3rd Generation - Huntington Beach

3rd Generation Sake Bar specializes in Ramen, Sushi hand rolls and popular Japanese side dishes like chicken karaage. I've been to their location in DTLA location and now a new space has opened in Huntington Beach. 

Shishito Peppers With Dried Bonito - One of my favorite appetizers. Simple, doesn't need much seasoning, and 1 out of 10 is spicy so may the odds be in your favor.

View fullsize

One of the things I get super excited to see on the menu is baked blue crab. In Japan, handrolls are shaped like a cylinder, so don't be alarmed. The blue crab handroll is wrapped with soy paper so it doesn't overpower the crab. Dab of wasabi and a dip of soy is how I like to eat this.

View fullsize

"Toro My Belly" - Ground Yellowtail, Albacore Belly, Topped with Chu Toro and Caviar. Melts in your mouth.

View fullsize

Highly recommended Grilled Seabass. So buttery and velvety. Each bite was meaty, but tender from the fat. One of my favorites of the night. Those crispy brussels were also amazing with fried garlic chips.

View fullsize

Yellowtail Carpaccio - Yuzu Citrus Sauce, Cilantro, Olive Oil, Tomato Micro Greens.

Address: 7311 Edinger Ave, Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 714.892.1700

Oto Oto Izakaya - Monrovia - Brother's 30th

Talking about Oto Oto will be a bit personal for me. I don't talk much about restaurants in my posts because I only want to feature the offerings as well as the ambiance. In terms of the actual flavors and whether I like it or not, I don't dive too into it because that is something I want you to be the judge of.

Oto Oto on the other hand... I've worked here in the past for 3 and a half years while finishing my college degree in Business Marketing. I haven't been back since leaving over 2 years ago. I think the reason was the clean break from the restaurant. I wanted to eat new things. Italian cuisines, French, American, and contemporary cuisines whatever that means. The spark for Japanese food just vanished. It wasn't that I stopped coming here only, I also stopped my Izakaya and Japanese food craze unless a friend or family member wants it.

This is why we came here tonight. My brother, David, was turning 30 that night so we wanted to have a nice dinner followed by a countdown. I made a gesture to eat at a place like Oto Oto "Izakaya-style" so we can drink and just snack on items. But turned out, he was really excited to go back to Oto Oto and eat all the food he loved when they used to visit me during and after work.

Without going into detail today, my true drinking habits started here. I've also learned a different side of Japanese cuisine I wasn't familiar with. Izakaya. I immediately fell in love. Not just by the food, but also by how the chefs work. The main chefs are from Japan to continue this restaurant group here in America. IF you have to know, I believe they have over 150 chains in Japan. Oto Oto Monrovia, is their flagship in the U.S.

The restaurant is louder and much livelier than your typical conservative sushi dining experience. The best way to describe the whole Izakaya experience, is to start with a drink, order a few appetizers, and then order more drinks. Continue. I like to start with beer or sake. And order little appetizers like chicken karaage:

My first time eating this was here. I ate at least one piece of this every day. And when I am super hungry, I would order this with a bowl of rice. I would squeeze the lemon all over the chicken and my rice so I'll have the lemon flavor throughout. This, by the way, is fantastic with beer.

So you cheers a little and snack a little. One of the next dishes are all my favorites to eat here while enjoying great company, with drinks.

Yakitori

Here is the chicken skin, chicken liver, and special heart which is the fatty membrane around the heart of the chicken (DELICIOUS). Everything was eaten with a dash of togarashi pepper. 

Additional hearts were ordered. 

Ankimo in ponzu. This is monkfish liver served in a bowl with ponzu, spicy grated daikon, seaweed, shredded cucumbers and minced green onions. I used to also eat this with rice. The flavor is mild yet creamy in texture.

Half shell oysters - 1 ordered with UNI - Sea Urchin (recommended). Served with spicy grated radish, minced onions and ponzu. Super fresh and clean.

Wagyu Carpaccio. I know these are all my favorite foods here, but you have to order this. Tender wagyu beef over mixed greens, sliced red onions, sprouts and minced green onions with a savory tataki sauce. Everyone at the table was happy about this.

Salmon cut roll. We always order this wherever we go. 

Yellowtail belly. Just melts in your mouth. I eat this with a touch more of wasabi even though it's already added with a dash of soy sauce. Your eyes will roll back.

Dragon roll. Yes, unagi is good and we love avocados. But did you know they use real snow crab in all their rolls? Think again when you want to pass on their rolls. And hey, you are eventually going to need something to soak up all that alcohol.

For the next few years, I suffered with the syndrome to call this Spicy tuna at every restaurant. It is called spicy tuna pizza here at Oto, but a lot of other restaurants have the same concept with different names. I loved the seasoning of the spicy tuna.

More yakitori. Beef tongue and Pork calbi. Both are recommended.

They were sold out of their tebasaki karaage (fried chicken wings) so we ordered their chicken wings yakitori instead. I like this version, but the boys wanted fried.

Shiso gyoza. I knew what I wanted, but so did my brother. He made sure we ordered this even though we were extremely stuffed. His eyes rolled back after taking a bite. Served with citrus ponzu. If you love gyoza, you haven't loved it until you had it here. Made in house.

Limited quantity: Miso Marinated cod bones. Don't be fooled by the name, these are packed with flavor and meat. I've had this at other restaurants, but it just doesn't compare to here. It just tastes so fresh and not like it's been sitting in the fridge for a long time. The portions are also generous. Pairs fantastically with beer.

We also had a simple straightforward snow crab roll and ended our night with watermelon shaved ice.

If you plan on visiting let me know, I love it here.

OH and Happy Birthday again brother.

Hama Sushi - Little Tokyo

View fullsize

My brother and his now fiance

Yes they got engaged! They've been dating for over a decade and it's heart warming to know they are moving towards starting a new path together. That's all. I'm not saying anything else nice about my brother so that's all he gets! Oh and I guess one more nice thing was that he paid for this dinner /___\

347 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

I've only been to Hama sushi once and was pretty impressed. I think... the best way for me to describe what their sushi tastes like to me, in one word, is traditional. I'm sure there's a lot of techniques to sushi than just fish and rice. I could spend over $100 on an Omakase, and the sushi will be great, but the flavors are somewhat different at a traditional Japanese sushi bar. I can't really describe the taste and feeling, but I can tell you I get that hear. And it's a really good thing.

First and foremost, there's none of that teriyaki stuff. Not that it's bad, but again we are at a sushi bar so don't be asking for a bowl of white rice. Secondly, there's signs that says no pictures. And of course, rude to use cell phones. Well I took pictures. But got approval. AND I made sure to limit to 3 photos per dish. Plus, the chef was super dope, but I will let you find out who yourself.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

We had a good variety from yellowtail, to ika with shiso, to toro, salmon belly, natto handroll and all the other good bites. I think good sushi rice is not too sweet, but seasoned so slightly to enhance the flavors.

View fullsize

Ankimo Ponzu

When I used to work in an Izakaya, Ankimo in ponzu is one of the items I ate with hot white rice. The flavors are mild, but I wouldn't tell someone it doesn't taste like anything. It's nothing like Foie Gras so don't believe anything people tell you when they say it does. This is one of my all time comfort foods in Japanese cuisine. It's hard to mess up Monkfish liver, but no worries here because it is excellent.

View fullsize

Engawa

To me, this is what Engawa is supposed to look like. Engawa is the Halibut's fin, the meat of the fin of course. Normally served like the way you see it, raw with green onions, chili daikon and a dab of citrus soy. Sometimes, it is seared and then dressed with a dab or so of citrus soy. Delicious and something I highly recommend ordering if available.

View fullsize

Salmon Belly

Salmon. The first raw fish I ate when I was young. After that, it's always been my favorite. I love how sweet it tastes. But when I got older, I've learned the existence of salmon belly. And pretty much gravitated towards it when available on the menu. Here, you an see little slits to cut the fat. People think fat is great on a piece of fish or steak. It's somewhat true, but you want the fat to be marbled. This technique helps relieve the chewiness that the fat can create. Amazing.

View fullsize

Tamago Sushi

Only a few chefs do this and I wished more did. This version of tamago is just eggs that is mixed with ingredients like sugar, dashi, mirin, blah blah. This was the last item we had and we treated it like a dessert due to it's sweetness.

Make sure to come earlier. If you plan on having dinner at 7, come at 6. The restaurant is really small with only 2 tables or so if you want to sit intimately away from the crowd. The rest of the seating (about 15) is all sushi bar.

347 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

EMC Seafood & Raw Bar - Irvine, CA

All you Los Angeles natives out there have been crazing over EMC. And if you aren't not from LA, the chances of your friends taking you hear is pretty high. Just like the poke craze, ice cream donuts, and even F'ing churros, you know have tons of restaurants serving up their own raw bar. EMC was one of those top hitters that made it popping first with their location in K-town. It's like 10PM and my friends would still want to head out for Happy Hour. Well wait no more because they also have one open in Irvine. I'm not sure how long the wait can get considering how packed the location in K-Town gets, but those of you that huddles in one car for this, that live out of LA can worry no more.

14346 Culver Dr, Irvine, CA 92604

Best part yet is that they are conveniently right off the 5 on Culver. Not even a mile off the exit to find yourself the grand restaurant waiting for you to devour everything they have.

And they have a lot:

Lobsters are still alive. Oysters are still shut. Sea Urchins just laying there, looking dead, but you know they are hella alive and waiting to be popped out of their shell. Whole f'ing branzinos. I can go on and on, but it won't be fair for me to relive this moment at home.

View fullsize

Ginger Beer making it's way.

View fullsize

Crispy Garlic Brussels Sprouts. I know. Before you start talking about how I am ranting about the seafood, and I start showing you a bowl of sprouts. Because these were so delicious! Just so perfectly cooked and extremely flavorful. And, I am a huge advocate about having some kind of greens with your meal. Like a big steak with a piece of broccoli. That good balance talk, you feelin' me?

View fullsize

View fullsize

We had 1/2 a dozen of Kumamoto oysters and 1/2 of Kusshi. Fresh, sweet, perfectly shucked, with cocktail sauce and jalapeno lime. Always a must order.

View fullsize

I know. Here I go again. Now, what the F does fries have to do with anything? These are fries with truffle mushroom aioli. Like shut the front door who the hell comes up with this stuff? That garlic you see right THERE is some good umami-mouth-gasm right there. Fried so crispy with soft centers, ooooo that just gets me right here *points at my heart*. And for the record, it's on the starters menu so it ain't no side dish psssshhh (I literally did the hair whip).

View fullsize

View fullsize

The glorious Uni pasta. Also, that one Uni pasta that everyone talks about. It really does live up to the rave. The spaghetti was perfectly cooked and coated in a cream, Fish Roe, Chives, and Dried Seaweed concoction. The fish roe did it for me. I love-love-loved the texture that it gave the noodles.

If this is the only thing you came here for, by all means do it. If you want to eat a lot of other items, make sure you get this to share. It's a heavy dish even though a delicious one.

View fullsize

Toro Toro Roll - Ground yellowtail and albacore belly inside, topped with chu toro and caviar on top. The kind of fishes you want to eat simply. A touch of wasabi and soy sauce to compliment the fattiness of the fishes. Cleanse your palate with some ginger after before headed for your next bite.

View fullsize

Lobster roll definitely winning. Served with a slice of lemon and melted butter. I am sensitive to butter. Makes me really tired if I have too much so I just use a tad. But what's really a tad when it's melted? Feels like you can easily pour the whole thing on, no regrets. The lobster is cooked in Tarragon Butter, Sea Salt, and stuffed inside a Brioche Bun. Thumbs up for the flavor combo.

We also ordered their black pepper filet mignon to those allergic to seafood. Delicious, tender, and perfect with the bowl of rice it comes with. We also had their crispy pepper calamari that's served with spicy aioli shown below:

14346 Culver Dr, Irvine, CA 92604

Katsuya - Glendale

John's mom took us here for a quick birthday lunch. We were at the Americana to take her shopping and she decided to might as well take me to a belated birthday meal. I've only been to Katsuya for Happy Hour which was pretty fun. All Happy Hours should be fun. If it's not fun, the truth is probably you aren't a fun person. Just saying...

For $19, you can order their sushi lunch

View fullsize

Sushi top to bottom: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, albacore, shrimp, scallop, and unagi

View fullsize

You get 7 pieces of sushi, a spicy tuna handroll, and a freaking 10 piece California cut roll. Everything was pretty good and definitely worth the $19 lunch deal.

You just have to make sure to eat the handroll first, or the Nori will start to moisten and turns chewy.

We also ordered a Spider Roll to share:

View fullsize

I didn't mention that we all ordered our own sushi lunch special. It was more than enough. We had trouble to finish our spider roll and California rolls. There's normally no wait to be seated which was also a reason for us to check it out. Outdoor seating is preferred though I haven't sat inside before.

Enjoy.