!
Zencu rocks!
Zencu is your typical Japanese restaurant when you're looking for ... well, typical traditional Japanese food. Their sushi menu is fairly extensive, and then they have a decent variety of other dishes like bento boxes, noodles, etc as well. I came here the other day for lunch with a few friends and each of us ordered different sushi and then shared an appetizer of calamari.
The sushi, itself, is definitely a good deal for the price because of their advertised 1/2 off deal where each roll is probably an average of $5 for a good portion size. Those of us who ordered 2 or 3 sushi dishes found that we ordered too much food because the rolls were more filling than we we thought! The quality of the sushi is not the best I've ever had, but it was pretty good... just what we expected.
The restaurant is large in size with table arrangements at the counter, booths and at tables so they can accommodate parties of any size. I've been here with a large group of 20+ people before, and they handled our group just fine. The lighting is pretty dim so it gives the place a nice glow and compliments the darker decor. The service was fine; there weren't too many people there on a Sunday for lunch so our sushi was prepared pretty quickly. There were also a good amount of waitresses around so that we were easily able to get whatever we needed.
I've been here a few times now, and I will most likely come back. It's not a favorite hot spot, but it's one of those places that we just end up gravitating to whenever someone feels like sushi.
I have been to Zencu many times and must say their dishes are hit or miss. My favorites are BBQ Beef, Tempura California Roll and Geisha Roll. Out of any other Japanese restaurant I have not had better.
However speaking of the rest of the menu, it is not stellar and average at best.
I've experienced slow service on several occasions, but nothing off putting. One thing I didn't know until very recently is that they only validate parking if your bill is over $25. What the?
So, I love going to Zencu but only because I know what I'm getting. I can't quite say the same for the rest of the menu.
Visit http://www.sixtaste.com for more reviews
So there are some places whose atmosphere gains them more stars, Zen-cu is one of those places. It's in the deep heart of Little Tokyo, a bustling little section of Los Angeles. Zen-cu is surrounded by cute little ethnic shops, coffee houses, and great restaurants. Zen-cu is a great place to grab quick, cheap sushi. They have Kirin beer on tap for like 2 or 3 dollars, can't beat it! Of all the cheap sushi places I've eaten this is the best tasting and has never made me sick. They even have an oyster bar, and best yet they are open very late, until 130 or 200 am. If you are here on a weekend you will most likely see me lol!!!
Not bad. Too tired right now to write a full review, so just a few words.
Great prices for average quality food. Service was quick and attentive. Really cheap prices for pint size glasses of beer. Chef's are honest. I asked the sushi chef, "What's fresh today, what just came in?" He replied honestly, "Nothing fresh came in today. No shipment today." Most other places would lie and just say everything is fresh.
Will definitely come by again when I'm in the area.
This place really isn't too bad. I went there for lunch the other day, and the lunch specials are fairly reasonable. I also ordered a spicy tuna roll which isn't too bad either. It's kind of hidden like everyone else has said, it's connected to the Tokyo Village inside this small minimall upstairs. The atmosphere and decor is a little bit better than the surrounding restaurants, and it played some sports games while I was there.
It's not too bad for lunch, but I'd probably go somewhere else for dinner.
I'm a sucker for japanese beer & those dam half japanese boys.. ugh i digress
I've never tasted anything on the food menu all i know is for $10.00 bucks at zencu you could really have yourself quiet a few beers and during happy hour $10 bucks goes along way
SAPP FOR HOW MUCH?!
PROS: HAPPY HOUR SAPP ON DRAFT $1.50
CONS: POSSIBLY PARKING OF COURSE THAT ISNT A PROBLEM, IF YOU BIKE RIDE HERE!
ON WEEKENDS ITS PACKED WITH USC KIDS SO AVOID THE FRAT CROWD AND CHECK IT OUT DURING THE WEEK
Ok, admittedly, the sushi at Zencu is not the best in the city. BUT this place is the perfect spot for a group of people looking to have a good time, eat well and not spend too much money.
The first time my friends and I ended up here by accident. We had set out to go to another sushi restaurant and it was closed. We were thrilled that they could seat a large party right away, and completely elated when we saw their prices. Seriously, they offer the cheapest beers in the city.
My recommendation for a great night out with your crew is getting the Zen Cu Boat, a few other orders of sushi (like their dragon roll) and Kirins.
WARNING- This place is loud, blasts the Top 40 and often packed with USC kids doing sake bombs.
But trust me, it's worth it :)
So I came to Little Tokyo to go to Restaurant Komasa based on all the reviews, but for some reason it was closed on a Saturday night, so my friends wanted to try this place due to the signs for cheap beer.
It was okay, that's all I can say. We got some lobster rolls, spicy tuna roll, fried tofu, and chicken Teriyaki dinner and shared it all.
Not much to say; it wasn't great and it wasn't bad.
Cheap. I always come here because it's always empty. They have lunch specials and beer specials often. Their oysters are huge, almost revoltingly so. The oysters are brought out on a HUGE neon glowing platter. The sushi chefs like to stare at you, but it's okay. I know I'm saucy.
The night I went off to experience the Kogi phenomena, I got stuck in line in front of a couple that yammered incessantly the entire 45 minute wait. From that adventure, I took away two things: a pair of Korean BBQ burritos, and an overheard tip about $1.75 draught at Zencu. Can it be?
Well, it's true!
The sushi was pretty good, too, though a buddy commented, "A Filipino WOULD order the deep fried [Downtown Roll...]" Touché, but I didn't see anybody complaining!
Whenever I crave sushi or Japanese food this is my go to place.
The fish is pretty fresh. The prices are decent. And they have $1.50 beer.
Everytime I go my go to items are the Firecracker ( spicey albacore with rice crackers), the rainbow roll and the Baked Alaska. I would say I haven't had an item that I haven't like here.
Don't let the 50% off thing trick you the items have always been that price. It is not a "oh it's 50 percent off just for the moment."
My only complaint would be the service. The people are really slow so you just have to be patient or ask a couple times. They suck at bringing water so you just got to keep asking. But the waiters are pretty friendly.
I want to rant about how average-tasting the sushi is here and how delicately the sushi is balancing upon the fresh/not-so-fresh line...but I can't. Read: Half price sushi, all the time, anytime. You really can't complain.
On top of that, the service isn't bad and the ambiance and over all look of the restaurant is okay. If you're aiming for a safe sushi place, this is it.
I highly recommend the calamari stuffed eggplan appetizer. Also note, that their salads are ginormous.
My bro and I are regulars here... Definitely better than Tenno, and worth the walk further up the street.
Just last night I saw a parade of white chicks, celebrating their friend's 21st birthday. ALL BEAUTIFUL! LOL!!! A few of them caught me staring/smiling... I was in shock as well, lol! The birthday girl was holding a blow-up doll with it's 'thing' pointing out, LOL! Anyways...
Anyways, we usually get rolls and share a LA Deluxe meal, and it's just enough food for the both of us. We tried there 'new' Scallop Roll Tempura, and it tastes almost the same as their Downtown LA roll (even costs less, has no brown sauce drizzled). Quite good, but who doesn't love anything deep fried in panko flakes? :) See the pictures I upped.
I HEART Zencu. The waitresses are CUTE, and the service is outstanding!
Nice place inside the Japanese Village. Friendly waitresses, and 1/2 price sushi in select rolls.… Read more »
I sort of ended up here by mistake.
I was at the grocery store, sporting a hoodie and really bad bedhead, when my Mom - who's studying to be a Chinese doctor at a nearby clinic - called me to say she was around and wanted to get together for dinner. Little Tokyo happened to be about halfway between where we were, so we met there. As we were walking down the street, I discovered that my Mom had gotten acupuncture that day and had apparently decided to just leave five of the needles sticking out of her head (one right in her forehead). Best part: she KNEW IT, and was leaving them there cause they were "working." That's my Mom! :)
Needless to say, most of the brightly lit restaurants in the plaza were out of the question, cause I didn't want anyone - who couldn't know what a sweet and funny woman my Mom is - to get freaked out by her needles. So that's how we ended up here. She pointed at the sign, we walked up the stairs to the second level where it was, I noticed it was dark inside, and that was that. I had bedhead and my Mom had needles sticking out of her... it was perfect.
As soon as we opened the door, we were greeted by one of the girls. Immediately upon seeing her, my Mom went, "Oh! It's Korean-owned." I like how it's always obvious when a Japanese restaurant is Korean owned, cause if that's not your thing, you can always change your mind and bolt out the door. Fortunately, I don't have a problem with Korean-owned Japanese restaurants, evidenced by how many times I've been to Kabuki, so we followed the nice girl to our table. (mental note: point my Mom to http://alllooksame.com and see how she does...)
This place is basically a step down from Kabuki. The menu is pretty similar - they have BBQ Beef Ribs and even really similar black cod and Chilean Seabass dishes (between Kabuki and this place, I have no idea which was the chicken and which was the egg), but it's not quite as nice. The service was not as good as at Kabuki, either, or maybe they were just understaffed. It was hard to get much attention from our server, as nice as she was.
Towards the end of our meal, my Mom decided she wanted to order the lobster roll. It took forever. Our server apologized to us several times, which was fine. Unfortunately, it wasn't even that good. Oh well...
For what we were looking for, this place was fine. Would I come back? Probably not. I think there's just too much good competition nearby to justify coming back here, and plus it totally failed the ethnic food litmus test - there were no Japanese people in there at all, that I could see.
There was nothing that really put me off, though, besides the so-so service (and like I said, our server was nice) and the lackluster food. I think I feel good about giving it three stars, which is one less than I gave ZenCu's better-heeled cousin, Kabuki.
I'm only giving this place three stars because they have really cheap beer. I think Sapporo and Kirin drafts are $1.25. I wish this place was close to my work because it would be a great happy hour bar.
On the other hand, the sushi was sub-par. It didn't taste fresh at all. The service was also pretty slow.
In conclusion, if you live or work nearby, go and drink yourself silly on a five dollar bill. But be sure to steer clear of the sushi.
---
Take Metro #30, 31, 40, 42.
One Thursday evening in July of 08, a group of 3 walked to Little Tokyo from the LA Convention Center (Anime Expo). The person that suggested this idea didn't realize that it was soooo far, so we end up walking for a good hour or so... She got freaked out when she saw out of the corner of her eye a shadow that resembled a large rat scurrying into the sewers. It felt humid, which I suggested may have been from the sewers... While it was a rather long walk, we had a good time just chatting. Sorry, unnecessary details.
And we finally reached out destination, on the second floor inside the building complex. As always, I make it a custom to order tomago in any new location, as that is a japanese tradition. If they can screw up sweet egg, I'm not ordering their sushi. It was DECENT, which is what I rate this place. I order a few sushi pieces and some rolls, while the girls decide to order things from the menu. My portions felt just enough to be filling. Decent price... close to $25, I think. On the other hand, they get these monster-sized cooked orders. *haha* The location had a nice look to it, and it's good to bring a group to. So I guess the place is good as far as quantity, but quality is... decent.
We decide to take the metro subway back to the convention center. Had to get some directions from a kind man, who offered us some donuts (we declined).
I will never eat here again. There is nothing good about it. It is a wanna be restaurant. The salad had lots of rotten and dead leaves in it. The sushi was not tasty. Awful flavors. Terrible atmosphere. Irritating music and decor. Just not up to par, lower class, bad style. I didn't want to pay for my meal, as I felt cheated.
If you're looking for REALLLY good japanese food, you won't find it here. It's decent food -- not great, but not bad... just your regular sushi place, I think I expected better quality since we were in Little Tokyo.
The pros: This place has a fun atmosphere (that is, if you consider people screaming sake bomb and downing them fun). It has a cool decor, plays top 40 music and the crowd is always... well, fun (let's see how many times I can use "fun" in this review). And of course, the main draw for my friends and I... cheap beer! It's $1.50 for draft kirin... so if you're in the mood for beer, decent food and maybe a sake bomb or two, you're in the right place.
It's in the same plaza as Ce Fiore you just have to walk upstairs, follow the music and you'll find it. :)
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Parking
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Vietnamese
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
... I really think so. The mother of all…
Every Restaurant or Shop Listed is Sushi Related.…
I have all my lunches here, 5 out of 7 days.…
Best only if you have an hour to spare for lunch.…
