Shintaro

01/19/09

Bad Sushi, bad service, bad idea

by emmy69 at Citysearch

I have not written a review about a restaurant before, however, the experience at this restaurant compelled me to do so.

I would like to believe that the experience was a one off, but due to the fact the tables next to us were complaining about the same things, I can only wonder why it is this restaurant is still open.

Upon arrival we were left standing in the doorway by the hostess who, even after we told her we had called ahead and had a table waiting for us, ran around panicking and was not able to tell us if there was a table or not. A little odd, but we blew it off thinking it must be a busy night. We were then escorted into the one quarter full restaurant (yes, 3 quarters of the restaurant was empty, including the bar).

We ordered saki and the cups had lipstick on them (not mine or my husbands)

We ordered an appetizer and it came so quickly we laughed that the plate must have been sitting waiting in the kitchen to be ordered. We laughed until we tried it, and it tasted as though it had been waiting for days. This is sushi! It should be fresh!

The rest of the meal took longer to come, but unfortunately tasted no better.

This is also a restaurant where there are about 3 tables in the window that they like to keep busy so it looks like the whole restaurant is busy. We saw a couple waiting for 15 minutes for one of these tables, even though over half the restaurant was empty. We also heard this couple say the same things about the freshness of the food that we had- obviously this is the standard for food here.

I believe this restaurant stays open due to the business from the guests of the Renaissance hotel just down the street, I cannot imagine anyone that has eaten here would want to go back again.

There are many options for sushi in Hollywood. This should not be one of them. Do yourself a favor and opt for a different restaurant. Unless you enjoy the experience of leaving a restaurant hoping you're not going to get sick.

10/17/08

Good Solid Sushi Place

by Gopher95 at Citysearch

We walked in without a reservation and got a table immediately. We had a preschool child with us and the place was kid friendly (we went around 6:30pm though). The food was delivered quickly and was good. Not amazing, but very solid. I would definitely go there again. The only complaint I had was the drinks (soda's) were small and they charged for refills. They had a Japanese movie playing up on the wall which was pretty cool. Also important to note: parking can be tough as it is in a strip mall...

10/09/08

Pretty good sushi in Hollywood

by ruskychinadoll at Citysearch

The sushi here is by no means eyes rolling to the back of your head delicious (there are a few places in LA that can do that) but it's pretty good, especially for the area it's in. Most of the great sushi places in LA are in West LA, Santa Monica, or even the valley, but it's been difficult finding a place farther East that's decent. We tried Shintaro on a friend's recommendation and I'm glad we did. It's the best place I've tried in Hollywood. They have some innovative dishes and the fish was pretty fresh. I will definitely eat here again. The restaurant was surprisingly larger than I thought, it looks smaller from the outside, and it had a good vibe to it. My boyfriend and I eat sushi several times a week, we always stick to the same great places, and we agreed that Shintaro was very decent.

• Pros: Good service, good food
• Cons: Not the best sushi ever