great pics.
Alas, not all the pictures came out that well.
You are not alone, I felt the grilled rice balls or triangles (yaki onigiri) were one of the least favorite items of mine when I was visiting in late May (it was also the last meal in town).
While a roasty toasty texture is important in yaki onigiri, the exterior was too dry and firm, and much harder to bite into. Plus this is not something you want to take big bites of and chew heartily. It’s one thing if it were crunchy (with a crisp), but this was not the case. The type of pickles served with the yaki onigiri didn’t seem to have the right profile (a bit too pungent and extreme on the saltiness and sourness, not as much balance).
What made this easier to eat, was to put a bit of sauce with it (I used the red miso beef tongue/tripe stew, which was already very salty to begin with, another item that was not my favorite of the night). I do appreciate the amount of time and effort put into this, as from a glance it does look quite good. Just didn’t quite have the right texture.
sure looks great - but I take your opinions as close to gospel
I put the more detailed write-up of our meal on my blog today. Thoughts on the particular dishes we ate etc. are in the captions to the rather large slideshow, but here is the text portion of the review.
Kinjiro has received so much praise from foodies and the professionals alike that part of me wondered if it could indeed be as good as people said it was. But just a few courses into our dinner this past Tuesday I was all Lili von Shtupp: “Oh it’s twue, it’s twue! It’s twue, it’s twue!” Yes, people, Kinjiro more than lived up to the hype. It was one of the very best meals we’ve had this year and it is now at the top of my list of restaurants I will recommend to friends who ask me where to eat in L.A. In fact, I am inclined to say that if you are passing through Los Angeles and only have time for one dinner, this is where you should go. But if you’re not from L.A, or even if you are but don’t follow the food scene very closely, you may be wondering what Kinjiro is. Read on.
Kinjiro is currently one of the hottest izakayas in Los Angeles. It opened in late 2014 in Little Tokyo and is located right next to the ever-popular Sushi Gen in the Honda Plaza. Izakayas, in case you don’t know, are basically bars with good food. You drink and eat small plates of food that go particularly well with drinks and which are easily shared. They’re typically informal both in atmosphere and in service: you order food as you go and things are brought out as they’re ready. Kinjiro retains the informality even though there’s no separate bar here: you sit at tables as at a regular restaurant. The menu is diverse but manageable and the staff are only to happy to explain and guide you through the sake selection and the food. The food itself is pretty fancy as izakaya food goes and runs the gamut from cold to warm to hot, from pickled to simmered to deep fried, from cucumber to crustacean to cow, and from bone marrow to short rib to tongue. There’s something here for everyone, except maybe the strict vegetarian.
Now I should say before I go any further that I am no great expert on the izakaya genre and that Kinjiro is the only izakaya of its kind that I’ve ever eaten at. So please keep that in mind as you register my enthusiasm. That enthusiasm is great, however. It was all I could do to not go back immediately the next day to try all the many things we couldn’t get to. Which is not to say that we didn’t get to very much. There were four of us and we were told as we sat down that they usually recommend eight or so dishes for four people to share: we unwillingly stopped at 13…What did we eat? Well, I’m going to annoy those who really hate clicking on slideshows and put the description of the food in the captions to the pictures below. Please take a look and scroll down for some more comments.
[Slideshow: Kinjiro (Los Angeles, July 2016) | My Annoying Opinions]
I hope you have a sense from the slideshow of why I am as enthused about this meal as I am—and it’s not just me: the other three loved it too. The closing riceballs were the one B grade in a meal that otherwise was entirely in the A-/A range. It’s hard for me to say what I liked best. Of the twelve things we ate there are seven that I thought were just outstanding (some in very different ways): the uni-scallop-blue crab, the oysters in ponzu, the chilled smelt, the tongue, the marrow bone, the agedashi tofu and the uni risotto—and the carpaccio and cod were just below (others in the group had the cod and carpaccio near the top of their lists).
And it’s a pretty good “value” in its own way: all this food, two small bottles of sake, one large bottle of sake and a number of un-photographed Sapporos plus tax came to $320 for four people. This means you could drink less and eat far less excessively and still leave fully sated for quite a bit less than the $95/head or so we arrived at after tip. I also don’t want to give the impression that this is a restaurant you should go to only in a group of four or more. While it’s true you can try more with four people (more than four and the sharing becomes more complicated) I would be extremely happy just eating various combinations of three things if I were by myself: start with the oysters or the smelt, move on to the tongue and end decadently with the agedashi tofu or the uni risotto for example. Or just get three orders of the uni-scallop-blue crab-ponzu jelly, a small bottle of sake and call it a night.
I also want to reiterate again just how pleasant an experience it is. And most of the credit for this must go to the proprietor Jun Isogai, who both manages the room and waits tables. The feel of the place seems like an extension of his personality, which is affable, welcoming and genuine. Apart from a solo diner who was a friend of the house (and rocking it hardcore: by himself with a bottle of champagne) we were the last people in the restaurant, and we spent quite a bit of time chatting with Jun about Japanese food in the US, hospitality and sushi restaurants in town—he seems to know all the chefs at the big places and shared a lot of his insights into the idiosyncrasies of different establishments (I won’t repeat them in public). I’m not sure when we’ll back in L.A next but I know we’re coming back here. And our friends, I’m pretty sure, will be back well before then.
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They only gave you one thingy of the uni-scallop-crab?
i asked for a half order.
8.5 dishes then. Even a baby could do that.
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My Wife and I celebrated our Wedding anniversary there. We (and our 7 year old) were satisfied with 8 dishes total. Admittedly, none of us are what would be called a trencherman. We were all amused by this note regarding their creme brulee: (Fortunately our kid was very happy with the roasted green tea panna cotta)
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Yeah the sake lees creme brulee paired with Hakkaisan Kijyoshu (a sweet dessert sake) is a sake lover’s dream pairing! Made with alcohol, tastes like alcohol, and delicious!
What’s cool about the kijyoshu is that it was not brewed with water but sake! It’s a -36 on the Sake Meter Value, and uses a regional variety of sake rice called Yuki No Sei (Niigata prefecture), also found in the excellent seasonal “Tokugetsu” Junmai Daiginjo (parent company being the makers of the famous Kubota).
While the hojicha panna cotta is easy to like (it’s actually not the best I’ve had), I actually thought this alcoholic dessert was far better.
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beefnoguy, have you considered a career as a sake somm?
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so the chickie-who-robs-the-amex-at-kinjiro is the only person who likes this? 
i don’t get yaki onigiri either… i mean… all that wait for burnt rice? just deep fry it already
Popped in here last night; discovered the woman I brought hates Japanese food, real fun lol
I still enjoyed myself, but not as much as the absurd amount of rave reviews would have lead me to believe.
The trio of ferment stuff is super intense, and will definitely fuck you up proper. The tuna guts and cream cheese are fascinating cheese salt bomb bites, and the firefly squid are delectable slimy soy explosions of ecstacy that go beautifully with sake. But the squid in its own ink was too pungent for me to enjoy, with a very hard texture that made it unenjoyable to chew, closer to rancid oysters than something enjoyable for me. Oh well, 2 out of 3 ain’t too bad.
The uni risotto was the one thing I agree with everyone about. Really excellent, showing off not only the luxuriousness of uni, but also nailing the proper texture of the rice in terms of being toothsome, yet creamy. Fabulous presentation as well. Much preferred to any other risotto I have had in LA that I can think of. They should really add this to the regular menu.
Mushrooms and Spinach was just that. I didn’t get it exactly… it seems to me like something this simple for $10 at a restaurant needs to have interesting sourcing, or something. This seemed like a valley girl tossed her version of a “light lunch” into a box at the Whole Foods salad bar… not terrible, but felt very out of place and awkward. Maybe my fault for ordering it, but imo shouldn’t even be on the menu.
Agedashi tofu has been reported as an umami bomb… I found it incredibly bland with such expectations. Not horrible exactly, but not exactly a wowing dish, just very subtle mushroom flavor with some ok tofu. The “crust” of the tofu was savory in an unusual, but pleasant way. This is not something I would ever rave about… if people are impressed by this I recommend going and eating tofu at Shibumi.
The famous beef tongue was very odd. No problem with the texture for me. I thought the thickness was nice, but holy shit is it overdressed with lime. It ends up tasting like oversalted carne asada or something… idk, not terrible, but just awkward and not really super impressive either. I have had better tongue on $.50 tacos in Mexico City… so… I am perhaps biased… but again, not bad, just kind of awkward.
I ordered chicken maki-age to appease my friend who was not enjoying herself, and it worked out not only as something simple, but also was one of the best dishes of the night. A very smart preparation of the chicken, moist, and tender with beautifully crisp, savory skin. The hot oil dipping sauce was lovely and provided an umami zap along with a pleasant heat. The little tomato and greens salad was better than the mushroom and spinach thing earlier in the meal.
I really enjoyed the unfiltered sakes on the list, but I am not an aficianado.
Perfect Snow:
The best dish of the night was the foie gras custard. This was a brilliant use of foie gras. Perfect texture, ethereal creaminess, with the foie gras not being overbearing but caressing the palate with its luscious funk with a bit of a sugary and salty bite from the crust… WOW
The dessert sake was also a lovely pairing as well.
Overall, there are some things here that I agree are awesome, but other things leave me scratching my head. In the end, I spent $187 (including tax/tip) for all this food + 2 bottles of sake and the glass of dessert sake. In comparison to, say, my $195 meal at Hatchet Hall recently it felt like a poor value…but maybe my standards are just too high.
I might return for bone marrow and offal stew, and maybe uni risotto again, but this did not necessarily strike me as top tier LA dining, although it was certainly solid second tier if that makes any sense… a place where some dishes are truly special, but others are average or below average. It is quiet though, which is great. The atmosphere is really lovely…although in some ways I almost felt too at ease for the type of food if that makes sense. I would almost prefer to eat tuna guts and get loaded on sake in a more boistrous environment. But LA needs all the quiet restaurants it can get, so not a critique, just a note.
If you didn’t see my post, the offal stew is just not very good. Not worth returning for.
Damn that sucks…I was hoping it was just an off night.
Is the bone marrow dengaku worth returning for?
[quote=“Aesthete, post:75, topic:2389”]
But LA needs all the quiet restaurants it can get
[/quote]Hear, hear!
When I go I’m doing Omakase. And I don’t mean Chefs Choice. I mean @PorkyBelly’s choice. He seems to order the perfect selections. And his pictures… Oh wow 
. You can tell he loves this restaurant.
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Ha, i hope you enjoy it as much as i do 
Don’t forget the uni risotto.
But of course.
