Oiwake

06/01/08

saddest birthday ever

by lkrestaurantreview at Citysearch

I'm unsure if there was something in the air last night or if it was that the planets were misaligned or something but somehow I managed to have the worst birthday dining experience of my life at this place.

I was pretty confident this was a solid place too as it got decent praise from some of my friends who had gone previously. We were simply hoping on getting some good eats, drinking lots, and singing some sweet jams before going out dancing for my birthday. Too bad none of this happened. The place was dead, my gray chicken katsu was hardly appetizing, and my friends' buffet meals were even more depressing. The green Jell-O ended up being the only true highlight. I also have to add that I was stunned that the only salad dressing they offered for their house salad was Ranch. Ranch?seriously??? It's a restaurant in the Japanese Village Mall in Little Tokyo and the only thing they offered was Ranch? We left at about 10 on a Saturday and there were only 4 other tables dining, still no one doing karaoke and even though we made reservations noting that this was for mine and my friend's birthday there was no birthday song or anything :(

I would love to give this place the benefit of the doubt and suggest that this was just some fluke, but hopefully you can respect that this is a review of my personal experience there and thus no sugar coating is necessary. There are so many good Japanese restaurants in Little Tokyo, I wouldn't choose this one if I was you.

• Pros: It is spacious and they can handle large parties.
• Cons: The food, the ambiance, etc.

Editorial Review

by Contributor at Citysearch

Combination all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant and late-night karaoke bar offers a single stage for entertainment, plus a la carte offerings such as teriyaki, tempura, noodles and sushi rolls.