syori the foodie

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Súp Noodle Bar@Buena Park ★★★

Best Pho Ever. Soup base is a 48-hour bone broth. Very tasty. Free unlimited noodle refill. Free basil and extra onion upon request. Also like their Lomo Saltado and Garlic Noodles with Shrimp. Free Herbal Iced Tea per Yelp check-in per person (dine-in only), which is $4 value each. Great service. Free parking in lot. Also has branch in Irvine (relocated from Cerritos).

Egg Rolls w/ 1 extra Egg Roll $12

Short Rib Pho $17

Herbal Iced Tea - Free w/ Yelp Check-in ($4 value each)

Vegetables For Pho

Free Noodle Refill

Súp Noodle Bar by Kei Concepts
5141 Beach Blvd
Unit B
Buena Park, CA 90621
(714) 521-2444
www.supnoodlebar.com

Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori@Gardena ★★★

My Go-To Restaurant for Yakitori. Authentic Food, Consistent Quality, and Reasonable Price. Everything was great. Best to pair the Yakitori with Draft Beer to balance out the heat and dryness. Walk in only. Arrive early to write down your name on the list. No wait around 5pm on a Saturday or 3pm on a Sunday. Best seating is at the bar, where the food comes out right fresh from the grill to your plate. Hot Tea $1. Free parking in lot.

Pork Belly Mini Hot Put $13 (limited 15 per day, lunch only)

Here are my 3 tips:
1. Ask for the Free Cabbage
Off the menu, but you can request free cabbage salad (unlimited refills) to enjoy with your Yakitori during dinner. ($1 for lunch) It balances your appetite with all the meat. The cabbage is mixed with tasty yuzu ponzu sauce. The catch is that the server sometimes forget about it, so you have to remind them again.

2. Don't Order All at Once
The food comes out pretty quickly. It's a good idea to split into ordering 2 times so that your food won't get stacked up and become cold.

3. The Reward
You can redeem $3 reward with every $50 you spend. Scan the QR code on your receipt to register your credit card and use the same credit card every time. The same reward system can be used at different Shin-Sen-Gumi locations in US.

Cabbage $1

Sapporo Draft $5.95

Liver $3.50, Pork Belly w/ Shiso Basil $4.50

Shrimp $5.25

Kobe Finger Meat w/ Garlic Sauce $7

Quail Egg $3.50

Tonpei $10.50

Chicken Gizzard Skin $3.50

Chicken Wing $3.50, Tail $4

Potato $3.50

Okra $2.95

Scallop $5.25

Tongue $5.25

Pork Belly w/ Shiso Basil $4.50

Pork Intestine $3.50

Pork Feet $6

Chicken Skin $3.50

Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori (Original) – Gardena
18517 S Western Ave Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 715-1588
https://shinsengumigroup.com/restaurants/shin-sen-gumi-yakitori-original-gardena/

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Hayato@Little Tokyo ★★★

2 Michelin Stars Restaurant Hayato. Exquisite Kaiseki Cuisine handcrafted by Brandon-san with his careful attention to detail. Various traditional cooking techniques used for the courses. Like a Food Artist/Scientist. Freshest seafood arrived same day from Japan from US Sakasyu. Fresh vegetables from Torrance Farmers Market. He explained each dish at the beginning of each course with the cooking method, ingredients, and why. Love the amazing Charcoal Grilled Kinki Rockfish w/ Roasted Onion, which brought me back to the taste of Japan. Nodoguro Rice Pot was all-you-can-eat (woohoo). Good idea to refill a bit to get the crispy rice on bottom of pot. Experience was quite different from last visit in 2021. Brandon-san has a serious look when he's cooking, but he actually has a nice personality. He's honest, straightforward, & quite talkative with a sense of humor. We enjoyed chatting about everything from Japan, food, people, to getting on his waitlist on Tock. He likes to play it fair and give new customers opportunity to try it. Server Kaori was nice & friendly. Impossible to book with only 7 seats (counter) & 1 seating per night. Reservation was made on Tock within 2 seconds at release time. Limited 2 people per party. Door opens at 6:30pm. Dinner was 3.5 hours. $350 per person ($400 starting 5/1). Plus 18% gratuity automatically added. Complimentary hot tea. Parking at the Row DTLA structure or street.