A friend is asking for L.A recommendations and before I point her to Kinjiro I thought I’d check to see if anyone has been recently. Prices seem to have shot up a fair bit in the last year.
It’s still very good, with two caveats.
- It’s more expensive.
- It’s more crowded (read: reservations are more difficult)
So, if you combine Nos. 1 and 2, you end up feeling like for the money and wait, you could have eaten better at n/naka.
Which isn’t to say Kinjiro is bad, per se, just that the QPR isn’t what it was.
But then few things are.
Heck, I know I can’t take Turn 6 at MRLS like I used to.
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I’ve driven a beautiful E46 M3 that knows exactly what you’re talking about…
Thanks. Maybe I’ll suggest Aburiya Raku instead for the genre. And I guess I should be glad we ate at Kinjiro before they adjusted their prices to the glowing NY Times writeup.
Very philosophical, but in this case we’re talking about a price hike from just a year ago. In some cases dishes cost $10 more than they did last summer; most cost at least $4 more.
Ugh. $4-$10 more for the exact same dish?
When was the NYT article?
Early on (post-Bos) at Kinjiro, it was always a little sad to see the lines forming down the walkway for Gen and Kinjiro being half empty.
Haven’t been in awhile because I can never get a reser, but will be there soon. Will be interested to see what’s going on.
They were featured in one of the NY Times’ “Three Days in LA” pieces. I think this was June 2016–we ate there a week or three later.
I’m comparing the prices currently listed on their menu with the prices on the pics I took of the menu with my review. Unfortunately, not all the prices are visible in my pics in the review but enough to show that prices have gone up across the board for the same dishes, some quite sharply:
Marinated Mackerel with Yuzu Kosho Spice: then $10, now $14
Mozuku Seaweed with Grated Mountain Yam: then $7, now $12
Mizuna & Daikon Salad: then $8, now $14
Grilled Thick-cut Prime Beef Tongue with Sea Salt: then $18, now $24
Uni Udon with Hijiki Seaweed: then $18, now $24
Seared Foie Gras with Saikyo Miso: then $18, now $28
and I’m pretty sure the “Uni, Scallop, Blue Crab with Ponzu Jelly” was quite a bit less than $24 when we ate it (unfortunately, my pic doesn’t show the price of that dish).
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wow wasn’t aware of the price hikes. Good thing I visited years ago before the hype.
Enjoyed my dinner but haven’t been back, which I guess says something…
Actually, this can mean many things. For me, it often means I’d LIKE to go back, but there are just simply too many great new places to try in this vast food hall called Southern California.
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This is one of my reasons, but the seedy service is the main reason. I did go about 5x last year though, have been regularly going to Raku instead, recently.
There’s definitely some of that because after our dinner, I remember saying “that was good, we should come back.” However, that never happened. While there are places that we have gone back to over and over again. For instance, since eating at Kinjiro, I’ve been to Raku 3 times.
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do you recall if the $24 for two portions - because that does seem high from what i remember. I feel so lucky to have been eating at kinjiro before the price hike and when i could get reservations easily. last time we went was incredible. they were late in seating us, but we didn’t mind. they sat us in a temp seat in the back towards the restroom and fed us drinks until our table was ready. our bill not expensive because we were already pretty buzzy from the sake they were freely pouring us that we didn’t order any additional drinks. i would still go back despite the price hike, but maybe make it a special occasion place instead and plan way in advance. the last few times i tried to go they were booked.
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what does "seedy " service mean? not attacking you, just genuinely want to know what that means.
When I went, Jun was pretty nice and very informative and helpful.
First two times their service was great, but it steadily went downhill from there.
The Uni, Blue Crab Ponzu dish used to be $16 according to a June 2016 picture on Yelp
.
The restaurant biz is so hard especially for these little shops. They’re doing what they have to and I doubt someone is buying a summer house in the Hamptons with the extra dough. Just worried that they won’t be able to compete on QPR. The market will ultimately be the judge.
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Had my best (of about 6) meal there 3 months ago. It was our best meal there.
Had the prices already risen? Or is that something quite recent?
No idea.
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Baller comment right there.
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Not really. These are hardly seismic shifts in pricing.
As has oft been discussed here, for whatever reason, Jun runs the place like business class/first class on an airline: a bit more expensive, exclusive, delicious and comfortable than economy.
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