Subject: Japanese Food and Cooking

• Update: Tokyo Table Opens Wed. Sept. 17 (and Special Offer)

  Tokyo Table, the first restaurant of many at the new Diamond Jamboree in Irvine, will have its grand opening tomorrow, Wednesday, September 17, at 5 P.M. The restaurant's already got two outlets in L.A. County (Beverly Hills and Arcadia). Other than the usual roster of rolls, teriyaki and tempura, this is a Japanese restaurant that looks like it wants to do EVERYTHING. The menu is as voluminous as those at Jerry's Deli -- but hopefully, better with the execution. A few things on it caught my

  September 16, 2008

• Izakaya is the New Sushi

  Have you noticed something lately? Izakayas -- the Japanese equivalent to the gastro-pub, tapas house, and neighborhood bar all wrapped up into one -- are popping up all over O.C. So many izakayas have opened lately, in fact, that the trend is obvious: Izakaya is the new sushi. Last year, Takashi Abe of Bluefin fame debuted his Izakaya Zero in Huntington Beach. Then the Wasa Sushi people introduced their Izakaya Wasa at the Irvine Spectrum. And a mere two blocks away from Honda Ya -- arguab

  October 1, 2008

• Da Kine Grinds

  August 15, 2002

• Plum Pickings

  August 25, 2005

• Grub Guide

  July 13, 2006

• The Only Ponzu Sauce on Earth that Matters

  Everything that Edwin wrote about Hamamori in South Coast Plaza earlier this year is true--the sushi is creative and stunning (and, quite frankly, worth it), the sashimi a bit pricier but also divine, the entrees decadent. One appetizer he didn't mention, however, were the rock shrimp tempura with an accompanying ponzu sauce.Fried rock shrimp might seem beneath Hamamori, but the buttery coat and soft flesh was better than half the meals in Newport Beach--and, at $9 for a hefty offering, is one o

  December 8, 2008

• Yoshinoya Now Does Sushi?

  OK. I'll admit it. I go to Yoshinoya....a lot.  As a kid, my parents decided that their beef and teriyaki chicken bowls were a better alternative than McDonald's or Burger King. And as with anything one grows up with, it's a comfort food that's hard to shake.  Also, it's cheap. It has rice. It has meat. And if you got the chicken bowl, you get a decent serving of veggies, eventhough it was covered in that flavorless cornstarchy goop.  I stick with these basics. The beef bow

  January 19, 2009

• [Hole in the Wall] Say Mucho Domo Arigato to Wafu of Japan

  March 19, 2009

• [Hole in the Wall] Bowled Over on Balboa at Macksan's Cafe

  February 19, 2009

• [This Hole-in-the-Wall Life] Pay Teriyaki Forward at Tokyo Teriyaki

  December 4, 2008

• Tokyo Table Pops the Culinary Cherry of Irvine's Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center

  October 16, 2008

• Chef Cody Requejo Shreds With Both Sushi Knives and Stratocasters

  October 2, 2008

• OC's Rock-Star Chef Takashi Abe Does San Clemente at Sea Smoke

  September 11, 2008

• Despite a Few Menu Kinks, the Tattoo-Inspired Sushi Joint Irezumi Earns Some Very Good Ink

  June 5, 2008

• [This Hole-In-the-Wall-Life] A Zen Burrito at Fuji's Famous Burgers

  March 27, 2008

• The Slow Food Movement Infiltrates Huntington Beach at Slowfish

  March 27, 2008

• Letters

  'Save the music, y'all'

  January 3, 2008

• This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

  October 25, 2007

• Sashimi Surrender

  Let Ikko Kobayashi have his way with you

  October 25, 2007

• As Raw As She Wants to Be

  June 22, 2006

• Behind Closed Doors

  Osaka Kappo brings Japanese street food in from the cold

  February 15, 2007

• This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

  August 23, 2007

• Where the Chefs Are

  Kappo Sui’s izakaya menu satisfies all

  July 26, 2007

• Fishing for Quality

  Skip the rolls at Takaraya and go straight for the good stuff

  April 12, 2007

• This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

  February 8, 2007

• Your belly buttons at 6 oclock

  Doing shabu shabu right
  

  January 11, 2007

• This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

  September 14, 2006

• Snowflakes From the Sea

  August 31, 2006

• Grub Guide

  August 3, 2006

• No Katakana Necessary

  May 18, 2006

• Some Like It Raw

  March 2, 2006

• Island Grill

  August 4, 2005

• Editors Picks

  July 14, 2005

• The Asian Persuasion

  July 14, 2005

• Ah So-So Sushi

  June 23, 2005

• Ramen Wars!

  February 10, 2005

• Sushi by Moonlight

  October 14, 2004

• Koi-Boy Toy

  December 19, 2002

• Wanna Seafood?

  November 28, 2002

• Good Sho

  September 19, 2002

• Sushi Pig

  May 9, 2002

• You Gotta Really Like Fish

  March 21, 2002

• Sushi Master in Training

  November 1, 2001

• A Guide to our Advertisers

  August 9, 2001

• A Guide to our Advertisers

  August 9, 2001

• Hapi Accident

  July 19, 2001

• Presentation: Japanese Tea Ceremony & Tasting

  May 28, 2009

• Recession-Time Sushi at Kappo Suzumaru

  You know times are tough when even a standard like Kappo Suzumaru in Tustin, still one of the better examples of serving serious Japanese food and sushi, was near empty on a Thursday night like yesterday. I've patronized this place for years, usually Thursdays for purely coincidental reasons, and have always seen it slammed from 6 p.m. until closing. My friend and I arrived around 8:30 p.m.--we were the only ones in the sushi bar the entire night.Suzumaru doesn't have the best sushi in the count

  February 6, 2009

• Full Moon Sushi to Open in Tustin at Old Haru Izakaya Spot

  Edwin Goei​I can't say I'm surprised. The spot previously occupied by Haru Izakaya -- the Korean izakaya I reviewed for OC Weekly and chronicled when it folded -- is being reworked into a sushi joint.

  September 17, 2009

• Kula Offers Sushi Not As Art, But As a (Still Tasty) Commodity

  October 22, 2009