TAKAGI COFFEE WEST THIRD — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I can see the potential of this place becoming 5 starts if they can get several things right. First, they said they were going to get us a second menu. We waited 10minutes but she didn't come back so we just grabbed one from the table next for. Then we waited about 30mins before even being getting an order taken. We had to wave someone down and asked how we can order. The server said oh I can take the order. The place was half empty yet there were couple other groups going through the same thing. Then we ordered a matcha latte, Caramel latte, plain pancakes and Strawberry pancake. We got the morning sets (it says $16ish with special pancake and 6.50 ish with plain, which later turns out the menu was misleading and it's that plus the full priced drinks. Basically it's just like $2 off. They made it look like it was an opening deal)

Server asked us when we wanted the pancakes. We said lattes first when they are ready. They said pancakes were going to be 10-15minutes. We said that's fine.

After about 10mins the drinks came.

Matcha latte was extremely sweet (way too sweet), and caramel latte which was too hot with bad foam texture.

Maybe about 5mins later my fruit pancakes came. They were pleasantly good.

Then, it took about 30mins for my husband's plain pancakes to come out. I was eating very slowly but I was done long time ago. This happened to the couple by us, and also they group next to us. I saw another couple walk out not being served just sitting.

Anyways, it was a mistake after another. I hope they can train the servers and figure out the system.

Let me know when things are fixed and we...

What a gorgeous Japanese café with excellent coffee lineup and delicious Japanese food that taste close to authentic Japanese cuisine!

My friends and I went in for an extensive coffee tasting session, with each of us ordering an espresso, as well as 5 cups of Hario pour-over coffee cups. The espresso is quite good, with a slightly earthy nutty flavor that is slightly sweet (7.8 out of 10). Our consensus favorite coffee was the Kenya Peaberry Ngemwa that has a very nice clean woodsy, slightly flavor (8.5). The worst was the Costa Rica Hacienda La Pradera (6.5) since it has a bit of a "flavored coffee taste" that was just OK. The middle three are split for each of us, with me placing the Ethiopia Queen City Harrar as second (8.0), Organic Honduras COMSA as third (7.6), and the Premium House Blend as fourth (7.0). We all ended up buying a 1lb bag of the Kenyan coffee for a surprisingly affordable price (for a premium coffee) for $17. That's $17 for 1 lb bag that is roasted then and there for you!

As for the food, two of us was just in Japan last year and we both agreed this is pretty close to authentic as it get for Japanese comfort food that is NOT ramen or sushi. The Omurice (omelette rice) is quite fluffy and the rich demi-glace sauce is delicious. The Hamburg steak is also very good and filling. The millefeuille pancake is not as dense as regular pancakes, and is pretty good but not as much of a standout.

Overall, this was a pleasant experience for both Japanese food lovers and coffee lovers. Will...

PROS: drinks were good, nice ambiance, good hamburg steak CONS: burned mouth, burnt food?

2.4/5☆ honestly...

I was looking forward to trying this place, and it was very similar to its Japanese counterpart. The hamburg steak was good, as were the pourover and cocktail, but the ajillo was quite burnt and swimming in oil. Since it was my first time trying the dish, I wasn't sure how it should look but when it came out, the dish was pretty dark. The waitress warned me that the skillet was hot, but since the contents were mostly burned, I couldn't tell what was what in the skillet. I was doing okay until I put something in my mouth that scalded my palate/roof of my mouth. It was so burning hot that I actually got a first degree burn on my mouth. Thankfully I had a piece of toast in my mouth so I didn't spit out the burning food, but it was really painful, and the waitress did not seem to notice I was crying. She didn't bring water until my husband asked for some.

Since it is my first time, I felt a little shocked and did not want to make a big scene, and I was afraid that the waitress would not take me seriously so I didn't bring it up. (I wish I did.) I'm still icing my mouth an hour later. However, I'm not against trying a different dish next time.

Another note is that if you leave the matcha cocktails sitting for a bit, all the matcha will settle, so drink it quickly or order something else if you don't like bitter flavors or are a...