Somisomi — Restaurant in Los Angeles

We placed a large order of Taiyakis in the Little Tokyo location in Los Angeles. They boxed and bagged our orders. We drove home, about 4 hours away and our orders were incorrect & incomplete.

I called the phone number on the receipt to ask if there was anything they could do. I had a representative named Shawn answered the call. I explained what happened and he said he could send a gift card. He asked for my address, which I gave him. Then he continued to say that by accepting this gift card I would be enrolled into a monthly membership of $49.

I immediately declined and thanked him for his time. He was upset that I declined and continued reading his script. I interrupted him and let him know I was not interested and I did not want to waste his time and for him to not waste mine. He then continued to yell at me and say I was not letting him finish his sale. Then he hung up on me.

I noticed that the number on the receipt did not match the phone number on google maps so I called the number there. I had David take the call and he said there was nothing he could do. He pretended to be busy and yelled, coming. The he simply hung up on me.

This is the worst customer service ever! We have enjoyed their ice cream and taiyakis throughout the years. We will...

Really delicious! I got the Strawberry soft serve in a Taro filled taiyaki and the ice cream is smoother than the soft serve I'm used to. It's very tasty.

The staff were also very quick.

I will say the strawberry toppings looked a bit old due to their withering leaves but it tasted fine. For the purpose of aesthetics, it might be best to just remove the stems but that can be very time consuming.

The only problem is the location is so tiny and they have like 2 - 4 people working at any given time in a very SMALL kitchen-like space. On the weekends, this place gets PACKED. I can't imagine how stressful that is for these poor workers.

The dining layout itself is awful too. They have two long random floating island areas that make no sense, they could easily be removed to add extra seating. I imagine most people would prefer to wait while seated rather than stand around feeling like they're taking up space and awkwardly maneuvering across these random blocks of wood.

If you're nearby on a random weekday when it isn't crowded, I recommend...

BEST TAIYAKI FRANCHISE! Little Tokyo’s SOMISOMI is also the best location I’ve been to! The staff are wonderful and super quick. The store gets jam packed every time I go and they’re consistently trying to get through the orders with maximum effort. The store is on the louder side but it’s pretty relaxed over by the seating area.

THE FOOD: SOMISOMI is obviously known for its star of the show, the Taiyaki. Taiyaki are fish-shaped, pancake-like treats that are filled with unique flavors. For instance, you can have them filled with Nutella, Red Bean Paste (Traditional Filling), Cheese (For a savory experience), Ube, and so much more. The Taiyaki is made fresh all the time! Patrons can also pair their sweet fishies with ice cream which also comes in a variety of flavors (Ube, mint, cookies & cream etc.) Flavors are constantly rotated but there’s staples like Ube that are always around.

My Recommendation: My favorite pairing is the Taiyaki with Nutella filling paired with Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. It’s the perfect fusion and it’s...