KAPPO IRIFUNE — Restaurant in Torrance

This may be the most sophisticated Japanese cuisine in the South Bay. Masterful Chef Yamashita creates sybaritic, finely detailed Haute Cuisine Japonaise that amazes with his tour de force in delicate yet extremely & intensely knowledgeable grasp of the essence of Omakasè (oh mah kah seh).

The previous restaurant was called Sekisui, Stone & Water, and now it is Kappo- Irifunè (ee ree foo neh) which means a ship sailing into the harbor hopefully w/ a load of fresh fish. Kappo- referring to a sophisticated, culinary, Japanese style restaurant.

It is a serene, soothing place where one can enjoy a meal although I can imagine some drunken party breaking the blessed quietness. This is the first time I had the pleasure of having female Sushi Chefs Miho & Naoko which is still a rare occurrence even in more egalitarian Los Angeles.

Started by ordering Daishichi Sakè (sah keh): scents of toasted sweet soybean, sharp clean alcohol, sawdust. Tasted of sweet chestnut, loquat, soupcon of acetone. Finish is faint sweet rock sugar candy, sour-bitter cleansing counter-balance to clear the palate.

1. Ama Èbi/sweet shrimp: smeared w/ a touch of Yuzu Kosho-/piquant Japanese citrus chile paste on velvety, pillowy white shrimp w/ a bit of ocean sweetness. The heads were fried Tempura style until the chitinous hard shell became shatteringly brittle w/ a thin crisp, fried batter that lent a meatier, sea Umami.

2. Tèmaki/handroll: Hotatè Gai/scallops, avocado, Shiso/Japanese basil, Kaiware Daikon sprouts. Sweet ocean kissed soft scallops w/ fatty avocado flavoured w/ "spiciness" of the Kaiwarè & refreshing green herbal Shiso. The citrus zest chile based Yuzu Kosho- added saltiness.

3. Tai/Japanese red snapper had a slice of green Shiso leaf between the Shari/Sushi rice, & the leaf could be seen since the fish was translucent in its freshness. This was near the belly so it was fatty yet not unctuously so. Again Yuzu Kosho- to awaken the subtle flavours of the Tai.

4. Nègi Toro: Rich, minced fatty belly of the Hon Maguro/Bluefin Tuna along w/ contrasting chopped green onion & refreshing Shiso leaf. The fine quality Nori/black seaweed paper added more seaweed minerality.

5. Seafood Ceviche: Chunks of Maguro/tuna, Shake (shah keh)/salmon, Tako/octopus, Hiramè/halibut, ripe avocado dressed w/ a thick, sweetened Ponzu-like sweet-sour sauce & tomato, cilantro leaves, fine chiffonade of dried sweet pepper for a touch of sweet, bitter paprika smokiness.

6. Tsukidashi/small dish given out by the restaurant. The owner, Kobayashi~san, came by to present me w/ a small dish of Maguro no Chiai/brown colored tuna meat w/ iron rich blood that was battered, fried & marinated in a sweet Japanese rice vinegar sauce garnished w/ pickled onion & slice of fresh lemon.

7. Another Tsukidashi was Miso Shiru/soup w/ Nameko mushrooms for the conclusion of the meal.

The owners, Kobayashisan & Kawamotosan , are most gracious, warm, proffering rather culinarily involved Tsukidashi to a first time guest. We talked for a while about the various other Sushi restaurants & their approach to particular styles in cooking, management & atmosphere.

I'm impressed by the hospitality & kindness received at Kappo- Irifunè which is literally a hidden gem not visible anywhere street level just like many accomplished restaurants in...

I discovered this restaurant through a posting on FB. I'm always looking for new places to eat. Well, I'm so very glad to discover Kappo Irifune.

We started with Tai and Aji sashimi as in the photo. The fish was so fresh and delicious. We eagerly awaited for the next dishes, crab croquettes, yakitori style pork belly, ikura nigiri, ume & shiso maki, two omakase sushi plates, chawanmushi (came as a surprise with the omakase sushi plates), fried aji bones and head,...everything was so delicious, I completely forgot to take photos of the food. We ate a lot for a party of 4 and was not looking forward to the bill. To my surprise, with all of the food we ate, it was very reasonable considering the quality and quantity. This is some of the best tasting food I have had since living in Japan.

Well, what can I say about the service. For starters, we never had to stop our dinner to ask for more water or tea. Not once did we ever had to try to get their attention to request something. They seem to know when we needed something or wanted to order more food, which we did a few times. In times where many restaurants lacks good service, this has to rate as one of the best service I have received in a very long time.

I will add, my family was very impressed with this restaurant as well. They talked about how fresh the fish is, now properly seasoned the cooked dishes were, and how warm the dining experience was.

This will be our new go to places for sure when visiting LA. Although we live some 350 miles away, we...

1 star for service, 2 stars for food.

Went here Friday night in a party of four. My wife and I ordered dinner sets while our two friends ordered 5 rolls and we ordered a couple appetizers to share.

The service is very sloppy. Appetizers arrive but there are no plates to use. Food arrived and there is no soy sauce. We had to ask for everything, including water.

When my wife’s and my food came, we waited patiently for our friends food to arrive so we can eat. One roll came soon after but the remainder took over 25 minutes to come. I asked the staff multiple times if the rest of our order was coming. They even asked us for last call, 90 minutes after we arrived, before bringing the remaining food. I begrudgingly walked over to the sushi bar to ask where the last items were.

The food was not great either. The takoyaki and croquettes were almost all batter and no good bits like octopus etc. Sashimi quality was passable, not worth trying again.

When the bill finally arrived, it was printed poorly and we found multiple mistakes on it. I can’t recommend this...