Aburiya Toranoko

Master sushi chef Seji Nakano is no longer cutting fish here. He’s now making the ladies and the fellas moan in ecstasy someplace else. It’s what he must do as a master chef, I suppose. He’s gotta spread his love around.
There’s another sushi chef now. The fish was good, but it wasn’t an «experience» the way it was before. I still think this is one of the best places in Los Angeles to satiate your vices – it’s just a little less fun.

I really love this sushi spot and was greatly disappointed to learn the other night that it is currently closed for remodeling. =(

always meant to drop by
when i passed by after dinner at lazy ox next door
some major hits:
brussel sprouts kushiyaki, tsukune sumiyaki, tebasaki
some major misses:
nankotsu, shiitake mushroom sumiyaki
sushi was of good quality
and service was friendly
half off sake & wine on mondays
lots of happy hour options and weekly specials

Foods 5-​star
Service 5-​star
Ambiance 4-​star (not very fond of the art style on the wall) :p
I strongly recommend the Fatty Pork Sumiyaki, choose the salty-​way prepared.
And the Baked Potato Mousse with Ice Cream, a must have.
Overall, very authentic.

John = coolest sushi chef EVER.
I can’t believe I’ve never been to this place! Given, its on the edge of Little Tokyo but I came here with two friends on a whim Thursday night and I really enjoyed myself!
FOOD:
I can’t remember everything we ordered but the spicy tuna, spicy albacore, soft-​shell crab and caterpillar roll were all excellent! Fresh, great taste and beautifully plated. John recommended his ceviche, which we ordered and I really enjoyed as well!
SERVICE:
Excellent. John was so friendly and so nice — chatting with us and laughing with us while we ate and waited for our food. Actually everyone was just so nice! Our waters were refilled really often by a near silent waiter and I just had a lot of fun!
VENUE:
Cozy. Booths and table, but we sat at the sushi bar — best seat in the house! There’s a TV over the main bar area which was playing the NCAA game. Bathrooms are large and clean. I’m sure my friends and I may have been a little loud but hey, we were just having fun!
PARKING:
Street! We got there around 8:30 so street parking was free.
I would definitely come back! Prices are reasonable and food is good and you just can’t beat the friendly service! :D

aburiya toranoko is trying too hard. restaurants need a focus.
when you try to do too much, you risk not doing well in anything.
i’ve been to lazy ox a couple times but aburiya didn’t pull me in.
this visit was for TWO REASONS:
1) 50% off entire menu on wednesdays
2) Mama Musubi Pop-​Up.
when you enter, you see three restaurants: 1) to the left, it’s a bar… think «the room» in santa monica 2) to the middle and the right side, it’s trying to be «honda ya» 3) straight back is a traditional sushi bar
SKEWERS — lacking. we didn’t think they tasted terrible just not good. if we paid full price, we would be VERY ANGRY.
negima — okay. maybe that proves how difficult it would be to mess up chicken.
black cod — maybe they shouldn’t have cod as a skewer (nor salmon)
rib eye — toughest rib eye i’ve ever had. overcooked by at least 5 minutes.
APPETIZERS, etc
okonomiyaki — good portion and flavoring. not the best but the better part of the meal
buta kakini — flavor is there but it was completely overcooked. tough pork.
brown rice — it was fine but it took FOREVER to get one bowl of brown rice. we
asked 3 times (we still paid full tip on the price w/​o the discount)
nasu miso — too sweet. too much sauce. after wiping it off of the plate, it was much
better
beet salad — mixed greens with different colored, thinly sliced beets
SUSHI
yellowtail — good fish freshness/​quality. rice? well, it’s good but it’s not our top 3.
would we return? maybe for sushi. but in a land where there are so many other restaurants to visit, probably not.
cut the skewers or get another person who can make them correctly.
SERIOUSLY.
if we didn’t get 50% off, this would have been a more horrible review (or more of a tirade?). think about that…
2.5 stars

Great atmosphere, great sushi, and excellent service. I will be going back again. and again!
Here’s a great deal: Every Wednesday, the menu is half price. Be sure you order off the correct menu to get half price. Just ask, They’ll tell you. You can’t beat that deal.
Go check ‘em out!

Pricey and pretty horrible service. Food quality is good but don’t know if I’ll be returning.
My bf and I came here during the Mama Musubi pop up. Since we didn’t have reservations (really?!), we had to sit at the sushi bar. I like the fact that this restaurant has authentic Japanese sushi chefs who know what they’re doing with fusion. With that said, the one sushi roll we ordered (yellowtail rainbow) was amazing. The fish quality was good and it was well balanced in flavor with the sauces and fried onions it came with. I will refrain from reviewing the musubi in this review since it is not a regular menu item. However, the skewers are extremely pricey and I didn’t feel that they were that great– on the salty side for me. Each skewer is about 3 – 4 bucks each and it’s one small skewer.
Now on to the service — besides the sushi chef we sat in front of, the service we had was almost nonexistent. We kept getting water refills from random people but our server was nowhere in sight. When we finally were able to ask someone for the check, we were disappointed to find out he had once again disappeared. We literally sat at the bar for 20+ minutes waiting for our check. We were so tempted to leave but I could never do that. In the end, I guess the waiter or someone went on break or was off? But finally the manager brought us the check but the damage was already done. Love the food, hate the prices and I especially hate the service.

I came here last friday to use a travelzoo deal I got. When we got inside, we found out that the pop-​up shop mama musubi was there too. As expected, parking took forever to find since it was a Friday night in little tokyo, but I ended up using the valet. The 3-​course meal was okay. First course I ordered the somen noodle with sauteed rock shrimp. For my second course I ordered the assorted sushi and my fiancé ordered the rib-​eye sukiyaki. The sushi was fresh but sukiyaki was much more flavorful. It was really tasty. The Dessert was unique, sesame ice cream with Toranoko orange jello. The flavor of the ice cream was good. The jello was refreshing and I consumed it all in a few minutes.
The food overall was okay, but because they were quite busy, service was a little slow. We had ordered a mixed okonomiyaki. It took 30 minutes for them to bring us our pancake and worse of all, the bottom of it was burnt. Total fail! The art work in this restaurant were amazing. Great place for happy hour, they have a great selection of cocktails.

Lunch with coworkers. It’s been a while since the last time I came here. They used to serve good and fresh sushi. I was looking forward to having a good sushi lunch.
After I took the first bite, I got confused.
What happened to the quality? Why the food is not as yummy as before? Rice was dry, and sashimi was like plastic.
I still like the décor. Artsy and hip. But they don’t sell good sushi anymore. I like this place and please get the quality back the way it used to be so I can come back here more often.

I love izakayas but this one wasn’t up to par with the others in Little Tokyo. We chose this restaurant for DineLA but ended up ordering off the regular menu when we found out Wednesdays are 50% off the menu. There’s no way DineLA can beat THAT deal.
We may have gone a bit overboard when we found out everything was 50% off, but we had:
the sashimi platter (fresh and plentiful)
nasu miso (my must have at any izakaya, Aburiya’s was relish)
cold tofu (bland)
kampachi with yuzu (WINNER)
squid ink risotto (not very risotto like, but lots of clams)
crab hand rolls (imitation crab :(
and a few other items that I didn’t try because I got full off the sashimi
Overall, it was a nice meal for a great price. But I’m still sticking with my usual Honda-​Ya.

Came here for a friend’s birthday over a year ago, but never got down to writing a review. I vaguely remembered what I had, but I fondly remembered how delicious, silky, and flavorful their Uni Goma Tofu was. Their Seafood Okonomiyaki was a bit too mushy, perhaps because it wasn’t cooked all the way? It looked unappetizing so I didn’t bother to eat it. Ordered several sushi (e.g. Salmon, Spanish Mackerel, Scallop) and they were quite good.
Waitress were super nice and pleasant. The restaurant was quite busy for a Saturday night and they handled it well. Can’t wait to go back…

I finally tried omakase at a sushi restaurant! Even better, it was at Aburiya Toranoko which I have wanted to try for so long– double score! I had an excellent lunch date here recently, and because my friend was a semi-​regular, he insisted we do it right. So off on the wonderful sushi adventure we went!
I can only try to list all the amazingly fresh and delicious items we had based on my photos and memory. Our chef Masaya first gave us a beautiful tray with several preparations of sashimi. The most unexpectedly wonderful item out of these was the silky, marinated tofu topped with fresh UNI. Now, uni and I have never seen eye to eye before, but I always wanted to give it another chance. So many people like it, how can it be wrong? Here, it was so very good. I finally had some fresh, delicious uni and enjoyed it. I am a changed woman. The other delectable bites on the tray included yellowtail in the «secret sauce» (tasted like yuzu was an ingredient); salmon in a spicy vinaigrette with jalapeño; and tuna in a tangy sauce, with garlic crisps on top.
Moving on to individual bites! We were served scallop nigiri that was meltingly tender, along with firm mirugai (giant clam or geoduck). Then, there was the lovely o-​toro. Talk about buttery, oh my. This was followed by shad topped with scallions and yuzu. Masaya-​san then gave us a gorgeous plate (and I mean the plate itself was actually gorgeous too) of seared o-​toro and albacore. Wow. Then because we still had appetites, we kept going! The younger sushi chef prepared another assortment of sashimi for us, including amberjack, Scottish salmon, and seared albacore in the most spectacular garlic butter reduction sauce. Damn. I told the chef I want to put that sauce on everything now. They finished up our incredible meal with a light and refreshing dessert of fresh orange gelatin, fruit, mochi, and a light mousse on a sweet crisp. I also can’t forget to mention the drinks, because they were perfect as well. I first had the Yuzu-​rita, which is a simple yet amazing combination of tequila and homemade yuzu sorbet. I later tried a shiso martini, partly so my date could try the flavor of shiso and also because it intrigued me as a cocktail ingredient. It worked very well.
This was such an epic sushi experience and I savored every bite of it. I can still appreciate other sushi, but I will definitely find myself craving another grand meal at Aburiya Toranoko in the future.

If you have a self-​proclaimed, HARDCORE sushi eating friend and you take him/​her to a LEGIT sushi spot and he/​she orders a chicken teriyaki bowl then… GET A NEW FRIEND!
Aburiya Toranoko is perfect for both sushi lovers and not. They have good quality sushi/​sashimi but also have a lot of cooked food options for those not into raw fish.
Everything I had here was delicious. From the robata skewers to the rolls/​sashimi to the Rib Eye Steak… all were fantastic AND fresh! They also have a nice sake, wine (limited but good), and Asian beer selection. They have daily specials like 50% off food or 50% off selected sake/​wines. Call to find out the special for the day, they change weekly or monthly.
The vibe here is also pretty chill and cool. I like the dim lighting and the funky and colorful graffiti on the wall. As for service, it was exceptional!
The only PROBLEM with Aburiya is PARKING. They don’t have a lot so it’s street parking only which could be tough in Little Tokyo.

My friend and I came here for the Travelzoo tasting voucher. It was an awesome price and wishes they would offer deals like that more often. I was stuffed to the brim and would love to come back, and probably will.
What was included —
First course
Toranoko medley: oyster with ponzu sauce, uni goma tofu and ceviche of the day
Second course
Assorted fish carpaccio with yuzu citrus olive oil
Third course
Robata skewers: tsukune, black cod, salmon, tomato and zucchini
Fourth course
Chef’s choice of premium sushi OR rib eye steak with truffle teriyaki sauce (I got the premium sushi, friend got the rib eye steak — which ended up being a skirt steak, and it was overly done)
Fifth course
Dessert of the day
Overall — solid meal and fantastic service.
Parking is street, no lot. After 8pm, it’s free :) yay!!! They’re located right by the Lazy Ox. Also, they offer happy hour.
I had a bunch of pictures — but had to reset my phone and lost em all *tears*!!!

Solid but a little too gimmicky for my taste. The place has long tables that essentially you share with other patrons. It’s also pretty pricey for a place where you share tables with others. Just saying that a lesser person could think that the more money they spend, the bigger the piece of the table they should get.
I mean, I certainly wouldn’t be the type of guy to think or expect that, but I’m sure someone would.
OK, so I did maybe nudge the waiter and kinda imply that but shit, my date ordered like a $ 100 bottle of sake. And these assholes next to us like maybe ordered a diet coke? We shoulda gotten the Glengarry portion of the table is alls I’m saying.
Oh, so the food here is meh. Much rather go to a ton of other sushi places around the area before returning here.
Especially since we didn’t even get the the bigger share of the table.

I went for dineLA last year, had the salmon bento which was good. I remember it had an interesting salad and it came with these stuffed cabbage rolls that tasted like something a polish friend of mine would make. wasn’t sure what to rate then.
Recently came back with some friends for dinner. We had the asari sakamushi, beef carpaccio, uni goma tofu, sashimi combo, spider roll, and for yakitori, the tsukune, ribeye, beef tongue, tenderloin, and cartilage. Some things were great, others not so much. this is a place to come to have Japanese food with a twist.
I think overall I feel like my rating is a 3.5 but their Wednesday special of 50% the menu is a crazy good deal and worth checking out.
Love the pop fusion art in the place too.

I bought 2 Travelzoo vouchers for this place and came on 2 separate occasions and I’ve found the trick to delicious food! Ready for my words of wisdom???
. It makes a world of difference! I promise you =d
Course 1: Appetizer Trio Sampler
–shrimp ceviche: Not bad, it was a bit heavy with oil.
–uni goma tofu: A MUST IF YOU LOVE UNI! =d!!! This was like concentrated uni! It was so delicious! I’m so sick of places that have uni infused things and it barely tastes like uni. Usually, people that order uni love uni and would LOVE concentrated uni like this tofu =d
–oyster with ponzu + salmon pieces: The oyster was plump and the ponzu was like any other ponzu out there. I’m not sure what the salmon pieces were but they were cooked and fried and dressed in a sweet-​ish soy sauce. Last week, my accompaniment was eel.
Course 2: Sashimi Carpaccio
This consisted of tuna, whitefish, salmon, and scallop sashimi. It was topped with a yuzu salt and dressed with olive oil. The whitefish and scallop were my favorite but the addition of olive oil really made this dish decadent.
Course 3: Yakitori
–black cod: My favorite of the 4 skewers.
–salmon: This was topped with a tomato salsa, which reminded me of a chimichurri sauce. It went really well together, and as a dipping sauce for the grilled tomatoes.
–chicken meatball: Standard seasoned ground chicken, nothing too special but it might benefit from some eel sauce.
–zucchini wrapped tomatoes: Squeeze the lemon on, you’ll thank me.
Course 4: Entrée
–truffle teriyaki glazed ribeye: The roasted vegetables that came on this place were delicious. The ribeye, not so much. I could barely taste the truffle oil in the ribeye but I could smell it a mile away… strange…
–sushi sampler: I’m surprised that amaebi came with this! I wasn’t expecting such a good selection since I did purchase a Travelzoo deal for this dinner. Thanks for not cheaping out on us Aburiya Toranoko! The sushi plate came with tamago, amaebi, tuna, whitefish, eel, yellowtail, and a roll. The spicy salmon + tuna roll was addicting. Surprisingly, I liked the whitefish the most. I usually don’t like whitefish but they really know how to pick it here.
Course 5: Dessert
–green tea pudding: L.O.V.E. Super über heavy matcha flavor. Need I say more?
–ice cream: Standard. Got yuzu the first time and vanilla the second time. I like weird different things so of course the yuzu was preferred but the vanilla did taste a lot better with the syrup in the green tea pudding =d
Did you know that it’s 50% off all foods, including sushi, on Wednesdays? Here I come squid ink and clam risotto =D
ps…happy birthday Mara! Hope you had a good time =)))

!!HAPPY HOUR REVIEW!
Parking: There is a lot right next to the building the restaurant is situated in. It’s $ 5 flat rate after 4 PM. Cash only. If not, you can find metered parking in the area for $ 2/​hr until 8 PM.
Service: Nice. Hmm… I have nothing more to say about it.
Décor: Again… hmm…I thought it felt little too busy. Maybe I’m just not artsy enough.
Food: Um… meh! Definitely didn’t meet my expectation. Smelt fish ceviche was not at all flavorful. Kobe beef sausage, which tasted like any other sausage you can buy at a market, was way too salty. Pork was dry. The only thing I did enjoy was the albacore sashimi dish (hmm…I think it was albacore…), although the portion was ridiculously small.
Drinks: $ 3 for not too shabby sangria. Can’t complain about it.
Overall I didn’t think it was worth my drive. Probably won’t return.

Almost doesn’t seem like your typical Japanese Sushi Bar, but this place is pretty good. We went during dinner time, the menu was a bit confusing at first because it isn’t laid out like your typical Japanese restaurant menu, with dinner bento boxes, combos, teriyaki, etc. The atmosphere definitely fit the hip, dim lit, LA lifestyle.
I’ll update what we ate later as I need to refer to the menu and their site is being slow loading the PDF menu.
The service was ok, but it got kind of awkward… The waitress was drinking on the job. Although she was giving recommendations after hearing what we were interesting in eating, she didn’t write down or completely remember what we wanted to order. We kind of had to ask her to verify what we ordered, and ordered (in addition) what she missed. Also, my bro’s Karate sempai owns this restaurant and advertises it during karate class (gives discounts to their karate students) — he mentioned that he was a student to the restaurant owner (who was on vacation) and they didn’t honor the discount. FAIL