la.foodblogging

Some interior photos and outside signage.

In a previous life, it used to be East Japanese Restaurant. Today it’s Irori Japanese Restaurant.

Hidden in the Villa Marina Marketplace, in between Sav-on and Vons, it’s easy to miss this little Japanese restaurant that “promotes a festive atmosphere and symbolizes hospitality, down-to-earthiness, and enjoying good food and drinks with the ones you love” (Irori take-out menu).

As I walked into the relatively empty restaurant at 5:45pm on a weekday afternoon, I noticed a few things that reminded me of the good old days of East as well as some inauspicious signs that made me wonder about what to expect…

It was nice to see the same wooden floors and traditional Japanese decor that occupied this new space. The same sushi bar could be found, just with different sushi chefs. But you no longer had a locker for your fancy footwear, and different boxes held your shoes as you dined. Most tables were built for 1-6 people and only one table was made for a party of 6-8. Unfortunately for my family of 7, we were not on the reservation list. Instead, we were graciously seated at two neighboring tables.

Strike One: I was highly disappointed that I couldn’t see or talk to my cousins who were sitting behind me, but I guess that’s what we had to compromise to be able to eat at Irori.

Strike Two: Perhaps it’s my ultra-sensitive nose, but the distinct smell of fish hit me the first moment I walked through the door. Am I wrong in thinking that sushi restaurants should be fish smell free?

In any event, I asked my Ba-chan to help me understand a Japanese term I was unfamiliar with - Irori. She referred to a current Japanese television drama we both watch during weekday mornings - Tenka. Tenka’s ji-chan had an irori where he ate, with a big metal pot that’s used to cook inside a charcoal filled pit - very reminiscent of the old Samurai warrior days of Japan. It was also nice to read the description and see the illustration of an irori on the take-out menu. But with no explanation on the restaurant’s lamenated trifold menu, it seemed a bit odd to have this seemingly important restaurant information only on the to-go menu.

As we were seated around our modern day irori (tabletop), I snapped a photo under the floor where we rested our feet. After awkwardly getting into our bright and bold red place settings, we placed our drink orders. I stuck with regular hot green tea while others ordered the Iced Green Tea that tasted bland and more like a health drink supplement than a refreshing summer drink. After being diluted with the melted ice and mixing the tea with a packet of sugar, it had a much better taste to it.

We also ordered a number of appetizers to start with: Daily Special Lobster Tempura with Spicy Cream Sauce [pictured above left | $18], the Fried Calamari [pictured above right | $6], and the Chicken Karaage [not pictured | $5].

Close-up photo of lobster tempura plated.

The lobster tempura was deep-fried in a soft, eggy batter that melted in the mouth with the spicy cream sauce. Bits of shiitake mushrooms were also mixed in the batter, deep-fried, and smoothered with the sauce. Topped with cilantro and strands of some kind of kelp/seaweed gave the lobster more flavor and bite to it. The platter was garnished with a hollow cooked lobster tail, more cilantro and seaweed, and an artistically paletted stream of Japanese ground red chile pepper spice and black sesame seeds. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night, along with the deliciously tender and flavored fried calamari with a spicy pickled garlic, onion and (tomato?) relish.

Orders of Shrimp Tempura Udon [pictured above | $8.50], Tuna Sashimi Salad [pictured above | $13.50], the Chirashi [not pictured | $15], Nigiri Sushi (8pcs) with California Rolls [not pictured | $19], and the Beef Teriyaki with Sashimi Dinner that came with miso soup, salad, sunomono, rice, and red bean ice cream with strawberry sauce for dessert [not pictured | $17] were placed by my family, and they all indicated that they enjoyed their meals.

I, on the other hand, had to ask our server for what was good on the menu. The old menu at East was fairly a traditional Japanese menu with select dishes to choose from. The new menu had a long list of appetizers - very typical at Japanese izakayas, a variety of salads, noodle dishes and entrees as well as their sushi and sashimi plates. One look and I was a bit overwhelmed. Unfortunately, she misunderstood my question and ended up going over the differences between sashimi and sushi. I patiently nodded as she explained the menu items and daily specials, and I knew that I was on my own.

So I ordered the Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeño and Yuzu Soy Sauce [pictured above | $15] - thinking that it would be similar to the Albacore Sashimi with Jalapeños dish I had at Chocolat on Melrose. After one big mouthful, I could feel the sweat beads start to form on my forehead and the heat start to rise in my throat. After two bites, my face turned a bright shade of red. And after my third bite, I had to finish the rest of the sashimi sans pepper. I also ordered a small bowl of white rice to neutralize my mouth from the heat and the strongly acidic and vinegar tasting sauce. Not sure what I was thinking, ordering a dish with jalapeños. A bit daring, mostly foolish, I was happy that I finished the plate with only three lonely slices of the pepper.

I also ordered the daily special sushi of Blue Fin Medium Toro [pictured above | $7.50] and the Kanpachi [pictured above | $5]. Both were decent in portion and taste, but for the price I’d rather be ordering them from a place like Sushi Echigo. The salmon sushi I snagged from the Nigiri plate was definitely nowhere near the type of utter perfection from Chefs Toshi and Nobi.

So although the food was good (but not great), it was a wonderful time spent with loved ones in a pretty relaxed and fun environment. We kicked off our shoes and summer sandals, climbed down to our cushioned seats on the floor, and laughed the night away.

Irori Japanese Restaurant
in the Villa Marina Marketplace
street: 4371 glencoe avenue, #b-14 | marina del rey, ca 90292
tel: 1.310.822.3700
hrs: m-f lunch 11:30a-2p | m-th dinner 5:30p-10p
f dinner 5:30p-11p | sat dinner 5p-11p | sun dinner 5p-9:30p
free plaza parking

By Kristy (see more of her posts). A native of the city, kristy loves to discover new sites, new eateries, new things to do in her online journal of finding the best of la.