Kouraku Restaurant (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
314 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of Visit: 10/20/13


     I was meeting up with a few of my friends for dinner and none of us were in the mood for anything too "hoity toity" and opted out for a more humble establishment. Then we recalled a Japanese diner which served more homey styled meals. And so we decided to pig out here for that evening.

     First thing I noticed when I got there was that it looked different. They had remodeled the exterior to give the diner more of a rustic look. And they kept the window display of plasticized foods that they served inside. (they were so shiney)

      Another thing we noticed was that there was a wait. But we really wanted some of that nice Japanese styled home cooking that night. So we mustered up all our patience and waited a whole ten minutes before we were seated. :P
     The waitress was quite nice and prompt with taking our drink orders while we looked over our menus and checked out all the specials they had written up/printed out and posted on the walls. In addition to all the items they had listed as daily/weekly specials, they have pretty good sized menu. It covers starters/appetizers, entrees, rice bowls, ramen and other more homey warm Asian dishes. Which usually leads to me wanting to pig out extra hard.

      "Ika Butter Yaki - Squid Sauteed in Butter" Off to a totally awesome start. The squid was nicely cooked but by itself it felt rather bland. However the butter was there to save the day. And it worked wonderfully. But a little warning. Thought tempting, do not ingest all of the butter sauce because it would lead to a very messy aftermath. Same goes going overboard dunking the squid into the butter sauce to coat it more. Or even drenching that cabbage in the butter....don't judge me!

      "Honrenso Garlic - Spinach Sauteed with Garlic" I love spinach. I love garlic. So this dish is a wonderful medley of the two. Though it was a tad too salty for everyone else, I thought it was fine (I love salt too).

      "Tanindon - Beef, Onion, Green Onion and Eggs on Rice" Granted it looks uninspiring but i can assure that the flavor is very good.

      I mixed the bowl up a bit to show what lays underneath that layer of egg. The texture is all over the place with the chewy meat, crunchy onions, stringy green onions and the mushy rice. But it somehow works..

      "Mabodon - Ground Pork, Tofu and Green Onions with Spicy Sauce on Steam Rice" The tofu is nicely cooked and the sauce has a nice mild kick to it. It just gives you a very homey and hearty feel to it.

     "Beef Teriyaki - New York Steak" Unlike more places that gives you slivers of beef in a bowl and calls it Beef Teriyaki. This place gives you a slab of meat instead. It makes for a pretty picture but man that bugger put up quite a fight. The meat was so tough it was like trying to take a bite out of a chew toy. But the Teriyaki sauce they used was very nice.

     "Chicken Karaage - Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets with Seasoned Batter" Now I'm very particular when it comes to Chicken Karaage. Because it is yet another one of my favorite things so I'm very much a Chicken Karaage concessionaire. And this one did do not do very well. The chicken was moist on the inside but the batter was on the heavier side. They also claim that the batter was seasoned.. if it was it was too much on the subtle side. Overall the chicken karaage here is not for me.
     This diner may not be serving super duper pompous and dressed up foods. And it may not be for everyone. But if you're just in a mood for some place that has a homey feel, friendly and prompt service that serves homey food this place is it. But I'm still rather unsure about how i feel about this place. Its got a bit of lows and a quite a bit of highs. So I'm going to give this joint a thumbs up?

Aloha Cafe (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
Honda Plaza
410 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of visit: 10/20/13


      Ah spam & eggs. One of my all time favorite breakfast duos. I remember having that practically every morning when I was on a vacation at Hawaii. Where spam & eggs were served practically every street corner. But I can not say the same for the mainland. Those suckers are hard to find! (Well a place that did them well that is) Then i looked online and found this little gem in my local area.

     Upon arrival I noticed that they have a special deal going on. "Early Bird Special Spam & Eggs" for roughly 4 bucks. I almost had a gasp attack. I was super excited and extremely giddy to try this place out.

      Once inside, the one that really stood out was how open this restaurant felt. The decor was very minimal. But overall very comfortable and bright.
     The staff here were extremely friendly and very attentive. I was somewhat expecting grumpy "not-morning" type of folk. But boy was I wrong. I give them props for being so friendly and upbeat that early in the morning. Then again they could have all been hopped up on a lot of coffee.
     Well my plan was to jump in and order the spam and eggs. Until the I saw that they had a much, much, much bigger breakfast on their menu. And of course being the fatty that I am, I caved without hesitation and ordered the "Komai's Big Breakfast". Don't judge this fatty!

      Komai's Big Breakfast - "1 Corn Beef Hash, 2 Spam, 2 Portuguese Sausages, 2 Vienna Sausages, 2 Eggs, 2 Scoops of Rice and Hawaiian Bread.

      The Eggs: I'm not a fan of runny eggs so i normally so I order them over hard. They turned out great. Not completely overdone and burnt. But the bottom line is they're just regular unseasoned eggs.
     Vienna Sausages: Pretty sure these are the straight out of the can. Nothing too special about them.
     Corn Beef Hash: I've never had corn beef hash before I came here. And I got to say I'm on the fence about that one. On one hand the flavors were very good. It tasted like the savoriness was doing a nice waltz with the starchiness. Yum. But the texture..I'm not a fan of. 

      The Portuguese Sausages: Very nicely cooked and the flavors are great as far as Portuguese Sausages go. And its got a nice mild kick to them.
     The Spam: Oh Lordy Lord Lord Lord! These guys are amazing. They had just the right amount of crisp on the outside and still moistish at center.
     The Hawaiian Rolls: Never had them toasted on the outside and still soft on the inside before. And I'm kicking myself for not doing that before.
     The Rice: Nicely cooked...it's just rice.
     This was a really good pig out breakfast all together. And aside from it just tasting good it really hits the spot if you're hankering for something heavy for breakfast. This would be it. So if you're looking for a good Hawaiian Cafe that is just simple, not pretentious, very friendly and serves somewhat heavy food. This is the place to be. A big Kahunas's thumbs up!
   

Shojin (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
333 S Alameda St Ste 310
 Los Angeles, CA 90013

Date of visit: 10/12/13


      I'm going to be honest. I had some reservations about this place. Mainly because of the fact that I'm a die-hard meat guzzler so I'm not sure how well i would hold up in a Vegan establishment. I've gotten to a way of thinking that most vegan places were just too high-brow for me. Or i may walk out of there feeling jipped for paying an arm and a leg for something that my food would have eaten. And in a worse case scenario my body would have just rejected the food much like how Smeagol (from Lord of the Rings) would reject regular food exclaiming "It burns us!". But after my first time here a while back it, I felt like I grew a bit after the meal. I just never knew vegan food could have ever reached this level of "awesome-sauce" and have me singing a different tune about vegan food.

      Shojin could be a hard place to find considering it's on the top floor inside a mall. And what's funny is that an all you can-you-can-eat meats Manna Korean BBQ has opened up about a year ago directly across from this restaurant.

      Once you go behind the curtains and set foot inside you may just be amazed by how the mood instantly changes. Shojin's interior does a really good job of separating itself from the rest of the mall. It's become very intimate, chill and definitely very "pinky out".
     On this visit I noticed it was just a single waiter taking care of five parties (us included). So i became a bit wary. But this guy was amazing. He was really nice, knowledgeable, totally composed and was on top of things. We didn't feel rushed at all and he was always there to make sure we were doing alright. Kudos to him.
     Once in a while they will introduce a new dish may it be using an ingredient that is in season or something that matches the closest holidays. Or once in a while they would only do a set menu for a particular holiday. But when i went they had prematurely printed out some Halloween items which were pumpkin based that we were unable to try. What a bunch of teases. So we just went with a few old favorites.

      Spicy "Tuna" on Crispy Rice. "Spicy tofu, avocado and chili on fried brown rice crackers."

      Dynamite Roll. "Spicy 'Tuna' and avocado roll, with spicy 'mayo' and green onion on top served with spicy dynamite sauce."

      Yellow Magic Orchestra. "Pumpkin tempura and curry spiced tempeh on green vegetable roll served with sweet soy sauce and Japanese 'Karashi" mustard sauce."

      Baked "Scallop" Roll. "Spicy 'tuna' and avocado roll topped with sauteed onions and 'scallop' mushrooms. Served with miso mayonnaise and sweet soy sauce. Slightly torched at your table."

      Pirates of the Crunchy. "Fried tempeh, green onion and crunchy tempura batter mixed with spicy 'mayo' on a green vegetable roll served with spicy dynamite sauce."

     Green Dynamite Roll. "Our popular dynamite roll made with a summer twist. The cool  flavors of quinoa, avocado and a green vegetable roll mix well with the spicy flavors of spicy mayo and green chili sauce. Lightly torched."
     All the items we had gotten were absolutely delicious. They each had such a different unique texture and none of it was outputting. The flavors of each item were amazing. They were all had such fresh and clean flavors. These rolls could definitely hold their own and does not require any soy sauce or wasabi to pair with like any normal roll. However, their baked scallop had a heavy taste of the butane gas from the torch. But despite that I would still order a couple of those. We have ordered another item however the picture didn't turn out too well (I'm still a noob). But I am a total fan of their mushroom dishes here, like their "Rocky Mountain Roll", "Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms" and the "Spicy Rock Shiitake Tempura" are a must try. God I love mushrooms...
     Shojin has undeniably found their niche and pulling it off wonderfully. This lone restaurant has shown me just how amazing vegan food could be. And since then I've been more open to trying more vegan places. Though Shojin is holding the top vegan spot for me.

Izakaya Fu-Ga (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
111 S San Pedro St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of Visit: 10/10/13

     "A buried treasure", is how my friend would describe this place. And i absolutely agree with him. I've been coming here on and off for two years now but never really knew how to describe this place to my friends. I would just tell them to go and hopefully they won't be disappointed. No complaints so far. And there better not be! Then again it has been a few months since I last pigged out here. So lets see whats up with one of my favorite spots.

      From the outside it doesn't look like much. You could just walk right by it and not even know there was a restaurant located there. Other than their posted menu on the beam by the entrance there really isn't any hints that screams that there is an eatery right here... that is if you didn't read their sign. 

     Even if you do see the menu or sense that there is food nearby like I did. You would have to make your way down a flight of rather shadey looking stairs. And while doing so you may just ask yourself just what kind of gritty hole in the wall eatery you would find yourself in once you make it to the bottom.

     Once you turn that corner, usually a huge sigh of relief will ensue. Or in some cases they would get a sinking feeling because now this place is just too hoity-toity for them. And i still remember that my first thought upon walking into this place was the latter. But i was quickly put at ease by the nice people who worked here who were very charming and congenial.
     When we got seated and with our menus in hand we noticed that there were some newer items to their drinks and food menus. Which usually means they got rid of some older items. At which point i quickly skimmed the menu to see if some of my old favorites were still there. And some were and some weren't. But oh well. This isn't the first time this has happened here since they add and subtract things from their menus time to time.
     One thing to note about this restaurant is that the portions of the food here is rather small. Think of this place as a restaurant that serves up Japanese Tapas. In which case could be a good and bad thing. Good, because you would be able to try a multitude of dishes. And bad because well... you would be shelling out a lot of dough. So we just placed an order in for a few things tonight.
     One thing I really love about this place is their cocktails. I have tried ever single one of them and i would say a good majority of them were very good. But i saw one that they added and i just had to get it.

     The Blushing Geisha. "Freshly Muddled Strawberries, Basil, Lime and Sugar with a blend of Premium Rums. Topped with Champenoise served over ice."  It seems like a very girly drink... but so what? It was so delicious and refreshing. I would have chugged down a gallon of this drink. But it would totally would have put a hole in my wallet and my liver so I had to limit myself to just one. Which usually gets the job done seeing as how I'm such a lightweight. 
     This time around the food took a while longer than the times I've been here before. And the place was not all that busy.

      Crispy Calamari Rings. These were very lightly battered and quite flavorful.

     Sesame Jidori Chicken Karaage. "Tokyo-Style Lightly Fried Marinated Chicken". These were just alright. The flavors were very subtle and the chicken was rather dry.

      Roasted Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast. "Maple Leaf Farms 8oz duck breast with Tokyo Negi-Miso sauce" The duck was cooked very nicely. It was very juicy and moist though it may not look so in the picture. The sweet sauce though threw me off a bit. It didn't feel like it was adding much or taking a lot away from the duck. Not sure what to make of it.

      Sauteed Filet Mignon with Mushroom. 6oz.  This dish is really delicious. We have no idea what goes into that sauce but it just brings everything together. My friend's guess was that it was a plum wine sauce but we never got a confirmation on that. The mushrooms were cooked nicely and the meat was a bit over the temperature of what we asked for.

      Aonori Flavored Garlic French Fries. Very flavorful and crispy.

      Kabocha Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream. The bread pudding was uneven. Some bites it was just purely pumpkin and some just didn't have any. Also it was very sweet so for those you who isn't into super sweet desserts beware.
     Some high points and low points. It's not what i remember this place being a few months back. But it still is very good. And up until now i never really looked up what an "Izakaya" was. Turns out it means a Japanese drinking establishment which serves food to go with the drinks. In this case it totally lives up to the name. They have amazing drinks and a pretty good selection of beer, and other spirits. And good food  to go with all that "alchy-hol". So I'd say this trendy Japanese chic establishment is worth a visit. Especially if it's with a date or a bigger party because they have special rooms that could accommodate that.  To this place a thumbs up and a pinky out.

Manna Korean BBQ (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
333 S Alameda St
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Date of Visit: 10/24/13


     I've been going to Korean BBQ joints for a while now and when i found out that there was going to be one in Little Tokyo i was excited and scared. Excited because I love Korean BBQ. Scared because I know i will eat to oblivion. But I guess I was more on the excited part since this means i don't have to haul myself over to Koreatown for Korean BBQ as often now since this place is so much closer to me.

      Even since they were open this place would be very busy. Especially during the evening hours and more so during the weekends. I find myself sometimes coming here during the "late lunch/early dinner" hours just to avoid the masses so i wouldn't have to put up with the hoards of people. Now this place is pretty huge... like... VERY HUGE. And if a place as big as this gets packed and has a line waiting outside you know they've got something very good to offer.

      Depending on when you come here the feel may be very different. Lunching hours its rather chill. But during dinner here sometimes I feel like I'm dining in a night club. They would blast rather loud music and sometimes the people who come here would slut it up like as if they really were going to a club. Then you would get the rowdy Birthday Party crowds at some tables and if you're lucky you'd get to see the Birthday gal/guy get drenched in champagne by the servers. So if you're looking for a more quiet and chill place for Korean BBQ look elsewhere.
      One thing i like about this restaurant is their versatility. Most people would think that this place only does the type Korean BBQ where they bring you plates of raw meat and you'd have to grill yourself. Which is more popular choice. But they do offer Shabu Shabu (which is more a Japanese thing but whatever), where they'd bring you a plate of veggies and thinly sliced meat. And then instead of using the grill to cook your food, they'll give you a pot of boiling broth to cook your food. Of course if you're too lazy to do any grilling and just want to order food off a menu like a standard restaurant you may opt out to do so as well. But in this instance I went for their BBQ.

      They provide you with two different menus for the type of BBQ. The difference between the two is mainly the choices of meat and of course the prices. The more expensive option would of course contain the bigger selection of meats. However, both options comes with the all you can eat sides as well which you can pick our for yourself at the salad bar. And boy do they have a lot of sides. Be careful you may just fill up on sides alone!

      One thing you may notice about the service here and same goes for some Korean BBQ restaurants is that you don't need to wave them down if you need something. All you have to do is push a button that is attached to the table. Which I guess could be a double edged sword. It's definitely a great thing to have since they get hit pretty hard for dinner service and the scale of the restaurant could be overwhelming. So they would not have the time to check up on you every 5 min or even see you trying to flag one of them down if you need something. So having a button would make that a bit easier. But sometimes there are those people who just can't help themselves and love pushing buttons (not metaphorically) cough just drink the wait staff crazy. *cough* not me *cough* And another bad thing would be that the wait staff may grow to be way too reliant on that button. I had a really bad experience here a why back where it was really busy and I was seated at a smaller table without a button. So throughout the whole night I was just forgotten about and it was a real hassle to just get a hold of anyone. So if you can avoid it. Try to stay away from a table that doesn't have a button. Especially on a busy night.

      We usually start it off with their Brisket (left), Angus Marinated Boneless Beef (upper right) and the Angus Marinated Sliced Beef (bottom right). That fatty slugger in bottom mid of the picture is used to grease up the grill a bit so the meats won't stick. And a fun thing to dare each other to eat during the meal. (Please don't eat it) The meats that were not marinated in anything can be rather bland. But usually the condiments on the side usually helps. 

      Ah the grilling process. Could be incredibly fun experience or a dreadful one. Fighting over the temperature of meat with other people in your party. Or overcooking the meat and having no one else to blame but yourself. :)

      Spicy Boneless Sliced Pork (Left) and Pork Belly (Right). The spicy pork usually scares the hell out of me. Not because it's spicy but just the fact that its always red. So i usually have a harder time knowing when its ready. That pork belly is a heart stopper.
     I'm still at a loss as to how to sum this place up. This place is pretty good but at the same time it feels rather impersonal at times. You don't hear or see your server unless you push the button and often times they're just a quick manic blur. I usually see this place as just a facilitator for BBQs since we're mostly we're in our own little world when we're grilling. But when you do get to see your server they're usually nice and will bring you what you ask for in a timely manner. Other than that if you're looking for a place to tickle your meat fancy in this general area this is the place to go. I'd give this place a thumbs up but usually after eating here I'm in too much of a vegetated state to do anything. So I'll just have the smoke give some thumbs up for me. 

The Park's Finest (Echo Park, LA, CA)

Located at:
1267 W Temple St
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Date of Visit: 10/3/13


     I live just a block away from this restaurant. I remember back when it was a Japanese restaurant named Matsu. Which i never got to try. Heck i didn't even know it was there. Then it became another Japanese restaurant called The Far East. It was borderline ok. Then that closed. Until one day i saw a banner that read The Park's Finest. I had no idea what that was until I got home and looked it up. Filipino BBQ! Boy was I ecstatic. But it took a while to open up. It may not have been that long but it seemed longer because i really wanted to try it and i was just too lazy to chase their food truck around. Then one day on my way home I saw people inside. Then some friends, my cousins and I made a long arduous block walk to this restaurant. When we got there the waitress told us they had a soft opening not long before. And that first trip just blew us away. Since then we tried going back but it was just packed. there hoards or people. So we just ordered take out. We just loved their food and couldn't seem to get enough of it. But as time went on our visits and patronage just began to dwindle and kinda just gave out. It was just mainly me who would still come here occasionally like every 3 months or so. But i'll get to the reasons why later. But for now i'll just focus on this visit.

      This place can be easy to miss. Especially since they don't have a prominent display of the restaurants name over the actual restaurant. Or at least they use to. But the sun did beat down on his rather harshly and washed out a lot of the color. So I hope another one is in the works. 

     Once inside me and friend were told that it was a seat yourself situation. Which I always loved. But i have a feeling that the whole seat yourself situation goes out the window when there is a ton of people here. And there has been a influx since Diners, Drive-ins & Dives covered them in an episode.  The waitress was really nice and attentive. She got our drink orders swiftly, made sure our drinks were full and made us feel like she didn't forget about us. So kudos!   
      Then our food flew out of the kitchen rather quickly I'd say it only took like about 5 minutes. 
    

      Beef Shortrib. "a smoked, seasoned, meaty beef rib paired with our own cream horseradish sauce." There is a wow factor that goes with this dish. And that its huge! Don't let the picture fool you. These suckers are a lot bigger in person. Whenever I tell tales of these ribs I'd compare it to the Flintstones rack of ribs in the intro. Aside from the wow factor though these bad boys are a bit... lacking. The flavors are very subtle so i can't call it bland. But i give it props for not drenching it in BBQ sauce like the other places however the flavors do need to be kicked up a notch. Texturally, it was a bit tough. It wasn't one of those "fall off the bone" situations. I wanted to try a piece of it and it took a while for me to hack off a piece of it. But it was still alright. And on the plus side you could always just save those bones for your dogs! :D

      Beef Tri-Tip. "tender season-crusted sirloin beef, cut deli thing and paired with home made horseradish sauce." I've ordered this dish time and time again. But this time the meat tasted rather bland. And it was on the dry and overdone side. I had to use a lot of the horseradish and their BBQ sauce to give it some flavor. Shame.

      Ann's Cornbread BiBingka. "a special take on cornbread - cornmeal is combined with rice flour, baked on a banana leaf bringing elements of a traditional Filipino dessert." Hands down all time favorite. I could just eat multiple orders of these things and be perfectly happy. They're incredibly moist and full of flavor. They're more on the sweet side and i love it. A must try.
     So after many visits and takeouts for over a year and a half period i would use the word "inconsistent" to describe this place. The temperature of the meat seems to be the luck of the draw and same goes for their portions. My first visit my tri-tip was cooked a PERFECT medium. Still pink and moist with a very good portion and you could really taste the rub they used. Which is night and day compared to my last visit and a few visits in between recently. Seems like they're dropping the ball a bit. And not to mention that their prices has gone way up compared to what they were. Though i understand you could raise your prices when you're becoming more popular or just to cover the cost of maintaining a more popular establishment. But as long as the quality could match the prices. In this case it didn't. And it's one of the main reasons why my cousins and some friends stopped coming back. They're just happy they got to try it and remember it for their earlier stage. Me? I may just drop in to pick up a couple batches of cornbread. Other than that... I'm rather 50/50 about this place because its served up some of the best and the most disappointing meats...

Patra Burgers (Echo Park, LA, CA)

Located at:
1524 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Date of Visit:  9/24/2013


    Ok let me just start off by saying that this place is not for everyone. This place looks like its really run down and gives off a gosh darn ghetto vibe. The food isn't outstanding and it isn't dirt cheap. Heck my cousin and his friends got mugged 2 blocks from this place. So why can't I stop coming here??
     Well I guess everyone has their favorite hole-in-the-wall joints. This just happens to be one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall places. But when i look at everything objectively. I just could not figure out why i like this place as much as I do. It may just be me being sentimental since this place has been around since i was born. Or maybe I like this place because of its ability to satiate my emotional eating habits. I just can't put my hands on what kind of a hold this joint has over me.

     Upon walking up to the ordering window you will notice all these pictures of the food. Most of which are the breakfast items. But their full menu is actually located behind the window at that top. I find myself sometimes just waiting by the window for quite a while before someone rings me up. But playing the waiting game here is quite common.

     Once you get your food order in, you could stay outside or move on inside to wait for your food. Like usual, once your food is ready they'll call out your number. And once again, you would be playing the waiting game. The food here on average may take about 15-20min depending on how stoned the cooks may be.

     Just the standard Patra's meal for me. Burger and fries. The fries are usually very crispy and has very nice color to them.

     Ah my bacon avocado burger. I could feel your awesome heart-stoppingness hugging up against my artery walls. It's generally very sloppily put together and ingredients are unevenly placed which sometimes certain bites would have more or less of something. Though given 20 minutes i thought it would have more finesse...oh well! om nom nom.

     Their chili cheese fries. If you're still hankering for something after the burger you could always just order yourself one of these can send yourself into a deep food induced slumber or just a small cardiac arrest.

     I'm just going to be bias here and give this place a thumbs up... a very .. very guilty thumbs up.