KOCHI — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I've had this place bookmarked for years because a friend said the Uni Cream Udon here is the best in LA (better than Marugame Monzo in Little Tokyo). I was in the neighbourhood a couple months ago so I decided to finally check this place out! We found metered street parking right in front of the restaurant so I'm not sure if they have a small lot in the back or if metered street parking is your only option.

The restaurant is pretty small and they have two tables in their patio for outdoor dining. They are also offering indoor dining but my friends and I are still wary of that despite being fully vaccinated. My friend CK and I both ordered their Uni Cream Udon.

OMG. IT. WAS. SO. GOOD.

We didn't talk at all once we got our udon--we just DEVOURED it while uttering "this is so good" over and over again. It was so creamy and they were so generous with the uni and the cream sauce was so delicious and the noodles were cooked perfectly and I just don't know how to express how delicious it was.

Our server was also really nice and friendly. I also got their Yuzu Jelly Sparkling Sake and it was pretty good. But none of that matters when their Uni Cream Udon is as good as it was. You just have to come experience it...

In all honesty, I only ended up at this restaurant because the vegan place next door was closing as we got there. We decided to give this place a shot, and saw that there were menu items explicitly mentioned as vegan (friendly). When we specified the items we wanted, and specified that we wanted the items to be vegan, the server changed tone and questioned us on why we would eat vegan. It was not a friendly inquisition, but more of a judgement on our lifestyle choices. O found this to be quite antagonistic and if I knew of other options nearby, I probably would have walked out then. I wanted to be civil but my dining partner made a more upset response. The server realised his wrongdoing and took a much more amicable approach from then forward but I couldn't feel comfortable around him any longer. Otherwise the food was decent, but not anything worth...

The food was tasty, and the staff were kind. The half-sized tempura udon was perfect for me; I wasn't super hungry at the time and don't usually eat a lot anyway, so it filled me up without leaving me feeling stuffed.

Came here while waiting for doors to open for a show at the Largo. I got there relatively early, just after 6pm, which turned out to be good because it seemed like they filled up with all of the theatre-goers who were evidently also waiting for doors open.

I had a bit of a wait after I ordered, maybe around 10-15 minutes, max. One of the servers saw me looking around and proactively told me it was because they were making all of the udon orders together; I appreciated how attentive they were, to notice that I was wondering about my order. I didn't mind the wait too much anyway, because I needed to fill the...