Serina "Sushiholic" T.'s Profile

Came on a Saturday night with a couple of friends for some food and drinks.  They have a good selection of beers on their menu.  We tried a couple of the high percentage beers...we tried a Laberinths that was 13% alcohol and although it was hoppy was really very tasty still.  They have a full bar as well though if you're not into beer.

The ambiance is very hip and fun. The crowd is more of a young professional crowd although they are pretty close to UCLA as well.  There is usually a DJ on Saturday nights and it seemed very happening without being too packed with room to move around.

The food was really good too. We had a selection of 3 of their premium sausages that were yummy. Also tried the huge pretzel with the gourmet sauces. Service was great. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful and came by often to refill our waters.  Parking was surprisingly not that difficult to find on Wilshire boulevard. Overall, a very cool and chill place to grab drinks on the west side.

Their happy hour from 4-7pm daily seems like a good deal with $10-$15 bento boxes and $4 infused sake (ginger or cranberry flavored). However their izakaya sampler portion of the bento box was a bit of a let down. No yakitori and just a bunch of fried stuff that was just ok. Service is also a bit slow. Probably would not come back.

Their grilled cheese sandwiches are pretty darn good. You get to pick the bread and two cheeses. You can add veggies and meat for an additional fee. They also have cereal. Overall a fun place if you are too lazy and don't feel like making breakfast.

I ordered the seafood noodle soup and my bf had the beef noodle soup. While the noodles were fresh and tasty indeed, I thought the soup was just average. I think Noodles World is better...they give you way more seafood in their soup. Also the beef wasn't as tender as I am used to. Overall not bad but definitely just average.

Like the other reviews stated, if you really want better Korean bbq that's cheaper, go to ktown. But if you don't want to deal with the drive then this place is ok.  The kalbi is the best...very tasty and marinated.  The brisket and pork belly are decent.  I didn't like the marinated pork that much though.  Pan chan is decent selection.

Had the omakase here and I have to admit it was really really good.  He started it with 2 pieces of toro that were soo fatty.  Normally I don't like omakase where they serve two of the same pieces since I tend to like variety more but this was some of the best toro I've had in quite a while.  The rest of the omakase though came with one piece each.  Also had salmon, halibut, yellowtail, uni, unagi, sweet shrimp with the fried head, toro hand roll, all the usuals.  Definitely recommend sitting at the bar and ordering omakase for the best experience.  I rate this one up there, almost as good as Sasabune and Nozawa.  I would say for freshness everything was above average but it really is more like 4.5 stars because there wasn't at least one piece that was mind blowing, orgasmically good.  But very consistently great quality.  I did round up though for the service.

The best part...for dessert at the end he makes a big boat of fruit...it looked so pretty I didn't want to eat it, hehe.

OK I've been completely remiss in my duties as a self proclaimed sushiholic and this review is long overdue before I completely forget all about my meal here.  Due to recommendations from Vicky H. we decided to go check out their omakase.  I got the $35 one and the bf got the $85 one and I stole, err tried some of his pieces too.  Surprisingly for the middle tier omakase you only get 1 more dish than the cheapest one and the most expensive omakase you got 3 more dishes than the cheapest one.  So I would go for the cheapest or the most expensive one and not try the middle one since it didn't seem worth it.

I think if you like trying unique more fusion type omakase dishes then you'll probably like Hirozen.  If however, you're more of a real sushi enthusiast then you're probably better off at Sasabune or Nozawa.  I was disappointed that there wasn't that many actual sushi pieces as part of the omakase.  The entree is a bit of food so at least it's filling.  If I had to pick omakase though I think I really just prefer raw fish but it's nice to have variety every once in a while too.

Definitely try the sake tasting...worth it.  I think the $35 omakase seemed like a great deal but the $85 one didn't seem that much better for how much it cost.  Maybe we just came on an "off" night and the food here is usually better but I think my expectations were a little higher than what we actually got.

It really was phoking deliscious....enough said =P  With a name like that how can it not be?  Actually the pho is average but it's one of the better places in the valley.  Plus I just love telling people where I went for lunch, haha.

Coworker:  Where did you go for lunch?

Me:  I just came back from phoking

Coworker:  *shocked look on face*

Me:  hahaha....

So to continue on our search for the best burger place in LA we decided to try this place which was supposedly tied for #1 with Father's Office and Rustic Canyon on a blog that we had read about.  The place is pretty small but we were able to find street parking pretty easily.  We ordered the signature burger which was $10.  And we decided to try two of their IPAs on tap as well.  

After having just come from Umami Burger, I'd have to say that the burger at Golden State had more a good meaty taste and flavor.  I really liked the flavor of the bacon with the arugula.  I'd have to say that for me this burger was as good as Father's Office and slightly better than Umami.  I ordered it medium rare and the meat was so tender and juicy.  The bun is a sweet brioche bread similar to Umami...I realized that this makes a huge difference.  I don't like dry and hard buns.  For the side I had the potato salad which I thought was pretty good.  It's definitely filling.  For some reason my bf seemed to like Umami better.  The beers were also very good.  A little hoppy but lots of flavor.  Again this place is almost as pricy as Umami.  

Overall, I'd be willing to come back.  I'm not sure if it's the best burger in LA though...the search for that continues...

So my bf and his friends read someone's blog about the top ten burger places in LA and decided they wanted to try all the ones on the list.  Umami burger came in at #7 on the list.  They won't seat you until your entire party is there.  It's also a little hard to find since it's inside a little plaza off the street and parking is either street parking or a paid lot.  

I ordered the truffle burger and it was very good.  Medium rare so it was slightly dripping with blood but oh so juicy.  It seemed a bit plain though as the only toppings was the truffle oil and cheese on the patty.  The bread is a sweet brioche type bread which was very good.  I also tried the umami burger that my boyfriend ordered.  That one seemed like it had more interesting taste to it as it's a combination of 6 ingredients but didn't seem as juicy as my burger.  I also had a bite of the pork & stilton which was very spicy for some reason.  The burger is pretty small so you won't be full unless you order a side.  I have to admit it's a good burger but a little pricey for what you get.  I really liked the garlic aioli sauce that comes with the fries.

Overall, I'll probably come back but not too often just cuz of the price.  In'N'Out is just as good at a third of the price.