Izakaya Akatsuki — Restaurant in Los Angeles

as of January of 2018 Sanuki no Sato is my fave Japanese restaurant! i have brought my friends from Osaka, Japan to Sanuki no Sato and we always love it!!! brought the fiance last night for his birthday dinner and he enjoyed every dish we ordered: -Agemochi Oroshi -Wakadori Tebasaki Karaage -Aburi Toro Salmon -Tempura Zaru Soba (his entree) -Kara Nabe Udon (my entree) -Kinakomochi w/ Black Sesame Ice Cream

in April of 2013 came back to Sanuki with some friends who have moved to the States from Japan.

we ordered the following: Uni Shuto: pickled sea urchin Nasu Dengaku: fried Japanese eggplant w/ 2 kinds of sweet miso Tebasaki Shioyaki: lightly salted broiled chicken wings Age Mochi Oroshini: deep fried mochi rice cake in soy broth topped w/ grated daikon Agemochi Oroshi Udon (entree): served with deep fried mochi and grated daikon radish Kinako-Mochi Ice: baked rice cake w/ soybean flour and ice cream

everyone loved the items we ordered. cannot remember what main entrees my Japanese friends ordered, but they also loved their entrees too. my friends also enjoyed chatting it up in Japanese with the owner of Sanuki no Sato. the food & experience at Sanuki no Sato is most definitely 5 stars worthy!!! (:

in January of 2012 Sanuki No Sato is the closest i've come to finding yummy, correct chewiness consistency udon outside of Japan! i've been on the hunt for good soba & udon since having the best soba & udon (in my opinion) in Nara & Tokyo respectively.

i've only been to Sanuki No Sato once for a birthday gathering, but it's definitely on my list of faves and i will most definitely be a repeat customer there soon! the birthday gathering was a large group of 20+ people. upon entering our private party tatami room, i felt like i was back in japan again! oh how i miss japan and the food!

i ordered the Sanshoku Wariko Udon - a trio of mini udon: salmon roe, nameko mushrooms, seasoned herring, quail egg, grated nagaimo yam, daikon radish. it was all SO delicious & reminded me of the fresh hand made udon i had in Tokyo.

if you love authentic Japanese cuisine - i highly recommend Sanuki No Sato

the service was impeccable - it is always difficult to serve a large group, but the staff was totally on top of things & was never impatient with us.

i think the staff may have also mentioned that Sanuki No Sato flies in some of their ingredients directly from Japan (in response to my asking if the soba and udon were made in house - i forget if they do). don't quote me on it, but i remember her saying something along those lines...

plenty of parking in the plaza that it...

I am a bit baffled by the excellent reviews. It was because of the excellent reviews that we made a reservation at Akatsuki. Lots of problems here. Service and staff were great, but the food and atmosphere were truly awful. We had a reservation, the (large) restaurant was EMPTY except for one table, and they seated us right next to the occupied table. There were 4 off-duty police officers at the other table, and their conversation was odd and disturbing. The floor of the restaurant was very dirty. The table was dirty and sticky - My shirt cuffs were literally sticking to the table. I used the bathroom and it was dirty and the door latch did not work. There was a broken doorstop on the door that made it difficult to control. I was at the urinal and one of the police officers came in and had difficulty closing the door, so anyone walking by outside could see me using the urinal. The food was very mixed. Because it was an Izakaya, we ordered a number of small plates to share. The large tempura platter had quite a few shrimp, but they were mushy and were probably made from frozen. The tempura vegetables were fine. However, the tempura yam with curry was slices of yam served with a dish of DRY CURRY POWDER. The beef tongue was rubbery and stringy. The mixed Japanese pickles were a mixture of a couple of ready-made pickles (takuan and gobo) and some tasteless homemade (cucumber, cabbage, eggplant) that seemed to be nothing but steamed vegetables. The roast beef was excellent. The spicy crispy tofu was excellent. The chiken karaage was chewy and dry. There was no rice or miso soup on the menu at all, and none was served. I think that they would do better to advertise as a shabu-shabu restaurant. As an Izakaya it's a total loss.

UPDATE: Note that the other reviewers are reporting ridiculously low prices per meal. Something is not...

Saw the owners posts on Instagram. Surprisingly it was a local restaurant and decided to come after looking through all the amazing looking dishes that were posted. The Undon/Soba noodles are made fresh daily by the owner.

The pictures do not do the food justice, as its MUCH more amazing in person.

Decided to stop off during the lunch hours. Was attended immediately and in a comfy booth.

Our orders on our visit:

Curry Beef Udon Agemochi Oroshi Udon Shoyu Fried Chicken Side Shrimp Tempura Side Yuzu Sparkling Drink Kinako Flan with Brown Sugar

We started with the Shoyu Fried Chicken, each piece was perfectly cooked. Only dark meat was used and a side of lemon slice for lite seasoning. It's all it really needed and was finished in a few bites

The Shrimp Tempura was so light and flavorful the only unfortunate part is that it's gone in less than two bites and leaves you wanting more.

The Curry Beef Udon was absolutely fantastic, not overpowering in flavor and rich enough to stick to the udon and beef to make an amazing flavor combination.

The Agemochi was a unique new tasty experience. I've only eaten mochi cold and with fruit flavors. The mochi served was very chewy and stretchy but in a good way as it soaks up broth with every bite. 😀

We found a unique drink being offered and I am always happy to try new foods and drinks I happily drank the deliciously sweet Yuzu Sparkling Drink, although high in sugar it's Yuzu flavor complimented all the dishes we ate great 👍

To finish off our great lunch we tried the in house Kinako Flan with Brown Sugar.

The taste was surprisingly mild and extremely smooth, reminding me of a semi sweet pudding drizzling with liquid brown sugar.

Very happy overall with all aspects of the restaurant and am looking forward to visiting more often and trying more amazing foods...