ikigai — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I came once in Feb and once today (July). In Feb we came during Superbowl Sunday so we were the only ones there and the service was good. The food was good for Eagle Rock. I thought it was good enough that we would return.

Fast forward to tonight. When we sat to order, I asked a few questions about allergies because my son is severely allergic to dairy, and allergic to eggs and nuts. I asked if the tempura in the kids bento had any dairy and eggs and the waiter said he would ask and let us know. We ordered the rest of our food. Then, the food started coming and the kids bento came. I asked the person who brought it if he knew if there was any dairy and eggs in it since the waiter never came back to let us know about the allergies. He said he would go ask the kitchen. He came back saying it was only flour. I thanked him.

Towards the end of the meal, we asked if any of the ice cream was sorbet, to which the waiter said the mango and the lychee were sorbets. Great. As far as I ever knew, the difference between a sorbet and an ice cream is that sorbet does not contain any dairy or egg. My son reacted right away. His lips puffed up and he had to barf. We went to the bathroom so my son could throw up. I texted my husband to tell him to tell the waiter what happened. When I came out, I told the waiter and the cashier/owner (?) what happened. The waiter looks at me and says all ice cream has milk. I'm like yeah, but you said it was sorbet. He apologizes and says that he will ask the manager. The manager (or owner?) comes out and says that the container that contains the ice cream says sorbet but it says it contains milk. Another waitress comes out and repeats that it says sorbet on the container and that it contains milk. Okay... so are you saying that because the container that is labeled as sorbet and that it contains milk that I am wrong for thinking that sorbet does not contain milk? Was it not enough that I asked if there was milk/eggs in other foods prior to this interaction? How inattentive do you have to be with customers who have food allergies? At this point my son's lips were very puffy and his throat was closing up so my priority was to pay and get the hell out of there since we left our epi pen at home. They apologized saying they didn't know. I just told them to take allergies seriously because I now have to take care of my son and monitor him to see if I have to take him to the hospital. There are many people with severe allergies and things need to be properly labeled. On the menu it says "Ice Cream/Sorbet" and it lists the flavors. My suggestion is that they include an asterisk and type out "contains milk" or get rid of the word "sorbet" from the menu. Most people with dairy allergies or vegans would be appalled to find out there is dairy in sorbet. TRUST ME. I've been doing this for 10 years. Take allergies seriously. The other suggestion I have is to train the waitstaff about ingredients or to pay more attention to customers who are asking about specific ingredients. They're doing that because they're allergic or cannot eat that ingredient. The first waiter never came back to us to let us know if the tempura batter contained egg or dairy. Very inattentive, There was not a lot of customers at the restaurant.

Another point, which I doubt they can do much about it, but there were SO MANY FLIES around our table, which was close to the entrance. It was literally disgusting to have to swat flies indoors every three seconds.

I haven't written a negative review in a while. I usually spare my energy. Tonight though, I couldn't help it because it's my son's health. I hope this helps anyone with food allergies or vegans who thought the ice cream was safe to eat. The only reason I'm not giving them one star and I'm rounding it up to two stars is that the first time I went was fine, and good enough for me to want to return. However, I will say the quality of the rest of the food has diminished from when we visited in Feb. Pics of food...

Zooming down Colorado Blvd., you wouldn’t realize this gem sits right smack near the corner of Colorado and Eagle Rock. Its neon sign is warm and inviting and its service is great (they made great recommendations). Met a gf here for a dinner to catch up and we loved every minute! I ordered the triple delight, negihama 6pc roll (yellowtail), and negitoro 6pc roll (toro). None of the rolls missed! The triple delight was wrapped with soy paper and it really helped bring out the flavors of the fish — salmon, tuna, yellowtail. I was really sad that it was only a 5pc roll. Their service was quick and fish were fresh! Nothing disappointed! To top our dinner off, we were recommended the dessert menu and everything on it sounds amazing! We went with the match cake! It was so rich. So dense. I literally couldn’t even find the words to describe it when I took the first bite (shout out to my friend, Kaia, for the vocabulary help). We were so pleased with our meal I am already craving to go back! I took a triple delight roll home for my fiancé and he absolutely loved it too! 100/100 Ikigai! So looking forward to...

The food was delicious, however, the service was terrible considering the price point. Went here for date night and to celebrate. When we entered there was no wait-list and tables were open but the servers ignored us for 10 minutes until seating us. We were seated first before a group of 4 next to us. Different servers kept coming to our table to ask if we had our drink/food orders taken, which they had not. It seems they didn't assign a server for the table and we just got random servers to ask our orders, even after we put some in. We order 8 pieces of sushi to start. Nigiri-style, no complicated rolls. It took 45 minutes. For 8 pieces. The group of 4 were served before us with full omakase dishes within 20 minutes and we waited 45 for 8 pieces of nigiri. Terrible.

We ordered another 4 nigiri and a roll and asked if they'd expedite that order as we had to catch a concert after and were served within 10min. So, timely service is possible, I guess they just didn't care to service our table like the rest.

TL;DR: Food delicious....