Isogen

I feel special when I eat lunch at Isogen b/​c I am one of the few to eat their daily bento. The $ 10.50 daily bento is limited to 10 customers per day and you never know what they’ll be serving until you show up!
They started lunch off w/​three tiny salads. One was daikon, another burdock and another of spicy cabbage. Today’s bento had cabbage wrapped tofu and veggies in a sweet and sour-​like sauce; juicy fried chicken; grilled saba and melt in your mouth sashimi. Lunch of course also comes w/​rice and miso.
I’d give it four stars if they got another waitress. When I was there today she was working hard and stretched thin.

There used to be a restaurant called Isogen on Western Avenue near Sanuki no Sato and it was one of my favorite lunch places in Torrance. Sadly it was closed for whatever reason. Inside of the restaurant was really dark but I really liked the wood tables and benches they had in there.
I was scouting the plazas at the corner of Van Ness and 190^th last week, and I saw Isogen. Wow, brought back memories and had to try it.
I like to eat my lunch early to avoid the crowd. I don’t like hunting for parking spaces, and I don’t like waiting forever for my food. Found out this place opens at 11:30AM! YES!
I ordered Karaage chicken bento. Karaage chicken had rice crispy like batter on it and was crunchy. I can tell they use jidori chicken, really juicy and flavorful. But seemed they over puffed the karaage to make it look bigger than the real chicken inside.
What bothered me was their choice of side dishes. They served me what I think is Okara (a tofu like dish, look it up on wikipedia) and some kind of veggies marinated in soy sauce. I know they are healthier than french fries but I don’t think those would be a big hit with non-​Japanese customers.
Overall, I thought it was too expensive for what it is. I can tell they use cheap rice, miso soup was just okay, and pickled vegetable was just okay. Service was just okay, not friendly. But I’d go back to try other dishes in the near future. I didn’t get to ask them if this place is related to the one on Western. I don’t think it was this bad before.

Isogen was located on Western Avenue in Torrance a long time ago. While I had only visited that location twice, I remember the fried chicken (karaage style nuggets with a sweet glaze) and tuna bowl being quite good. They closed that location but recently opened this new location on Van Ness (a little bit west of its original spot).
There is not much to the exterior or interior. Located in a little retail plaza, Isogen has a few black tables and black chairs and a small bar. For lunch, it looks like there was only one chef and waiter working, but because there are probably 8 tables in the dining room, the small staff can handle the crowd.
I went here a few weeks ago for lunch and I had a somewhat disappointing experience though everyone else seemed to like it. I ordered the fried chicken, but it was not that great. They used a very fatty portion of dark meat and it was lightly breaded and fried (lacked crispiness). There was none of the sweet sauce on the chicken so it was kind of bland.
Today, I went with the hot udon with scrambled egg and a small portion of the tuna bowl. Together, they were about $ 11. The udon was good. Good broth and good noodles. I think Sanuki No Sato is better, but Isogen is a good option for udon.
I really liked the scrambled egg in the udon. I used to have it that way as a kid. They pour the uncooked egg mixture in the hot broth and it forms a soft scramble. The scramble is flavorful but also moist and creamy.
The tuna bowl was good too. The rice was decent (slightly mushy and overcooked). It was topped with raw tuna slices and then dressed with sesame seeds and scallions. My friend thought it was dressed in a sauce, but I do not believe that it was (if so, it was very light). I topped the tuna with a soy and wasabi mixture. The tuna had a good flavor and was fresh.
My friend got the $ 10.50 lunch bento, which is a pretty good deal (they only sell 10 of those a day). It came with teriyaki salmon, tuna sashimi, some kind of radish thing, and some of the fried chicken. This time, the fried chicken was glazed in the sweet sauce. I liked the fried chicken, but while I like dark meat fried chicken, their pieces still seemed to be a tad too fatty. The bento box also came with rice, miso soup and a few small dishes.
On my previous visit, the bento box consisted of tuna sashimi, teriyaki salmon, fried fish, and hamburger. It also included a small plate of a tofu by-​product. I had a little bit of it. It was not anything great, but at least they are not letting stuff go to waste.
Service was quick and friendly. And if it is important to you, the waiter was young and good-​looking.
I did like my second experience (3.5−4 stars) much more than my first experience (2.5 stars). There are so many Japanese places in the South Bay and they always seem to be opening, closing or changing kitchen staff. The lunch crowd here was quite small. I am not sure how well they are doing, but hopefully they are building a following. I will probably be back sometime for lunch, and I might even increase my rating if the food continues to be good.
Parking was easy to find (and free) in the large lot that supports the shopping plaza.
For your information, Isogen had a B rating both times I visited them for lunch.