Little Tokyo: Sushi-Gen Revisited

Sorry for the lack of updates but been busy with work, but good thing is I just got back from Philadelphia, so I'll be posting about the trip later on.

First, for Mother's Day this year, sister and I decided to take the family here since my mom is a huge fan of sashimi and tempura, which makes Sushi-Gen the perfect place, with their dinner sets. Since we ordered the dinner sets, many of the things are similar to the post I made last time (here), with a few new pics, so won't be going into that much detail this time!

Sushi-Gen

422 E 2nd St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Sushi Gen dinner menu.

How thoughtful. They give you moist towelette!

Sunomono. Pickled cabage.

Another sunomono, with noodle, cucumber, and seaweed. Thought it was pickles last time haha :P

Sashimi from the tempura dinner set. Tuna, hamachi, and whitefish

Tempura set. They give you A LOT. Shrimp, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato etc. It was awesome looking. My mom was super happy with it haha.

The tempura that came with sashimi set.

Very puny portion compared to the tempura set.

But sashimi set gets this!!!

Saba & tuna.

Crab & spicy tuna. Still the best spicy tuna around.

Magoro (fatty tuna) and broiled salmon.

Squid, tuna, konjac, & egg omelette.

This was what I forgot to take a pic last time... hamachi kama!!! I LOVE fish collar so I was devastated last time when I found out I forgot. Not this time!

I love that char on the skin. So fatty and delicious :P

As usual, Sushi-Gen was popping so we had to wait about a little over an hour on a Saturday night (celebrated Mother's Day early), but it was worth it!

Little Tokyo: Sushi-Gen

Last Saturday the gang took me out for a late birthday dinner at Sushi-Gen in Little Tokyo. It really is a hotspot and a staple in LA. People have high expectations when they go to Little Tokyo for Japanese food and many disappoint but never Sushi-Gen. Whenever I pass by this place there's always a line out the door, sushi bar filled with patrons, dining room filled with people from all sorts of life: businessman, families, college students... Because of the crowd, you can say that their sushi and sashimi will always be fresh. LA's very picking with sushi since we have such a wide selection and when a restaurant has been gathering crowds like Sushi-Gen for as long as they have, you know they are doing something right.

Sushi-Gen
422 E 2nd St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Sorry for the weird purple tint haha.

Chopsticks holder! Thanks Diana haha.

Some picked veggies

Their sunomono, means vinegared dish in English. Pickles, noodles, and kelp. Very simple and delicious.

Sashimi dinner set. Comes with akami, toro, maguro, hamachi, ika, tako, whitefish, spicy tuna, crab, and konjac. Oh man it doesn't look like much but it also comes with a big bowl of rice and fried tempura. So much about Japanese food is about presentation. Beautiful.

Spicy Tuna. Holy... this is the best spicy tuna ever. They add salmon roe to it!!

Had to get a good shot of the fatty toro... too good.

Tempura. Shrimp, eggplant, potato, and zucchini. Fried perfectly and the batter isn't overly thick.

Salmon shioyaki dinner set. Only one didn't order the sashimi dinner set and got this instead. Salmon was lighly salted then broiled.

I also got the yellowtail collar but I was SO excited when I saw it that I totally forgot to take a picture of it and just dove into it :[ So delicious... and yellowtail collar when compared to other fish collar's is extra meaty. Next time! And gotta save some money to try the omakase!

Taiwan: 欣葉 [Shin Yeh]

Second day in Taipei, wentto 欣葉 Shin Yeh, which is a Japanese buffet restaurant, for the "afternoon tea" buffet. I pretty much eat here at least once everytime I head back haha.

The sashimi station, which serves tuna, salmon, and swordfish I think. The hotfood buffet has several grilled fish items, tempura, and some stir-fried stuff.

None of the tiny tempura shrimp, only the big ones here! Also, grilled fish collar which is my favorite haha.

Handrolls! They make it as you order. Awesomeness :D

Salmon sashimi. I think I ate about 5 plates' worth hahaha.

Some of the dessert items they have there: black sesame dorayaki, Korean sesame mochi bread, and double chocolate cake. The mochi bread was really interesting since the inside has a mochi texure while the exterior has a crunch to it.

Of course, this being afternoon tea, they have over 20 kinds of hot and cold beverages. Tried the black sesame yogurt, 薰衣草奶茶 (lavender milktea), and cappucino.

Everytime I head back to the States I always crave it just cause it's an awesome place to go for authentic Japanese food at a reasonable price. They need something like that here haha.