Showing posts with label gardena. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardena. Show all posts

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Hironoya (Gardena, CA)

I got an email from Utopia, a South Bay-based Japanese-focused gift certificate store offering discounted certificates for South Bay and Japanese local businesses like Gaja (the okonomiyaki place), Robataya on Sawtelle, and Izakaya Bincho. They asked if I wanted to try using one of their certificates to visit a restaurant, and I do love Japanese food so why not! I was tempted to go back to Bincho but I figured I should use it to visit a restaurant I've never been to before so I opted for Hironoya in Gardena.

Hironoya sits in Tozai Plaza and seems to be visited by mostly Japanese. When I was there there was a reunion for some university in Japan and they proceeded to sing their alma mater song. Hironoya serves sashimi, sushi rolls, tempura, udon and various other dishes, but no nigiri sushi.

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They did have some fresh fish, though so I tried their blue fin tuna toro sashimi ($18 for 4 pieces). Not as fatty as some other toro I've had but definitely fresh.
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Also tried sea bream sashimi ($9) and a salmon roll, which were both pretty good. I haven't had sushi rolls in a while but enjoyed this one.
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You can get almost everything tempura'd here it seems, from broccoli and eggplant ($1.95, 2pcs each) to sea urchin ($12.95) and oyster ($4.95, 2pcs)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Hakata Ramen at Shinsengumi and How I Devoured the Whole Bowl

Ramen! Like I said pre-French Laundry, I'll be eating lots of ramen after that gorgeous meal. I'm slowly making my way through the South Bay eateries (though this weekend I'm planning a full-blown marathon!!). Since for some reason I always get my chance to go down on Sundays, my only ramen option in the area was Hakata Shinsengumi in Gardena.

There was a waiting list and we waited for about 15 minutes.

For $7.95 at lunch you can get a bowl of chashu ramen and one of a selection of small sides. I opted for the gyoza.
The gyozas are small but they're great. I like the thin, crispy skin and the fillings aren't fatty and greasy.

My friend got the chicken onigiri as a side dish.
I did like the onigiri itself, but I don't think I actually got any chicken.

I ordered the "normal" ramen (medium level of oil, etc) but with extra chashu (as you can see below, I ended up getting lots of chashu) and egg for extra charge.
A bit of info on the Hakata variation of ramen: The broth is a rich tonkotsu (pork-bone) broth, and typically topped with some beni shoga (pickled ginger). The noodles in the Hakata ramen are thin and straight (as opposed to the curly, thicker noodles).
I personally like this type of noodles better (and the texture makes it easier to slurp too! ;) ).
So how was the ramen, you ask? I'll say this: I cleaned up the whole bowl. Yes, after devouring the noodles+chashu+egg, I picked up the bowl and drank the broth. Down.to.the.last.drop.
Maybe I was just starving. But it just tasted sooooo good to me.

For dessert: yogurt mousse ($4)
Pretty rich but the tartness and the fresh fruits make it refreshing. Like a mousse-y Pinkberry actually.

A different style, but definitely one of the best ramen places in the LA area. I can't speak for their other locations, but the Gardena location is definitely worth a try!

Hakata Ramen Shinsengumi
2015 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
www.shinsengumiusa.com
(310)329-1335
Hakata Ramen Shinsengumi on Urbanspoon

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Spaghetti is Japanese

No, seriously. Well, sometimes. You can't deny that the Japanese has adopted and japanified a lot of western dishes such as the hamburger (no, seriously, what do they call a hamburger-with-buns in Japan?), and spaghetti is no exception.

Gardena is more of a korean town, but this little Japanese shop has been here for years. Apparently years ago it used to be a bakery also and sold pretty good bread and other baked goods. About two years ago they still had French bread but I didn't see any this time around. Now all they had are the cold dinner rolls that you probably just shouldn't eat. Unless you're really hungry.

Spoon House serves mainly spaghetti, with a sprinkle of other items. Don't get me wrong, they also serve more traditional, Italian spaghetti.
Here's the Barca D'Oro, which still looks like a normal, Italian spaghetti. Described as "Italian sauce with seafood."For some odd reason I was craving eggs so I ordered the Napolitano with bacon and eggs. Kinda weird for spaghetti, isn't it? We're getting there. But I enjoyed it a lot.
And there are plenty of other unique, and definitely more Japanese spaghetti offered that we did not get this time around, such as Cod Roe and Sea Urchin spaghetti, Natto&Shiso (seriously? yep), Squid& Wasabi, and even kim chi.

Unfortunately someone was eating the Barca D'Oro when we came and my friends decided that it looked really good, so that's what they got (so no picture of the more Japanese spaghettis this time).

Spoon House does not serve the highest quality ingredients imaginable, but they definitely serve really yummy, cheap, comfort food. Everything I've had here (minus the dinner rolls) have been really good, and I keep coming back for more.

The spaghetti here is always served al dente, and you can watch them cook it in this contraption that you can see from your seat:
Each portion of spaghetti goes into each section for a specific time period. Pull the lever and the pasta will be drained and ready to be served. Neat.

I was looking forward to dessert this time, since I remembered the flan being really good here. Indeed, it was one of the better flans I've had. The ice cream goes well with it, although I could go with or without it.

And we ordered some panna cotta too, don't know why. It was good, but not nearly as good as the flan.




Spoon House
1601 W.Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247

Spoonhouse Bakery-Restaurants on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Reviews: South Bay

**** EL SEGUNDO/MANHATTAN BEACH****
American Farmhouse Tavern - CLOSED
Cafe Pierre (Manhattan Beach)
Darren's Restaurant
Fishing with Dynamite 
Grimaldi's Pizzeria (El Segundo)
M. B. Post (Manhattan Beach)
Sashi: Sushi+Sake Lounge (Manhattan Beach)

**** GARDENA/TORRANCE/etc ****

Baleen Los Angeles (Redondo Beach)
Chianina Steakhouse (Long Beach)
Doma Kitchen Cafe (Redondo Beach)
El Rocoto Peruvian Restaurant (Gardena)
Gaja (Lomita)
Gonpachi (Torrance)
Hakata Ramen Shinsengumi (Gardena)
Hey 19 (Torrance)
Hironoya (Gardena)
Ichimiann Bamboo Garden (Torrance)
Lazy Dog Cafe (Torrance)
Michael's Pizzeria (Long Beach)
Mochi Cream (Torrance)
Patisserie Chantilly (Lomita)
Playa Amor (Long Beach)
Quality Seafood (Redondo Beach)
Siem Reap (Long Beach)
Simmzy's Belmont Shore (Long Beach)
Spoon House (Gardena)
Sushi Nozomi (Torrance)
Torihei (Torrance)

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