The Little IZAKA-YA by Katsu-ya — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I came here alone for lunch, intending to treat myself out. It was not too busy as it was 12pm on a weekday. I sat at the bar, feeling my working lunch vibes. I got the little Izakaya lunch salad, which came with sashimi and a california roll. I also ordered two pieces of Toro.

The toro came first. The fish quality itself was pretty good - nice and fatty. The problem was that my fish was absolutely drenched in soy sauce. It was so salty. There were pools of soy sauce collecting beneath the fish. It completely ruined the toro for me. It was probably the worst toro I've ever had.

Then I had some miso soup. It was fine. Standard miso soup. And the sashimi salad was actually pretty good. The fish tasted fresh, and I enjoyed the spicy mayo it came with.

"Maybe this place isn't that bad," I thought to myself, and then I ate the California roll and it tasted terrible. I don't know why it tasted so weird. Something about it just tasted wrong. I think maybe they seasoned their rice weird or something was up with the mayo - I'm not sure.

I was all set to leave and, mind you, I'm a very lenient critic. After my experience, I was set to give an "ok"

rating since the fish quality was decent when the chefs didn't add any extra… stuff to it. But then the bill came out. $17 dollars for the toro. Each piece of toro, on the menu, was $7. They had charged me for the "Super Toro" instead! What the hell even is the "Super Toro?" Super Salty? Super Bad? Well I was Super Sure that I would never be coming back to this...

Packed house on a Wednesday? That’s a great sign. My hopes were up. They have 2 ways to get into the restaurant. Front door and back door. I came through the back, which kind of reminded me of that scene from Goodfellas…and made my way to the front to meet the hostess. There was a wait but that’s ok. Loved the replica shrine gate in the front. Reminded me of the ones I saw at the Inari Shrine in Kyoto. A table freed up and I was sat and greeted by a very friendly server. Service is great here. Almost as good as the sushi, which was excellent. Nigiri and sashimi are available a la carte and there are plenty of roll options. Nice starters and meat dishes to round out the menu. Sake, beer and plenty of other adult beverage options also available. A return visit is certainly on the horizon. Perhaps I’ll write a...

The restraunt was great. Although it looks kind of like there isn't any custormors inside the restraunt from outside, there actually is a lot of people but not as much as having to wait in line. The chefs are mostly Mexican, but they still make great food. The Japanese chef is just excellent. He can turn so-so looking salmon and other white fishes into omakase looking sushi. The shapes, the flavors, just amazing. As a asian writing this, the pepper on the fish is of course not traditional, but still cool. Honestly, the only bad part is that their ginger tasted horrble and the staff were all speaking spanish to each other. I really reccomend to give it a try, but it is probably suitable for...