TOT / Teishokuya of Tokyo

Good ass mothafuckin food. Good service and the pretty ass waitress is a sweetheart. To all the other sushi spots in little Tokyo, IDFWU!

Came here for happy hour/​dinner. The HH menu is very limited and all of their appetizers was only $ 1 off from the regular menu. I was craving ramen and ordered the tonkotsu ramen. It was bland, oily and left me super unsatisfied with my meal. We also ordered the chicken which wasn’t too bad. I probably wouldn’t come back here unless I had to.

This place is just about the average. I ordered this special combination of sashimi and tempura and broiled fish Etc. It tasted good and I can see myself eating this again if it’s a little cheaper or bigger portioned. I think I paid about $ 25. My tongue says it was about $ 18. Staff was extra nice. Other things on the menu was pretty standard and boring and not really appetizing.

Not only is the food amazing and authentic but service is exemplary! Love this place and everyone in it!

This was our last dine-​in before heading back to the Bay. Being located in Little Tokyo, the restaurant felt authentically Japanese. I had a hard time deciding what to order because I wanted to eat everything! They had a wide variety of choice from donburi to noodles to entrée plates. I ended up ordering the ramen and sushi combo with takoyaki as an appetizer. The takoyaki was really hot and fresh. The ramen was average. The sushi was a few pieces of california roll. I was only able to choose between california or spicy tuna. I was full afterwards, but slightly unsatisfied. If I eat here again, I’ll probably try something else from their menu.

I had the tonkotsu ramen and asked for it to be a little bit spicy. He had the tuna tuna donburi. We went on a Saturday for lunch – we got seated right away. Service started off really polite. They gave us our menu – then we had to wait around for our waitress to take our order – everyone else was getting their orders while we were ignored in the corner. When we finally got our order in, we were not offered water. The one good part – both orders came with a free salad. The tuna tuna also comes with a free miso. When a waiter come by and brought us our salad, he asked us we wanted drinks, when we said water he looked surprised as if he did not understand why no one brought us water. We were wondering that too.
My tonkotsu ramen was plentiful, but they charged me an extra dollar without letting me know and they kinda slipped it in there. Also, if i knew they were gonna charge me for getting something spicy, i could’ve just added some chili flakes that were on the table. Overall, i understood why we got seated right away. The food wasn’t too bad, but the service is pretty horrible. It takes forever to get your order in and for your order to come out.
They do validation if you parked across the street.

We came on a weekday night, and there was plenty of seating. Service was fast and pleasant. Food was mediocre but not too pricey. And they validate parking (woohoo!)!
We got there around 6:30pm, and it was still happy hour — with drinks and food on the menu! We got the salmon collar on the happy hour menu ($ 6.50) — solid dish. I’d recommend asking for some ponzu sauce because otherwise it gets a little bland.
We also got the shabu shabu pork soba — the soba was a flatter noodle than I ever had before –but still good. They were very generous with the pork. Like REALLY generous, we had lots of pork left over and not enough noodles :(the pork was a little dry though.
The tonkatsu ramen was also alright. It came in a fairly large bowl, with lots of garlic flavor and sesame seeds. Toppings-​wise, it came with a few pieces of cha su (nothing amazing), some bean sprouts, and half a boiled egg. If you want extra toppings, they have them as well, just gotta $$$$ for it!
Lastly we got the agedashi tofu because we were still hungry. The outer, fried part of the tofu was perfect — the inside tofu itself was a little coarse.
Overall, a decent meal, but not anything to salivate over. It came out to be a total of $ 30ish so the price was not bad at all (especially for little Tokyo)!

I have a bad habit, if I like something from a restaurant, that is ALL I order every single time I go there. At T.O.T, I always order the spicy tuna donburi, salmon donburi or the tuna and avocado. I love their donburi. I have tried their tofu appetizer, couple rolls, udon and soba and sashimi apps but I like their donburis! You won’t go wrong with them.

We’ve eaten here at least 4x now, so I’m confident about TOT’s consistency. The service is timely and thorough, i.e. they ask certain questions pertaining to your order to ensure it is right (spicy? on the side or on top?, etc.). We’ve had friendly service for the most part, and the restaurant is clean. It can be crowded with a line outside in the evenings and on weekends; however, we have been fortunate enough to go when it isn’t crowded or is just filling up – usually right as the JANM closes.
The sushi is good; adapted for California with lots of avocado and for people who are unfamiliar with authentic sushi, but you can still order sashimi, eel, and octopus. The fancy rolls are on par with other restaurants ($ 11 – 14) range and are generous enough to share.
My son usually orders the chicken katsu curry, and he says it tastes as good as home. The katsu may be the pre-​prepared kind, but it still satisfies him. It all comes down to the curry gravy itself, but don’t expect the kind with potatoes, carrots, and onions. This is a simpler version.
I normally order ramen; the broth is solid. They even have a bone broth, which is very good. Their tempura is light, fluffy, and fried just right.
A small salad with a ginger inspired dressing comes with your meal. It is simple pre-​packaged lettuce, but the dressing is tasty. Miso soup is also served. You may order brown rice for a slight upcharge.
For those who want to try it out, there is a happy hour where the prices are reduced for nibbly bits and some alcohol.
Parking across the street right now is being validated through a special citywide program. Ask the server, and they will give you a postcard to hand the attendant. This offer runs through the beginning of August if memory serves me correctly.
We continue to come here, because the food and service are consistent, the ambiance is comfortable for families, as well as for those on a date. If you are fortunate and have a party no larger than four, you can get a booth, which affords privacy and a cozy meal.

Great place for lunch. They offer lunch specials from 11am-​2pm. My default meal here is the «Tuna tuna donburi» bowl add avocados. It’s never let me down and satisfies my tuna fix. The bowl also comes with a side of miso soup and their house salad. The salad is so good because of the house dressing-it’s like crack to me. Only complaint is that the service is slow and the food takes a long time to come out. We went around 2pm, which is after the lunch rush, and the food took almost 30 minutes to arrive.

The food was good, but the service was reeaally slooow. It may be because it was so busy during weekday lunch hour.
We ordered:
1. Vegetable roll with brown rice (+$ 1)
2. Seaweed salad (very tasty!)
3. Spiciest ramen (my friend who likes spicy food said it wasn’t too spicy)
4. Bento box (lots of variety)
If you’re not in a rush, it’s a good spot for Japanese food.
Parking is a little tough, we got a metered street spot, but I had to keep running back to put in more money because it took so long to order and get our food.

The best thing about this place is its variety. It has sushi, udon, ramen, rice bowls, bento boxes etc. It’s a great place if you and your friends want Japanese food but don’t want the same things! The store is a bit small, so groups of 6 or more will be difficult to seat. Great for groups of 2 – 4.

++ Stop #10 in my jury duty food adventures ++
After attempting to cram in Sushi Gen into our lunch break and failing, our jolly crew of jurors went here, where the wait was nonexistent. We were seated right away in this traditionally decorated Japanese restaurant. It seemed to take a while for us to actually order though, or maybe it was exaggerated because we were in a bit of a rush.
I ordered BENTO BOX A ($ 11.25) with spicy chicken and sashimi. There are other meats you can pick from and there’s a California roll option too. The bento also comes with gyoza, tempura, rice, and miso soup. Everything was pretty average, but I really liked the sweet potato tempura. Nothing else stood out for me, but there wasn’t a particular item that was bad either.
This isn’t somewhere I’d go out of my way for or bring visitors to. I also think price wise it was a little expensive for such basic components, and I have definitely had cheaper bento boxes that were of equal quality. There’s also a $ 20 minimum for card so plan accordingly.
Food: 3, Service: 3, Environment: 4, Price: 2

There is a reason some places have a 1-​hour wait and others have more seats empty than full… Especially in Little Tokyo.
The starters were promising, standard Edamame, decent Agedashi, and a lip-​smacking guilty pleasure Kara-​age.
It went a bit downhill after that. They didn’t have either type of cod roe udon I wanted, so rather than offer assistance or more time, the server just stood over me and glared wordlessly until I chose something else. I got dipping udon. The udon was perfect, and the concentrated broth with chunks of pork to flavor it.
The Unagi-​Don tasted great because eel sauce always does, but $ 23 is a bit much.
I haven’t been to Tokyo yet, but T.O.T feels like it could be an authentic but mediocre eatery. The food is much better in Torrance and its a whole lot cheaper.

This is a quaint little restaurant in Japan Town that is easily missed if you’re not looking for it. When I say little, I mean little, although they do manage to squeeze quite a few people in there. I’d estimate that the restaurant can seat somewhere around 40 people, but it doesn’t look like it.
This place seems pretty busy. We were in a group of about 9 and were seated immediately, but that’s because we got there right when it opened. Once we were seated, the remainder of the seats filled-​up pretty quickly.
The staff and service are pleasant and efficient, but I wasn’t really impressed with the food and value.
As the name states, it’s a teishoku-​style restaurant. That means that, unless otherwise stated, your entrée comes with miso soup and rice (at least). Here it also comes with a small salad. You can also substitute white rice for brown rice, but it will cost an additional $ 1.00.
First up, we ordered the spider roll which came serves in 5 pieces. It was just okay, and it cost around $ 12.50. I’ve actually had much better spider rolls at all-​you-​can-​eat sushi places where I’ve paid just a few bucks more and would have an endless supply.
The salad was basically just lettuce with some dressing. It’s a similar dressing to the ginger-​based dressing served in Benihana restaurants, but not as good. The miso soup was also just okay.
My entrée was the BBQ Karubi Short Rib (kalbi). They come on a sizzling platter, which is similar to a Korean restaurant I would eat at in Hawaii, but not nearly as good. There really wasn’t that much meat (see picture). It sits on a bed of cabbage with a few chopped green onion pieces which makes it look like you’re getting much more than you are. That dish will run you $ 12.00.
Many of my friends (who just returned from Japan the week prior) ordered the special chicken or pork cutlet (not pictured in their online menu). The general consensus was that it was «good», but nothing remarkable. Those cost around $ 17.00 each.
I know this restaurant gets credited as being the «best teishoku in downtown L.A.», and it just might be. However, having lived the majority of my life in Hawaii, I can honestly say I’ve experienced much better teishoku there, and can also find better quality and value sushi at other places here in SoCal.

Happy Hour runs from 3 – 8 pm on Monday through Friday. They feature a monthly sake, which we ordered, and we also got the GARLIC BUTTER FRENCH FRIES. They were really greasy and a tad over-​seasoned, but good for sharing. TOT is a good spot for groups because there’s a lot of variety to choose from. My TEMPURA UDON was okay, but definitely expensive for what it was.

Good food at a slow pace. Make sure you come with the mindset of chill. Very traditional Japanese food although surprisingly some non Japanese items on the menu as well. Tried their special Taiwanese dry ramen which was spicy and flavorful. Also had the Pork Loin Tonkatsu which was heavy and very oily unfortunately. Excellent katsu sauce however and very high quality brown grain rice. I’ve also had their Breaded Chicken Cutlet Curry before which was delicious! Overall, a great consistent place to go to for a relaxing slow paced Japanese dinner.

Great lunch and dinner place for some katsu donburi, takoyaki and the like. TOT has been around a long time and I’m glad I know it as a really good option for a meal whenever in Little Tokyo. Service is good but sometimes its been slow and I really dont know why because it’s such a small space. There was also once instance when wine was ordered by the glass and the glass it came in clearly had lipstick marks still on it. That wasnt good to see. But the staff rectified it and replaced it immediately.
Katsu-​don — A breaded pork cutlet, egg and onion covered in a lunch box to let the steam of the rice and soy sauce broth permeate everything. It’s delicious. I recommend it. The pork cutlet is moist and tasty. That with the the soy sauce broth, egg and onion is a great combination over rice.
Sauce katsu donburi — Probably my favorite meal over rice at TOT. It’s a cutlet of chicken breath drizzled over with katsu sauce and japanese mayo over shredded cabbage and rice underneath that. It’s super tasty. The panko crust is light but crunchy. The chicken is really good. The sauces on top are of great flavor and are a great compliment to the dish. The cabbage adds texture. So good.
Takoyaki — delicious fried balls of octopus drizzled in katsu sauce and japanese mayo
Ika fry — fried and battered squid in soy that comes with a creamy dipping sauce
Mix tempura — very good standard combination of shrimp and vegetable tempura
Ika yaki — grilled squid was a little tough but was tasty and comes with a ginger soy dipping sauce

This was a random spot my friends found on Unilocal and wanted to check out something different! This place is at the heart of jtown. There is a parking structure not to far from the restaurant! You can also walk around after dinner and go catch dessert afterwards.
What amazed me was the wide selections on the menu. Everything on the menu is Soo good. It’s very easy to go with a large group since there is something for everyone on the menu! We were all impressed with the food variety. It was served hot, fast, and they were very friendly. You can order ramen, udon, sushi, curry, soba bowls, tonkatsu, and other jap side dishes. My very fav is the tuna tuna bowl. Add avocado is a must! The cold soba really good too. The food portion is a good size. You can even order a combo so you can try 2 different items. Prices are very reasonable and the food will have you coming back for more.

Came in for dinner on a Tuesday night. Not crowded at all. Got seated pretty quickly.
My friend and I decided to order the following:
— (Happy Hour Menu) Grilled Squid w/​bland teriyaki sauce and a slice of lemon = Not the best but seriously not worth $ 5.50
— Tuna Tuna Bowl w/​Brown rice ($ 1 extra for brown rice) + Cold Soba = My friend liked it. Im not a fan of tuna
— Katsudon Bowl Combo w/​Brown rice ($ 1 extra brown rice) + Cold Soba = Katsudon isn’t ALL that great, its a simple fried chicken/​pork (which the server didn’t ask for choice of meat), and has a cracked egg on top of it and they just cover it so it can cook. Cold Soba was sooo much better than I expected.
— Mother & Son roll = taste bland
— Takoyaki = Should eat right when it comes out!!! Or else, its not the same!
I might come back. but will be hard to. will need to think hard to make that choice ^^