Going to LA for Eel 🐟

As someone from the “countryside” of San Francisco, I came to LA and picked two very different eel spots—finally solving SF’s lack of decent unagi rice! 📍 Toku Unagi & Sushi Authentic Japanese-style unagi — serving grilled freshwater eel (unagi) and sea eel (anago). 📍 Get Bbul Korean-style seafood BBQ — serving river eel and hagfish. ❤️❤️❤️ Toku Flavor was really good — eel was fresh, tender, and gelatinous. Definitely high-quality unagi rice. 🖤 They offer three levels of unagi bowls: Take / Matsu / Tokujo. Tokujo just adds an extra layer of eel but the eel grade is the same as Matsu, so we went with Matsu. 🖤 Personally preferred the original grilled unagi over the tea-soaked or wasabi-mountain pepper styles. 🖤 Shirayaki (salt-grilled eel) — no sauce, highlights the freshness. A nice change of pace! 🖤 Umaki (eel omelette) — the eel inside was tiny, but the omelette was fluffy and satisfying. 🖤 Ankimo — literally the smallest monkfish liver portion I’ve ever seen! Overall pricey, portions are small — spent $200 for two and still didn’t feel full. But quality is solid! ❤️❤️❤️ Get Bbul A super lively Korean BBQ spot in Ktown, focused on seafood. Great for groups — you can order a seafood platter with crab, abalone, shrimp, oysters, etc. 🖤 We got the Eel + Hagfish combo for $99, which came with cheesy corn, steamed egg, sides, and grilling accompaniments — more than enough for two! 🖤 River eel has less gelatin than sea eel and is slightly milder, but the grilled flavor is strong. Wrap it per the restaurant’s suggestion: perilla leaf + pickled radish + eel dipped in soy sauce with onion and chives — layers of texture and no fishy taste! 🖤 Hagfish — seems to be mainly eaten in South Korea (don’t Google images!). The central cartilage is crunchy like chicken cartilage after grilling. Fresh but with a salted-dried fish aroma — perfect with drinks, but avoid if you dislike fishy notes! Also — want to explore LA but good Chinese food is so far away. Where should I stay and what should I do, LA locals?! 🏙️🤔 #LAKtown #LAEats #LALife #LosAngeles #LAFood #LAExplorer #UnagiLover #KoreanBBQ