Kagaya

12/16/07

Best Shabu Shabu in Southern Cali

by vitriolic893 at Citysearch

Kagaya is located inside the Honda Plaza in Little Tokyo. It's on the south side of Second Street between Central and Alameda.

The owner is from Hokkaido, Japan, the same place where my ex husband is from. He's usually there, and he tends to every detail. Service is consistently exceptional. Kagaya is without question, has the very best shabu shabu, and I've probably been to all the shabu shabu restaurants in Southern Cali.

• Pros: Shabu Shabu, Exceptional Service

01/11/07

our favorite restaurant, seriously, the best!

by sidandsophia at Citysearch

we are never ever ever disappointed at kagaya. their attention to detail, the impeccable service, the high quality food... everything at kagaya is done perfectly. for ~$50, you get soup, two appetizers, a main course of beef or seafood, your choice, to have with vegetables, tofu, and noodles you cook yourself shabu shabu style, AND dessert! and, and, when you've finished the beef and vegetables, they turn the broth into either udon or rice soup! we always leave with full tummies and in great moods. love it!

Popular Little Tokyo eatery offers elegant prix fixe shabu shabu with Kobe-style beef and high-end seafood.

by Martha Burr at Citysearch

In Short
This intimate haunt is charmingly Zen, with accents of pale orchids and cool jazz. Half a dozen tables, divided by bamboo screens, and several seats at the bar welcome homesick diners and Eastside foodies. A prix fixe shabu shabu menu offers several small seasonal Japanese dishes to start, and choices of beef (American Kobe and Australian Wagyu) and seafood, such as Alaskan king crab, oysters and clams. All come with Asian greens, shiitake and tofu, followed by noodles or rice porridge, and dessert.

11/16/06

best shabu spot in la

by bbyxdiana at Citysearch

although a shabu dinner can get pricey here, it is worth every penny... the food AND service is top quality.. dinner starts out with two delicious appetizers... then comes the shabu.. the meat is tender and seafood is fresh... once you're done with that, the waiters there give you a choice between rice porrigde or udon.. the rice porridge is to die for! finishing your dinner off, is a small-perfect sized desert..

09/25/06

Shabu-Shabu fit for Royalty

by multi at Citysearch

This is the best Shabu-Shabu meal I have ever had. I'm not much of a Shabu-Shabu person because all you do is boil the food in some broth. My family loves it and seldomly have it at home. Kagaya changed my mind about Shabu-Shabu; I never knew it could be so good. We got all the exquisite meat they have available such as the Kobe beef, Wagyu, and the Prime. (FYI, Kobe tasted like BUTTA) The meal started with 2 appetizers: crab in stock and cold tofu. Then the meats came with a plate of fresh veggies. After the meat dishes you can have a choice of porridge or udon. We chose porridge rice because from the looks of other table it looked good. Regret not going with udon, the porridge was kinda bland. Then dessert came. The green tea mousse was really good. The price may be high compared to other Shabu Shabu restaurants but the portion and the quality makes up for the price.

• Pros: Quality
• Cons: Crowded, Small

02/10/06

User review by tsai423

by tsai423 at Citysearch

Kagaya serves a multi course shabu shabu meal. You have a choice of meat, fresh seafood and live king crab. The quality of the food here is excellent and so is the service. Both of the reviewers below had the udon but I prefer the rice cooked in the soup (congee), but whatever you choose it will be good. They have a nice selection of sakes but overly priced especially for the premium. Reservation is recommended.

• Pros: food, service
• Cons: parking

08/05/05

User review by starryg0rilla

by starryg0rilla at Citysearch

My friend took me here and it much more than I had expected. I'm used to eating a Shabu Shabu House (delicious), and I didn't imagine there was somewhere better than there, but Kagaya blew me away. We first started out with tuna sashimi seaweed salad and chawanmushi (steamed egg custard). Both were very delicious. Then we had a soup which had duck in it, which was a really good opener to the oh so delicious shabu shabu meat that just melted in my mouth. After we were done with the meat, the chef used our soup base and made udon for us. For dessert we both had the creme brule. Not only was the food delicious, but the service was impeccable. I really encourage everyone to go out and try Kagaya because you won't regret it!

• Pros: good service, good food
• Cons: pricey, long wait

03/05/05

Gem

by guru35 at Citysearch

I was taken here by someone who frequents this restaurant and raves about it. I was not disapointed. Your Shabu Shabu meal includes a few appetizers, which are always changing with the seasons, top quality shabu shabu and then a Udon soup. Dont miss their great desserts too! We had lobster sashimi and crab cakes for appetizers, and they easily rivaled the best restuarants in this city. The beef for the shabu shabu was beautifully marbeled and tender. The udon soup at the end topped off a great meal. The only thing to know is that a meal will easily take an hour to complete.

• Pros: Quality, Service