I think Andy should personally treat you to meal at hayato to bury the hatchet.
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Whole month of res went fast. Only 1-3 seat res allowed it looks like?
Most days were booked within seconds…
A couple Tuesdays were free for a party of 2 until about 10:04
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Update #2 (1/11/20)
Summary: Yet another exceptional meal at Hayato. Chef Go seems to have more help nowadays. On this particular night, his assistant did most of the grilling over binchotan and plating also seemed to be more of a collaborative effort as opposed to the earlier days where Chef Go was a one man wrecking crew doing everything during service. McChelin or not, Hayato is one of my favorite restaurants in LA.
Highlight:
- female snow crab, kani miso, snow crab roe, koshihikari
- nodoguro, dashi, bamboo shoot, yuzu
- abalone, abalone stock jelly, liver sauce
- kinki and lotus root
- buri rice pot
love to see chef go’s smiles while cooking
Course #1: santa barbara spiny lobster, lobster dashi, lobster roe, ginger - slightly cooked spiny lobster is soft and flavored by its own roe and thickened lobster dashi. the ginger slightly upset-ed the delicate flavor combination though…
Course #2: shirauo, japanese sweet potato
these lightly battered tempura ice fish is a perfect fish snack while the accompanying crunchy sweet potato offers heft the course
Course #3: female snow crab, kani miso, snow crab roe, koshihikari
all essence of the crab are folded into the toothsome rice. does it get any better than this? i especially enjoyed the soft yet robbery texture of the roe and the deep rich taste they offer.
Course #4: nodoguro, dashi, bamboo shoot, yuzu
this delicious dashi is permeated with oil and smokiness from the grilled nodoguro
Course #5: tai, aji, shiso, nori, miyoga
Course #6: abalone, abalone stock jelly, liver sauce
excellent as always
Course #7: kinki, soy brushed lotus root
perfectly grilled with crispy skin and insanely juicy
Course #8: anago, turnip, dashi
when the rich, velvety, and unctuous anago gets overwhelming, take a bite of the mild turnip to reset your palate
Course #9: hokkaido scallop
this nori-panko crusted meaty scallop is simple but delicious
Course #10: snow crab, shiitake mushroom, chrysanthemum greens, dashi
the flavor of the dashi in this shabu shabu course is much more intense and infused with shroom fragrance
Course #11: karasumi
chinmi of the night is mullet roe with texture that’s a bit chewy and sticks to your teeth. the flavor profile is briny, lightly sweet, and has a bit of bitterness and funk.
Course #12: buri rice pot, turnip, miso soup, pickles, hojicha
tonight’s rice pot, cooked with seasoned dashi, is addictively delicious with fat, soft, and juicy buri folded into the toothsome koshihikari rice. i downed 3 large bowls or rice before calling it a night.
Course #13: asian pear, sake jelly, cara cara orange, sencha macha
i much prefer some harry’s berries strawberries but too bad they’re not in season anymore. in the meantime, these snappy pears and tangy citrus will do.
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The plating (and your photos) are just stunning!
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thanks for the kind words. are you ready for another visit?
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Always ready…just don’t have a schedule that’s free enough to try to snag one of those last minute cancellations. I’m not on the ball enough to play the Resy midnight game at the beginning of the month.
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Looks awesome! Thanks for the pics And wonderful tasting notes.
That Kinki tho! One of my favorite fishes
Kinki?
Do you love me…
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nice report, how did the missus enjoy it? looking forward to plagiarizing this review in a couple weeks.
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she loved it but only had 1 bowl of rice 
any suspicious activities lately?
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unacceptable
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it’s a diss for such a spectacular gohan course aka war on rice
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reservations are released at 10am on the first of the month now.
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Looks like I should be more proactive on Feb 1st at 9:58AM
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You’re so adorable sometimes. 
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These Hayato reviews are making it hard for me to choose between my reservation at Hayato and another one at Somni next month.
They are both close to my birthday and they’re a week away from each other. I can go to both, but I wanted my experience to be special so I’m thinking of going to one of them, then try the other one at summer.
I think if there’s a gun to my head and I have to choose, it’ll be Hayato. I’m still deciding though. It depends whether my friends can go to either of them.
@moonboy403 what drinks did you have? which ones did you like?
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