Category Archives: West LA

February 22, 2012 · 11:00 am

Little Osaka’s Groovy New Gastropub

What do you get when you pair a former Umami Burger executive chef with a local real estate developer turned restauranteur who takes inspiration from a municipal office charged with overseeing construction? You get Plan Check Kitchen + Bar, a great new gastropub which officially opens today in the Westside’s Japanese restaurant mecca known as Little Osaka. Plan Check is located adjacent to the Department of Building and Safety, which inspired Plan Check’s name and industrial-chic decor. Once you’ve been seated, the hostess carries out the theme further by stamping part of the drink menu onto the paper covering your table, using a large ink stamp like the ones used next door to approve architectural plans.

Besides its unique building plan approval motif, a couple things distinguish Plan Check from most of its neighbors on Sawtelle. First of all, although there is house-made yuzu soda and a dish made with rockshrimp tempura, this isn’t a Japanese restaurant. Plan Check serves elevated versions of traditional American comfort foods like Burgers and Fries, Pot Roast and Fried Chicken with exotic and unusual touches. Their eponymous burger is made with Akaushi Red Wagyu Beef and “Americanized” cheese, served on a crunch bun, and dressed with a strip of ketchup leather (like a fruit roll-up), savory onions and house-made pickles. It’s delicious, as is their “Pastrami Nosh” (pictured above), which has double smoked pastrami, Swiss cheese, kimchi mustard, pickles and is served with a fried egg on top. I also recommend the PC Tots (tater tots stuffed with cheddar and parmesan cheeses), which are served with smoked milk gravy and, upon request, an amazing house-made ketchup.

Another thing that sets Plan Check apart from most of the other eateries in Little Osaka is its cool bar and array of fun and tasty cocktails. You can order a Spaghetti Western (made with Vida Mezcal, Tapatio, Red Bell Pepper, Lime, Agave and Beer), a High & Low (which I assume is named after one of my favorite Akira Kurosawa films and is made with Zaya Rum, Fino Sherry, Cointreau and Grenadine), or one of their house-made sodas spiked with “moonshine.” Plan Check is as much a bar as a restaurant and is a great place to meet friends for drinks on the Westside. Whether you’re there for lunch, dinner or a late-night drink, I highly recommend getting dessert. The Cruller Donuts, which are cooked to order and served with cream and fresh bananas, are not to be missed.

Plan Check Kitchen + Bar is located at 1800 Sawtelle Blvd. in West LA.

Warm Crab Dip with dynamite sauce, masago, blistered tomato and toast

Plan Check Burger with Akaushi Red Wagyu Beef, Americanized cheese, ketchup leather, savory onions, mixed pickles and crunch bun

PC Tots with cheddar and parmesan cheeses, served with smoked milk gravy

Cruller Donuts cooked to order with cream and bananas

Banana and Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Bar

A cool bar with fun cocktails

A great new addition to Little Osaka

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Tagged as Ketchup Leather, Los Angeles Gastropub, Los Angeles Westside Gastropub, Plan Check, Plan Check Bar, Plan Check Kitchen + Bar, Plan Check Kitchen and Bar, Plan Check Los Angeles, Plan Check Menu, Plan Check Restaurant, Plan Check Restaurant Menu, Plan Check Restaurant Review, Plan Check Review, Plan Check Sawtelle, Sawtelle Gastropub

September 30, 2011 · 12:16 pm

The Secret Japanese Beef Restaurant

Totoraku is LA’s most exclusive restaurant. It is so exclusive that you can’t even get in unless the owner/chef, Kaz Oyama, knows you and has given you permission to make a reservation or you are the dinner guest of someone with such permission. But the appeal of Totoraku is not just its exclusivity. Totoraku is one of LA’s best and most unique dining experiences and if you love red meat, you may very well find your dinner there to be one of the best and most memorable meals of your life.

There is no “Totoraku” sign on the restaurant; it’s located in what appears from the outside to be a closed inexpensive teriyaki house in a strip of non-descript stores on Pico Boulevard. The door is usually kept locked and if they do not know you because you are someone’s guest, you will need to identify yourself and your party before you will be permitted to enter. After entering, the door is locked behind you and you are shown to your table. The inside of the restaurant is not fancy. It’s a small space and there are only six tables, which are all separated by screens so that your dining experience will be private and intimate. Kaz’s super-nice wife Shizumi is usually your server. There’s no menu; it’s omakase and all courses are served family-style. It’s BYOB and most people bring expensive bottles of wine and share them with affable Kaz, who is a major wine connoisseur and will come out of the kitchen periodically to greet his guests. The dinner costs around $180 per person (including tip) and is worth every penny.

The meal starts out with a giant plate of appetizers for the table to share. The appetizers are exotic and spectacular. Highlights include Black Sesame Tofu with Gold Leaf, Monkfish Liver with Jellyfish, and Cantaloupe with Prosciutto. The appetizers are followed by an amazing Beef Carpaccio. After that, you are presented with a duo of charred Beef Ribeye Tataki and Beef Throat Sashimi, both of which are very delicious. Next is a stellar Beef Tartar, complete with a Quail Egg. And then the second act begins, the Yakiniku (Japanese grilled meats)! A small rectangular charcoal grill is brought to your table and as the evening progresses, you are presented with platter after platter of the tenderest and highest quality meats for you to grill at your table. Filet Mignon, Outside Ribeye, Inside Ribeye, Tongue, Short Rib and Skirt Steak; all are excellent as are the marinades and dipping sauces prepared by master chef Kaz. You are also brought a really awesome Momotaro tomato salad and a bowl of large lettuce leaves, cabbage and strips of carrots, cucumbers and radishes so that you can make wraps with some of the meat. Everything has been prepared to perfection, right down to charcoal in your grill which is a special variety from Malaysia. The perfect meal ends with the perfect dessert, your choice of homemade ice cream (white chocolate/raspberry, espresso or pistachio) or sorbet (blueberry or lychee).

I highly recommend Totoraku…if you can get in.

A deceptive facade. Don’t bother calling the phone number.

A variety of exotic appetizers

Amazing Beef Carpaccio

Duo of Beef Ribeye Tataki and Throat

Beef Tartar

Marinated beef and vegetables for grilling

Momotaro tomato salad

Skirt steak on the charcoal grill

Homemade Ice Cream!

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Tagged as Los Angeles Japanese Food, Secret Beef Restaurant, Secret Japanese Beef Restaurant, Totoraku, Yakiniku Los Angeles

June 16, 2011 · 11:00 am

Tofu, the Other White Meat

My wife is going to kill me for blogging about this place and letting more people in on our secret. Tofu Ya is one of our family’s favorites and we go to this cozy little restaurant about once a week. It is the only Korean restaurant in a sea of Japanese eateries on Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA just north of Olympic (aka “Little Osaka” or “Japantown West”). They specialize in Soon Tofu, an incredibly delicious spicy tofu soup that they prepare in about 10 different ways including with seafood, beef, pork, dumpling (my favorite), chicken, kimchee or mushroom. The Soon Tofu is served to you bubbling hot in clay pots with an optional raw egg which you immediately crack open and cook in the soup. You also tell them how spicy (or mild) you want it. The meal starts with complimentary Banchan (small plates of traditional Korean appetizers) such as kimchi, marinated cucumbers and broccoli, glass noodles and fishcakes. They also serve very good Korean barbecue including Kalbi (shortribs) and Pork Bolgogi (my favorite; sweet and spicy barbecued pork). The best way to experience Tofu Ya is to get a combo with a small bowl of Soon Tofu and either one of the barbecued meats or the Dolsot Bibimbap (traditional Korean rice dish served in a clay pot).

There is nothing better than a piping hot bowl of Soon Tofu on a cold or rainy night! The cherry on top is that Tofu Ya is surprisingly inexpensive. After dinner, we like to visit one of the many dessert places on Sawtelle like Beard Papa, a Japanese bakery specializing in cream puffs. There are also many unique stores to check out on Sawtelle before or after your meal, such Black Market (best place in all of LA to buy cool t-shirts), Giant Robot Store (collectible vinyl toys, art books and graphic novels) and Tokyo Japanese Outlet (all kinds of cool Japanese imports). It’s also fun to explore the aisles of Nijiya Market, a Japanese grocery store with all kinds of interesting Japanese foods. And you could hit up the street’s Karaoke bars for sake shots and the obligatory duet of “I Got You Babe” if you’re so inclined…

Tofu Ya is located at 2021 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles (in West LA).