Japanese Big Fried Chicken

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

Like chocolate, fried chicken is one of those foods that has tremendous universal appeal.  It's amazing how fried chicken can be done so similarly and yet taste so differently in different cultural renditions. I recently had a piece of the fried chicken in one of my favorite Japanese Ramen restaurants, I think I could be blindfolded and I could tell it was Japanese fried chicken.  Yes, it's this obvious to me and I am also a huge fan of KFC.  This Japanese fried chicken  just has this distinctive crispiness on the skin that has this burst of rich flavor for each crunchy bite.  The meat is very juicy, tender and amazingly seasoned.  As if all these great flavors aren't dynamic enough, the fried chicken comes with a side of seasoning salt. This is a special seasoning salt that gives the taste of this delicious fried chicken another kick of excitement.  As a big fan of fried chicken, I really love this one!  It's $3.00 for one piece, by the way.  

Restaurant: Hakata Ikkousha
Address: 21605 Western Ave, Suite J, Torrance, CA 90501
Tel:(424) 558-3953

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Omakase Dinner At A Japanese Steakhouse

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

I had been to a lot of American Steakhouses, but this is the first time I visited  a Japanese Steakhouse.  I had the 5-course Omakase (Chef choice) dinner at $50.00.  It was money well spent because everything was delicious.  The first course was a plate of five dainty appetizers, a small piece of grilled filet mignon, melon with prosciutto, miso-marinated cream cheese, seasonal ohitashi (vegetable dish in the middle, crisp cucumbers), caprese heirloom tomato and buffalo mozzarella. I think this was French cuisine interpreted by Japanese, which was very well done.  It's different from the typical French cuisine, but it tasted just as good but lighter. I love the Japanese's touch of making the food taste light, fresh and tasty.

The second course was soup of the day, which was a cream broccoli cold soup. It was light, creamy and very refreshing.  I don't know how the two properties of  "light" and "creamy" can co-exist at the same time, but this was how I felt about the soup. It was so good!

The third course was a cold soba tapas (fresh made soba noodles topped with the chef's choice of accompaniment). This was another tasty and refreshing dish.  The noodles were well seasoned with super delicious Japanese dipping sauce.  The fish pieces on top were so fresh and so tasty. The tiny crunchy fried roes sprinkles were just addictive.  

There were a few options for the forth course, I chose the grilled miso-marinated cod, served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley. Most vegetable medley in American steakhouses tend to taste really bland and boring. But these vegetable medley made by the Japanese chef had a lot of flavor.  I cleaned out my plate and all my veggies. 

There were also options for the 5th course.  I chose the creme brulee which is of course very rich, creamy and delicious.  I licked my pate clean again, I used the strawberry piece to help me soak up the strawberry sauce on the plate. This was one  fantastic dinner that was totally delicious from the start to the finish. I felt really satisfied, yet without any bloating or sickly feeling I normally had with the American steakhouse.  I love the way the food was portioned, and the restaurant's use of fresh and high quality ingredients. I'd rather pay for quality than quantity. 

Restaurant: I-naba Steakhouse

Address: Country Hills Shopping Center, 2933 Rolling Hills Rd, Torrance, CA 90505

Tel: (310) 891-2333 

The Legendary Tempera Bowl From Toyko

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

Besides nice comfortable weather all year round, one of the reasons I don't want to ever live anywhere else other than California is the easy access to great authentic international cuisines from all over the world.  With so many dining options within a short drive, there is no reason for me to cook.  I cook only when I really really have lots of time to kill.  I don't think I can cook better food than what I can order from the restaurants here.  My dinner tonight is the Tempera Bowl Combo (Tendon Combo $8.95) which includes a rice bowl topped with crispy shrimp tempera, fish tempera, fried egg and fried seaweed, and also a bowl of Japanese buckwheat noodle soup topped with tempera crumbles.  It also comes with the uniquely flavorful  dipping sauce.  The tempera and the noodle soup are very tasty. Food like this is what makes it difficult for me to get used to the food elsewhere whenever I work out-of-state.  

This restaurant is a branch of the very famous Hannosuke chain in Tokyo. The restaurant only specializes in tempera bowls, and nothing else.  So I am literally having the same kind of tempera bowl as those served by this restaurant  chain in Tokyo.  This is why I'm taking my vacation here at home. Comfortable sunny breezy weather, beautiful beaches, great Japanese food together just give me no reason to want to drag my suitcases to fly elsewhere.  I had been living in a hotel in Toms River New Jersey for the last 2 months and I just don't want to stay at another hotel. I prefer staying at my own home for now.

Restaurant: Hannosuke

Address: 21515 S Western Ave Torrance, CA 90501 

Tel:(310) 787-8350 

Pigging-Out On Sushi Rolls In Toms River New Jersey

Restaurant Reviewed by: Jane Ong

Bingo!! My colleagues and I finally found a place in Toms River that serves decent sushi.  We were working in our client's office again near the Ocean County Mall when we took our courage to try out this spacious Japanese restaurant next to Applebee's which we swore we would never return.  After our previous bad experience with very fishy tasting sushi, we were really skeptical.  But extreme hunger beat our fear.  We are glad that we tried this place out.

 Like many restaurants here in Toms River, this restaurant doesn't have the liquor license, so we were unable to order sake or Sapporo beer.  I ordered a non-alcoholic Lychee Mojito, which was really Sprite  mixed with Lychee juice, served with mint leaves. It tasted pretty good but I wish I could have the alcoholic version.

To play it safe, this time we decided to order only sushi rolls that didn't have any raw fish. As shown on the above photo from front to back, we had the Cucumber Avocado Roll ($5.00), the Shrimp Tempera Roll ($7.00), the Dragon Roll ($10.00), and the Smoked Salmon Roll ($5.00). These sushi rolls are so far the best sushi rolls we had tried in this area, even though we had only been to two Japanese restaurants here in Toms River so far.  The last one we went to was owned and operated by Chinese from Mainland China.  This one is operated by Taiwanese from Taiwan.  From my years of love affairs with sushi, the best sushi had been the ones served at restaurants that are run and operated by the Japanese.  Unfortunately, such restaurants can only be found in the big cities like Los Angeles and New York, not here in Toms River, New Jersey.  Sushi made by Chinese usually tends to be too sweet. It's often made with fish that isn't too fresh and rice that doesn't have the great taste and texture as the real Japanese sushi rice. More sweet sauce and sweetened mayo are usually used in sushis made by non-Japanese.  I personally much prefer the sushi made by Japanese chefs, but I'm happy to have found this place that serves rolls that are somewhat decent. But still, I don't think I will ever dare to try any rolls or sushi that has raw fish when I'm here in Toms River. 

While all the rolls we had ordered at this restaurant were pretty decent, our most favorite is the Cucumber Avocado Roll because it was made with very fresh and crisp cucumber.  This roll just tasted refreshingly good.  

Restaurant: Ichiban Japanese Fusion Cuisine Hibachi Steak House

Address: 1201 Hooper Ave, Toms River, NJ 08753

Tel: (732) 736-8868

Delicious New Yorker Sushi Bento For Only $6.49

Content contributed by: Jane Ong

Every time when I have high quality sushis like the above at a very affordable price, I feel so lucky to be living in Los Angeles.  The above Bento (lunch) box is called the New Yorker, which has 4 pieces of California rolls, 2 pieces of grilled eel sushis, and 2 pieces of shrimp sushis.  This beautiful lunch box with the beautifully packaged soy sauce pack is only $6.49, which is a bargain for fresh and high quality sushis like these.  I can't say this Bento is the best sushi in the world or even the best in Los Angeles.  But these are the best tasting sushis that are available in grocery stores.  Yes, I had tried all sushis at all grocery stores here in the greater Los Angeles area.  The above Bento is the only grocery store sushis I like, the only!!!  The quality and the freshness of the above sushis is way better than a lot of sushis that are available in expensive restaurants in a lot of towns in other states.   I went to this Japanese supermarket during lunch hour when there were a lot of Japanese executives and employees from Honda and Toyota  who were also buying the sushis there.  This is why this supermarket is "the place" to go for those of you who want to have a good taste of Japan here in the USA. In the evening, the sushis are all sold at a 20% discount.  I think it's because they don't keep sushis overnight and they have to make them fresh everyday.  I stop by there a whole lot after work because of the bargain. Be warned that once you have these sushis, you will not be able to go back to the typical grocery store bought sushis.  These babies will make you want to stay here in LA forever and ever... But I am sure Plano Texas will have good sushis like these pretty soon, since Toyota is relocating there in 2017.

Address: Mitsuwa Market Pl, 21515 Western Ave, Torrance, CA 90501. Tel: 310-212-1101.