Kat's 9 Lives

So far! I drove back up to LA today again and on my way grabbed lunch & dinner. For lunch I went to an old favorite, Asakuma. It's a well known Sushi place and there's valet parking that's only $2 with validation for lunch. I like going at lunch because some of their cooked dishes are good and cost less during lunch but the same portion size as what you'd get for dinner. Their interior was the same ole wooden touch but with a hint of modern. They were super busy for lunch, but as it went past 2PM there were less people around.
I had to start off the lunch with my favorite appetizer, the Spicy Tuna with Crispy Wonton Skin. They have the best and most flavorful spicy tuna ever. I was never that big of a fan of spicy tuna until I had it here. Every time I stop by LA I debate about ordering some for take out and devouring it in the car! I have their number programmed in my phone that should tell you how much I love this. O=P They have spicy tuna on crispy wonton skins with creamy wasabi sauce, black tobiko, and cube-cut avocado. The sauces that they drizzle atop the spicy tuna only adds to the lusciousness of the spicy tuna. They use roe and an abundance of sesame oil in the spicy tuna itself that gives a delicious lingering taste in your mouth.
Both of our orders came with the typical Miso soup and Sunomono. I don't know if it was because I was starving or not, but the soup was very flavorful. Personally, I don't like the sunomono here but then again I am "allergic" to all vegetables. For my main order, I got my favorite New York Steak Teriyaki. I usually change the order because I don't like the vegetables and side dishes that normally come with the meal. My favorite part of this dish is the fried udon noodles. So I always ask them to just give me more noodles and just the meat would be good enough for me. I asked for medium-rare to rare, but it came a little overcooked. As for flavor it's not bad, but I am purely their for my yummy fried noodles.
My Mom got the Sashimi Plate with 3-Tuna, 2-Yellowtail, 2-Salmon, 2-Albacore, and 2-White Fish. The cuts were generous, but I do agree with Burumun that eating in the dining room was nowhere near as fresh or tasty as what you'd get at the sushi bar. Next time I will sit at the sushi bar because the lunch plate was not cheap and I rather pay a little more for much fresher fish.
All in all the food was good, the only thing spectacular was the spicy tuna on wontons that's my favorite dish there. The service was a little inattentive. Their service got worse as there was LESS people there, go figure. I like Asakuma a lot, it's a common place for me to go. It's just good and reliable, although a little bit pricey. They do have some interesting "new-age" sushi that's worth trying if your willing to dish out the dough!

Asakuma

MUCH BETTER this time around. I really wouldn't recommend this place for dinner because the price difference isn't worth it. You probably get the exact same amount of food at dinner as you do for lunch, but for a lot cheaper. They have lunch on the weekends too, so you go somewhere better priced for dinner.
I ordered the Seafood Salad Combination. It comes with an organic salad topped with seared albacore, yellow-fin tuna, & salmon served with a pepper onion dressing. This was very tasty and delicious, but a little salty. My friend was astonished that I ordered a salad! I would definitely order this again. There was around 6 pieces of fish inside the salad. I am a little skeptical on how fresh the fish was because the dressing was so powerful it can mask many things. Overall this was flavorful, but the best part was the side dish that came with it!
The Spicy Tuna-Don, chopped tuna with spicy mayonnaise on sushi rice, was great! It was simple but delicious, I actually really like this and I will be back some time this week just to get it again! I would not be willing to pay for this as a regular menu item. It was about $11 if you wanted to order that dish. The spicy tuna was not very spicy. All the flavor really comes from mixing the soy sauce and the wasabi into the bowl. The texture of the tuna was very smooth.
I have been craving Oyako-don for the longest time. So I decided to try this here. I didn't want the soup and salad so they took $1.50 off the price. It was good but I don't know if it was worth $7. I would recommend people to go to Mitsuwa for better value and taste. It was a little bland and really paled in flavor when compared to everything else I had. I guess it would suit those who like a light flavor. One thing I really liked was the brown rice, it really gives a different texture to the meal.
All in all, this time around I had a much better experience. I think this place is a hit or miss depending on what you order. Definitely come for lunch and not dinner because it wouldn't be worth the price difference for the combos. Maybe next time I will give the udon a try again. Overall the service was nice and food was good. It was a much better value than last time!

I went here with my good friends and just engaged friends! CONGRATULATIONS again! We went on X-mas Eve. I called ahead to put our names on the list. We still had to wait a little bit when we got there, but it was much better than not calling. My best friend recommended this place for lunch, unfortunately I went for dinner. I don't think I will be back for dinner, but maybe give it another try at lunch.

To start off the night I ordered the Stewed Pork. It was decent with flavor, but the meat was a little dry. Even though the meat was fatty it was not very tender. I probably would not try this dish again. If you like stewed pork then you should try the Cantonese style.
At that time I had a cold so I really wanted hot soup, so I ordered the udon. I believe I got the Nabeyaki Udon, which had shrimp tempura. It came out all soggy already. The bowl was very beautiful and steaming hot. In my opinion it lacked flavor. I usually love udon soup, but this one just didn't do it for me. If I come back for lunch, I will definitely give their regular udon a try.
The biggest mistake of the night was ordering the Chilean Sea bass. I normally love the fish, but they somehow butchered the texture. It was fried and drizzled with a tangy sauce. The flavor was lacking and the fish ended up being tough. Definitely not worth the $15!
As usual, I ordered the Hamachi Sashimi. You know how I am about yellow tail! That was decent, nothing special. The cut was nice though, very smooth technique.
My friend got the Crunchy Roll, one of her favorites. It was good, but nothing special again.
All in all this place was decent, but somehow my bill ended up being ~$55 just for me. Expensive! Next time I am only ordering one entrée and appetizer only. Not worth that much in my opinion. Although now that I see oyako-don on their menu, I will probably go back to try that. Overall it was decent, but I will be much more careful in choosing what I'd order next time.