Kizuna Steak House: I might go back, but probably not.

Kizuna Steak House
Honda Plaza
456 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90189 (213) 617-1008



After the waiting and not eating debacle at Bacaro, we headed back to Little Tokyo because we were meeting friends there for drinks later, and it is certainly no secret that I love Japanese food. There were lines outside the usual suspects; Haru Ulala, Sushi Gen, KaGaYa, Izayoi, and so on. My extremely high heels made me boycot a meander in search something new and exciting, and D's hungry grumpies led us to the first restaurant with open tables. Bad shoes. BAD.



There was not a single occupied table in Kizuna. Bad sign. They were out of several items on the menu and a couple of the sakes we wanted to try. I am not a big believer in signs, and these were less subtle signs that one would use inference to interpret. These were more like the glaring neon signs blinking on and off in a red light district. Not subtle at all.



I do hearts the decor. Very earthy, rattan chairs and table mats, and the cow mural is way cool. The tables were set with beautiful chop sticks made from natural wood and other fibers, but they brought us forks. White people eat with forks, don't they?



First item out was a nice salad, basically greens and taro root in a delicious ginger dressing. Very eatable.



Next out was a "ceviche". There was nothing ceviche like about this dish, and I found it frightening.



The scallops and prawns were cooked, not cured via marination in lime or any other highly acidic citrus. Frankly, it was a little creepy. The greens were not fresh, and they were oddly chewy. No.



This dish was a winner. Lovely dumplings atop soft tofu stuffed with a ground shrimp mixture. Delicious. If I go again, and they are not sold out of these, I will order them. Very nom.



Mmmm. Dumplings.



The tempura salmon skin roll was gross. The seaweed was way chewy, and the tempura batter was hard as a rock.



Clams, IMO, not fresh. D liked them but after eating one I refused another. Looked pretty, tasted suspect.


This, however, was a succeed. Kobe hamburg, they called it. A simple hamburger patty with ponzu sauce. Truly wonderful. Silky meat, flavorful juices. This might entice me to return again. But probably only after all other options are exhausted.



They did a great job with the veggies on this dish. Beautiful, fresh, just a touch of garlic.



It even looks pretty together on the plate. All in all, not a total fail. But the food was so inconsistent, I won't ever be planning to eat here. Instead, I will watch for signs.

Katsuya at The Americana on Brand

Katsuya
702 Americana Way
Glendale, CA 91210
818-244-5900

http://www.sbeent.com/katsuya/

Sunday evenings we love to be alone and go for a drive or a walk somewhere not too far from the house. The Americana at Brand has become one of D's favorite destinations. He loves to park the car, walk the grounds, people watch and pop into a few favorite shops. The opening of a Katsuya at The Americana did not hurt.



The Katsuya website will not allow me to copy and past any pertinent info, so go look yourself if you want. I am too lazy to type it all out. Suffice to say there are three, one in Brentwood, one in Hollywood and now one in inauspicious Glendale. Interior designed by Phillipe Starck of Mondrian fame, and so on.



On Sunday nights we enjoy sitting at the bar, watching the bartenders work. The guys behind the bar last night were menschs. Really, really nice guys. Yeah, they were working for a paycheck and tips and what have you, but they were really friendly and we had some nice conversations about our favorite sushi places in town, all located in Little Tokyo.



The sushi bar runs parallel to the alcohol bar, but the chefs back there are incredibly busy and not as loquacious.



I love these cubes which house virtual sushi knives.



Really, there is nothing in there. It's just a plexiglass light box with the shape of a ginzu knife (or whatever brand, surely not from an infomercial).



The attention to detail is pleasing. Simple yet appealing.



I always like to nibble on shishito peppers. Fried and not too too spicy.



Eda mame, always, of course.



I was a little less than thrilled by these sunomono salads. I loved the dressing, very light and almost brothy. But the cucumber to me seemed a little wilted. And I was in deep suspicion of the intentions of the dark red ginger. Why is it red and not pinky-peach? Why? It seems wrong.



I love octopus, however, and was pleased at the size of the dish and the quantity & freshness of the octopus.


This ahi sashimi & arugula salad made up for the sunumono. The tuna melted in my mouth. It was crazy fresh. So delicious. Dressed lightly in olive oil and soy sauce, this was very pleasing.



Just gorgeous. Pleasing to the eye and the palate.



And they carry Sayuri unfiltered sake, my favorite. It is not the most expensive, it is not considered refined or luxurious. But it is wonderful and carried in many places, from Haru Ulala to Katsuya.

The Last Supper

It would not be a trip to Honolulu without a meal at Maguro-Ya. We go there for sushi every single visit.



Nothing is particularly new or original, but everything tastes good.



The fish, it's like buttah.



I hate to finish this meal. Afterward we say goodbye.

Sushi Days & Shorter Nights

Was it the discovery of a new most favorite lunch spot or the emergence from another winter's short albeit sunny days that has caused me to return to my blog? Who can say. And who really cares?






Fat Fish. South-western corner of 6th & Berendo, in the heart of K-town, my old stomping grounds. I sometimes work in the UTLA building around the corner, and when I do I ritualistically walk through the doors of Fat Fish the second they are unlocked at 11:30 am. I am not a fan of sushi belt restaurants & would never darken the doorstep of an all-you-can-eat sushi joint. I have eaten sushi at the Tsukiji fish market so fresh it wiggled. While the plates at Fat Fish may not meet this standard, the fish there is certainly fresh and surprisingly succulent enough for a mid-week lunch. The price is certainly right. All plates are half off at lunchtime, and by noon every seat at the sushi bar is full. The chefs set food out in a predictable pattern. First come seaweed salads, small bowls of spicy albacore sushi salad, dome lidded salmon sushi with rings of red onion and 5 minutes later or so more exotic offerings start popping out the window. Kaiyaki, ebi, sweet shrimp with roe, and the beautiful whole wheat soba bowl in brown broth with a quail egg cracked on top.






The eda mame is liberally seasoned with sea salt and small hot bowls of tempura (zuccini, yam, onion & shrimp) never make the complete loop past the customers and back through the kitchen.





This is not your typical dark wooded, economical of space sushi restaurant. This has modern day Tokyo writ all over it. Plate glass walls let in the socal sunshine and the mod furnishings remind me ever so slightly of the Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange. As of yet there is no liquor license but they allow BYOB. When they get one, I expect this to become a destination sushi bar for the hip & hot in the happening K- town neighborhood.