OTOTO
Japanese restaurant · Greater Echo Park Elysian ·
Japanese bar snacks & acclaimed sake program; creative fusion dishes
Japanese bar snacks & acclaimed sake program; creative fusion dishes
"Right next to Tsubaki is Ototo, a Japanese restaurant and sake bar run by the same people. With its more casual leanings (think small, shareable plates and a sake list about 20-pages long), we consider Ototo to be Tsubaki’s less serious and more adventurous younger sibling. They change their menu a lot, but luckily, our favorite dish remains—an Osaka-style okonomiyaki filled with cheese and scallions, and then topped with the classic bonito flakes, kewpie mayo, and okonomi sauce." - brant cox, sylvio martins
"Ototo is a new Japanese restaurant/bar in Echo Park and easily the best place in the city to drink sake. It’s from the same people as Tsubaki next door, but Ototo is more laid-back–the kind of place where you can post up with friends, work your way through an encyclopedic sake menu, and order tremendous bar snacks along the way (the chicken katsu sando and fried oysters are both musts). All the sake options at Ototo might feel a bit overwhelming, but don’t worry, the waitstaff will happily answer any and all questions you have." - nikko duren
"Between their excellent Japanese bar snacks and very impressive sake menu (it literally has a table of contents), Ototo, the more casual, bar-focused sibling to the also-great Tsubaki, is practically custom-built for a post-game celebration—or if things don't go well, a great place to erase the last nine innings from your memory. The atmosphere is low-key, almost everything on the menu is shareable, and their katsu sando might be our favorite version in town." - sylvio martins
"Ototo in Echo Park may be a “younger brother” (literally, in its Japanese translation, and figuratively, to next-door izakaya Tsubaki) but its James Beard Award-winning sake program and irreverent, frequently changing menu of Japanese bar snacks has given it a main character energy all its own. Angelenos and out-of-towners — all subject to the restaurant’s egalitarian sign-yourself-in waiting list — descend upon Allison Avenue for dishes like fluke sashimi spiked with ponzu and patches of limey yuzu kararin, okonomiyaki topped with fluttering bonito flakes, and a filet-ototo-fish sandwich that can only be tamed with a two-hand grip. The sake curation is deeply intentional, with tasting notes on the menu supplemented by the knowledge of staff members who happily offer pairing suggestions for each plate." - Matthew Kang
"Ototo is the more laidback sister to nexdoor izakaya Tsubaki, offering fun sake and beer pours in a no-reservations space. The restaurant serves creative takes on Japanese drinking snacks like karaage, kabocha tempura, okonomiyaki topped with a choice of rock shrimp or curry mushroom and cheese. Explore the drinks menu with guidance from the servers, who can recommend bottles for any palate, whether looking for an unfiltered sake or something more floral. Ototo also just happens to serve one of LA’s best burgers — the messy Ode to Mos topped with Japanese-style chili." - Rebecca Roland