Daichan — Restaurant in Los Angeles

This place's overrated! The food was okay, but the portions were tiny. The curry udon was okay, and it's nothing extraordinary. Musashiya Udon in Westwood carries far superior curry udon. The Chirashi was, again, okay. But there were so few slices of fish as well as so little hijiki rice, which was not fresh at all. A bit disappointing... I thought the Hawaiian chicken was probably the best dish I ordered. The dish, unfortunately, already had soy sauce on the bottom of the plate where the chicken pieces sat on, and I usually don't like too much soy sauce on my food. It should have the sauce on the side, not under, the food. Persimmon tea was a bit different, not sweet and tasteless--I could not taste any persimmon. The most weird or unpleasant experience I had was when the owner lady wanted us to move to another table after we started eating. I told her that I minded but I will move if she insisted. Only then, she apologized and then proceeded to insist that we stay in our table. We were a bit confused, especially in light of the fact that no other large group came into the restaurant and needed our table to be put together with the next table for them. In other words, she did not need us to move, but she asked us to move for no apparent reason. I have never experienced this situation before in any restaurant. After we left, we continued to wonder why we were asked to move to another table. There were plenty of space, and there was no one asking for our table during lunchtime. The parking is valet, which was not attended when we arrived. But when we were inside the restaurant after we parked our car, the valet guy came and demanded $5 from me. Well, I moved the car to a meter adjacent to the parking lot and put 75 cents for 45 minutes. Valet is valid when it's manned and valet actually parks the car, no? Otherwise, the sign should say $5 parking, not $5 valet! Just like the posting by the previous person on Google, stay away from this place because the service is horrible for what you pay and what you have to suffer for parking, especially when the food is not...

After my trip to Japan, I've been searching for good, homemade, or authentic Japanese food. My boyfriend told me about this place and we finally came here for dinner.

It's a cute, homey cafe/restaurant. It's decorated with a lot of Japanese paintings, ornaments, and decorations. It's also very small and has about 10 tables or so. The menu is pretty extensive and has sushi, sashimi, udon, curry, and other traditional dishes.

FYI, this place is always crowded! Be prepared to wait at least 30 min for a table.

What we ordered: *Mix Poke Bowl with Hikiji Seaweed Rice - Delicious! I love poke and I could tell that the fish is fresh. I felt that the extra $2 for the hijiki seaweed rice was totally worth it. It adds more flavor to the dish.

*Chicken Katsu Curry - This dish was good. The curry sauce was thick and slightly sweet. Generous portions.

Parking is hard to find. There' s a very small lot that's shared with Sugarfish. They also have valet. If you park on the streets, make sure you read the signs very closely.

Overall, this is a good authentic Japanese restaurant that serves homemade food. I would come back and try some...

So much delicious Japanese Comfort Food, YUM!

I'd heard of this spot before and the yummy Japanese food here, and finally got around to giving it a try - I most certainly feel glad that I did!

I grew up with many of the staples here being favorites of mine from my Japanese grandmother whenever we would visit her. From the House Udon to the Daichan Special, I thought the prices were great for a variety of tasty and flavorful plates and bowls of udon to enjoy!

Something to keep in mind - it fills up quite fast inside! The space is packed with a good amount of tables, but it's still a bit small. While we arrived before 6PM and were able to be seated right away, I soon noticed a line of people forming outside, waiting for tables to open up.

Speaking of the interior, it's so quirky and cozy inside, with scores of beautiful and colorful Japanese artwork and decor lining all the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Such a fun and unique dining space to enjoy!

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Daichan, and highly recommend giving it a visit - at least once, even if you're not a huge fan of...