Travis Lett’s new Gjapanese izakaya. This place is like a too cool for school exercise wheel for hamsters: no reservations, no menu, no sign, communal or bar seating only, and super loud. The hamsters couldn’t stay away and it was packed. Don’t expect them to open on time either even with a line forming out the door. Service was friendly but painfully slow, I waited 50 minutes for my last dish before I cancelled it and asked for the check.
tomato salad - shiso, wasabi, olive oil
Refreshing and delicious
sweet corn - shoyu butter, tomato, sudachi, shichimi
Suprisingly not sweet and too acidic.
tai sashimi - yuzu kosho, wajama sea salt, shiso buds
Loved this, the tai was super fresh and firm, and the yuzo kosho provided the heat, no soy sauce needed.
grilled lone MNT beef tataki - fresh wasabi, ginger, tamari
Meh
grilled ton toro - pork cheek, white miso, lemon, shichimi
Fatty and slightly charred, good.
peeds & barnnets pork belly gyoza - kimchi, negi, ginger
Juicy, fatty filling and slightly crisped wrapper, really good.
hamachi collar
Cooked perfectly, meat was really tender and juicy.
grilled ika - ume, shiso, green chili
Highlight of the night, tender, sweet, and it came with a delicious shiso chimichurri.
yaki onigiri - goma, shiso, shoyu, pickles
A little under-seasoned and could have been crispier.
Service was a lot better than my first visit, they actually opened early and I got everything I ordered. They also added a dj spinning vinyl of course, fortunately the music wasn’t too loud.
Their vegetables and seafood continue to be their strong suit. The saba was the highlight of the night, tender, moist, and flaky. The shima aji was also really good. But the meat and poultry were just okay, they were cooked well but were under-seasoned, boarding on bland.
Portions are still tiny, and qpr is low. Four tiny chicken wings for 13 bucks?! I’m beginning to think MTN means you’ll be spending More Than Necessary.
coal steamed eggplant - red miso, walnuts, scallion, lemon
charred japanese sweet potato - miso butter
shima aji sashimi - grated ginger, scallion, serrano chili, yuzu ponzu
grilled saba - sesame, scallion ponzu, daikon oroshi
sake marinated jidori chicken wings - yuzu kosho, honey, chive
pork chashu temaki - burnt ends, pickled cucumber, fermented chili sauce
grilled duck breast - shio koji
grilled skirt steak - red miso, marinated daikon greens
MTN
1305 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90291
(424) 465-3313
Nice pics as usual.
