KOPAN IZAKAYA_West Wood — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Summary: Great food, huge selection, solid quality, reasonable prices. Students get 15% off with Bruin Card. The happy hour menu looks amazing, though I haven't partaken yet. Large beers are $4 each. Service gets worse the more crowded the place gets, so come at non-peak times for happy hour. Parking across the street. Will definitely come back again.

I went here for the first time last night (Thursday) for happy hour and sushi with a buddy that had been a few times before. When we arrived at around 5:30, the place hadn't really filled up yet, though the happy hour prices were in effect. We got started with a couple of beers (large Japanese bottles for $4) while perusing the sushi menu. I noticed that the happy hour food menu had some amazing deals on some really cool looking fusion foods like tacos, burgers, etc. with an Asian twist. But those would have to wait for a second visit, for sushi was the goal of the evening.

I let my friend make the selections while I provided some feedback about personal preferences. He pointed out some interesting items on the menu and a sign posted on the wall for a "Name Your Own Roll" challenge. You get to build a giant roll (way bigger than a Chipotle burrito) for $38 and if you eat it all in a certain amount of time it's free and they give you a certificate with the name of the roll on it. Interesting concept. Another day.

Spicy Tuna roll - Despite this being a pretty standard roll, and one I consider a filler, it was actually a little enjoyable than the standard spicy tuna. Maybe it was the quantity of tuna, the use of cucumber, the quality of the ingredients...I can't say. But something about it stood out from other spicy tuna rolls.

Spicy Albacore roll - Similar to the spicy tuna roll. Very tasty, and just a slightly different color. A solid roll to be sure.

Heart Attack roll & Jalapeno Tempura Roll - I don't really remember which was which since they have similar ingredients in the description, but I remember that the one that came with the tempura slices of jalapeno on the side was particularly enjoyable. It had sweet sauce (eel sauce?) accompanying it, and was really tasty. The other one was good, but didn't stand out compared to the first one.

Hungary roll - According to my friend, this roll was not as it usually is. I concurred that it had a particularly fishy taste, and though the quality was solid throughout, it slightly hampered the overall enjoyment.

After a while, the restaurant got busier and busier. Proportionally, the service got poorer and poorer to the point where we were suddenly not being attended to at all, and had to ask for the check and ensure that we could depart. Based on many of the reviews, service seems to be the greatest problem here, something, I would think, that could easily be remedied if desired. That said, the food was still excellent and a bargain (especially with a Bruin card). Will definitely come back, but hopefully at the beginning of a happy hour so as to get...

UPDATE: I've been here so many times! The sushi is just too damn delicious. Since my last review I've seen some consistent improvement. Some of the new waiters are very attentive, which I appreciate. That was my biggest complaint from my last two reviews. I'm glad they took attention to this problem.

My new favorite roll is the Fire Dragon Roll. It is so delicious!!! Please try. Also, I found out today that there is a secret menu??? Waaaaaaaa. I need to know more about this!

3 star: Lawd do I wish I could give this place a 5 star, but I just can't find myself to do that with the service provided there.

I've been the duchess of this place for quite some time now but certainly not for the service. There have been plenty of times where I tell myself, "Lizz, you gotta stop coming here!." I get so irritated with some of the waitresses there. Some are great tho!

Maybe I should stop tipping. Hhhmmmm. At least the ones with the bad service. Maybe they'll get the hint.

Anyway, what keeps me coming here are the delicious rolls! I salivate every time I think of my favorite ones, which include the Baby Lobster Roll and the Ex-Girlfriend Roll. I pretty much get one or the other every visit. I recently tried their new Ex-boyfriend roll which is pretty tasty too.

I've tried several rolls (or stolen a piece from a friend's plate) and I don't have any complaints at this point. I highly highly recommend the Ex-girlfriend roll if you are into fresh rolls. Of course, I can't have my rolls without their delish spicy mayo and ginger, with some water to drink or Sapporo.

I do wish they would re-establish their student discount (oh yea, I still use my old student card for any perks I can get). It would make me go more than my once a...

Coworkers and I decided to give this place a try. But damn, that was a Very bad choice.. this day will be the last time will step foot in this restaurant. We made sure we shared our bad experience, terrible customer service to all our coworkers. For goodness sake, this damn restaurant wasn't even crowded at all, and it took them 30 mins or more to serve our food. I made sure I notified our waiter a couple of times,(before ordering and while she was taking our orders and every time she walked by our table; not even reassuring our food will be coming or at least apologize coz their service sucks) that we are on our 1 hr lunch break. We finally got our food after waiting for 30 mins or more. Waiter's reason was, the teriyaki salmon I ordered, took a long time to cook; while my coworker ordered the Same and got his food first. Got mine after he was half way done with his food. Hmmmm.. look lady don't give me that lame excuse. Also it's lunch time, (expected that because this restaurant is in the middle of all businesses, Ucla campus, and close to the hospitals)there'll be partronizers who will walk in to eat for their limited break time. SERIOUSLY, What the hell do they want us to do? Inhale my/our food? Instead of comping my food after wasting my lunch break and took forever, waiting for my food; ended up offering me 50% off and I had to take it to go. I was tired, hungry, and really upset after anticipating that I would enjoy my...