Ahhh… At last. Great food pictures to break up the Luv2Eat banter.
Wait, what?? That’s puréed uni for the “tsukumen” dipping sauce? Brilliant! How was it?
1 Like
Good eye, that was indeed uni juice for the “tsukemen” dipping sauce. It was cold and surprisingly light and refreshing. I think it was more like soba than tsukemen though.
Paging @thecookie…
uni, scallop, blue crab with ponzu jelly
The other skid roe #alternativefacts
uni fucking risotto
kibinago sardine tempura
Fries with eyes
off-menu new zealand king salmon collar and belly with saikyo miso
new zealand, the canada of australia
foie gras custard with mitarashi sauce
So fucking rich the liberals want it to pay more taxes #liveralagenda
8 Likes
Okay, so you know this was my plan. I didn’t put in writing in case a major catastrophe prevented. Plus I wanted to surprise you 
.
3 Likes
Okay, made the reservation. At least I think we did. They prefer it be done online, but we haven’t received a response. No biggie since it’s not for a couple weeks. But I have a question. The online menu doesn’t list the Uni Risotto. I inquired about it when we made reservation. Do I still want to go if they’re not serving it right now? Or should we wait. It seems to be a major factor in people’s love of the restaurant.
Still go. Plenty of other great dishes there.
1 Like
Absolutely go. I would have loved our meal even if we hadn’t eaten it.
And as I recall it was on their specials menu anyway.
1 Like
The usually have the uni risotto (last two times I went), even though it is not on the online menu.
Also, Jun who runs the front of the house may take a day or so to get back to you via email. The reservation is not made until Jun responds to you, confirming he has the space. If you did this over the phone, you should be set.
1 Like
Okay great. Thanks. It’s on!
1 Like
Thanks. That’s what I was thinking - they probably serve it but it’s not necessarily on the menu. Emailed the reservation request Saturday. If we don’t hear back I’ll call today.
Jun usually responds via email around 1 or 2pm on days the restaurant is open, if you emailed him late on Saturday you might not hear from him until 1pm on Tuesday when they’re open again.
2 Likes
Look what we received
Hi _ _ _
Thank you so much.
We actually very recently decided not to take any reservations after February 4 as of right now, as we plan to temporarily close our restaurant for a few weeks for staff training. We will announce our re-open date on our website at www.kinjiro-la.com once decided.
My deepest apologies for the inconvenience!
As for Uni Risotto, it is on our Specials of the Day menu almost daily; we usually have it, but we are sometimes unable to serve it depending on Uni availability and so we don’t put it on our regular menu.
Regards,
Jun @ Kinjiro
1 Like
Wow, good intel. How about raku?
1 Like
I thought of that. I know it’s a @Chowseeker1999 fave and it’s on the list. But I have another task for you guys. If you don’t mind.
Consider only Jun and another wait person take care the front of the house and no need for staff training, is chef leaving?
2 Likes
Pretty astute. I only know the restaurant from this board. But I did consider that the email might be a bit of a smoke screen. I just hope it’s what you suspect and not that they’re closing for good.
One of my favorite spots… someone please post if they hear any news re: reopening.
1 Like
Update:
Looks like Kinjiro is partially open again. Speaking with the manager, he said that they did indeed lose one of their 2 chefs, as some FTCers were guessing about (he said the main chef is still there). So they’ve been training a new chef on the menu.
They are currently only taking limited reservations (no walk-ins).
Dewazakura - Izumi Judan - Ginjo Sake (Yamagata, Japan):
Thanks to @beefnoguy’s recommendation, we were happy to see the Izumi Judan on Kinjiro’s Sake Menu. K K, you weren’t joking: This is bone dry, clean Sake. Pretty nice for a Ginjo, and it went well with some of the dishes. 
Homemade Cold Tofu with Chilled Dashi:
This was OK. Clean flavors, but the texture is what kind of detracted for us: It was more like a thickened Custard, but sort of chunky, yet smooth also. The Chilled Dashi was delicious.
Mizuna & Daikon Salad:
I enjoyed the textures for this Salad: Crunchy, vegetal and slightly nutty. The Mizuna veggie was fine, but the Dressing overpowered the Salad just slightly. Otherwise this was good.
Kibinago Sardine Tempura:
These were delicious! Light, delicate batter, the Kibinago Sardines were nice and briny and bright. The Mentaiko Dipping Salt sounded better than the actual taste (which tasted just like Salt). The Yuzu Dipping Salt was better, with a nice citrusy flavor coming through.
Grilled Black Cod with Saikyo Miso (Gindara no Saikyo Yaki):
Finally a dish that really stood out for us at Kinjiro: This was outstanding! Melt in your mouth, gorgeous Black Cod, cooked just to perfection. It’s buttery, flaky, supple. The Saikyo Miso flavor adds this real crave-worthy depth of flavor - aromatic, a subtle sweetness (just barely) to the perfectly seasoned Black Cod. Must order! 
Grilled Free Range Chicken Thigh with Yuzu Kosho Spice:
Taking a bite of the Grilled Chicken Thigh by itself, we thought that the Yuzu Kosho Spice would be incorporated somehow. Instead it was just simple Grilled Chicken Thigh. 
But then we noticed this small mound of Yuzu Kosho on the side of the plate. Taking a small dab of that, spreading it on a piece of the Grilled Chicken, and it transformed the Chicken into something far greater. This was quite tasty at this point.
Some of the Grilled Chicken pieces had flabby, soft Chicken Skin (it wasn’t cooked to a crispness like the other 50% of the Chicken). But otherwise, we’d order this again.
Niman Ranch Braised Pork Belly Kakuni (Half Boiled Free Range Egg & Daikon):
After having the Pork Belly Kakuni at Tsubaki recently (with the mixed results of @J_L’s not soft / firm outcome, and our visit’s very soft, but underwhelming flavors outcome), we decided to start revisiting the Braised Pork Belly (Buta no Kakuni) dishes at some of the local Izakayas (and if nothing else, to help @PorkyBelly find the best version of Pork Belly ;)).
Kinjiro’s version on our visit was not good. 
Chunky, firm Pork Belly, this wasn’t cooked long enough at all. I’d imagine this might’ve been what @J_L got at Tsubaki in terms of texture. Even with a fork and knife, it was a chore to cut through. 
The flavors were fine (mainly salty soy sauce), with some sweetness, but we’d skip this next time.
The Free Range Egg was excellent, though:
Uni (Sea Urchin) Risotto:
Finally! After numerous visits, it looks like we were able to make it when they had the Uni Risotto on their Daily / Seasonal Menu. Hearing @PorkyBelly and others rave about this, we were excited!
It was very good, but the Uni flavors were sort of muddied (not literal mud, but not as bright as fantastic, top quality, fresh Uni can be). We’re chalking it up to as many have said: Live Uni Strikes Again (randomness). The color of the Uni Risotto didn’t look as vibrant as @PorkyBelly’s pics (I even brought it under an open table with a clear white light and it looked darker).
However, it was still very good. The Risotto was spot-on, toothsome and there was a great creamy, luscious quality about it. The Uni flavors weren’t “bad,” still a solid Uni flavor, but it didn’t sing. But I can imagine when the Live Uni in the Shell is spot-on (perfectly bright, sweet, wonderful good ocean-y quality), that this would be a Best Bite of the Year dish.
We’ll be back to try this again, and hopefully the Live Uni they get is back to what @PorkyBelly had.
Manila Clam & Shiso Udon:
Our final dish was the Manila Clam & Shiso Udon. This was a solid Seafood dish. The Manila Clams were perfectly cooked and delicious, and the Shiso Leaf added a delicate herbal note. However, the use of out-of-season Tomatoes was curious (why?), as they lacked the amazing sweetness you’d get from beautiful local farmers market Tomatoes.
In addition, everyone agreed that the Udon (not made in-house) felt out of place: All of us thought that a good Spaghetti or Linguini would be more appropriate and match better.
Service was very good, with our drinks being refilled regularly without asking. They checked in on our table (and others) regularly.
Kinjiro is definitely Downtown L.A. (and the surrounding areas’) best Izakaya. It continues to deliver solid dishes, but it has some misses as well. On this 5th visit, it reinforces what I’ve felt for a while: Best Izakaya for the area, with some outstanding dishes, but also some disappointing dishes.
Don’t miss out on the excellent Kibinago Sardine Tempura, and the amazing Grilled Black Cod with Saikyo Miso. The Live Uni Risotto is most likely the best dish when the Live Uni they get in is spot-on. But be sure to avoid certain dishes that are just so-so or downright bad (their Kakuni on this visit was really disappointing).
Kinjiro
424 E 2nd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(Honda Plaza, Little Tokyo)
Tel: (213) 229-8200
6 Likes
We need a thread on where to find the best, most luscious buta no kakuni and buta arani preparations in L.A. (aside from obasan’s kitchen)…
2 Likes