TOIRO

Very cute and authentic store for Japanese goods, especially pantry items and cookware. Everyone in the store is very nice and the atmosphere is very pleasant. I particularly liked the Yamatsu Tsujita Yuzu Shichimi. Attaching a few photos of the items I got. The bento shaped vegetables cutters are way too adorable and perfect for making artistic bento. 🍱 (maybe I should do that…)

A taste of Japan . . . in Hollywood! Walk through the doors - hear the greeting of "irashaimase" - and you feel like you're in a high end ceramics/kitchen store in Tokyo. Donabe products are first class (yet pricing is reasonable (and comparable to similar donabe pieces in Tokyo's Kappabashi district). Staff were very helpful and kind. We are thrilled with our purchases of a large Donabe, hand-crafted wooden serving ladle, and Donabe cookbook (written and autographed by Toiro's owner).

Just bought their Kamado San Donabe! It is by far one of the best purchases I have made in awhile! Their customer service is fantastic! Placed an order on Saturday, arrived on Monday. They put a lot of care on packaging the Donabe, making sure the item is secure and well protected! 10/10 would recommend!

Incredible packaging and everything arrived perfectly. So excited to receive such authentic craftsmanship from Japan. I appreciate Toiro for helping me get quality and beautiful tableware, donabe and such functional art to my front door in Indiana. Using it and loving it.

Way overpriced ($800 for a stone pot??) Selections are limited and just another place trying to be hip. Better asian cookware can be found anywhere else for much better price.

Great place for Japanese kitchenware. Clay pots that are as pretty as they are functional. They reopened today 3/28/21. Social distance.

Super friendly and helpful folks that want to share their passion for Donabe cooking. I love coming here. So inspiring and makes me want to cook. They also sell a limited assortment of high quality ingredients. And I love that they give you a sheet of How To Use with most every item you buy. No need to translate or guess.

They ship you broken items and make it very time-consuming to get your money back. Beware before you buy online

What. Beautiful store. Came here to pick up some birthday gifts and ended up buying stuff for home as well. Great friendly staff that provide service with a smile. If you're looking for pretty Japanese bowls and kitchen stuff this place is a must. Specially of you save on airfare. Wishing I saw more places like this in Osaka and Kyoto. A little expensive but you get nice pieces worth of gift giving.

Beautiful store. Warmly greeted by owner as soon as we walked in. Gorgeous tea cups and tea pots were the first thing we saw. But as we walked around the store, everything grabbed our attention. The curation of items was full of care. I could have taken almost anything home. The donabe cooking vessel is the central item here. I long to buy one, but since I don't know much about them, I opted for the donabe cookbook (signed!) by the owner first and a stunning mortar and pestle. The service is very Japanese: very kind and grateful. We had no problem finding parking on the street. Prices seemed reasonable for the specific items. I will definitely keep this in mind for beautiful and unique gifts. Looking forward to my next visit and perhaps my first donabe!

Staff is soo kind and walked me all the way to the door to let me out. Some of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen.

I bought my first donabe from Toiro 4-5 years ago when I lived in LA. The staff was so kind and the nabe was such wonderful quality. I still use it to this day! I loved my donabe from Toiro so much that I flew all the way back to LA this year just to go buy another larger one for my family! 2018に初めてToiroの土鍋を買いました。 今でも毎月使っています。 本当に美味しく焼けます。 前買った土鍋が好きすぎて、もう一つのを手に入れるためにわざわざロサンゼルスまで戻りました！

The employees here are so sweet and nice! TOIRO is right next to a Ralph's, and we just parked in the Ralph's parking lot. I found out about TOIRO first online but never had the chance to visit in person until today. Everything is laid out in a very pretty manner and each item has a small card detailing the history of the company or the use of the item. I really liked looking through the food section which is towards the back of the store! I got a small glass cup and a matcha spread which I'm so excited about. The nice ladies also walked me and my family to the exit which was cute!! I will absolutely come back soon hehe thank you!!!

Beautiful store with top quality products. I bought a beautiful donabe. The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly.

Love my personal size donabe and it makes the perfect fluffy rice. I make sure to buy organic sushi rice and the rice always turns out perfect. The rice cooks fairly fast so don't walk away and forget about it or rice will be burnt. The bottom of donabe may not stay in pristine condition. Mine had some burn marks after first use. You have to make sure to read instructions and also you must "season" donabe before you start cooking rice. I hope there are some cooking demo classes coming up soon! I bought a tea set and there is a little chip in it so they are very delicate.

I've purchased quite a few items from TOIRO and loved them all. The pieces are unique and imported from Japan. I was first drawn into getting to know their website from seeing a donabe off somewhere, can't really remember. So rightly so, one of my first buys was a donabe. I have 3 of them (and would like to add eventually throughout the years) as there are certain ones that are used for different cooking methods (to steam, to cook rice dishes, to use as a hot pot, etc. and if there are new designs because they all look so pretty! I'd like to get a Tagine someday (they also have these cute mini Tagine condiment bowls). I've gotten lots of compliments from the ones I have and have also gotten a couple people interested in donabes and some of the bowls I had where they wanted it for their home. I enjoy eating soup, noodles, rice, salad, etc. in my bowls. They're really like works of art that should be on display. I did accidentally break one of the rice bowls I had while I was hand washing, it had slipped out of my hand :/ I was sad for a few days. Handle with care and hand wash- do not use in the microwave or dishwasher. (Be sure to follow the initial use instructions on your Donabe). I even have these bowls where the handle does not get hot which makes it good when using the donabe. Small donabe is good for 1-2 people, medium donabe is good for 3-4 people, and a large donabe is good for 5-6. I also have the owner's Donabe cook book which has recipes for all of their clay pots. Beautiful photography and easy to follow instructions. These are investment pieces that can also be handed down for generations to come. I'm glad that I got to share this with my parents! I had always ordered online for local pick-up. There is a small back parking lot where you can pull into and ring the bell and someone will be out to hand over the goods. There is also a grocery store lot on the same corner that maybe you could pull into to quickly run to the store and back. I've only eve pulled into their back lot but its a VERY tight lot so you'd be going head in and backing out to the street. Everything is nicely packaged in their original boxes from Japan. Not in the area to pick-up? Not a problem, they also ship. In the words of Naoko (the owner), "Happy Donabe Life". :)

This shop is absolutely quality top shelf items at affordable prices, considering the wares are imported from Japan and might be handcrafted. The speciality is a pottery ware for cooking over fire, called Donabe like a crock pot. There are many items I haven't seen outside of Japan for cooking entertaining purposes. The staff is helpful, friendly and attentive. A Donabe is a great piece to make and serve soups, stews, beans... and it looks great in the range...

I've been wanting to go here for such a long time but given the circumstances I shopped virtually which was a very smooth experience . My mom has been in the market for a teapot so I picked it up for her. There's a back entrance where I rang a doorbell and they gave me my order. To get to the back entrance your going to enter the parking lot that's located on fountain st. (I got a little confused finding it so I had to double back to it). My mom and I are very pleased with the order!! It's so cute and perfect for tea!

I love this shop! This is a nice place to buy gifts from. The store has nice selections of Japanese housewares. And the staff is very polite and they will walk you to the door when you shop. The only thing I'm not impressed by is the packaging. Everything is expensive already but they won't put ceramic items in the box...unless you pay for the gift wrap. That's kinda crazy to me.., I spend a lot of money there but they decline my request to put the fragile items in the box unless I pay for the gift wrap. And this happened every time I went. I should just stop asking about it next time. hahaha But if you buy a nabe, it comes in the box so you don't need to worry about that. I don't mind a box from a grocery store. Just any boxes would be fine. Wouldn't you agree?

One of my favorite stores in LA, mostly just to walk through and drool due to the (completely reasonable and justified) price point. It honestly feels like visiting an art gallery. The donabe pots are truly gorgeous, and TOIRO carries an amazing selection. If you spring for one, make sure to buy the cookbook written by the shop's owner while you're at it. While a pot and a book would make a great, albeit extravagant gift, they also carry a fair selection of small items ideal for gift giving. Toiro is the perfect place to buy something for a hard to shop for, adventurous home cook. Also, the service is top notch. All the employees are gracious and knowledgeable and most purchases (even many small items) come with an information card and care instructions. Every detail in Toiro is thoughtful, concise, and beautiful. How very Japanese.

Right next to the Ralph's on La Brea in WeHo. Hands down the BEST place to gift shop unique house wares. I'm in love with anything from here. Love that their ceramics have all of the qualifications and info on their website. Love what this shop is all about: connecting through cooking. I think cooking at home will become more popular 2020, especially as restaurants continue to disappoint us lol. Love that the donabe come in personal sizes. The donabe is basically like a tagine, perfect for comfort food and unparalleled in presentation aesthetically but also function (!!). Such are things that excite me. The service and supplies here do not disappoint. Love the philosophy behind this brand and I think everyone will be better for a little piece of it in their life. Street parking typical of WeHo, is worth any hassle to visit.

First time donabe buyer and user, and I'm absutely certain I bought right. I went and splurged on the Iga Mano Kamado San 3 cup double lid rice cooker, four gorgeous hot pot bowls with handles from Iga Mono. The donabe works like a charm and produces the best crispy clay pot rice! It can also produce beautiful non crispy rice too. So far we have only cooked short grain Japanese rice. I'd like to try making basmati rice and brown rice in there. We have a zojiroshi rice cooker, it's not going anywhere we love it too, but this donabe is just supurb and easy to use. It's visually stunning, so well made, and the design is just perfect. Our donabe also makes really fantastic hot pots and stews. It lives on our stove, the donabe is just so gorgeous and I use it every day! There's something about the donabe that's just different. We have some French enamel cast iron that works beautifully with braising, roasts and all that good stuff, but there's just a special something about donabes. I want at least two more- the unique smoker donabe and an all purpose donabe, possibly the 5 cup rice donabe for guests / parties~ excessive, I know. I own an Emile Henry clay Dutch oven that performs well for braises and stews, but unfortunately does not achieve crispy clay pot rice. I've bought cazuelas that have split in half on the first use on a low flame even after properly seasoning. This donabe is so easy to season, and can take heat beautifully. My husband (6'4) and I, devoured Naoko's chicken ginger rice recipe ~ 2 cups rice (un cooked) 8 oz chicken ~ in the 3 cup donabe~ YouTube Naoko's Happy donabe life. We were so pleasantly full. Can't believe I got it down the first try, it was too easy, the hardest part was waiting to eat. Toiro store is so neat and lovely, it reminds me of the old school fine Japanese kitchen stores that used to be all over San Francisco and Los Angeles back in the day. Glad it's here once again!! Everyone on staff was super helpful and knowledgeable of the products. Everything is carefully displayed for viewing purposes, they will pull a brand new donabe from the back for you. Their products are from Japan, of the highest quality, and everything is carefully inspected upon arrival. Yes, it is pricy, but you're basically buying the Hermes of donabe and Japanese ceramics. These products are works of art, delicate, but very durable. Toiro also has a bunch of hard to find condiments and ingredients to purchase, be sure to pick up the rare premium quality imported black miso and red chili paste to make mapo tofu and other stews. Parking available on the street, metered, read signs carefully as there are prohibited anti grid lock moments. Generally safe area, it's a busy area, but there was plenty of parking. Expert tip: call first if you are seeking a particular donabe and ask to put it on hold, they have a wild e-commerce that ships everywhere, so you're not just competing with locals. I recommend, browsing their website before going into the store. The store has kind of hard to read little signs that show description of each donabe, the website is easier to read. Go with the intention or buying one donabe (anywhere from $100-300) plus some extra cash for cute accessories~ it's hard to resist. Come polished and we'll dressed, your celebrity friend Naoko might just be there and she's so cool and kind, you might end up snapping a pic with her.

Kind staff and excellent selection! One of my favorite Japanese stores in Los Angeles.

I am just learning to cook Japanese meals and discovered Toiro's online shop. The Miso-shiru Nabe donabe arrived in perfect condition, packaged so carefully (double-boxed with plenty of paper stuffing). It is simply beautiful. I can't wait to start using it. My sister commented that it could be in a museum because the craftsmanship is superb. I also ordered some hard-to-find ingredients. Thank you so much for offering these wonderful, unique Japanese items to the U.S. audience!

Gracious customer service! I enjoyed browsing to see what is new whenever I am in the neighborhood--it is a sanctuary for those who love beautifully crafted Japanese ware and especially for ones who enjoy eating and cooking at home. I have become a donabe collector over time for it's art form and cooking rice and noodles dishes when I am feeling I want something special to do--it is a formality and a treat to yourself. Thank you Toiro for making my trips to you always special.

Amazing products and incredibly helpful service. The ladies explained in detail the differences between their unique variety of cooking/flavoring liquids. From dark to white vinegar theres different uses and result in different flavors. I was fortunate to meet MRS. Donabe... she is so kind and I'm a fan or the few videos I found of her on Youtube. She only has 5 or so videos and I hope she continues to make more! Thank you for the hospitality.

I was introduced to TOIRO through a family friend. She told us about the many authentic Japanese cookware items (especially donabe) the store carries. My wife and I decided to visit the store and find out for ourselves. On Saturday, October 6, 2018, we drove there. They do not have parking of their own and parking on the street was very difficult. We ended up parking several blocks away and walking to the store. Maybe weekday parking is more favorable! If you are looking for authentic, hand-made, Japanese cookware, then this is the store for you. Their specialty item is the authentic donabe (earthenware clay-based hot-pot) products from Iga, Japan. There were plenty of signs warning customers that the cookware are delicate and to ask for help. Lastly, the prices are high. The owner of TOIRO, Naoko Takei Moore, was very cordial and took her time in explaining the details about each line of donabe. By the way she is the author of her book "DONABE Cookbook." The book is autographed copy by Naoko.

I reviewed Naoko Takei Moore's cookbook The Donabe Life before Moore opened her Toiro so I was quite excited to meet her and see her store. I missed the grand opening since I was out of town, so I wasn't going to miss her Spring Festival. The staff steamed the vegetables in a donabe to show how easy it is. The store is beautiful and the donabes are arranged like an art gallery. Signs abound that the items are delicate, ask for help. So I did, as I debated whether or not to make an impulse purchase, or wait until I did more research on what type (it's been quite a while since I read the cookbook, need to refresh my memory), what I'd use the donabe for, and establish what size, what features were must-buys. Steamed insert? Would I really cook rice in it? Am I more a stew person? Dry roast? Unlike opening day, there were no discounts offered upon purchase, and the prices are steep. So many expensive, elegant choices. They sell spices, chopstick rests, "flatware," bamboo ladles, strainers, trivets, dishes, condiments (smoked soy sauce, benito flakes, yuzu, golden sesame oil), fresh ramen, but most everything is spicy. A packet of dashi bags, for example, sells for $25. A small bamboo ladle, $40.

One of the most special shops in Los Angeles. Authentic, beautifully-made, carefully selected cookware, tableware, foodstuffs, etc. from Japan. Also occasional cooking classes with the wonderful owner. Love this place.

I'm so happy to discover this beautiful store in my neighborhood! The staff was so friendly and helpful. They even let me taste the different types of sesame oil before making a purchase. I picked up a beautiful wooden tray, copper omelet pan, and several Japanese condiments. I can wait to go back and shop their collection of ceramic cookware.

A gorgeous store. So many unique items from Japan, including the clay pots. I learned of her from articles in the press and ordered items to me here in Tennessee. She started with an online business and opened the store a year or two ago. I finally got into the LA store. WOW. Thank you thank you. Wish more stores in the country and California were like this. They're so nice also.

Not cool. I've lived in the neighborhood over 5 years and walked past this shop often. I decided to go in and find a birthday present for my brother who lived in Japan for years. No customers were in the store and 3 people standing behind the counter. I walked in and a man walked in behind me. I heard a woman say hello and looked up to smile and saw she was directing all her attention to the male customer. She walked over to help him. I looked at the other people behind the counter and no one came to help me. I looked at several pottery pieces in the center of the room and considered the 3 rice ball shaper, a stovetop pot, a really beautiful tea mug. No one came to help me. I looked at items on the wall and the man behind the counter walked past me to say, while looking at the male customer, "Let me know if you need any help." The male customer left without touching or inquiring about any items. Then, a couple came in and one of the women behind the counter walked to them and greeted them, struck up a conversation, as I considered which pieces to buy. Since the staff wasn't giving me any attention, although this place is wide open and empty of customers, I decided not to buy anything. I felt they were ignoring me on purpose. Maybe because I was alone, maybe it was my clothes. Maybe because I'm black. I don't know what. I wanted to buy a gift for someone and this place made me feel invisible and unimportant as a customer. I receive better service in a range of stores. I won't visit this place again.