la.foodblogging

Celadon is a beautiful restaurant and bar/lounge that offers a unique experience. This is definitely the kind of romantic venue you could take someone special to, though the menu is actually skewed towards shared plates, hence ideal for groups of 4-5 or more.
Adjacent to the main bar are a few lounge rooms, [...]

For over a year I have driven past a nice-looking venue (at 11334 Moorpark, just east of Tujunga) where a posted sign promised “ZenChi – Coming 05.â€? Eventually the sign was changed to read “Ok….2006.â€?
Funny! At least these restaurateurs have a sense of humour.
Well at long last ZenChi Cafe [...]

Omakase means “Trust”, or something similar to that, so when LA internet food entrepreneur Jonah asked me to meet him at Echigo I knew this would be a great meal. What I didn’t realize was what a great deal it would also be. Omakase may mean trust, but it also translates to bankrupt. We both [...]

My friends and I headed over to Shin Sen Gumi on a Friday night for some grilled/skewered chicken parts. Absolutely one of my favorite Japanese foods. I spoiled myself with yakitori when I was in Japan in May and was bummed that I may never find a comprable yakitori joint in California. [...]

Isn’t she lovely…
Isn’t she wonderfull…
Isn’t she precious…
Less than one minute old…
I never thought through love we’d be…
Making one as lovely as she…
But isn’t she lovely made from love.
Stevie Wonder probably wasn’t singing about a girl named Karen, but that song comes to mind when I think about Sushi Karen in Culver City. Culver City [...]

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 [...]

I’ve been in West LA for nearly two years and have limited myself to the Sawtelle restaurant row. Obviously because of my last job working for a few pesos an hour. What about those places on Olympic, Wilshire and Pico? It was time to move on and feed my curious palate. [...]

Realizing that Japanese food was not all ramen, teriyaki, and tempura, I wanted to sample other parts of Japanese cuisine. One of my friends who had recently spent a year in Japan told me about izakayas. In a sense, they are Japanese tapas bars. Serving small plates (but bigger than those at [...]