A Sushi Place You Don't Want to Miss!

I love sushi.  It's light, flavorful, and actually pretty healthy (if you don't overdose).  Unfortunately around campus there aren't too many spots where I can get my craving fulfilled.  Soy, the japanese grill, is a frequently visited spot by most students, but I don't find the rolls to be very fresh.  When I'm about to eat raw fish, I don't like to take too many risks.

 One of my favorite go-to sushi spots is downtown in Little Tokyo. Located right in the heart of the town, Tenno sushi is a great quick stop for dinner.  It's fun, casual, very inexpensive, and tasty!

I was a little hesitant upon passing the restaurant for the first time.  The sign outside the door saying "50% off all sushi" had me a little worried.  But I swallowed my initial assumptions and trusted the advice of my friend Tory (who lives in Little Tokyo).

I was seated by a waiter who looked like a Japanese body builder (interesting combination).  Both the menu and sushi list were quite extensive.  Not only do they offer sushi sashimi, and maki (hand rolls), but there is an entire entree menu as well.  Anything from teriyaki bowls, to grilled salmon, and udon is available.

Sushi Menu

I was amazed by the vast array of specialty rolls they had.  The Pink Lady Roll caught my attention.  It filled with spicy crab meat, spicy tuna, cucumber and avocado.  Then topped with seared tuna, sliced lemon, and ponzu sauce.  Now that's some serious sushi.

Although my eyes were mesmerized but the vibrant pictures of the sushi creations, they immediately focused on the simple sushi menu.  $3.65 for a California roll? That's unheard of!  Its almost $8.00 for some not-so-fresh sushi at Seeds in the campus center.

I decided to start with some vegetable tempura, and then ordered the Spicy Albacore roll for my meal.  Interestingly, the roll actually came out before the tempura.  There definitely seemed to be a lack in communication between all of the employees.  The restaurant has about 10 different waiters running around and serving all of the tables.  We were asked on three different occasions for our drink orders, and the check came out before we even finished our meal.  The food came out quite quickly, but it all felt a little chaotic.  

The roll was great.  I love albacore.  It's very light, but still has that distinct taste from your average tuna.  The spicy kick really vamped up the flavor.

Spicy Albacore Roll

I have mastered my wasabi-soy sauce dipping recipe whenever I go out for sushi.  It is usually pretty heavy on the wasabi, but I like to bring the heat.  The chili's in the roll very chopped very fine, but distinct among  the silky albacore.  I rarely had to dip my pieces into my spicy sauce, the rolls were already so flavorful!
    

Vegetable Tempura

The tempura was pretty average.  About 8 different pieces came out battered and fried.  The batter itself was pretty thick.  I usually like a lighter and crispier coating, but the vegetables inside were steamed pretty well.  The crunchy green beans were the highlight, but overall it was a little disappointing.

Green Tea Ice Cream

For desert I had a scoop of green tea ice cream.  This is my go-to for after sushi.  It's creamy but not too overpowering.  Great palate cleanser after all of the salt.

The whole restaurant and sushi bar is very casual.  They play Top 40 hits the entire night, so it's a quite the lively environment.   And they have karaoke on Friday nights!  I've never had to wait for a table, and the prices are astonishing for what you get!  If you're really hungry you can get rolls and a teriyaki bowl for under $15.  You have to venture a little further than Figueroa and Adams, but Tenno sushi is the perfect college restaurant.  

Katsuya by SBE in Hollywood

If you're looking for more of an exquisite dining experience, my two favorite spots for sushi in LA are Katsuya (Hollywood) and Wabi Sabi in Venice.  Yes, this is the Katsuya featured on "The Hills", and a great star spotting location.  You can never go wrong with the Spicy Tuna on crispy rice or any of the sashimi.  The decor inside will blow your mind.  You can embrace your inner star and feel fabulous with the rest of Hollywood.  The other Katsuya locations offer the same amazing menu, and are great options if you don't feel like dressing up or spending all of your allowance.

Wabi Sabi on Abbott Kinney

Wabi Sabi encompasses the trendy vibe of Abbott Kinney.  All of the sushi is amazing. They also offer an array of small plates and other asian fusion dishes.  Definitely a great local spot for consistently good food and a chic environment.

Not Soi Great

Afek and his Thai Iced Tea

Vegetable Summer Rolls
Crunch slivers of of assorted
fresh vegetables wrapped in
rice paper with a savory peanut
dipping sauce.

Saturday night, spur of the moment, I get a text from Afek.  He wanted to know if I could watch the new “New Girl” with him.  It’ s our favorite show to watch together.  All I really did that day was homework because I had two papers and a test the week before Thanksgiving.  Why do all the professors always pile on all the work right before break? I guess its better than having to do homework over break.  I told him to come over whenever he could and we would start up my Hulu account.  By the time he walked over, in the rain, it was already 7pm.  We decided to go “Get Fat” and comfortable before watching the show.  I didn’t really feel like driving too far, so we decided to just go downtown.  I recommended Thai food, because that was were we always ate when we would go out back in Seattle.  Unfortunately I haven’t had that great of Thai experiences in LA, compared to Seattle.  Besides Nappakao, a neighborhood restaurant right by my house that is pretty decent for Kirkland, Washington, my favorite Thai restaurant is Thai Tom.  Thai Tom is a small, hole-in-the wall shop in University District.  Hopefully I’ll go there over Thanksgiving so I can blog all about it.  We ended up going to Soi Seven on 7^th street.  I remembered going here once before last year, but I wasn’t so “Type A” back then, so I couldn’t really remember if I liked it or not.  This time my critical eye and tastebuds got to me.  Didn’t have the best experience, even though the date was still lovely as always.  Afek ordered the Thai Iced Tea.  Love the condensed milk, but its too sweet to eat with dinner.  I used to order them when I was younger and went out to Thai food with my family.  We started with the fresh veggie spring rolls-my favorite Thai appetizer. Although presented nicely, the rolls were very dry.  The vegetables did not taste fresh, or crunchy at all.  And there was too much rice paper, making them very sticky.  The appetizer came with a savory peanut dipping sauce that was actually pretty good. At the Thai places I visit at home, the dish usually comes with a thai chili sauce.  I really liked the peanut sauce, reminded me of a chicken satay dish.  Would had been great if the rolls were better. 
For our main entrees I ordered the Pad Siew with chicken.  This is my favorite Thai dish anywhere I go.  It's a pan fried wide noodle, usually served with some sort of vegetable.  I like the wide noodles because of their sticky and chewy like consistency.  This plate was not the best.  The whole dish was room temperature, and a little bland.  Not only did it not have enough spice, but overall it didn't seem like the noodles had soaked up enough of the sauce.  I was also not a fan of the vegetables served with it. Usually the dish comes with a medley of greens maybe accompanied with some carrots or peppers.  This dish only came with what seemed like the stems of broccoli.  They were hard and very bitter tasting.  I think I only ate two out of the whole dish, just picked around the rest.
Afek ordered the red curry.  He said this is his favorite curry dish at Thai restaurants, I like green curry because of the sweet coconut taste.  He was really hungry, and said it tasted alright, but the consistency was not on point.  The curry was way too watery, and lacked some flavor.  

Pad Siew Chicken
Slices of Chicken tossed with wide pan-fried
noodles in a sweet soy sauce with broccoli
eggs.

Besides the less than mediocre food, the service was not the best as well.  Our entrees were delivered only 3 or 4 minutes after our spring rolls, not even giving us enough time to finish them.  Wasn't actually that surprised that the food came out that fast, given there were only a few other tables occupied on a Saturday night in DTLA.  Not something you would expect for a restaurant on 7th street.  I guess the place has some really good lunch deals, so that much be when they get all their business?

Red Curry
Spicy and creamy curry comprising of red
chilis, red curry paste, coconut milk, bamboo
shoots with chicken.

After dinner we had to decide where to get our sweet tooth cravings.  I took him to Syrup, the Dessert Bar downtown.  Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to order any of the extravagant crepes or liege waffles with toppings.  My parking job outside was a little in the red, and I didn't want to risk getting a ticket.  I grabbed the carrot cake to go out of the pastry display, and Afek got a glazed donut.  We ate our desserts in the car, protected from the rain, and on the look out for cops.  My carrot cake was a little dry, with way too much frosting.  Probably trying to cover up the taste.  We rushed back to my apartment in the rain, and finished up the New Girl Episode we were dying to watch.  Not the best dining experience Afek and I have had, but it was still a fun Saturday night.

Get Fat Date with Afek

Junior year TOLO date.  Right after
winning my first state championship
title

Afek Kodesh is one of my closest friends from high school.  Although we both chose USC, my busy schedule with diving, and his demanding classes in the engineering school make it difficult for us to see each other as often as we would like.  When we have the chance, Afek and I like to go on what we call "get fat dates".  We catch up on our new and exciting lives at SC, and reminisce on the good old days at Overlake at exciting new restaurants (usually of my choice).  So far, we have visited Finn McCool's, an irish pub on main street in Santa Monica, and Umami Burger (he's absolute favorite-which I will sure to post about soon.)

The best thing to ever pass through
my mouth and into my stomach.

Our most recent voyage involved a late night trip to Venice Beach, one of  my favorite neighborhoods in LA.  Besides the beach, skate park, boardwalk, fascinating people and culture, the restaurants and food are phenomenal.  Although I eventually see myself ending up in San Diego, if I were to permanently live in LA, Venice Veach is where you would find me.

Originally I wanted to take him to a mexican restaurant called "Mexikosher" in West LA, but unfortunately it is only open for lunch.  Us both being Kosher, him a little stricter than myself, it is a place we will eventually have to try.

Our reservation was at a small latin american spot off Rose in Venice.  Now I have been here twice before, but always for brunch.  I must say that their huevos rancheros were as good as my last trip to mexico, and the grilled salmon tacos were delicious as well.  Whenever asked my favorite food it is a no brainer for me, fish tacos.  The meal I will eat before I die are the fish tacos at the Kilauea Fish Market on the island of Kaui.  The salmon tacos at Oscar's were some of the best I have had in LA, but still do not compare to the freshness of the fish and tortillas from the Market.

Although brunch was never a let down, I wanted to try the trendy cuisine for dinner.  Our reservations were for 7:30 thursday night.  After hitting awful traffic west on the 10 we arrived around 7:45, but still had to wait another 20 minutes for our table.  The spot was completely packed and loud (which afek doesn't prefer.  He complained about it at Finn McCools.. maybe he just really wants to go on a romantic candle lit dinner with me at some fancy french restaurant?  Not really my forte).  When finally given the choice to sit at the bar, or wait a little longer, we were starving and immediately took our spots on the bar stools.  Sitting right on the counter was really fun to watch the chefs prepare all the authentic creations and side dishes.  One dish I noticed constantly on a skillet was some sort of Brussel sprouts.  Dish is the Brussel sprouts with applewood smoked bacon.  I'm sure its delicious (minus the bacon).

When looking at the menu, Afek and I were both starving, so everything sounded good.  For me it was between the salmon tacos (I know, I don't like change) and the Chicken enchilada with mole.  Afek and I both went for the enchilada.  I've had mole a few times before, different experiences each time, but our waitress said it was becoming more and more of a popular dish, so I felt pretty confident with my decision.

Organic Chicken Enchilada with Mole
(Sesame seeds, peanuts, raisins, chile ancho,
chile poblano, raw cocoa) Served with
Ajillo rice. 

While we waited for our meal, Afek and I talked about where we see ourselves living after school, (me-somewhere in cali, and him- in some city... maybe NYC?) while we watched the whirlwind of a kitchen behind the counter.

Once our food arrived, we devoured it.  The mole was delicious.  Mole I've had in the past has always had somewhat of a smokey taste to it, something I've never been too fond of mixed with the coca underlying tone.  This mole was sweeter, a great combination with the shredded chicken and hidden peanuts and raisins.  The Chile ancho and poblano gave it that extra kick that tied the whole dish together.  The simple rice was a perfect side to clean your palate in between the rich bites.  Although the two enchiladas were not extremely large, the thick sauce filled me up pretty quickly.  But that doesn't mean there wasn't room for dessert (it was a Get Fat Date after all).

Instead of ordering a desert at the restaurant, I wanted to walk around and show off Abbott Kinney to Afek. Although I was just planning on going to N'ice Cream with him, we ended up on the trendy street during food truck friday. Probably around 40 or so trucks were lined up on either side of the street, with many dessert options to choose from.  Because Afek still hasn't been to Diddy Riese, I wanted him to experience the ice cream cookie sandwich magic. The Chunck-n-Chip truck first caught my eye and we immediately checked out the selection.  Although their interesting combinations of unique cookies and ice cream flavors (blue lavender and french toast stuck out the most), the line was too long and moving too slowly for our non existent patience.  Instead we went to the belgian waffle truck.  The line wasn't too long outside the Crispy Waffle & Frite truck.  Although the fried chicken and fries delivered in cones didn't look too appetizing, I couldn't help but notice the hot waffles coming out the back side of the truck.  I specialized my order with a Liege Waffle with vanilla ice cream and Ghiredelli Chocolate sauce.  Afek just got a waffle with strawberries and the chocolate.  Although they put a little too much ice cream on top (can't believe I'm actually saying that), I was able to finish the whole thing!)  Afek on the other hand, was defeated by the massiveness of the waffle.  Even though he argued that I didn't finish all of my rice at dinner, I won the fat date.  Celia. 1.  Afek. 0.

We finished off our date by going  back to my apartment and watching the most recent New Girl on Hulu, and then I drove him back to his apartment on campus.  All together I would say it was definitely a successful date.