Restaurant Review #257: Tsujita LA / Artisan Noodles, Sawtelle, West LA

Char Siu Tsukemen, $13.95

Tsujita LA / Artisan Noodles on Sawtelle in West LA is two restaurants in one. At lunch, it serves tsukemen and ramen; at dinner, it serves traditional Japanese cuisine, sushi, and sashimi. The restaurant hails from Japan, with four locations in Tokyo, one in Bangkok, and the one on Sawtelle, which opened July 30, 2011. A second location will open soon across the street in the former gr/eats space.

We visited Artisan Noodles on a Sunday afternoon around 1:00. Like all the new restaurants on Sawtelle, the interior is impossibly tiny. The limited tables and high demand mean waits are inevitable, but the restaurant has an efficient system for shortening the time you spend standing on the sidewalk, jealous of the patrons seated on the umbrella-shaded patio who are already slurping noodles. There's a sign-in sheet, and once you've signed in, the hostess will take your order ahead of time when she knows a table will be opening up soon. There are plenty of menus available for browsing, but don't sign in until you know what you want to order.

The menu can be confusing to the uninitiated; it's short and the English isn't perfect. I thought I was at just another ramen joint--I hadn't researched the restaurant in advance, just popped in on a whim because I love noodles. The restaurant does serve the wavy noodles in broth that we're all familiar with, and you can specify whether you want them cooked firm, medium, or soft (the restaurant recommends firm). However, the real draw are the tsukemen, or dipping noodles.

For the char siu tsukemen that we both ordered, the  long, chewy noodles are served cold in one bowl, topped with a sheet of nori (seaweed); several slices of tender, fatty char siu (barbecued pork); and a petite lime wedge. Served in a separate bowl is an unctuous broth made from pork and chicken bones, vegetables, bonito, and dried sardines slowly simmered for 12 hours. In the broth are smaller pieces of pork, a seasoned soft-boiled egg called ajitama, scallions, and dark brown bamboo shoots called men-ma. A set of somewhat helpful, somewhat irritating instructions on the back of the menu instructs diners in the proper way to eat tsukemen.

You can add a squeeze of lime to the noodles whenever you like, but the limes were so small that they were only worth about one squeeze each. The small limes aren't a big deal, but they do seem like an oversight in an otherwise meticulously prepared dish, and if the servers don't come by to check on you (ours didn't), you can't ask for extra limes unless you manage to flag someone down.

There are also several condiments on the table that you can add to your dish: strands of neon red pickled ginger, mustard greens marinated in chili paste (not for the faint of tongue), sesame seeds, tonkatsu sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, and a mild chili powder with black sesame seeds. Extra limes are free; for $1 each you can order an extra egg, seaweed, or bamboo shoots.

 Men-ma (Bamboo shoot)

We sat on the patio, which was cold and windy and a bit of a rushed, intimidating experience since you're in such close proximity to the throngs who are hungering for your table. The interior is beautiful; I'll sit there next time, even if it means elbowing up to a stranger at the bar since there are few tables and they mostly seem sized for parties of four. One strange oversight in this otherwise polished space was the bathroom faucet, which is loose, dirty, and in desperate need of replacement. (I hate bathroom sinks where I feel less clean after using them than before.)

While the servings look small and $14 seems steep for what is essentially a bowl of soup, it's incredibly filling and satisfying. I ate less than half of mine (probably a good thing given what I'm sure is an astronomical amount of salt and fat in that incredible broth). The nice thing about tsukemen is that unlike ramen, you can pack it up and take it home without the noodles getting ruined since they're separate from the broth. Plus, with so many amazing eateries in the area, you'll probably want to save room for a coffee, boba tea, or some shaved ice around the corner or down the block.

Make sure to hit the ATM on your way to the restaurant; it's cash only.

Tsujita LA / Artisan Noodles 
2057 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-231-7373
Lunch: daily, open at 11, last order at 2
Dinner:  6:00pm - 12:00am, Sun - Thur.; 6:00pm - 2:00am, Fri. and Sat.

Restaurant Review #155: Champagne French Bakery Cafe, West LA

Chicken pesto sandwich

I've never had much interest in trying Champagne--I've always had an attachment to Panera, so on the rare occasion that I'm in the mood for a sandwich, that's where I go. But when you're in a hurry and Champagne is the best and fastest option available, that's where you end up. It had to be better than Baja Fresh or airport food, I figured.

I tried the garlic chicken panini and the hot chicken pesto sandwich. I really enjoyed the panini--it was served very hot, it was the right size for my mouth, and it wasn't too messy. All of the ingredients made sense together, the bread-to-filling ratio was perfect, and there was nothing sketchy about the chicken.

The chicken pesto sandwich was dry though. Our fries were cold, and they didn't get my order right (I asked for salad on the side, not fries). Since I was the last customer of the night, arriving just 10 minutes before closing, I wasn't surprised--the place was completely empty, and they'd probably already cleaned up the salad prep station and cooked the last of the fries.


Garlic chicken panini and fries

Champagne is, in many ways, a direct competitor with Panera--both are chains that share the fast-casual concept and have similar menu items. One area in which Champagne may have an advantage over Panera is that they serve hot breakfast plates like crepes and French toast, while Panera's breakfast choices consist almost entirely of bagels. At lunchtime, you can get French fries--another food Panera does not offer. However, Champagne does not offer an equivalent of Panera's popular "You Pick Two" combo. While they do offer several combos that are a good deal, they don't offer as much flexibility--you can only get a cold sandwich with their deal, while at Panera, any sandwich, any soup, and any salad are up for grabs. On the other hand, Champagne also offers the option of getting all three-soup, salad, and half sandwich--which you can't do at Panera. So rather than trying to pit the two against each other, I think it's best to say that while Panera and Champagne are similar in their fast-casual sandwich concept, the two have enough differences to keep things interesting.


Champagne French Bakery Cafe
2202 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310.268.9444
Champagne Website
Champagne Menu
Map

Restaurant Review #128: Hide Sushi, Sawtelle, West LA

Halibut and albacore

Hide Sushi (pronounced hee-DAY, or something like that) has built a reputation on being remarkably inexpensive given the high quality of its fish. But just how cheap, and how good, could it really be? In my experience, cheap sushi is almost always chewy sushi. Yuck.

In spite of the reputation, I wasn’t expecting much. I’d poked my head in on several other occasions--just long enough to see that the wait for a table was too long and that the interior didn’t look particularly nice. I knew the fish was supposed to be good, but I like to eat at places that have at least some semblance of atmosphere, and I know plenty of places where I can have both. Also, they close at 9:00 and won't seat you after 8:00, and they only accept cash, so it's not always the easiest place to eat.


Cherry blossom photos cover up overhead lights

On a weekday at 1:45, the wait was finally manageable--just one other group in front of us. When I finally got all the way inside, I found that the restaurant is actually quite nice looking. It's not dateworthy, but nor is it the junky hole-in-the-wall I had anticipated. Even the ceiling is decorated! The nondescript, somewhat scuffed, off-white tile floor must have been what gave me the initial bad impression. Indeed, the floor probably is the least nice aspect of the interior, but the tables are a solid, shiny golden brown, and, well, I'll let my photos tell the rest of the story.



The walls are actually covered in inexpensive cream-colored carpet. It seems strange, but it looks nice, and may be part of the reason that the restaurant isn't too noisy. Since it's busy, it's still noisy, but you'll have no problem carrying on a conversation. Some of the tables are uncomfortably close together, though--if there are only two of you, you might find yourself so close to your neighbors that you are practically sharing a table.

The restaurant felt a bit chaotic and hostile when I first walked in--there is no apparent hostess, waitresses are darting to and fro, and space is limited. There's always a line, so how do you get on the wait list?

When you walk in, walk past the chairs on the wall to your right (which will probably be full of people) and write your name on the dry erase board, as well as how many people are in your party and whether you want a seat at the bar (s), table (t), or first available (s/t). A handwritten poster next to the dry erase board explains all this, as well as the restaurant's cash only policy (they have their own ATM just inside the door in case you're short). The system is efficient, but it can seem cold to a newcomer. I was kind of nervous about what kind of dining experience I was in for. Was this the kind of place that scolds you if you don't eat your food properly? Because I don't eat my nigiri in one bite like I should (if they want me to do that, they should make it the right size for my mouth!).

I didn't need to worry, though. Hide Sushi is an extremely well-run restaurant, and any place that serves spicy scallop rolls has no license for scolding. As soon as we were seated, our waitress took our drink order. Our food came quickly, and our check came quickly. The restaurant has plenty of staff, and they really stay busy. When we first walked in, we could barely get through the door because of the hustle and bustle of waitresses running plates to and from tables, but that paid off later when our waitress came by to check on us more than once and our water was refilled quickly.

So, how's the food? Hide Sushi does, in fact, serve top-notch California sushi at midwestern prices. I ordered only a few pieces, both because I wasn’t that hungry and because when trying a new sushi restaurant, I've found that it’s always a good idea to test the waters before ordering $50 worth of sushi. The menu is pretty short and pretty basic, but that was fine with me since I usually don't stray far from my short list of favorites: yellowtail, albacore, red snapper, and scallop.


Yellowtail scallion roll and yellowtail sushi

Our food came quickly, but I was a little skeptical of my less-than-clean looking plate. I'm well aware that the two minute cycle in the industrial dishwasher doesn't always make plates look clean, even though they've been safely sterilized by burning hot water, but I still want to eat off of a clean plate. Also, Hide Sushi's picked ginger is hot pink, which grosses me out since ginger is supposed to be pale yellow (except for young ginger, but that isn't what they were serving).

These minor shortcomings aside, the fish was excellent. The yellowtail was perfectly smooth, soft, and fresh. I wasn't as big a fan of the roll, but I think that had more to do with my changing tastes than with its preparation. Some of the rolls come with only four pieces, so the lower prices can be somewhat deceptive. I'm okay with this though--if I want to eat a variety of things, I don't really need six bites of the same roll. I actually wish more restaurants followed this practice (while adjusting their prices accordingly, of course).

The halibut was unexciting--it truly tasted like nothing, and brought to mind something I heard on KCRW's Good Food about fish being like condiments for the rice. I'm not a fan of that view, but with such a mild fish, I could suspend my disbelief for a moment. The albacore was another piece of excellent quality fish, and came with a bottle of ponzu. Dipping the fish in ponzu didn't work very well--I couldn't get enough sauce on my fish. Next time I'll dribble it over the top. It is nice that Hide Sushi lets you decide for yourself whether you want ponzu on your albacore, unlike most other restaurants. They also list any toppings and extra roll ingredients on the menu, so there are no surprises whatsoever.

Surprisingly, I was full in spite of sharing my small meal with my friend. You might want to try the teriyaki and tempura lunch special though, which is $10 for plenty of tempura and a small piece of meat. There are also several salads, with and without fish.

If you've been to Hide Sushi, how was your experience? Leave a comment!




Hide Sushi
2040 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-477-7242

Restaurant Review #126: Ketchy's II, Sawtelle, West LA

Cheeseburger with all the trimmings

Ketchy'’s II is part of the Sawtelle strip, but have you ever seen it? Did you even know that there is another restaurant behind Mizu 212?

I didn'’t, until I went exploring on foot one day. But every time I walked by Ketchy'’s II, it was closed. I was starting to wonder if it was actually in business. As far as I can tell, the hours aren't posted in the window anywhere.

I was in the right place, but at the wrong time. Ketchy's II has been open for five months, but it's only open until 6:00 pm, which explains my confusion. The owner mentioned the possibility of keeping it open longer in the summer, which would be nice. A big red sign on the sidewalk informs pedestrians of the restaurant'’s existence, and the accompanying phone number points out the restaurant'’s aspirations to do a steady takeout business.

Though it is relatively new, Ketchy's II has quite a history. It replaces a beloved neighborhood hamburger and taco stand named Ketchy'’s that operated for 40 years but was completely destroyed when a pickup truck drove through it over 20 years ago, according to the newspaper article taped to the wall. The owner informed me that the original stand had actually been hit by a vehicle not once, but twice!

A true hole-in-the-wall, Ketchy'’s II has no indoor dining--there simply isn'’t space. There'’s barely space for two people to come in at the same time to order. What'’s interesting about this lack of space is that it nearly forces you to interact with the owner and the cook, both of whom were very friendly. There are a few metal tables where you can eat outside, if you don'’t want your food to go.

Ketchy's II serves hamburgers, hotdogs, chili burgers, chili dogs, tamales, fries, onion rings, and a few other things. Multiple flavors of soda in cans are easily grabbable if you'’re thirsty.

My quarter pound cheeseburger was made-to-order in plain view and came with plenty of toppings--lettuce, pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. If you'’re looking for a less messy burger, I'’d skip the lettuce--it's cut into square inch-sized pieces, a small detail which most people won'’t realize makes the burger easier to eat and prevents you from eating chunks of lettuce vein (yuck). The pieces get condiment-covered and are prone to falling out, but a paper wrapper inside the burger'’s foil wrapper will help you eat more neatly. The meat was cooked thoroughly (okay with me, but you may want to specify if you like your burger pink) and wasn't greasy at all. A quarter pound isn'’t much bigger than an In-n-Out patty, and there was only about half as much cheese as I would have liked, but with all the condiments and the bun, the burger had plenty of flavor and filled me up. A cheeseburger is $3.70, and a tip jar awaits your change. I don't think anything on the menu is over $5.00.

Ketchy's II may not have the excitement factor of some of the other restaurants on Sawtelle, but it is a most welcome addition to the neighborhood. Where else in the area would I go to get a hamburger or a quick lunch for so little?

If you've been to Ketchy's II, how was your experience? Leave a comment!

Ketchy's II
La Grange (at Sawtelle, behind Mizu 212)
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Restaurant Review #122: Sawtelle Kitchen, Sawtelle, West LA

Update: Sawtelle Kitchen has permanently closed.

According to Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, people remember an experience as negative or positive depending on two things: how good or bad the experience was at its peak, and how they felt at the end. This theory does a good job of explaining why I do not have fond memories of my experience at Sawtelle Kitchen, even though it's pretty good at what it does.

The restaurant has one of the nicest atmospheres of any restaurant on Sawtelle. The faux finished peachy beige walls look a bit quaint, but not antique store cheesy. Wooden tables with copper accents contribute further to the warm atmosphere, and the low lighting makes the place conducive to a casual but romantic date. On a serious date, you'd probably want to go to a place where the tables are further apart and the service and food are more consistent.

We arrived around 8:00 on a Saturday, and were surprised to get a table inside right away. Unfortunately, that table was right by the small entrance to the kitchen, second only to the bathroom as far as undesirable locations go. The hungry can't be choosy, though. The restaurant is so small that you can't help but think you're eating in what was once someone's living room, and the layout is a bit puzzling at first. If you want to sit on the patio, you have to go inside and then through another door--you can't just walk up and sit down. It's a bit awkward, but at least you know you'll get served. Patio seating is pretty tight, and if all that body heat isn't enough to keep you warm, there are heaters. Translucent plastic tent flaps lend a bit of privacy to patio diners. Indoors, there is also a nook in the back with what I imagine are better tables.

I love Japanese curry--the recipe seems to have taken my southern favorite, chicken fried steak, and improved it with better gravy and better batter. (I don't know the true origins of the Japanese dish.) The top sirloin curry was hit and miss--within the same dish. Some pieces of meat were tender, while others were tough and quite impossible to chew. I absolutely hate the inconsistency of bad meat. The curry sauce was rich and spicy, and the deep fried breading was flaky and cooked to a perfect brownness, so it was too bad they couldn't get the meat right. I don't know about you, but when I read the term "top sirloin," I expect a really good cut of meat. What I learned at Epicurious, though, is that top sirloin is not the most tender cut. A cut of short loin comes from the most tender part of the muscle. Round is the toughest cut. Sirloin falls in the middle. Within sirloin, there are more divisions, with tenderloin being the most tender, and sirloin falling somewhere in the middle.

Does that mean I shouldn't be complaining about the quality of the meat? Of course not. Who wants to eat chewy meat?


Chilean sea bass

I wasn't in the mood for fish, but for some reason I ordered the Chilean seabass anyway, even though I read that it is going extinct. The bad karma I generated by ordering an endangered species surfaced in the fish's topping, which may have been daikon and tasted like the way a Japanese supermarket smells. I didn't enjoy it at all, even though the fish underneath was flaky, smooth, buttery, and perfectly cooked. The other problem was that the menu description had me anticipating a cream sauce, which was not the case. I was so blinded by hunger while I was ordering that I couldn't tell you if this blunder was the menu's fault or my own.

The spicy potatoes that came on the side were indeed spicy--I would have liked more than three of them, and letting fried potatoes rest in the same very liquidy sauce as the fish was a bad idea. Fortunately, you can order the potatoes as a side dish. I can't really speak for the carrots, since I hate carrots, but my friend thought they were great. The green beans were perfectly cooked--they were bright green and still crunchy (the photo is somewhat deceiving).

So at the peak, the experience was just okay, but at the end, it was bad. We waited forever for our check to come. This seems to be a common practice in LA restaurants, and one that I don't really understand. Shouldn't the place want to get us out so they can turn more tables? I guess that wasn't the case here, since by 9:00 the dinner crowd was dwindling down. My friend and I got so antsy that we were tempted to walk into the kitchen or leave a cash approximation on the table and go. The thing is, Japanese waitresses are almost always so friendly and smiley that you can't be mad at them. That kind of self-presentation really takes talent (or lots of hard work and practice).

I also ordered a side salad and miso soup for an extra $2.50. The salad was excellent--I love miso-based dressings. The miso soup tasted like all other miso soup. My meal also came with a really underwhelming airy roll that was too brown on the outside and got stale rather quickly as it cooled off, leading me to think that it might have been stale to start with. I could have chosen rice, and next time, I will.

Wait, will there be a next time? It's hard to say. The atmosphere is really nice, and if I ordered different dishes and paid more attention to what I was in the mood for, I might end up with something better than what I had on this visit. And we were able to snag a seat inside at 8:00 on a Saturday night, no reservation needed, though the place seemed pretty busy and the patio was half full. Somewhat bad weather may have contributed to our luck.

There are so many other restaurants out there, though.

Entrees: $10-15
Short wine list

Sawtelle Kitchen
2024 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-445-9288

Restaurant Review #116: Gr/eats, Sawtelle, West LA

Seafood paella

UPDATE: Gr/eats has permanently closed.

I really want to like this restaurant. It's quiet. Charming. Peaceful. There are fresh, colorful flowers on every table. The service is attentive, and so polite and friendly that you'll think you've been transported to the midwest. The not-too-loud, not-too-soft music is the Cranberries, David Bowie, and other American artists imitated very convincingly in what is probably Japanese, mixed in with some other upbeat but not cheesy stuff that I didn't recognize but enjoyed. The menu is an eclectic mix of El Salvadoran, American, and Japanese. The food took long enough to prepare that it had to have been made-to-order.



The food falls short, though, and I tried four different dishes, which I feel is enough to provide a fair judgement. I also heard a microwave door close at some point while I was waiting for my food--were they microwaving my food?


Mixed fries

The mixed fries, which I'd read were good on Chowhound's board, were--well, I probably couldn't have done much better myself, but this is a restaurant. The dish was described as a "lightly fried mix of shoestring potatoes, yams, and bananas." The shoestring potatoes were not shoestrings, and just like ordinary French fries, but they were kind of tough and seemed over-fried. There were very few yams, and even fewer bananas (maybe four slices on the entire plate). The yams were a bit undercooked, and seemed too wet and too heavy in contrast to the potatoes. The bananas had been sucked dry--they were like the banana chips you find in trail mix, but without the banana flavor.


Miso nasubi, fresh eggplant dish served with tasty miso sauce

The next dish I tried was significantly better, and raised my hopes for the rest of the meal. The eggplant was tender but not mushy, retaining just enough bite. The sauce was sweet and had a bit of heft to it, and was a perfect match for the eggplant. I thought. After I had been eating it for a while, I realized that the dish tasted like yams. Was I going crazy? No. I ate a yam fry to confirm. I think that much like Pepsi in the Pepsi challenge, the dish tasted good at first because it started off sweet. The problem is that it stayed sweet--too sweet (thank you Malcolm Gladwell). Also, the sesame seeds could have been roasted to bring out their flavor. The radish sprout garnish was a nice touch.


Mayan Chicken

The Mayan chicken promised to be an "extra-tender El Salvadoran dish with a mole-style sauce." I don't know a lot about mole, to be honest, but I the sauce didn't live up to my expectations of what mole is. I think it had more tomato than I would have expected. The chicken was indeed extra-tender and came easily off the bone. It was also dark meat, which I like because it has more flavor and moisture, but I think these days most people expect a white chicken breast when they order chicken unless the menu says otherwise. The sauce was a little bland, and I'm not sure what it was trying to taste like. The waitress brought a bottle of hot sauce with it in case we wanted to make it spicier, which showed nice foresight on her part.


What I stared at during dinner

Finally, I tried the paella. Apparently the folks down in El Salvador have their own version of paella, at least, according to Gr/eats, whose paella is "loaded with fresh vegetables, calamari, green mussels, and baby clams." It would have also had shrimp, but shrimp and I are not friends. The rice was overcooked and mushy, and something about the flavor just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. The presentation of the dish was well-conceived, at least--purple potatoes really brightened it up. The baby squid were very tender, and so were the calamari rings. But why the kalamata olives? And, worse, the Spanish olives with the dreaded pimento in the middle? (In what part of Spain do they defile their olives with soggy peppers?)

At the end of our meal, the waitress brought us almond jello on the house (was it because she saw me snapping photos earlier?) and encouraged us to stay as long as we wanted and enjoy ourselves. How often does that happen? Most places want to get you in and out as quickly as possible so they can turn another table. We were the only people in the entire restaurant, though (I'll admit that it was a Tuesday, but it was slow even for a Tuesday). Clearly, there are advantages to eating at restaurants that aren't in high demand. The almond jello (also known as dofu) was excellent and I could have eaten plenty more. If I had paid for it though, the portion would have seemed small for the price. Maybe they serve more when you actually order it. None of the other portions were skimpy, after all. Maybe I should have tried the blueberry ice cream.

I might go to Gr/eats again in spite of their culinary shortcomings, simply because everything else was so pleasant. If you've had a bad day and just want someone to be nice to you, go to Gr/eats and enjoy the peace and quiet, try something that I didn't eat (perhaps a burger or one of the specials), and let me know how it is. Or just get dessert.

Most entrees $7.50
Most appetizers and sides $4.00
Assorted sodas, coffee, and tea $1.00-2.00

Chef: Nelson Magana

Gr/eats
2050 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-478-3242
Website

Restaurant Review #114: Kinchan's, Sawtelle, West LA

Shiitake ramen

Update: Kinchan's has permanently closed.

Everyone has their favorite ramen house on Sawtelle. Non-grocery store ramen is new to me, so I've been on a mission to try them all--a mission that coincides nicely with my mission to eat at just about every restaurant on Sawtelle.

Ramenya is closed on Wednesdays, so I ended up at Kinchan's. It made no difference to me, really, since I hadn't tried either before.

I got the shiitake ramen to go. My order was ready very quickly, and the service was friendly. The restaurant looked a bit cramped and didn't have a whole lot of atmosphere. The ramen was good at first, and they sure didn't skimp on the mushrooms, but the flavor quickly became one-dimensional, with the dominant flavor being salt. The noodles were better than Chabuya, but not nearly as good as Asahi, but it depends on the texture you like. I'm an al dente kind of gal, but Kinchan's noodles were fully cooked (though not overcooked). I was pleased by the abundance of shiitakes, but the snow peas were soggy.

The soup also contained tofu and beef in small quantities. There wasn't a lot of broth in this ramen, and I'm not sure if that had something to do with getting my order to go or if Kinchan's just isn't big on broth. Eating the ramen out of the styrofoam it came in proved to be a surefire way to repeatedly burn my tongue (styrofoam really does keep the heat in) so I had to transfer my food to a bowl (dishes, boo!). As far as portion sizes go, I could have made two meals out of this (of course, wet noodles don't keep well at all), but I could probably feed three or four of me with a bowl from Asahi.

The soup came with a side of what may have been daikon pickles. They were an almost mustardy yellow and had a flavor that can only be described as "why white people eat at P.F. Chang's." I've liked daikon pickles at other places, like Yakitoria, but these had a sweet, musty flavor that made me wince.

Verdict: I'd rather wait in line at Asahi. Only one more ramen house to go! I have a feeling Asahi will win, though.

Kinchan's
2119 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-445-0031

Restaurant Review #109: Asahi Ramen, Sawtelle, West LA

Extra spicy ramen with chashu

I finally got to go to Asahi! There is almost always a line several people long to get a table, and I never want to wait, especially when it is cold outside. But I got lucky last Sunday and snagged a table with no wait at 8:30, just 30 minutes before closing time. Maybe that's the secret.

Once inside, I realized that the service is so fast that the wait for a table is probably not that long. Also, quite a few people came to pick up takeout orders. In the future, I think I'll do takeout, since the bowls of soup are enormous and one bowl could easily feed two people. The soups cost about $6-8 each. Talk about a cheap dinner!

I didn't have very high expectations for Asahi after my first ramen experience at Chabuya. There, the broth was salty and the noodles were just noodles, and sometimes soggy noodles.

Asahi is a whole different story. The broth is spicy (if you order it spicy for an extra 35 cents) and not overly dominated by one flavor. The portions are huge. The noodles are pleasantly chewy and somehow actually taste like something. Wow!

The chashu was a leaner cut of meat than what I'd eaten at Chabuya. I was pleased by the absence of fat slivers, but Asahi's pork was unpleasantly dry--quite a feat, since it had been soaking in broth. This was really the only downside of the meal, though. The fantastic wontons in our other bowl of soup more than made up for it. They had an incredibly rich flavor, and a small amount of meat that made them easy to eat in one bite.

Another pleasant surprise were the bamboo shoots. I've never seen brown bamboo shoots before, and they were a lot more flavorful than the pale yellow variety I've eaten all my life. (I'm pretty sure they were bamboo shoots--they have a texture all their own.)

The spicy cucumber slices that arrive at the table almost as soon as you sit down were also a big winner. Too bad they only give you four slices per person.

The atmosphere just floor and chairs and tables for 2-4 people. Grimy old no smoking stickers dot the walls, not quite above each table. Above those are rather nice watercolor paintings of flowers, for sale at low prices of around $50-100. The service was fast, and friendly in a fairly indifferent way.

I love Asahi, and I now understand why people wait for ramen. This ramen is not the same as that 12 cent bag from the grocery store! Now I can't wait to see what awaits me at Ramenya and Kinchans, and I can't wait for the next cold night when I can share a takeout bowl of soup with a friend.

By the way, in case it wasn't obvious from the nearly identical hours and locations, Asahi and Tofu-ya, next door, are under the same ownership.


Extra spicy ramen with wontons

Asahi Ramen
2027 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-479-2231
11:30-9:00 daily, closed Thursdays
Website

Restaurant Review #107: Lollicup, Saawtelle, West LA - CLOSED

Lollicup is, as far as I can tell, the largest chain boba shop in the country. For this reason, I intentionally avoided it for the first year and a half or so that I lived here.

But then, Volcano Tea started serving boba that wasn't quite fresh. And Upper House only serves those huge cups, and has a somewhat limited flavor selection. So I tried Lollicup.

Lollicup offers both a regular and a large size. They have an extensive selection of flavors and textures (by textures, I mean snow, slush, tea, etc). They also sell steamed pork buns, a couple of pastries, soda, coffee, pudding, and prepackaged Japanese snacks like Pocki and shrimp crackers. There are three booths in the back, three tables in the front, and four amazingly uncomfortable tables outside.

They have free WiFi (which works just fine at the outside tables). There is a community bulletin board, mostly promoting area nightlife and helping people sell services from English lessons to voice lessons. Like any place with a blender, it's noisy, and not a place where I would want to hang out and chat. The loud and very repetitive pop music makes matters even worse.

Lollicup offers some less common flavors like watermelon and canteloupe, and with the exception of one visit, the boba has always been fresh and my drink prepared with the proper ratio of liquid to ice. I won't try to tell you which flavors are good and which aren't, because it's really a matter of personal preference, but I am partial to taro and canteloupe. It should be noted that though the menu has separate sections for slush/icy and snow/smoothie, there doesn't seem to be any difference in the way they are prepared.

Lollicup is consistent, at the very least, and though the ambience can range from okay to barely tolerable, it's no worse and probably somewhat better than the other options on Sawtelle.


Lollicup
2012 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-231-3522
Website (with menu)
Mon-Thur 11am-midnight
Fri, Sat 11am-1am
Sun noon-11pm

Restaurant Review #106: Mizu 212, Sawtelle, West LA

Light my fire, baby

Ok, I'll be honest. The only reason I went to Mizu 212 is because there was already a line at Asahi (at 5:00 on Saturday), there was already an even worse line at Hide Sushi (have I mentioned that I've tried to go to both of these places about 5 times each, and always I am thwarted by the line?), and Orris wasn't open yet. Also, one of my anonymous readers was curious about my opinion of the place, and I was in the mood to eat at a place I hadn't reviewed yet. So Mizu 212 it was.

We easily got a spot at the counter--the restaurant was only about 1/3 full when we arrived. Our psychic host seated me exactly where I wanted to sit--at the empty end of the counter. We hung our coats on the coat rack--all the seats are stools (the two tables I saw had post-its that said they were unavailable due to remodeling), and you can't hang your coat on a stool--you'd have to sit on it or throw it on the floor. Including a coat rack was good thinking.



Good thinking reigns at Mizu 212, it seems. The layout is aesthetically pleasing. There is a decent amount of space between stools (which are bolted to the floor--my friend didn't like this, but I didn't mind). A server gets your pot of water boiling as soon as you sit down, and refills it halfway through your meal to account for the water that has been lost to steam. The jazz music is neither too soft nor too loud, too cheesy nor too trendy. The only issue I had was that the pots of boiling water seemed a bit out of reach. I guess that's probably for safety purposes, but if long-limbed me is straining, they're too far away.


Veggies, tofu, and udon to go with my meat

Menu choices are limited--this is strictly a shabu shabu joint, and nothing more. You can get chicken, beef, veggies, or assorted seafood (shrimp, crab, salmon, and scallops). All of the meat/seafood plates come with a side of veggies (pictured above), while the veggie plate is essentially the sides. I would not be happy eating here if I were a vegetarian, since a large portion of that plate consists of bok choy and cabbage. Mmm, boiled cabbage. All meals also come with your choice of white or brown rice, at no extra charge. You can get a regular or an extra large plate, but if you want to share either, there is a $4 charge for your own portion of rice and dipping sauces (not sure if this charge is optional). I found one regular plate to be enough to fill me up (without consuming much rice).



You get two dipping sauces: ponzu and sesame. I really didn't like the sesane sauce, as it tasted like sawdust with a hint of peanut. The ponzu sauce was good though. I wished there had been more dipping sauces, but I'm not sure that would be consistent with traditional shabu shabu. I base this statement on my experience at the now defunct Shige, which also had two dipping sauces similar to the ones at Mizu 212. I guess if I were a real food critic, I'd research that. Ah, the joys of working for myself and not getting paid.

So how does this shabu shabu thing work? For those of you who don't know, you get a plate of thinly sliced raw meat, which you then boil very briefly in a pot of water at your table. You also get veggies. Any flavor your dish will have comes from two dipping sauces and a few condiments--chopped scallions, grated daikon, red pepper seasoning. The meat cooks incredibly quickly--within seconds. You have to watch it carefully to avoid overcooking it. Then you use a spoon or your chopsticks to pull the meat out of the water. Since wood can't be sterilized, I would recommend using one pair of chopsticks to toss the raw meat in the water, and another pair (or a spoon) to pull it out. Neither of the restaurants I've had shabu shabu at have seemed concerned about food poisoning from raw meat though, so maybe I'm wrong about something here. Feel free to enlighten me.


Much more appetizing than it looked in Lost in Translation

We ordered one plate of chicken and one of beef. The chicken wasn't too exciting, but then, is that really a surprise? Boiled chicken. Yum. The beef was quite good however, as the high fat content gave it a lot of flavor. The accompanying veggie plate was disappointing, as the only things on the plate that were capable of adding flavor to my meal were the 4 bites of shiitake mushroom. The veggies take longer to cook than the meat, so toss those in the water first if you want to eat the two together.

I also ordered a side of kim chee. I had a feeling my taste buds would need some perking up. I liked it, but I'm not Korean, and not well-versed in what makes kim chee authentic/good.

Overall, Mizu 212 is a good place to eat a healthy, creative meal. The service is good and the atmosphere is perfect. However, flavor-wise, shabu shabu seems pretty dull to me. (The lemonade didn't taste like much, either.)

Relevant trivia: shabu shabu means swish swish, which is a reference to the sound of cooking your food in boiling water. 212 is the temperature at which water boils.

Mizu 212
2000 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-478-8979

Restaurant Review #102: Yakitoria, West LA

Assorted Japanese Pickles-daikon, carrot, and eggplant

When you walk into Yakitoria, everyone will turn and stare at you for a good, long, fifteen seconds--or at least, that's what happened to me. My friend and I continued to stand awkwardly in the lack of space in front of the door while we waited for what felt like forever, but was probably about two minutes, for someone to seat us. There was no dedicate host, but he or she wouldn't have had any space to set up a stand, anyway. Did we have a reservation? No. I guess it didn't matter though. We got a table for two near the door, and no one who came in after us had a reservation either (we were within earshot), and they all got seated.

The restaurant is very small, even by Sawtelle standards. There are somewhere between five and eight tables (my memory is a bit fuzzy on this) and a small bar that seats maybe eight or ten people. The decor is nice--dark wood tables and yellow ochre walls--but the white tile and black caulk floor detracts from what would otherwise be a very elegant interior.


Chicken wrapped shishito pepper yakitori

Here's the kicker.

At Yakitoria, you can either order a minimum of 5 pieces of yakitori (featured above) at $2.50 each, or you can pay a $2.00 service charge. Period.

None of the yakitori are vegetarian (though they offer an assortment of chicken wrapped vegetables, so you could probably request just vegetables without chicken), and my friend is a vegetarian, so she didn't want any yakitori. I just wanted one skewer, since I've never had this stuff before and didn't know if Idl like it, and because I don't like meat enough to eat several skewers of it, regardless.

So she ordered a $7 bowl of soup, and I ordered a $9.50 plate of ravioli and one yakitori. We also ordered some pickles, which were $5.50.

I assumed that the 5 sticks of yakitori policy was to ensure a minimum order, and I figured that with our food averaging just over $12 a person, there would be no problem, right?

Wrong! $2 service charge unless you order five sticks of yakitori. Period. What??? I would have asked for an explanation for this seemingly ludicrous policy, but our server's English didn't seem great, so I decided not to ask. I must admit that this policy made me pretty mad, and between that and the lack of vegetarian options on the menu, I almost left. But I couldn't do it, because I was really looking forward to my ravioli, and I was really hungry.


Rice and seaweed soup with wasabi

My friend thought her soup was good, and tasted healthy, but wasn't anything exciting. I thought it was pretty bland, and really wished it hadn't been the lone vegetarian option. Most Japanese restaurants have plenty of vegetarian options, so I didn't even think about investigating before we went.

I wouldn't recommend this dish, especially because it's almost guaranteed to give you a seaweed-toothed smile due to the numerous tiny seaweed flakes floating in the broth. Since I have an unnatural fear of having food stuck between my teeth, tasting the soup was a challenge for me!

The pickles were good, though for $5.50 the portion seemed awfully small. The thinly sliced carrots had a slippery smooth texture that I didn't know a carrot could have--kind of like a cucumber, but smoother. The tangy pieces of eggplant were my favorite. The daikon was also good, though it didn't have a particularly pickley flavor (neither did the carrots).


Duck and shiitake ravioli with truffle oil and...celery leaves?

Oh, boy, this ravioli was good! The pasta seemed homemade and you can't go wrong with truffle oil. Interestingly, I couldn't detect the duck at all. The filling was minced, and nothing had a meaty texture to it at all. The leaves made a pretty garnish, but I'm not sure they were meant to be eaten, since they didn't add anything to the flavor of the dish. The ravioli was served only lukewarm though, which made it slightly less tasty. Also, when I got sick later, I wondered if it was because of the temperature of my food. I couldn't tell you if I got some sort of food poisoning, or if some kind of shellfish snuck into my meal somehow. I only mention it because if a bunch of my readers have had the same experience, that will tell us something about the restaurant. Otherwise, please consider it an isolated incident and don't let it deter you.

My one piece of yakitori did nothing to convince me that I should be required to order five of them. You don't get much food for the price, and though I saw the chef dip the skewers in something and sprinkle them with something before grilling them, they tasted like plain grilled chicken and peppers.

I don't get it. Maybe one of you will enlighten me.

Overall, I might have gone back for the yummy ravioli, but since I got sick, I won't. The five stick policy seems bizarre and unaccomodating, the service wasn't amazing, and the restaurant is pretty loud for its size.

And, guess what? I can't find anything about this place online, and I didn't pick up a card, so I can't give you the address or phone number. It's right next to Kiriko on Sawtelle (across the street from Nijaya Market). If someone has the address, please let me know!

Restaurant Review #101: Phoreign, Sawtelle, West LA - CLOSED

Pho tai (rare beef)

Phoreign. My first thought was, "god, what a horrible name for a restaurant. There is no way this place is going to last with a name like that!" Then I realized that it might be a Vietnamese place--and it is--which makes the name slightly less painful.

So is this the reincarnation of Hanoi Cafe? I'm not positive, but I think so. When they closed, the sign said that they were moving down the street. I wasn't expecting the name change, though. I never ate at Hanoi Cafe--in fact, the first time I tried to eat there, I discovered that they'd closed--so I can't tell you if the menu or the flavors are the same. I went to Phoreign with low expectations though, due to 1) the cheesy name 2) the Westside Vietnamese curse 3) the possibility that it was a reincarnation of Hanoi Cafe, which no one seemed enthused about and 4) the gaudy, bright, oversized photos on a large sign outside the restaurant.


Bun with unfried tofu

My low expectations were pretty much fulfilled. The restaurant wasn't bad, but it was somewhere between average and mediocre (average for Westside Vietnamese, that is).

The first problem was that the water tasted funny. To be specific, it tasted like the way swimming pool water tastes when you're right next to a pool float (this spot-on observation brought to you by one of my fellow diners). It was so bad that I didn't drink it at all, in fact, and I'm no water snob. I ordered a cafe sua da instead. I ordered it hot, but it came lukewarm. There's no excuse for not being able to boil water before pouring it over my coffee.

The waiter nicely explained that I needed to wait for the water to drain through the coffee and stir it well so it would mix with the sweetened condensed milk. Yes, I am a white girl, but that doesn't mean that I have never seen a Vietnamese iced coffee before. Sigh. I have sort of noticed, though, that the Sawtelle scene really is almost entirely young 20-something Asians, so I guess I do stand out like a sore thumb. I'm so used to being surrounded by minorities, though, that I tend to think I am one. Actually, when you're surrounded by people who are different than you, that does make you a minority. The white minority. I prefer it that way, actually.

As pho is always a logical measuring stick for a Vietnamese place, that's what I ordered. It was interestingly presented, with the rare beef balled up in a rose shape, but it wasn't served hot enough, the noodles were difficult to tease away from their original clump, and the broth didn't have the complexity of flavor that one expects from a good bowl of pho.


Bun with charbroiled beef

The bun with charbroiled beef (and normally shrimp, but I ordered it sans shellfish) had flavors of lemongrass, and I could definitely taste the fishiness in the accompanying sauce. The imperial rolls had lots of ginger, which was an excellent decision. It wasn't as good as Thanh My, but it was the best dish on the table.

My other friend's dish was a tofu bun dish. She ordered the tofu not fried, which they happily accomodated, but I was a bit horrified to see that they had partially burned her imperial rolls and put them in the dish anyway. It had a different sauce than the other bun, probably because fish sauce isn't vegetarian, so I think it's safe to say that they do have a vegetarian dish on the menu, and that the pho with tofu might actually be made with vegetarian broth as well.

We ate at one of the two patio tables, adjacent to the none-too-scenic parking lot. Our orders were taken quickly and arrived promptly, but after that, we were long-forgotten. The staff was friendly, in that invisible sort of way. The interior looks nice, though narrow and small-there are only 4 or five tables, and the rest of the seats are at a long bar. The dominant color is dark wood, and they have bamboo shades in the windows. The lunch menu is abbreviated, but they do offer a couple of lunch specials that come with imperial rolls, rice, and salad for $10.95. Pho costs about $7.00, and other things are slightly cheaper. Coffee is $3.

Verdict? The only reason I will eat here again is because the location is convenient for me. Pho 99 is probably your best option for Westside Vietnamese.

Phoreign
2123 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-477-4885

Restaurant Review #96: Blue Marlin, Sawtelle, West LA

Chicken and organic vegetables in sweet and spicy miso sauce

Update: Blue Marlin has permanently closed.

Blue Marlin has received a lot of bad press on Yelp, and I'm not sure why. It's one of my favorite restaurants, especially for the croquette curry, the risottos, and the tranquil atmosphere.

I wasn't thrilled with the organic dish because of the quality of the chicken. On the front page of the menu, Blue Marlin devotes a couple of paragraphs to how they use Jidori chickens and their eggs, saying that they are free range and organic and of far superior quality. But the chicken didn't taste special, and the cuts of meat they chose contained large chunks of fat--a big turn-off. My favorite things about this dish were the roasted acorn squash, the presentation, and the committment to organic ingredients.


Side salad with sweet and tangy miso dressing

I don't think my meal was supposed to come with a side salad and miso soup, but I got it anyway. In this case, the shredded carrot, purple cabbage, and slivers of red onion really made the flavor of the salad perfect. The dressing, though it's yellowy-orange color was a bit off-putting, was fantastic. I finished my salad and ate half of my friend's. I saw other tables getting bread baskets, but we didn't. I didn't care about this oversight though, since the salad and soup arrived within a few minutes of ordering, and I had plenty of food on the way. I'd award this dish "best non-albacore salad at a Japanese restaurant." Incidentally, albacore salad is also on the menu (I resisted the urge though, in favor of trying something new).


Scallop, wild mushroom and curry risotto

I normally don't like risotto, and I was skeptical of Japanese curry after being underwhelmed by Hurry Curry of Tokyo. However, by process of elimination and because I had a hankering for scallops, I ended up ordering this dish. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this curry was richly spiced and a bit hot. The scallops were tender, but the mushrooms seemed more of an afterthought, rather than a main component.


Croquette curry

The menu consists of risotto dishes, chicken dishes, hamburg steak dishes, curries, and a page and a half of spagetti. Maybe one day I'll try Japanese spaghetti, but it doesn't appeal to me for any reason beyond its bizarreness. There are quite a few desserts, including fried ice cream and a chocolate souffle.


Chocolate souffle



The dining room is casual, yet ambient

The dining room's decor seems carefully considered--the entire ceiling is skillfully painted with an aquatic theme, reflecting the restaurant's name while somehow avoiding kitch. Maybe that's because the wooden tables and bamboo blinds are so down-to-earth. There are about ten tables, and the restaurant is quiet and moderately popular, a good alternative to immensely crowded places like Hide Sushi and Asahi Ramen if you're not in the mood to wait at 6:30 pm on a Sunday. The service was friendly, prompt, and very smiley.

Cost of this meal for two including tax, tip, and a lemonade: About $30

Blue Marlin
2121 Sawtelle
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-445-2522

Restaurant Review #92: Chabuya, Sawtelle, West LA

The Classic with chashu (barbequed pork)

On Sunday, there was nothing but brown paper and a sign in the window saying that Hanoi Cafe was moving down the street. On Tuesday, the paper was off, and serious work on a new restaurant interior was underway. On Saturday, I looked inside and saw shiny, dark wood tables and fifteen or so new staff people in crisp white uniforms having a meeting.

I was going to stalk this place nightly until the doors opened, no doubt about it. I didn’t know when that would be, but I knew I would be there. I’d never been to the opening night of a restaurant before! Other people count the days until opening day at Dodger Stadium or the opening day of the next Batman movie. But not me!


Open kitchen

Opening night was not Saturday, like I’d hoped and anticipated, and it wasn’t exactly Sunday, either. On Sunday, the restaurant opened with a preview menu consisting of three items, as I remember it: pork gyoza, “the classic,” which was a basic bowl of broth and ramen noodles, and the classic with chashu (barbecued pork). My friend and I snagged seats at the eight seater bar since the twelve or so tables were all full. The service was lethargic--it took a long time just to get our menus! There were a few groups of insider well-wishers, and bouquets of flowers with good luck cards attached. I was willing to forgive the slowness since it was their very first night and the kitchen staff didn’t seem to have gotten soup ladling down to a perfectly timed rhythm yet.

Opening on a Sunday and with a very abbreviated menu may have less impact, but it is smart--it gives the staff a chance to get used to each other and their roles with a smaller menu on a slower night (though Sunday nights on Sawtelle are generally quite busy). And calling it a preview tends to make critical patrons like myself more forgiving of any mistakes.

I ordered--and I surprised even myself with this--the classic with chashu. Why? I guess I thought it would be a richer experience (I usually won't eat pork). Now here’s my disclaimer--I’ve never had real ramen before. I have no idea what I’m comparing this food to--my only measuring stick is my inherent (and rather well-developed, I hope) sense of what is and is not good. Future visits to Ramenya and Asahi are in the works to round out my experience a bit.

As for my dish, the three slices of pork on top were not what I expected barbequed pork to be like--I was expecting something more along the lines of the charbroiled meat you get at Vietnamese restaurants. I was also expecting leaner meat--this meat was lined with slivers of fat that I found really unappetizing (that inconsistent consistency was the original reason I quit eating meat regularly). The noodles were just slightly overcooked, which made them kind of mushy by the time I was halfway though my soup.

The broth was very flavorful, but also very salty--too salty for me. On the plus side, the salty broth lent a nice flavor to the noodles, which you pull out and eat with chopsticks--maybe the broth isn't meant to be sipped alone, though they did give me a spoon. Overall, I thought the soup tasted like pretzels. My friend ordered the classic, and liked her food, though she is admittedly less picky than I. She also agreed with the pretzel description. I thought my soup would have been better washed down with a beer, which I didn’t order--I would save that experiment for a fresh bowl on my next visit. Though I didn’t love my food, Chabuya seemed to have potential. I really liked the atmosphere and the prices, and was curious about what the full menu would offer.

I learned that the real opening night was Friday night, so I decided to go to see how smoothly things were running, how much fanfare there would be, what would be on the full menu, and if I'd like the ramen any better this time.


The interior is sleek, but the dress code is casual

The atmosphere is impressive by Los Angeles standards, where most restaurants are ridiculously noisy (“hip”) or nothing more than floor, tables, and chairs. Chabuya has a sleekness that you generally only find at larger restaurants, and it has a definite din, but the sounds of the other patrons talking somehow retreat far enough into the background that you can still hear the people at your own table quite easily. It’s perfect, really--the background clanking and murmurring is conducive to private conversation, even at the bar.

On my second visit, I got what is probably the most private table in the house, off to the side. The tables in the middle of the room are pushed so close together as to leave you dining with two strangers at your table if you come in a party of two. The booth seating along one wall is probably okay, though I haven't sat there yet. There is no outdoor seating, but there are plenty of chairs to sit in while you wait for a table, and a stack of LA Weeklys to read.


Chicken rice bowl

On this visit, I decided not to order ramen and just eat some of my friend's, and to instead try several other dishes. I got a mini chicken rice bowl, which I really liked--the rice was perfectly cooked. The chicken had a nice flavor, but like the pork on my previous visit, wasn't lean enough for my liking. There's really nothing to this dish--just chicken and rice, and a few toasted sesame seeds that added a lot of flavor. You can dress it up with soy sauce, chili sesame oil, and rice vinegar, all in bottles on the table.


Pork Shumai

Again, I went against my usual tendency to avoid pork like I avoid dirty homeless men and ordered the pork shumai. After all, I had no choice--the other shumai option was shrimp. Not ordering some type of dumpling was not an option, you see--I just love dumplings. These were so good that they actually changed my mind about pork. The filling was juicy and flavorful--I could have eaten these all night. $3 for 3 dumplings is a lot more than the frozen ones I usually eat, but I think these were fresh. The lettuce leaves used for presentation looked pretty, though I might have chosen something else, since the heat of the dumplings caused it to wilt after a little while (by then, you should have polished off your shumai, though!).


House salad--doesn’t taste as pretty as it looks

The house dressing looked like it contained something besides oil, but all it tasted like was oil. Maybe I should have stirred it more before pouring it on my salad. It was too late for that solution though, so I decided to add the rice vinegar that was on the table and dress my salad like a Spaniard, but with a Japanese twist--sesame oil and rice vinegar instead of olive oil and balsamic. The mixed greens, the two cherry tomatoes, and the cucumber were all fresh and wonderful, but the oily, flavorless dressing really killed the mood. How about a soy sesame ginger vinagrette? Maybe that's what they were going for. . . .


Tori soba

My friend, also a newbie to ramen, ordered the tori soba, which was ramen with chicken, garnished with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. According to him, "the chicken in the chicken soup also looked unappetizing, with bits of gristly fat on it, but it didn’t taste bad. Unfortunately, it didn’t taste especially amazing, either. The noodles were cooked perfectly, but the soup did nothing to wow me. Perhaps ramen just isn’t all that impressive of a dish. Still, the price is right and the portions are generous."

The service was noticably better this time in terms of speed, but still indifferent. Our water was refilled regularly, and the dishes all arrived separately and in no logical order. We still had to flag someone down to get the bill. That's sort of odd when there's a crowd outside waiting for a table, but on the other hand, at least the staff wasn't racing to turn tables.

The menu also has a few noodle dishes (both cold and hot) and some sandwiches. I'd like to try both of these on my next visit. From looking at other tables, the sandwiches look like they come in a do-it-yourself format with a fun presentation.

As we left, we walked through a crowd of about 25 people waiting for a table. I was glad we had gotten there just a little after 6:00, when our wait was only a few minutes. It will be interesting to see if Chabuya continues with the success it saw on opening night.

Soups, $6.95-$8.95; sides, $1.00-3.00, other entrees, $3.00-8.95
Total cost of a meal for two and a shared beer, including tax and tip: $17.54



Chabuya
Tokyo Noodle Bar
2002 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90025
Hours: 11:00am-2:30pm, 4:30pm-midnight, daily! I love these hours!

The History of Sawtelle

Restaurant’s own description:

“Straight from Tokyo, Chabuya is the urban ramen bar that revolutionized a favorite Japanese pastime. Its menu was conceived under the meticulous eye of Master Chef Yasujik Morizumi, renowned for his peak season ingredients and uncanny talent for arousing the senses.

Taste Chabuya ramen and two things strike you immediately. The first is an instant appreciation for the fresh, organic ingredients cooked to mouth-watering perfection. The second is an overwhelming urge to take another bite.

Already wildly successful in Japan, Chabuya has arrived to Los Angeles, ready to introduce Americans to a totally fresh ramen experience."