Japanese Cuisine: 12 Restaurants Found
Geisha House
Address: 6633 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
Building on the success of Dolce, Lonnie Moore, Mike Malin and Shereen Arazm opened their sprawling Japanese restaurant in November 2003, helping to bring Hollywood Boulevard into the 21st Century while honoring Japan’s past. Geisha House pays tribute to tradition with fully costumed “geishas” who walk the dining room. The restaurant is especially popular with twenty-somethings, who grab dinner before hitting neighborhood bars and clubs. Chef Paulo Soares delivers delicate but flavorful dishes incorporating premium ingredients like Kobe beef, while Sushi Chef Genichi Mizoguchi presides over an innovative sushi bar. To drink, expect a sake list representative of Japan’s diverse prefectures.
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Maison Akira
Address: 713 E. Green Street, Los Angeles, CA 91101
Near the Playhouse, in one of the quaintest districts in Pasadena, a rare jewel sparkles in the Crown City—Maison Akira. Step off the bustling Green Street into the foyer door and find yourself halfway around the world in an elegant restaurant just off Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence, France. Though distinctly French, a peaceful Zen-like esthetic pervades the atmosphere. That is because Maison Akira is home of the world-renowned chef Hirose Akira. His menu is like a symphony of truly beautiful French classics, made modern and dazzling with subtle Japanese influences, like his signature Miso-infused Chilean Sea Bass, which has made him famous throughout the world.
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Park Grill
Address: 2151 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067
This culinary treasure offers an intimate and elegant atmosphere for the best LA dining. The menu features World cuisine which is enhanced by French cooking techniques. This creative approach brings flavor to the blue fin crab and asparagus soup for an appetizer.
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Sai Sai Restaurant
Address: 501 South Olive Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Sai Sai’s menu is an exercise in culinary play. Tucked inside the Millenium Biltmore Hotel, this sophisticated restaurant stands out with its adventurous gastronomic creations, Zen-inspired décor, and eager staff. Chef David Bartnes has crafted a daring Asian fusion menu, seamlessly blending distinctive regional cuisines into a global pastiche that is both strikingly original and evocatively familiar. Exotic experiments like Kobe Short Ribs with Potato Gnocchi or the pairing of maguro sashimi with caramelized pear are surprising and satisfying. With noteworthy lunchtime bento boxes, prix fixe menus for theater goers, and in house infused sakes, Sai Sai supplies a variety of tantalizing dining options.
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Urasawa
Address: 218 Rodeo Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90210
Urasawa offers one of the most unique, and exclusive, Japanese dining experiences in California. The tiny establishment, which usually seats about 10 people at a time, has no menu; rather diners are treated to 29 courses of owner and Chef Hiroyuki Urasawa's triumphant Kaizeki preparations. The formal meal presents a succession of small and meticulous dishes, each carefully crafted to accentuate the natural flavors of seasonal ingredients, many of which have been flown in from Japan earlier that day. Chef Urasawa’s attention to detail stretches beyond the plate, with 300-year old antique tableware and an exclusively French wine list, although it is the dish where his craft truly shines. Diners at Urasawa will be treated to cuisine prepared with a gentle hand, presented exquisitely, and of a quality so unrivaled it threatens to ensure that after a four-hour dinner at Urasawa, no meal will ever seem the same.
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