once upon a time, blackboard eats offered us 30% off dinner at aburiya toranoko. we missed the opportunity. blackboard eats offered us another chance to redeem both ourselves and a 30% coupon for dinner. omg. so glad we went. and eating at places like that in downtown la makes me want to live in downtown la. even if the restaurant is a stone’s throw from a dicey neighborhood. safety? who needs safety when you can have excellent japanese food?!?

here’s what we ate:
• kanpachi:

  
  lacked the yuzu salt that other chefs use as accompaniment, but tender and lovely still

• aburi kanpachi (seared and topped with crispy onion):
  
  this rice had been laced with yuzu salt. and those onion crips… yum!

• kohada (because they were out of bonito – bah!)
  
  tasted like herring; meaty texture; very good

• uni goma tofu (a must, per jgold)
  
  this was a very interesting menu choice and an aburiya toranoko special/favorite; the tofu was mixed with sesame which made its texture seem like peanut butter; the gelatin was infused with bonito for a smoky fishy flavor; the uni was distinct and didn’t get lost in the sesame or bonito; the salty soy sauce completed the dish; my only wish was that i had about 6 other people to share it with – that was one rich dish

• miso beef tongue:
  
  (lousy photo, sorry, we got so excited we forgot to take a picture before digging in!) beef tongue – ’nuff said; the lemon accompaniment was awesome

• tuna pizza:
  
  our least favorite dish, not because it wasn’t good: the wafer thin “crust” and presentation was spot on, but there was too much mayo and it lacked either tang or heat or a little bit of both

• buta kakuni (pork belly):
  
  awesome, and i’ve had a lot of pork belly; unfortunately, our server forgot this dish so the time between the pizza and the pork belly was too long and our food had settled. consequently, we burped up the pork belly for the rest of the night. could be worse, i suppose, it could’ve tasted worse coming up than it did going down (!)

• sake flight:
  
  the sake on the end was the best: apple, pear, cotton candy; the one in the middle, the junmai ginjo tasted like pepper and was the least favorite (but not necessarily because of the pepper, it was simply the least favorite; the first one (not shown) was the second favorite; it tasted like pear and wasn’t nearly as complex as the favorite one

maybe next time we’ll sit at the bar:

either way, i’m pretty sure there will be a next time.

aburiya toranoko | 243 s san pedro st los angeles ca 90012 | 213.621.9500