in honor of my first post where i mentioned little tokyo, i thought it would only be appropriate to have my first "la area feature" be on little tokyo. i'm a little (okay, not just a little) bias because i've been going to little tokyo since i was little camryn. it's called little tokyo for a reason -- in the words of nicole richie, "the japanese are like we're gonna make it miniature and dope" and that's exactly what this place is.
growing up, i was not a stranger to little tokyo. i would perform odori in front of the jaccc where you'll find the giant potato rocks and i also attended camp musubi when i was in middle school. you can also find my name engraved in front of the japanese american national museum, which is an awesome museum that shares the japanese-american experience and hosts some really cool events. the center point of little tokyo though definitely has to be the plaza. the plaza is where you'll find japanese souvenir shops, japanese restaurants, nijiya - japanese market, and japanese style pastries and bread. prepare yourself for another blog post filled with photos of delicious treats. you'll also find this really cool clothing "shop" called japangeles. it looks more like one of those carts you find at a mall, hence the quotations, but they sell really cool t-shirts and hats which combine japan and los angeles. i got a black snapback with japangeles written on the front for $30. nearby is where you'll find my favorite restaurant, shabu shabu house. i've been going here for years with my family -- it used to be the place we always took my grandma before she passed away and the owner loved her. warning: this place usually has a 2 hour wait for dinner time, especially on cold days, it's cash only, and it's closed on mondays. trust me though, you won't find better meat quality than at this place, which makes it worth the wait and hassle. i introduced it to two of my friends and now we don't eat anywhere else when they're in la. you'll also find some really cool bakeries like yamazaki bakery, which has more traditional desserts and cafe dulce, where you can get a fruity pebbles or green tea donuts.
cute puppy pastries and japanese style cakes from yamazaki bakery
japangeles clothing booth
green tea & black sesame donuts from cafe dulce. yumm
sign of the plaza in front of kula - cheap revolving sushi place at one of the entrances across from the jaccc
i'll try anything with lavender! enjoying his mango tea from four leaf tea and crepes
nisei week poster!
across the way from the plaza about a five minute walk is another plaza. you can't miss it -- there is a giant knot sculpture at the entrance followed by a space shuttle sculture in memory of ellison onizuka. despite these sculptures, this plaza is more low key. it still has some really great places to eat such as curry house, orochon, and an all-you-can-eat shabu place called kushi shabu. this plaza is also where you'll find the japanese book store, kinokuniya -- this is probably the best place to go to find the latest japanese books. i personally love looking at the cook books and stationary section. there is also a nice little table area at the bottom to just hang out or read the new book you just bought.
friendship knot sculpture
description off ellison onizuka under the space shuttle sculpture
kinokuniya on the second level of the plaza
mmm curry house :)
these plazas aren't the only places though to explore in little tokyo. along the streets is where you'll find some of the other ramen shops such as shinsengumi hakata and daikokuya -- you can't miss it cause there are usually people waiting outside. another great place to try is marugame monzo, where you can watch the chef hand make the udon noodles and also try some unique udon you can't get at a normal japanese restaurant. i have yet to try any of the sushi places in the area, but i hear sushi-gen is the place to go which is in another little section of little tokyo. also, if you go just a little outside then you'll find great non-japanese places like umami burger, wurstkuche, pie hole, and a really cool bar called eightytwo. can you guys tell yet that i come here mainly for the food?
love the spicy miso!
bulgogi pizza samples from mr. pizza
view of the main plaza with many souvenir shops, nijiya, japangeles, shabu shabu house, yamazaki bakery, cafe dulce, etc.
the best mochi ice cream! you usually find it in the boxes at the grocery store and trader joe's, but there are more flavors here and they sell traditional japanese mochi too.
japanese snacks from nijiya
one of the entrances to the plaza across from the museum
go find my name at the museum :)
mmm. one of my favorite ramen shops
beautiful mural near the plaza parking lot (shabu shabu house & nijiya validate)
aside from the fact that i'm extremely bias when it comes to little tokyo, if you're ever craving japanese food then this is the place to go! there is so much more to this place than just great food though! i highly recommend taking time to actually read the descriptions of the sculptures you see walking around and taking a tour of the japanese american national museum. i hope you enjoyed reading about little tokyo and found some new places to try :)
also, if you're in the la area then check out nisei week which starts on august 9th and goes until august 16th!
check out their website for more information: http://www.niseiweek.org/
xoxo,
camryn
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