Azuma Japanese Restaurant

I usually like the food here but goodness gracious the restaurant is filthy. It’s so cramped and the cooks don’t practice ethical hygiene. Their hands are greasy and fingernails dirty. I couldn’t stomach it so I left without finishing half my meal.
I’m not going to lower my standards for the sake of cheap grub.
The servers don’t put much effort into customer service. Not once did they ever check up on me, alas, I’d have to resort to flagging them down or getting up from my seat to catch their attention.
This is a Japanese restaurant, step up your game and have some pride in the way you run things.
Won’t be back for awhile… bye Felicia.

not too shabby… good service. good food.

I decided to try this place for lunch, as I love sushi — and to my surprise everything I’ve ordered was simply delicious! From Sashimi plate to Chicken Katsu Don. I will definitely refer my coworkers, friends and family members.
The tuna and salmon just melts in your mouth and it tastes so fresh.
The ladies that work there are really nice and they greet everyone that comes in.
The place is small and cozy (I imagine that’s how most places are in Japan).

Food is always good here and they have cheap Sapporo. French fries are seasoned well and love my eggplant dish.

2.5 stars rounded up to a 3.
IF my order didn’t get screwed up and take forever, and if it didn’t take forever to get refills on drinks or tea, and if I liked the agedashi tofu. I would of given it a solid 4 stars. But it did and I was not happy about that.
I went with my family on Saturday night at 5:30pm to celebrate my dad’s birthday (his choice). We got there right before it opened. We parked on the street, but apparently there is a lot in the back. We were let in the restaurant first though. Score. The place is TINY. But we were the first to be seated for 5. There were 2 other groups of ⁵⁄₆ right after us, so I think the waitress was a little overwhelmed. The entire restaurant was packed in no time.
We ordered:
To start…
Miso soup — Normal.
Tsukemono — A little too salty.
Beef tataki — Nice generous serving and pretty good too.
Agedashi tofu — NOT good. Will not order this again.
I ordered the tempura don. They gave me tempura udon. Doh. With hardly a sorry, the waitress took it away. Since my food took forever I tried a little of everyone else’s food.
Main…
Beef teriyaki — YUM. Cooked the way you like, very tender and flavorful.
Miso cod — Not bad.
Pork katsu curry — the katsu was good, curry was just okay.
Tempura don — My food finally came out after everyone was pretty much done. But the tempura don was just not good. The sauce they poured over had no flavor. HARD PASS. I was so sad and disappointed with my meal.
Overall, the other food I did try was really good. But the service could use some work. There was hardly an apology for the wrong order and the long wait for my food.
Meh. Maybe I’ll come back and give this place another shot. But for now it gets 2.5 stars from me.

I’d have to give this place a 3 ½. Their teri steak is no doubt very good. The tempura sauce has absolutely no taste at all! Like watered down tempura sauce. Their cod gindara is awesome as well as other dishes. Their combo plates are pretty decent and the prices keep going up and up every year. Now I can only afford to frequent this place 3 – 4 times a year.
I like it, it’s one of your better izakayakan restaurants.

Always a great place to eat Japanese food! The food is fresh and alway large portions. The best teriyaki and tempura! The place is small so there is a wait if you get there after 1200.

*closed for remodeling till jan 12*
Other than that great hole in the wall Japanese restaurant, gets really busy !

Hole in the wall Japanese restaurant.
Wait is long, so come before this place opens or either get food togo!
The restaurant is also very small and compacted. Barely any space to move around…
Also service is slow because there’s only one or two waiters.
I always get the beef teriyaki and black cod is also really soft and delicious. Their tempura is also amazing because their batter is extra crunchy (but if you’re getting togo, don’t get the tempura! It gets soggy over time).
Try this place if you want to try some OG japanese food (:

Truly and genuine good food and good value! All the cooks look Mexican but they really Japanese from Cabo. Largest plates ever… but they fill it with food and lots of mayonnaise (my fav). Priced fairly… just like Sam Woo is priced fairly versus Italian food which is never priced fairly!
Definitely not a Korean Restuarant posing as Japanese.

AMBIANCE– Very tiny restaurant with limited seating both in the front and back. The kitchen is interestingly located in the middle of the restaurant. However, word is they are finally remodeling starting the last week of December!
FOOD– Solid Japanese food. The sashimi salad (price increase to $ 10.50 now) is always a nice bet — and healthy yet filling, at that. Their combo’s are also a good choice if you are super hungry or sharing with someone (around $ 20 an entrée). It comes with miso, a bowl of rice, mac salad, and Japanese cole slaw. I like either the sashimi and chicken cutlet or beef teriyaki. Their combo’s seems pricey but I’m okay with it because it’s shareable and enough for takeout sometimes.
SERVICE– Great, consistent service. My friends come here every Tuesday so they know the staff well. We didn’t have to wait long for barley green tea refills, which I found nice.
PARKING– Ample parking in the back of the restaurant. Limited street parking in the front.

Totally random hidden gem. At first I was WAY suspect. It’s like a hidden entrance in the back of a liquor store that’s actually not a liquor store (I swear I wasn’t drinking). While we waited for a table (packed at 10 pm on a Wednesday, what?), I read the Daily Breeze write up that was posted on the wall. Apparently this is famous in the Gardena community. I started to get excited.
We were a large group and ordered a few small plates off the menu and pitchers of beer. We had just eaten sushi so we weren’t that hungry, but wanted to try a few things. We had the kimchi fried pork (my favorite), bacon wrapped scallops (also amazing), beef wrapped asparagus (you have to order this), fried smelts (meh, not my choice), and short ribs (also meh, not my choice but everyone else liked them).
Can’t wait to go back when I have more of an appetite and try more things!

I’ve had Azuma bookmarked for awhile and I finally got to try it! And it did not disappoint!
This hole in the wall has some seats in the front (maybe about 20) including the bar and a couple tables in the back of the restaurant. It’s a pretty narrow place and you basically walk through their freezer and storage area to get to the back seating area. After being inside I was a little skeptical about this place since its by far not the cleanest but I figured I’d let the food speak for itself and not pass any judgement yet.
I arrived around 10:30 on a Thursday night and just made late night happy hour. Their happy hour is Sunday-​Thursday 9 – 11. Score! We took advantage and ordered two pitchers of beer ($ 6), agedashi tofu, fried chicken, cream croquette (prices ranged from $ 4-​$ 6). As if that weren’t enough, we also ordered chicken katsu curry, pork katsu curry, kimchi fried rice, and a sashimi platter!!! The plates were huge and we had so much leftover! Each dish was full of flavor and I was rolling out of there when we left.
The only downfall is we were seated next to some young (college age kids) who were a little drunk and extremely loud! I couldn’t even hear my husband sitting right across from me. I guess that’s what you should expect when you go to late night happy hour!

A little hole-​on-​the-​wall with Amazing Japanese food!
My daughter (Japanese at heart) and I came here for a late dinner (aka very hungry). We were immediately sitter. Our order was taken as soon as we were ready and delivered back to our table not even 10 minutes later.
The service is equally amazing. They keep-​on refilling your drinks even after we paid our bill.
The portions are surprisingly very big.
I ordered the sashimi dinner. It came with a miso soup and a huge salad to start. The sashimi plate had enough for two people. I took half of it home :)
The smoked black duck egg was a nice delicatessen. They have other appetizers that looked equally interesting and enticingly amazing. This is a good place for drinks and appetizers and long one-​on-​one long conversation type of place.
My daughter ordered their curry. She loved it.
We order the Curry Udon noodles to go for my granddaughter (8yrs old). She loved her food as well.
This place is a gem. I recommend.

Azuma is truly one of the hidden gems here in the city of Gardena.
I have been coming here for several years, and have never been disappointed.
The portion of the food and the quality of the dish has always been their recipe for a great success.
Open late, people swam here to have a great time, eat and drink kirin.
Despite of its small location, this place can pack a punch.
Serving variety of appetizers, perfect in accommodating the cold Japanese brew. Some of my favorites are the plum sauce okra, cold tofu, beef tongue and grilled liver. These are just the few of many great appetizing dishes they offer that will excite any palate.
There is no doubt that the portions here are very filling. I have always been a great fan of their dinner sashimi, and often order them here whenever I crave for flesh. The chefs are often generous in creating a platter, especially when serving fresh sashimi combo. Majority of their dinner dishes come’s with rice, soup and cabbage salad. This is what separates them from other Japanese restaurant, the extra side dishes makes your trip a lot special, and very filling. More over, their sashimi salad has always been a winner, very fresh and the dressing is very organic, free from creamy dressing. Other popular dish that I recommend for the less adventurous is the chicken or pork katsu curry or the udon.
The service is decent; I have never encountered unsavory service. Wait staff has always been friendly and attentive. Majority of the dinner price is very decent, same with the booze. However, there are some exotic dishes that can be costly, but nothing that will break the bank. The temperament of the place is very relaxing, it can get pretty crowded because of the limited space. Bar are always available for seating, I personally don’t care for it. Parking is on the back although; the street parking is sometimes available. For some reason the back entrance pose as a front entrance, don’t know why exactly.
Over all, this place is a fantastic place to ease and please people when it comes to introducing Japanese food. I have taken and recommended this place several times to other people; and it has always turn out well.

Azuma is Japanese comfort food at its finest. They are opened until late so it’s good for any late night cravings. The menu is huge and has all of the staples of typical home style Japanese food along with izakaya favorites. There are a variety of dishes such as rice bowls, tempura, sashimi, curry, omu-​rice and so much more!
The thing we normally order is the dinner combination, which comes on this extra large plate with everything you could need! For the combo, you have a choice of two different items. I love the beef teriyaki and the tempura combo. The quality of the meat is really good and it tastes more like teriyaki steak than the normal meats people use for this dish. The tempura is really crunchy and I like the variety of different vegetables they serve with it. These plates come with rice, miso soup, macaroni salad, and a cabbage salad. I’ve tried a few of the other items in the combo such as the tonkatsu, fried fish and the sashimi. All are pretty good options and the price for the portion size is great.
Besides the combination, everything I’ve ordered has been delicious. Some other notable dishes are the buta kakuni (a sweet and salty tender pork belly dish), the oyako donburi (chicken and egg rice bowl), the omu-​rice, and the buta kimchi (kimchi and pork stir fry).

Azuma is as good as it gets in Japanese eats. Moderate priced plates, or should I say platters. Your meal is served on a platter! No joke! Beef cooked to perfection and the sauces compliment the offerings.
If you’re in Gardena and looking for good food, check out Azuma. You won’t be disappointed.

My parents really like coming here, but I feel like the quality and quantity of food has gone down over the years while the prices have gone up. They still use the same big plates but the macaroni salad size has definitely decreased while the shredded lettuce salad size has increased.
Service:
I think that the server that we got was in charge for the whole side of the restaurant, so I understand that he was pretty busy and didn’t have time make sure everyone was situated. The only thing that I was a bit disappointed by service wise was that he started taking away plates of food that clearly still had food on it because we weren’t done eating and he didn’t ask us if it was okay for him to take it.
Food:
A safe choice here is always the beef teriyaki. My mom ordered it, and I tried some. I really appreciate that they give you the option to put the sauce on the side because sometimes it can be a bit too much. The beef was tender, juicy, and had the perfect amount of fat. It also wasn’t too salty or oily; it was perfectly seasoned. I got the sashimi with croquette. I really liked the croquette in that it wasn’t too heavy. It had potatoes and ground meat in it, and nicely fried. I don’t like it when places over fry things, and Azuma definitely didn’t. I wasn’t really feeling the sashimi today; I’ve had sashimi here before and it was decent, but today it just didn’t taste as fresh.

The wait was a bit long, almost an hour, but the painstaking part was that their restaurant is split into the front and back, and people who entered through the back were not being seated before the later entries through the front. I thought that was kinda messed up. Overall service was slow to start but the food came out rather promptly so that was nice. The bathrooms smelled kinda funny, not sure if it was mold or cleaner. Probably just cleaner since I didn’t see anything, but I dunno. I had a basement once, that’s what it smelled like.
The food and everything was alright. It was pretty much what I expected in Rowland Heights, so it left me just a bit disappointed considering our location. The tempura was really good, got two shrimps, but I didn’t get any sweet potato. :(The black cod (which was an extra $ 2.50USD) didn’t actually turn out to be that great. The flavor was classic, sweet, like Izakaya-​style, but for some reason the middle wasn’t cooked. I’ve never actually had black cod not cooked so I dunno. Turned me off a bit. I figured it was just how it was meant to be so I finished it, but still makes me feel a bit uneasy.
The chicken kaarage was good, as expected, pretty typical dish. I dunno, honestly, the food was great for a mom & pop shop, but I just thought it was more of a three star place. I’m surprised it wasn’t better considering we are in the heart of a Japanese area, but that’s OK. Probably won’t come back but it’s a great hole in the wall place to check out. They’re open late but it doesn’t really give off an Izakaya ambiance. Meh.

I didn’t realize my sister from another mister Jenn N, and my brother from another mother, Steve S, own the South Bay. When I scour for places by my office in Torrance, just about every place has been reviewed by one, or both of them. So on our third outing together (plus Niki S) since I started working in the South Bay, I am glad they recommended Azuma. Nonetheless, after going to At Home Kitchen that Steve recommended, I was getting a little worried about Steve’s reviews — jk — LOL! Azuma is located on Western near Redondo Beach Blvd in the Japanese and Hawaiian food mecca of Gardena.
Azuma has daily specials, and Steve and Jenn ordered it: Crab & shrimp omelette over rice, fried chicken, w/​miso, salad, and mac salad ($ 8.50). I ordered the Sashimi & fish ($ 11 — upgrade to miso black cod for $ 2.50 extra, inc miso, salad, mac salad and rice). Niki orderd sashimi & tempura ($ 12).
My entrée was excellent. The cod was a nice sized portion, and it was very moist. Kudos to the chef for not overcooking the fish. In addition, the sashimi was very fresh and it was a good sized portion. Lastly, the other items were garden variety: 5 Stars. Niki really liked her dish because she didn’t say much for once — hahaha. In all seriousness, she received a lot of good quality food, and the tempura was not frozen like most places. Jenn & Steve, had nothing but good things to say about the special. It was a ton of food, and the food was outstanding in their minds. I had a bite of the chicken, and I did not disagree.
The ambiance is traditional Japanese, as noted by the lack of a sign in English. If you get lost, Azuma is located in between the EZ Motel and barber shop. This place is small, with a few counter seats, some small tables in front, and some larger tables in the rear: 5 Stars. Our waitress was really nice. She was going to let us order for Jenn who was coming later. However, when we found out they don’t serve kakuni (pork belly) at lunch, Jenn ordered when she arrived. However, her food arrived at the same time as the rest of us, and it did not seem like we waited long: 5 Stars.
Azuma is definitely one of my favorite Japanese places in the area. The food is excellent, the prices are reasonable and it has old school Japanese ambiance. What more can you ask for?!