Sake Dojo

We had a phenomenal dinner here on Saturday night! My husband and I sat at the sushi bar and asked if we could do an Omakase (not listed on the menu), and the chef was happy to do so! Everything was delicious, fresh, and extremely well done. I'm so glad we went with their recommendations. They've only been open for in-person dining for a few weeks, and I'm already looking forward to coming back here again! You won't regret it.

Their nigiri sushi is my favorite in Little Tokyo. The sushi chefs are the best! They regularly treat us to fresh catches of the day and sushi that isn’t on the menu. I highly recommend sitting at the sushi counter if you can. Say hi to Alfin and Rico if they’re working behind the counter- their excitement about each sushi they craft makes it taste even better. I’ve taken several of my Japanese friends here and they agree that this is some of the best sushi they’ve had in America. It’s a bit more flavorful than traditional edo-mai sushi, but not as over the top as a lot of American places. It hits the right amount of flavor, texture, and quality that makes it unique and yet delicious. When I asked for a sake recommendation from the Sommelier, they brought out a beautiful sake with light citrus notes. It remains my favorite to this day. I highly recommend this place for anyone who like nigiri sushi and sake.

Vegan mushroom ramen was delicious. Service was friendly but a bit slow given that it was not busy and waiting on a table and a couple at the bar.

The happy hour prices are great. $10 for three hand rolls (spicy tuna, real crab, and salmon hand rolls) $3 happy hour saporro beer. Best sushi I've ever had.

Pretty great place to try out different sakes. They have an impressive range of appetizers as well. I am sad I didn't have more time to try more of the dishes.

The sushi here was the best I’ve had in my entire life, and the chicken was so tender and flavorful. Absolutely love this place and will be coming back!

Best sushi in town with friendly sushi chefs! My favorite item on the menus is tuna sampler 💕

Great spot. The ambience was impeccable and the sake was delicious. Only had a quick drink here but was very charmed. Will definitely be back!

My cousin booked this place for a group lunch event for our family relatives after visiting the Japanese American National Museum. We had a buffet style lunch which included an assortment of tempura, teriyaki salmon, beef asparagus roll-ups, Japanese potato salad, rice, mixed green salad with Asian pear, rice, and for dessert an vanilla ice cream with fresh berries and dragon fruit. Everything was fresh and delicious. Service for our large group was friendly and attentive. I recall a few years ago I came here for a sake dinner pairing for a benefit for the Japanese Cultural Center. And I really enjoyed the sake pairing dinner. If you're visiting Little Tokyo or the Japanese American Museum, definitely check out this place for a great lunch or dinner. And for you sake connoisseurs, they also have an extensive sake bar.

Was lucky to visit them one last time for their closing party buffet dinner. Delicious food, amazing staff, and lots of loyal patrons. Sadly, this is location is now permanently closed, they are still open for catering and you can see the team at their far bar location.

I enjoyed the flight of sake that I had. The bartender took the time to explain each one. I also had an order of kombucha which was tasty. My visit was pretty short and sweet.

My friend chose this spot for us to grab a drink and food pre- show at East West Players Theater. (I'm a Black Belt.) It was quiet on a Thursday evening at 6:30pm, one table and no one at the bar. We had to order the tempura portabella with ponzu lemon & green tea salt. Delicious. It was hand delivered by two men. See photo for details. Our server/bartender was delightful and had a sexy deep voice so we all enjoyed chatting him up.

Stumbled upon this place while looking for restaurants with short waits and it ended up being a great find! Sushi and sake place with both a bar and sushi bar. Bathrooms inside. Ordered a bottle of sake which was tasty even for a non-sake drinker, and a couple of small dishes. -tuna roll: you can tell the fish is super fresh and the cut roll was tasty, but it was so overpriced for the portion -crispy rice with spicy yellowtail and spicy salmon: had to get two orders of the crispy rice cause it was that good! The fish is fresh even when covered in sauce, and the rice texture was like that of tater tot, super crispy outside and softer inside

If you like sake you probably already know about this place. If you don't, think of this place more as a bar than a restaurant. They have a great selection of sake and quite a few taster flights available. The food is good and pairs well with the sake but a full meal here is expensive as the portions are quite small. Still, quite the enjoyable experience.

As you can see SAKE from their name, this place has so many sake variety, they also offer sake flight. The food selection is not that wide but enough to enjoy sake. They also have many cocktails and beer. a great spot for drinking and eating light.

This is THE spot. The bartender is so knowledgeable in recommending which sake to get. The staff was so friendly. I felt like I walked into the reboot of "Cheers." I sat at the bar and didn't sit at the tables. The AC was cold, but the hospitality was warm.

Already Obsessed!! We stumbled upon this place looking for a ramen spot, and decided to wait at the bar and have some drinks. First off, this place is so aesthetically pleasing. Everything is modern and clean. We LOVED our bartender Rachel, she was very knowledgable and helped us decide what kind of Sake to order. She was very friendly and we learned a lot from her. I have yet to review the food BUT overall ill be coming back very soon to try both again. You could see people enjoying everything so I am excited to try! Such a chill spot to drink. Thanks for the great experience Rachel.

I returned after the pandemic, and this restaurant/bar is still my favorite. Even if the kitchen was about to close, they still accommodated us. We ordered everything that our server recommended. All the sushi was excellent. My favorite is the Uni, Ocean Trout, and Monkfish liver. I enjoyed the " Dojo introductions" flight. The sake was the perfect complement to our sushi. The service was excellent! Please continue to support your local restaurants!

We came in because we were bored and snackish, so we tried a bento box combo with the chicken teriyaki and shrimp tempura. We also got a blue crab handroll and some sake. Everything on the bento box was good, except that the chicken teriyaki was a bit overcooked, but the flavor was good. The tempura was fried well, althought they didn't give us the tempura dipping sauce that most places give. It was fine we kinda demolished it so wasn't a big deal. I really liked our blue crab handroll, they put a shiso leaf in with it and that added a nice herbal bite to it and I found it very enjoyable. Next time I come here I'm gonna actually try their sushi and small bites. They have very extensive sake menu, its actually way bigger than their food menu. They have it from mild to wild on their sake list, drink it hot or drink it cold. The service was nice and attentive, and it's spacious. They also have a full bar, so will have to try a cocktail next time too.

Omg where do I start... We only came to eat at this place because everywhere else around had an hour wait. This place was able to seat us right away. Should have been a red flag but we were too hungry so we decided to try it out. 1. The service was the most horrible. Took forever to get an answer on anything and when our food finally arrived we asked for an extra bowl three times (3 TIMES!!) and never got it. 2. Menu had the wrong prices. When the bill came multiple items were priced wrong. They fixed one of them but for the other one, they said the menu had the price wrong and it was actually $2.50 more expensive. First of all, that's a false advertisement and technically they could have been sued, but also that's just rude to not corrected the bill since it was their fault. 3. Food was super mediocre. It was obvious they were not there to make sushi or cooked food, they just wanted to serve Sake. If that's the case take the food off the menu and just call yourself a bar. The food was not great and the cuts of Sashimi were super small. I mean how can you mess up just cutting fish? Overall, a really bad experience and would definitely not recommend anyone to eat here. Just go wait in line for one of the other authentic restaurants next door or across the street.

This review is specifically for Sake Dojo's collaboration with other small businesses in Little Tokyo-- Fugetsu-Do, Bunkado, Koyasan Buddhist Temple, and Far Bar--for their New Year's Ozoni kit. This was a stellar experience. Easy to order, easy and Covid-safe pick-up, well-designed kit, packed perfectly for transport, easy to make and came with all the necessary instructions, and equal parts beautiful and delicious! It feels so great to support multiple mom-and-pop shops at once with these sorts of collaborations. I would 100% order a kit like this from them again in the future (aka more of this please!!).

Popped in for a quick post dinner spot of sake and our bartender was so kind and helpful! Absolutely loved the vibe and extensive selection! Definitely will be back for another round. Cheers!

Came here for a private event. It was a pre-fixed menu, buffet style. We were not impressed. The salmon was dry and over-glazed, but not enough to mask the "fishy" taste. Skewers; also dry and over-glazed. The yakisoba was sticky as if it were pre-made and reheated. The fried rice was good. My coworker said it was "bland", but I think that's why it was 'good' (because it wasn't covered in the glaze). I will say the Mango lemonade was refreshing. We were a group of 15 and had TONS of food leftover because no one was eating. Service: very attentive. repeatedly checked on us and made sure our glasses were never empty. Considering giving this place another chance, based on other reviews. But as a 'private party buffet', I would definitely not recommend it.

Stopped by today on a whim for a few drinks, ended up getting a really good jalapeño smoked cocktail and a smoked whiskey (forgot the names tbh). Matt did an awesome job tailoring drinks for our preferences and the location was really nice and not too crowded. They're still finishing their menus and getting settled in, which is why i gave 4 stars, but I'll bump it up when i come back and see that they're completely established.

Happy hour is 5-7! My friends and I came here after dinner for drinks. Between three people, we shared a bottle of sake and got the sake 101 flight to sample a few more. Service is awesome and the place is very upscale/modern and super clean. Got an order of the chicken karaage later on as we got the munchies and the food was delish..a tad bit on the salty side but nonetheless yummy. Definitely a great date spot. It can be overlooked since it is near the famous udon and ramen places but if you're looking for a quiet trendy spot to have dinner or enjoy a flight of sake, this is the place!

This place is hit or miss. Good first time I went and not good second time. I will not be going back after my last visit with slow service and freestyled menu items.

Great Sake mediocre food wish they had better food but enya next door is ten times better. They charge enya prices but the quality is not even close. I would come here to drink only. They should either reduce their prices they charge or get better quality food to justify the prices. Sake is awesome here though and they have TVs to watch games.

***SAVE YOURSELF & YOUR MONEY AND DON'T DO DINELA 2019 HERE*** Came here with a party of 6 AFTER having made reservations because that's what was recommended by the restaurant only to find that they didn't even have a table set for us and they didn't care. 5 of us got the $39 "omakase" deal and 1 person got the $29 cooked meal deal and the $29 is a better fare in all 6 of ours opinion. Things I found wrong with the "omakase" deal: -omakase should be served one by one, curated by the chef, and not just dumped on a plate and served all at once -imitation crab and a piece of some crab roll do and should *not* count as an omakase piece -the cucumber salad in the beginning was flavorless, I've literally had a better cucumber salad at almost every Japanese and Korean restaurant. This one failed so hard The $29 cooked meal deal was a way better value and is definitely the way to go but honestly, I would go elsewhere instead. I got a highball which is whiskey with club soda. I went with the Hibiki Harmony for $24 and it was good but way overpriced in my opinion. The honey milk pudding that everyone got for dessert was the highlight of the night (which is pretty sad). Everyone in my party agreed that we wouldn't come back here nor would we recommend anyone to do dineLA here. The quality at AYCE places were better than Sake Dojo.

It was a chilly cold evening waiting for Marugame Monzo next door so it felt like the wise thing to follow my instinct when I saw the sign outside of Sake Dojo displaying their SOCIAL HOUR: Everyday from 4-7pm and 10:30pm-close. The sign that lured us in displayed: Live Fresh Oyster in a Half Shell ($1.50/each) Oyster Sake Shooter Oyster Vodka Shooter Uni Sake Shooter ($9) We wanted to start off with 2 Uni Sake Shooters... BUT THEY WERE OUT OF UNI. So we asked for 2 Oyster Sake Shooters... BUT THEY WERE ALSO OUT OF OYSTER. Literally all of the products on the sign that lured us in were unavailable. But our lovely bartender Sachi was so chill, I didn't want to give her a hard time. Instead we did the 2 Sake 101 Flights ($8/each) - which featured 3 types of sake: junmai, ginjo and nigori. We enjoyed our Sake Flight and Sachi was really fun to talk to. 5 stars for her personality!! It was like free therapy telling her about my end of year struggles. And of course, it kept us out of the cold while waiting for our dinner wait next door. I can definitely see myself coming back for a re-match at the Sake Dojo. Hopefully their supplies will be better stocked on my next visit.

What a foodie gem in Little Tokyo! My friend and I went here randomly because she mentioned she never had Sake before. I said it's the perfect time and place to try it.. don't you agree :) When we first entered to this bar; we were "whoah" with the designs of this place. It really does looks like a straight out of a Kill Bill scene and just waiting for some Japanese knives to be thrown lol. The ambiance is what a modern Japanese themed bar supposed to look like with a sushi bar next to it. Top notch to begin with :) Their baristas were so knowledgeable with their drinks. Granted, they are not Japanese so learning it must come from their passion to acquire its information. I did forgot the dude's name, but he looks like a younger version of Frank Grillo from the Purge movie.. you'll know when you see him.. this dude is a walking encyclopedia of sake.. kidd you not. My friend and I were impressed! Good job hiring this guy and get this guy a raised!!! Anway.. my friend's first sake was awesome :) Our barista gave us the beginner sake served from a big blue bottle. Again, sorry I'm being terrible yelper right now haha.. but yeah request the big blue bottle for beginner sake drinker. They should know it in a heart beat :) of yeah, the peanuts that were served was great! (My friend wants to mention that in my review lol). Overall, next time I will try their sushi bar.. definitely, going back here again.

Quite impressive. A buddy from work goes here on the regular and recommended the omakase. We sat at the Sushi Bar. The omakase, which provides a whole new experience and for those of us who enjoy sushi. The word, omakase, means to entrust yourself to the chef. You are literally placing the choice of ingredients and presentations in the hand of the sushi chef, itamae. Chef Suzie took care of us and she made one after another, after another after another sushi. It was just hands down the best! This place is hidden in Little Tokyo. The front and signage is deceptive. Once you come in there's an immaculate bar and the place even has a cool banquet room for private events. We will definitely be back. The waitress was awesome and friendly, while the Chef again was just deliverying haymakers for my taste buds! .

I had a great time here celebrating a friends birthday. We were given a sake pairing, which I had never done. With over 120 sakes here, we were offered three special kinds to go with the food we'd ordered. My favorite was the Hakutsuru. It was much smoother than the others. Surprisingly the Nigori was my least favorite because of the sweetness. Definitely more of a dessert sake. I love that they offer some vegan options here: -Edamame Hummus with homemade toasted (shokupan) - a great starter, somewhat filling and delicious. -Robata mushrooms - I can't recall the type of mushroom it was, very similar to the king mushroom, grilled so tender and flavored perfectly -Vege roll with yellow beets on top, that was refreshing. My top faves: Uni Pasta - Not your typical creamy, thick noodle pasta. This uni pasta is cooked in a lobster broth and roasted tomatoes, which makes the sauce a red base. The noodles were Inaniwa Udon (thin noodles), which I've never had. Topped with delicious soft fresh uni. YUM! Tori Karaage - the lemon aioli and chili yuzu sauce really complemented the perfectly fried chicken. Beef Tongue - to my surprise, I really enjoyed this dish. The lemon and minced garlic went very well with the texture. Shrimp Dynamite roll - I actually like the shrimp more than the roll. Biting into the crunch/firm texture from the shrimp and the softness of the roll threw me off a little. Lastly, we finished off with amazingly thought out concoctions by the bartender. With so many beautiful looking cocktails, I picked the refreshing light East 1st. Service was superb! The restaurant shares the same owners as Far Bar conveniently located next door. Sake Dojo can cater to a more upscale menu with premium sake and Japanese beer options. Enjoy!

Went in with the goal to try a few flights and fine tune my preference for sake. Given what is advertised (let's face it, the name suggests it) I figured this would be a promising spot. It's about 6pm on a Fri. There's maybe 4 other parties (not even a third capacity) so I'm looking forward to what would seem (foreshadowing if you caught it, if you didn't: well now you know) like a great experience to try 8-10 sake samplers and develop my taste. I'm seated promptly and I get to lay out my goals to Jermal my bartender (sorry on the spelling if I messed it up): I'm newish to sake, I figure I'd start with their beginner/intro flight and then trust him the rest of the way based on my feedback. So we get started and Jermal is very good with the whole customer service and friendly decor bit as you'd expect (no this is not a complaining review about Jermal, he's great). There's a number of instances through our chat where an older Asian gentleman whom I won't assume is the owner (so manager or manager adjacent) who basically catches up with Jermal on what things the establishment needs to do: something about the current glass count and how such and such glasses need to be unpacked. On the last occasion the phrase "looks like you need help" is used toward Jermal and the point of "forget the customer, you have stuff to do" is branded into the mood (I'm indifferent to this, it is a bar that needs to have things ready - they gotta make money too). So Jermal goes off to do his thing and I'm watching cowboy bebop (the anime, not that poor excuse of a live action remake that couldn't satisfy the fan base for a whole season) on the TV and I quickly sip through my 3 samplers (attached). And then that's it. There's no followup from anyone else (Jermal was tasked with a lot of things from what I saw: stocking, helping make drinks, etc.), employees walk by and around me (on a couple of occasions to adjust the angle that the bar stools next to me are facing), and literally not a single one of them asks if I want another drink, a refill on water, nothing. I just awkwardly sit and watch a second (the final) episode of cowboy bebop (decent finale) with zero interaction and so I'm sober at this point and very much over it. So I ask for the check which then leads to the "What did you like? And would you like a refill on your water?" from the girl behind the bar. I note some of her picks and get out: annoyed of the unfulfilled mission which leads me to visit other establishments in the area. Would I go here again? Lol - no. Do I recommend you try the spot? If you have the same mission as me, then no. You can have a better experience at a lot of other options nearby. But if you're looking for ambiance, small bites, drinks, and are in a group - it'll probably work out better than my experience. However, would you support a place that neglects someone who just wanted to learn about sake on a Fri evening? (Yes I responded to a hypothetical question with a question to you, that's how identifying morals work sometimes.) That's entirely up to you.

Incredible! Currently L.A/little Tokyo's best kept secret . Flights of Sake. Incredible buttery sushi with great exotics when you sit at the sushi bar and let them drive.... Tonight it was needle fish and Japanese Chad which tastes like mackerel! Their miso soup is out of this world! If you do the sushi samplers .... My best advice is get one per person. It's too good to share!!! I'm going to keep this one short. Go there now so when the hoards catch up you already are known in there and hopefully are prioritized when you pull up.

Great looking contemporary space in Little Tokyo, Downtown LA that gets its interior decorating clues from mid twentieth century Japanese and Danish clean lines. Two bars: one caters to more Sakè (sah keh) oriented clientele while the other bar has raw bar chefs at your culinary bidding as well as a full kitchen. Of course, there is table dining although I myself like bar seating where all the action happens in terms of directly interacting with the knowledgeable staff. Space seems to cater to a more Sakè chic aficionado affluent millennial customer base but will also appeal to savvy X'ers & boomers. Score of Sakè preserved by the eye appealing Enomatic, inert Argon gas system. Quite a few familiar Kura/Sakè houses, but Sakè Do-jo- prides itself on carrying esoteric Sakè. Look at the small, cold case to the right to see the rare, hard to obtain Sakè on display. Dassai Beyond is over $1000 per bottle. You'll have to read Japanese to decode the labels, but they will have a Sakè list with short descriptions. Staff is responsive, cordial, ready for business, although they seem a bit harried & excited. Great opening devoted to the vast & sophisticated world that is Sakè, an alcoholic spirit that is taking on the world much as Sushi did starting 40 years ago. Greg, Sakè & Sho-chu-/Japanese "vodka" Sommelier, meticulously informed me about the well constructed Yu-ho- Rhythym of Centuries Junmai Kimoto Koshu, and Oku no Matsu Tokubetsu Junmai Nama Cho-zo that I had ordered. He is a great instructor who can fill you in on the finer, detailed points of Sakè fermentation which is a simultaneous complex 2 stage process. Phillip, the friendly, cordial bar manager stopped by to see all was all right. The barmen gave out amiable vibes and made you feel at home. Even Don, the low key yet enthusiastic, welcoming owner, came by so we discussed his desire to also introduce Pacific Rim wines & the more subtle Burgundian varietals. Overall the first evening of the soft opening of Sakè Do-jo- went without a hitch. Smooth, mellow, well coördinated especially by the management who are seasoned pros. Much good fortune to this house of good vibes. 5 Yelp stars. https://m.facebook.com/sakedojola/about/

Overall good are yummy, a little bit pricy. Strongly recommend The black cod And the friend chicken

Sake Dojo is the best kept secret in Little Tokyo. The service and food are always excellent. Private events are phenomenal. There are flights of sake. Make this your stop for a great meal!

First Impressions: Saké Dojo soft opened two weeks ago, and they're ramping up the food and bar menu toward a full opening in this nicely designed space. The food focus is on Japanese seafood with a raw/sushi/sashimi bar and various small plates such as monkfish karaage, azari clams and ceviche. There's as many as half a dozen types of oysters to choose from - I had 6 delicious plump and briny Fat Bastard oysters from Washington. The monkfish was good but the batter reminded me of tempura rather than karaage. The sushi was fine. The raw bar and seafood items match well with the sake and white wine lists. There's over 100 sakés to choose from. The sake list is organized by region with a brief description of regional styles. Sake tasting flights of 3 pours each are available ranging from $10-$110. The Kubota, Female Toji and Niigata flights are excellent, with my favorite being the Demon Slayer flight. Saké Dojo might have the largest Japanese beer list in town with over 60 beers available, 7 on draft and the rest in bottles. Highly regarded Hitachino and Coedo breweries are well represented, as well as harder to find craft beers from Kizakura and Kanazawa Hyakumangoku. The well stocked bar has a growing selection of gin and shochu. The cocktail menu features about a half dozen house creations and a few shochu cocktails. My favorite was the East 1st with Sipsmith Gin, Thai basil, Japanese cucumber, fennel syrup and tonic water. The bar features 5 Enomatic dispensing machines that allows them to freshly pour 40 wines and sakes by the glass. So far so good for the start of Sake Dojo!

Came in to have dinner with some people and was very impressed with the decor. The bar is AMAZING! The setup is very unique and the selection of sake and whiskey as well as wines were all upscale and displayed very creatively. The "tattooed" artwork on wood displayed on the walls are beautiful. Very neat to hear how the process of the art is produced. We were seated immediately and served water and asked if we would like to order a drink. Hostess and waitress were friendly, professional, and we were checked on continuously throughout our meal. They have a happy hour until 7pm. We were able to order a few items from that menu. In addition on their main menu, we ordered many plates....we were able to try some of everything because the plates were perfect for sharing. The flight of sake gave us a variation of the same maker but different sake...very interesting. They had a sake specialist there if we had any questions. Their hashis (chopsticks) are make of bamboo and they break like they're supposed to, evenly in half with the tip breaking off easily to hold your hashis. The food was delish. Very creatively made and super flavorful and fresh. The dishes came out fairly quickly and we were concerned we ordered too much. At the end we were very satisfied with very little leftover. Our water glasses were always filled. Lastly, the dessert is a MUST! I could eat a few of those!!!

I really wanted to like this place but the service was very disorganized. The staff was super friendly, but they got our order wrong several times. We ordered two sake flights (which took over 20 minutes to arrive), they only brought one, so we had to wait longer for the second. We ordered three different kinds of sashimi. They brought one out about 30 minutes, then brought out the other two as nigiri. We told them we only ordered sashimi, they took it back, then 10 minutes later, another waiter brought back that same dish of nigiri..took about another 20 minutes for them to bring out the correct order. Idk why everything took so long to arrive as the restaurant was less than half full. If I'm paying 30$ for a 5 piece sashimi, I'd hope for better service. Also asked to keep a copy of the sake menu at the table, someone came and told us that that was the only sake fight menu in the whole restaurant. I have never been to a restaurant that only carried one menu. Other than that, the food was good, chicken wings/fish were good.

Closes at 1030 put all the food up at 930pm. Our waiter joe was at the bar talking shots while we waited to asked him for a water refill. They told me they were out of ginger. The cooks but it up. We stated our let down at the end of the meal. Joe our waiter said "he didn't it's not on him." No apology no trying to correct things. Very bad service. Definitely won't be back.

Reopened a month ago from the pandemic, this place now serves all kinds of alcohol and features an open sushi bar. (Unfortunately no outdoor seating.) We were seated at the sushi bar by a friendly staff member. The sushi chef Ryan served us with omakase for two persons ($100 per person). The food was beyond words. Personally, I felt the fish egg, cured mackerel, shima aji, otoro, and uni are the most remarkable ones. The appetizer, sashimi, and the nigiris come one after one and they put me and my partner on some heavenly moments.The ingredients taste fresh and flavors are very delicately executed. (Definitely no additional dipping soy sauce!) Good value and great food!!

I went to this restaurant on Friday Sept 16th with my partner. I've been craving fresh sushi for a long time, and was willing to put down more money than I'd usually spend for good quality. I found Sake Dojo and was so excited to try it out. When I arrived, the place was completely empty.. This was a bit worrying, but the reviews were great, so we went in anyway. The sake list was extensive. I made a blind choice and it was delicious. Such a smooth sake. Then I proceeded to order the Bluefin Premium Toro Nigiri(~$20), Sweet Shrimp Nigiri (~$18), Salmon Nigiri (~8), Baked Crab Cut Roll (~$15), and one of the specialty rolls (as well as a few drinks and perhaps one other fish I can't remember). The Premium Toro was disgusting. It was SO fishy, which means it's old. Unfortunately, it's a one-bite thing, so it's not like you can send it back. I felt bad because my boyfriend doesn't like sushi and I thought he might fall in love with Toro (I've had amazing Toro at other places before - it's normally buttery and smooth). We took it down at the same time and had to quickly wash it down with our drinks because it was so gross and we were literally gagging... I continued to have the sweet shrimp. It was a bit better than the Toro, which is not saying much, because still tasted old.. I didn't know shrimp could have a spoiled tasted. The Salmon was good, and so was the baked crab and super cooked specialty roll my boyfriend ordered. Of course, you can't go too wrong when you cook something. We must have spent $200 that night in the matter of an hour. I told the waiter about the Toro but he was new and nervous and disregarded it. I still tipped the poor guy generously, more out of sympathy because it's a recession than anything else. However, this was such a waste of money that I regretted the rest of the night. I wasn't sure that I wanted to write this review, but here it is. Perhaps their more expensive items are old because it's the start of a recession and everyone orders the cheaper fish instead these days? Who knows.

Great food. Menu items are creative and delicious. There are always new items that the chef is offering. Staff are friendly, courteous and happy to offer suggestions. If you enjoy sake then this is definitely the place to go. Numerous varieties to try. The restaurant also has the ability to host private or group parties. Check out the rooftop patio. It's a relaxing place to be in the heart of a very busy city.

TLDR: Service is sub par. DINERS BEWARE, CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS AFTER DINING HERE. They claimed that I tipped them about 10x of what I actually wrote down on the receipt. Coming in here is a bit overwhelming with the amount of sake options they have. Which is a good problem to have. But not so much when the servers don't seem to explain anything to you. I came in and sat at the bar for about five minutes trying to even get a menu. Maybe... leave them out somewhere if you're not going to have a greeter provide menus... The service finally came over to me, briefly talked about happy hour, pointed out specials on the sake, and didn't really explain anything about the sake options when I expressed that I was a bit overwhelmed and wanted recommendations. They don't have anything where you can create your own flight and the smallest serving you could order for most of the sakes were 4 ounces. I didn't want to end up ordering a sake i've already had so instead opted for an interesting looking cocktail - the "shiso fine". yikes. The name reminds me of something my racist college classmates would say. Anyways, it's a cocktail made with Iwai whiskey, plum wine, and muddled shiso. The cocktail was pretty good. The shiso actually had a presence in the drink unlike other cocktails I've had that claimed used shiso. The unique flavor of shiso actually blended really well with the whiskey and plum wine. Halfway through I talk to another server about the happy hour menu and decided to order some oysters. They were briny and ok but full of shards from the shell. The meat was still attached to the bottom of the shell. I got four oysters... to have shards in all of them is just unacceptable. They don't seem to know how to shuck oysters here. To make matters worse, the order was put in after happy hour had ended so I ended up paying $3 for some terrible oysters. Not even an apology from the service. It might be good to have bartenders who are passionate about sake if it's a sake bar. I'd expect the servers in a wine bar to be jovial and knowledgeable about the wines they have... While the cocktail was decent, everything else was just abysmal. UPDATE: I just looked at my credit card statement and I was charged almost 10x the amount that I put down for the tip. WTF? BEWARE OF THIS ESTABLISHMENT! Already wasn't happy with my experience here and now I have to spend hours on the phone trying to contact the restaurant and talking to my cc company.

Pick up menu for Christmas Day and New Year's looked delicious. Great set up. Only 2 customers allowed inside at a time to pick up -- ensure social distancing. Hand sanitizer available. Looks really nice inside so hope to visit when it is safe to dine inside again.

The sushi here is really tasty. Receiving 4/5 stars because there's a ton of great stuff listed on their Yelp page (i.e. the uni pasta) that is no longer on the menu because they are going through a revamp. We went on a Tuesday night and it was pretty empty. It's a new restaurant owned by the same owners of Far Bar (which I also love). We tried the Dojo roll and Salmon Toro Peno roll (if you like spicy- the Salmon Toro Peno roll is for you). Both of these rolls are delicious with great cuts of fish. Service was excellent, they also warm their house sake in a machine rather than the microwave so it takes a little while to come out. I think once this place gets into their groove, there will be a lengthy wait to get in on any given night. Definitely worth checking this place out!

Great Japanese beer selection. They have major beer brands: Orion, Asahi, Suntory, Kirin, and Sapporo (believe all $7). And served in their own glasses (not Kirin). Mar 2022

Great presentation and taste! Tasted light, refreshing and delicious! The agedashi tofu was also delicious. Definitely check this place out!

Service was pretty bad, portions were small for the price, and food was just okay. Wouldn't return. We had 4 different people all who got different things and the timing of stuff coming out was terrible. One person in our party got her food once everyone else was done. No recognition by the staff of this. The tuna roll was fishy-tasting (not in a good way). I felt I had to use a lot of soy sauce to cover it up. There were maybe two or three other tables while we were there and the service was still awful.

I don't think I have ever been to a place that made me and my family wait so long for our dinner, after one hour I went to ask what's going on our waitress told me I think I lost the order. Another person came took the order apologized told us it's on the house and will still don't give all of our orders, after 2 hours of sitting in the restaurant we left.

This restaurant was an experience and a great one at that. Great service and great food! We sat at the sushi bar and the sushi chef was amazing and explained each piece which was so cool. I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

DONT GO HERE. - rolls are tiny - expensive - no pictures or descriptions of rolls. There is so much around don't waste your time. Management needs to make this place more customer friendly with descriptions and/or pics. Place was empty when I went in. Should have know

Honestly, the best sushi in Los Angeles for the price range. Service was on point and the options for rolls, freshness of fish, ambiance. This is one of my favorite places in the city and I recommend to everyone.

As per my check-in, I did not visit the restaurant, our temple ordered bento lunches for the obon festival. I had a shoot salmon bento. It had a bed of rice with a salmon piece along with cooked vegetables, beans, and some pickled items. The salmon was pretty good. My cooked vegetables had too many pieces of daikon. I think I need to go to the actual restaurant to see how the food is freshly made.

Unfortunately, this place was not good! Our hostess was nice but that's about the only thing that was good. The food took FOREVER to be made! Mind you we just ordered 5 rolls of sushi and were the only party in the place. For some reason, each roll came out 1 by 1. One roll took about 15 to 20 minutes per roll to come out, we were so confused and frustrated. The food was mediocre and the music was the worst elevator music. We felt like we were in a TRANCE, we ran out of there as soon as we paid. Will not be going back ever again!

This place has been on my radar for a few months now, any place with alcohol in the name warrants a closer look. BOY WAS I PLEASANTLY SURPRISED!!!! I will go out on a limb and say that this is hands down the best HAPPY HOUR in little Tokyo. The Izakaya (small plates) is absolutely incredible. I had the hand roll trio, the chicken-negi-shiitake robato, and the Tori Kara-agi (fried chicken). Everyone was better than the next, couldn't pick a favorite if you put a gun to my head! Unfortunately, due to extenuating circumstances beyond anyone's control, the building fire alarm went off. This is where we separate the wheat from the chaff, and in this instance the staff went above and beyond to compensate with the inconvenience. Providing me with a free dessert and escorting me to the neighboring bar for a beer at Far Bar while they sorted out the fire alarm problem. The food was so tremendous I returned after my beer. I had the opportunity to speak with the owner/chef, he indulged me in his love for food and we discussed Japanese cuisine extensively. From our conversation I could tell he was a serious about food, not only did I get schooled on Japanese food but every kind of barbecue imaginable. At the conclusion of that chat I asked him to send me a surprise dish of his choosing. Out came a lamb chop curry that was absolutely divine. After chatting with the staff I discovered that this was very much a family operation, with everyone being incredibly close knit and accommodating. Special shout out to DON, JILL, and BE!!! In the face of adversity you made all my Izakaya dreams come true!! (Even some I didn't know I had :o)