Tsubaki

Christine Chang

Damn pricey but damn good! Favorites: the clams (amazing broth), the Cesar salad (it’s large!), the chicken wings (incredible char flavor), and the incredible hojicha soft serve! The crab fried rice was solid.

Andrea Bosquez

My boyfriend and I arrived late evening. No reservation, but they were able to accommodate us. When the server arrived, she suggested that we get 2 plates per person since everything is meant to be shared. She also said everything would have to be ordered at the same time, and they would course it out for us. We first got some drinks, then got the following dishes. Cold Tofu Japanese latkas Short rib Sesame noodles

Paul Ocker

Chef Charles puts so much love into each dish! Tsubaki dining expiernce was exceptional. One of the best meal I have had in a long time. Each dish comes out perfectly presented and the flavor and freshness of everything totally compliments the presntation. Dish after dish the food continues to amaze your pallet. The combination of ingrediants is fantastic, we ate about 15 plates off the menu and each was exemplary. The staff is warm and inviting and you feel like you have been eating there for years. Definitly book a reservation as this place is packed at 5:30 when the door open. That meal will always hold a special place in my food heart. Thank you Tsubaki for the food love! Much love.

Pilar Johnson

Came here for a birthday dinner it was great. I called ahead to bring out a surprise dessert, and our server was excellent. With the help of the server, I picked all of the plates and it was a surprise to everyone else. I ordered: japanese 'latkes' potato pancakes, dry-aged ora king salmon, iburi gakko, pickled cucumber, yuzu creme fraiche fall market salad kabocha squash, chicories, fuyu persimmon, brined meiji tofu, myoga ginger, furikake pepitas shumai steamed dungeness crab, pork, and shrimp dumplings, karashi, housemade rayu ebi sumibi-yaki charcoal-grilled blue prawns, garlic chive butter short ribs nanban-style braised short ribs, honeynut squash, rainbow carrots, pearl onions, sweet + sour glaze, shaved fennel salad yuzu and fig leaf flan kokuto caramel, roasted cuyama arkansas black apples The prawns, short ribs were great. The flan was AMAZING. I could have done without the latkes, and the salad was a fun way to introduce persimmon and tofu in a salad but kind of a filler - which happens with salad so that’s fine. Overall this a great spot, for date night for birthdays or whatever. This plus 2 sakes, for 2 people was about $170 including tax and tip.

mark scharaga

So many Google searches and this place never hit my radar. Well lucky me I finally found my way to this hip little neighborhood joint. Reservations definitely recommended. Greeted by friendly faces that seemed genuinely happy to see me and my companion. We were promptly seated at a spacious indoor table. The menu was full of so many interesting plates. It is very much a shared plate type of menu. We...okay I picked about 10 plates. All were so perfectly prepared and presented. The staff announced each plate. It started with the uni toast. Served with a slice of seared sirloin and milk toast for its base, this was definitely a symphony in my mouth. We then progressed through two sashimi courses, both fresh and delicious. Chawanmushi with Dungeness crab was truly amazing. Reminded me of a version I had in Tokyo. The meat courses were skewers of mouth explosions of flavor. We had chicken meatballs served with a egg and sauce reminiscent of unagi sauce. Don't skip this seemingly simple but yet totally complex dish. The A5 skewer was also buttery and perfectly seasoned. A5 doesn't need much to make it great and this restaurant nailed it. The charcoal grilled cabbage is another dish that on its surface seems pretty basic, then it hits your lips and taste buds and you just feel so happy eating this amazing dish. And lastly we finished with a pork tenderloin with a curry based rub. Another dish that just nails nuance of flavor and seasoning. We were over stuffed at this point and had to pass on the housemade dessert. Next time...and there will definitely be one...I am saving room for that!

Angela B

The food and the atmosphere are amazing. Try Japanese "latzkis" if you like red caviar, I'd never think of such fusion. Sashimi santen-mori is out of this world. So are the skewers and the prime rib. "Caesar" salad has a unique twist with special sauce and sesame seeds. The taste of food is excellent, the team of servers is attentive and friendly, and oh, you'll love the drinks and the pickled vegetables, and the desserts (I'm posting the pic of an orange rind flan). Wonderful experience, above and beyond. It's a small upscale restaurant with a unique vibe, I strongly recommend to try it.

Paul You

Guh, I love places like this. Cute, cozy, but elevated in the little details. Every dish was spectacular. If you’re not familiar with Japanese tapas/izakaya style, just be prepared to spend a lot if you want to be full (2-3 dishes per person). My fave dish was the buta rosu shio koji-yaki (grilled marinated pork). Parking can get tough, valet is $10. But you can park up in the neighborhood and should be able to find something.

E C

I usually hate giving 5 stars because hype ruins experience. This place is legit, they don’t get the hype they deserve but I am sure in time, this place will become harder and harder to get reservations. Parking: sucks, either get lucky around the neighborhood and find street parking or valet. I would avoid going during dodger games.

J T

FANTASTIC. Although its pricey, the food did not disappoint one bit. I'm not a huge fan of sushi but my wife and I came here and I enjoyed every bite of raw fish we got. Great service, super cute atmosphere, and awesome food. Allison Ave was super busy so we parked up the hill and around the corner and its such a cute neighborhood so we enjoyed the walk to and from.

We dined here with the red dinning book experience. We had the chawan mush, chicken wing and chicken gizzard yakitori, black cod and yakisoba. Potions are pretty small, so make sure to order at least 3+ dishes. I didn’t really like the yakisoba because the charsiu pork have too much fat.

Beautiful design and ambiance at dinner. Interesting menu with a wide assortment of options and flavor profiles. The braised short rib with fennel was incredibly tender and truly fantastic. The wagyu brisket udon was layered with flavor, the noodles were perfectly cooked and the broth was wonderfully balanced. I recommend the winter salad as well as the soft serve with the miso, sesame swirl.

April 2025 - Great place for yakitori and small bites. Definitely a good meal and my favorite bite was the Chicken Tail! June 2022 - Great place with small dishes to try!

The food was good. I believe their dishes pair up with the sake they offer there and if you like sake you will like this place. You maybe still hungry after eating here since the portions are small if you are use to eating large meals.

There’s either valet or street parking. Place is tiny and gets crowded fast so make reservations. I liked the tempura and the black cod the most, and really enjoyed the hojicha ice cream!

Beautiful space, delicious food. You will leave slightly hungry and with an empty wallet. Great food and a fun sake list. Our server recommended a pairing that went fantastically with our meal. The food is good, the portions are small, and the prices are high. Flavors are delicate and unique, the quality of the ingredients are great. Steamed egg custard is silky and full of umami. Tako-ten (spanish octopus tempura) was so tender, and the giant chunks of octopus with crispy exterior was satisfying with the aioli. Skewers are worth trying. Sukiyaki was salty. Dungeness crab fried rice with duck fat was fantastic.

Sarah P

Beautiful design and ambiance at dinner. Interesting menu with a wide assortment of options and flavor profiles. The braised short rib with fennel was incredibly tender and truly fantastic. The wagyu brisket udon was layered with flavor, the noodles were perfectly cooked and the broth was wonderfully balanced. I recommend the winter salad as well as the soft serve with the miso, sesame swirl.

Tina C

There’s either valet or street parking. Place is tiny and gets crowded fast so make reservations. I liked the tempura and the black cod the most, and really enjoyed the hojicha ice cream!

Sam

April 2025 - Great place for yakitori and small bites. Definitely a good meal and my favorite bite was the Chicken Tail! June 2022 - Great place with small dishes to try!

Usalinh

The food was good. I believe their dishes pair up with the sake they offer there and if you like sake you will like this place. You maybe still hungry after eating here since the portions are small if you are use to eating large meals.

Julia M

Beautiful space, delicious food. You will leave slightly hungry and with an empty wallet. Great food and a fun sake list. Our server recommended a pairing that went fantastically with our meal. The food is good, the portions are small, and the prices are high. Flavors are delicate and unique, the quality of the ingredients are great. Steamed egg custard is silky and full of umami. Tako-ten (spanish octopus tempura) was so tender, and the giant chunks of octopus with crispy exterior was satisfying with the aioli. Skewers are worth trying. Sukiyaki was salty. Dungeness crab fried rice with duck fat was fantastic.

Things to consider if they ever moved locations: more bar seating + better parking. Although it seems they are booked and blessed for a Saturday. I ordered the chicken oysters (2 skewers), cartilage (1skewer), wings (1skewer), and yaki onigiri. The rice balls were perfection and I appreciate the side of cucumber it comes with. The skewers were hit and miss. The chicken oysters were amazing with the yuzu. I've realized I don't enjoy jidori chicken wings as they're not very fatty and that's what I usually like about wings. These wings weren't very meaty either and I would've preferred the larger wing segment.The cartilage was a miss, I didn't enjoy how they were cut up. The onigiri themselves made this visit worth it. Grilled to a crispy perfection, it's a hard to find dish done right. That's why if the restaurant was more accessible, I'd come just for the rice balls and a drink.

UPDATE: OWNER REACHED OUT AND MADE THINGS RIGHT. See yelp. Where birthdays go to die. We had a reservation last night to celebrate my wife’s birthday. What should have been a special night turned into an awkward, frustrating, and surprisingly expensive lesson in how not to treat guests. And to be clear, the food itself was just okay, which makes the service issues even harder to excuse. We arrived a few minutes early and stood outside a locked glass door while multiple servers inside walked past us without acknowledging us for at least five minutes. No eye contact, no “we’ll be right with you,” nothing. While we were still standing there, an Uber pulled up and we realized it was our close friends, who coincidentally had a reservation at the same time. We were finally greeted by what appeared to be the head of house (woman with a short bob haircut) and seated next to each other at a 2-top and a 4-top. We slid the tables together. She immediately came over and made an issue of it, explaining that 2-tops have a 90-minute limit and 4-tops have a two-hour limit. We offered to separate the tables. The response was cold and noncommittal. Someone in our party said we’d make sure to be out within 90 minutes. Still cold. Despite the obsession with time limits, it then took a long time for her to return to take our order. I tried to break the ice and mentioned how serendipitous it was that we all ended up there together and that we were celebrating two birthdays. She gave the coldest response imaginable, though not quite as cold as some of the food that came out later. We ordered a bottle of sake. One guest asked about wine and received this explanation: “One is white. One is red.” That was it. Yes, technically obvious. Also completely dismissive. It would have cost nothing to offer a basic description or a bit of warmth. We ordered quickly to be mindful of timing. Food then came out in disarray, dropped around the table with no explanation. Servers repeatedly tried to clear plates and drinks that were still being used. One dish was nearly taken mid-bite, and I never got to finish the under-seasoned scallop skewer I ordered. Ironically, the clams were the standout in terms of flavor, but they were full of grit. They clearly were not purged long enough, which is a basic technical miss. Around the two-hour mark, we were still waiting on about a third of our food and attempted to order another bottle of sake. That’s when things went off the rails. The head of house told us she was concerned about how long we’d been there and wasn’t sure she could serve us another bottle because of timing. I pointed out that we ordered quickly, were eating quickly, and were still waiting on food due to their pacing. She blamed us for combining the tables and said it affected kitchen pacing. When I explained we would have ordered essentially the same food as a two-top, she pivoted to saying they had “other parties” in the restaurant. I pointed out those parties would have existed regardless, so that didn’t explain the delays or the attitude. Then she said: “I’m not going to explain the kitchen matrix to you.” That comment ended the night. The back-and-forth went on far too long, went in circles, and completely killed the mood. At one point she said, “Fine, I can bring another bottle.” We declined and asked for the check and to cancel remaining dishes (which we were still waiting on). The remaining food still came out anyway, and we were still charged for it. Our bill was nearly $700. It’s especially disappointing because we’ve been to Ototo dozens of times and always had great food and service. This experience honestly makes us hesitant to support the restaurant group at all. Maybe the kitchen matrix is complicated. Hospitality isn’t. If this is what the matrix produces, someone should revisit the formula. Great restaurants manage complexity behind the scenes. They don’t lecture guests about it. We won’t be returning.

Matthew Elmaraghi

UPDATE: OWNER REACHED OUT AND MADE THINGS RIGHT. See yelp. Where birthdays go to die. We had a reservation last night to celebrate my wife’s birthday. What should have been a special night turned into an awkward, frustrating, and surprisingly expensive lesson in how not to treat guests. And to be clear, the food itself was just okay, which makes the service issues even harder to excuse. We arrived a few minutes early and stood outside a locked glass door while multiple servers inside walked past us without acknowledging us for at least five minutes. No eye contact, no “we’ll be right with you,” nothing. While we were still standing there, an Uber pulled up and we realized it was our close friends, who coincidentally had a reservation at the same time. We were finally greeted by what appeared to be the head of house (woman with a short bob haircut) and seated next to each other at a 2-top and a 4-top. We slid the tables together. She immediately came over and made an issue of it, explaining that 2-tops have a 90-minute limit and 4-tops have a two-hour limit. We offered to separate the tables. The response was cold and noncommittal. Someone in our party said we’d make sure to be out within 90 minutes. Still cold. Despite the obsession with time limits, it then took a long time for her to return to take our order. I tried to break the ice and mentioned how serendipitous it was that we all ended up there together and that we were celebrating two birthdays. She gave the coldest response imaginable, though not quite as cold as some of the food that came out later. We ordered a bottle of sake. One guest asked about wine and received this explanation: “One is white. One is red.” That was it. Yes, technically obvious. Also completely dismissive. It would have cost nothing to offer a basic description or a bit of warmth. We ordered quickly to be mindful of timing. Food then came out in disarray, dropped around the table with no explanation. Servers repeatedly tried to clear plates and drinks that were still being used. One dish was nearly taken mid-bite, and I never got to finish the under-seasoned scallop skewer I ordered. Ironically, the clams were the standout in terms of flavor, but they were full of grit. They clearly were not purged long enough, which is a basic technical miss. Around the two-hour mark, we were still waiting on about a third of our food and attempted to order another bottle of sake. That’s when things went off the rails. The head of house told us she was concerned about how long we’d been there and wasn’t sure she could serve us another bottle because of timing. I pointed out that we ordered quickly, were eating quickly, and were still waiting on food due to their pacing. She blamed us for combining the tables and said it affected kitchen pacing. When I explained we would have ordered essentially the same food as a two-top, she pivoted to saying they had “other parties” in the restaurant. I pointed out those parties would have existed regardless, so that didn’t explain the delays or the attitude. Then she said: “I’m not going to explain the kitchen matrix to you.” That comment ended the night. The back-and-forth went on far too long, went in circles, and completely killed the mood. At one point she said, “Fine, I can bring another bottle.” We declined and asked for the check and to cancel remaining dishes (which we were still waiting on). The remaining food still came out anyway, and we were still charged for it. Our bill was nearly $700. It’s especially disappointing because we’ve been to Ototo dozens of times and always had great food and service. This experience honestly makes us hesitant to support the restaurant group at all. Maybe the kitchen matrix is complicated. Hospitality isn’t. If this is what the matrix produces, someone should revisit the formula. Great restaurants manage complexity behind the scenes. They don’t lecture guests about it. We won’t be returning.

I came here on NYE with my girlfriend after it had been on my list to visit for some time, and I was surprisingly disappointed with the experience. nothing felt photo worthy but the Japanese caesar salad (best thing we had, I recommend it!) and the animal chopstick rests. in summary — 1. the flavors of the hokkaido scallop, chicken oyster, and duck meatball yakitori skewers were good, but they were comically small. think 1-2 mini skewers per yakitori order. 2. the japanese black cod plate was good and also, you guessed it, small. 3. the nigiri sake and hitachino nest red rice ale were great!! 4. all service staff were very kind and attentive 5. this is a great place to go if you want to spend a lot of $$ for ambiance (we totaled something over $200 before we gave up on the experience), get a little tipsy on a mostly empty stomach, and then go somewhere else to eat afterwards. there’s something to be said about “shareable” small plates restaurants that try to sell you on enjoying less food for more money.

Angel

I came here on NYE with my girlfriend after it had been on my list to visit for some time, and I was surprisingly disappointed with the experience. nothing felt photo worthy but the Japanese caesar salad (best thing we had, I recommend it!) and the animal chopstick rests. in summary — 1. the flavors of the hokkaido scallop, chicken oyster, and duck meatball yakitori skewers were good, but they were comically small. think 1-2 mini skewers per yakitori order. 2. the japanese black cod plate was good and also, you guessed it, small. 3. the nigiri sake and hitachino nest red rice ale were great!! 4. all service staff were very kind and attentive 5. this is a great place to go if you want to spend a lot of $$ for ambiance (we totaled something over $200 before we gave up on the experience), get a little tipsy on a mostly empty stomach, and then go somewhere else to eat afterwards. there’s something to be said about “shareable” small plates restaurants that try to sell you on enjoying less food for more money.

Brought my bf here for his birthday because it was on The NY Times best restaurants in LA list. Honestly the food was really average, especially for how expensive it was. Maybe we ordered the wrong thing but neither of us were really impressed. Also, I told the restaurant ahead of time it was his birthday, and it turned out the people seated next to us were also celebrating a birthday. They were brought out a free dessert and told happy birthday by the staff, and my bf's birthday wasn't acknowledged at all. Luckily he didn't care but I found it a bit disappointing to be so blatantly forgotten about by the staff, especially considering how much everything cost.

A night to remember, though mostly for the psychological warfare. My birthday kicked off with a delightful coincidence: my friend took me out, and we were seated right next to my neighbor who was also celebrating her big day. It should have been a recipe for double the indulgence; instead, our server treated our presence like a personal grievance. From the second we sat down, she greeted us with the warmth of a walk-in freezer. Before we could even unfold our napkins, she hit us with some truly bizarre, high-stakes timing warnings. Apparently, a table for two has a 90-minute limit, while a table for four gets two hours—I’d love to see the mathematical theorem she used to calculate that logic. The kicker? The restaurant was practically a ghost town all night, and there wasn't a soul waiting for our table. She wasn't managing a floor; she was cosplaying as a drill sergeant for a parade that never showed up. Despite her obsession with the clock, the kitchen clearly didn’t get the memo. The food crawled out with the urgency of a tectonic plate. The "course order" was a total fever dream—we were served rice at the very end of the meal, like some sort of post-steak palate cleanser. I’ve had more logical sequences in my dreams. The food was "fine," I suppose, but "fine" doesn't quite compensate for a side of hostility. The "Server of the Year" reached her final form when we asked for a second bottle of sake. She actually told us no. Why? Because of our “timing.” Mind you, the restaurant was still half-empty, and the only reason we were "behind" was that we’d spent the last hour staring at empty plates waiting for her kitchen to wake up. When we asked for clarification, she dug in her heels like she was defending a fort. She made it her life’s mission to ensure our sobriety remained intact. For someone so concerned with the clock, she was remarkably absent for the basics. Water refills were non-existent, and she never once checked in to see if the food was actually edible—though I suspect she was just afraid to find out. She seemed genuinely allergic to the concept of hospitality. To top it all off, we were celebrating two birthdays. Did we get a candle? A slice of cake? A half-hearted "HBD"? Absolutely not. The only thing that got lit up tonight was my temper, because we were treated like dogs. DOGS. And honestly? I’ve seen Golden Retrievers get better table service and more enthusiastic birthday wishes.

Asher Rumack

A night to remember, though mostly for the psychological warfare. My birthday kicked off with a delightful coincidence: my friend took me out, and we were seated right next to my neighbor who was also celebrating her big day. It should have been a recipe for double the indulgence; instead, our server treated our presence like a personal grievance. From the second we sat down, she greeted us with the warmth of a walk-in freezer. Before we could even unfold our napkins, she hit us with some truly bizarre, high-stakes timing warnings. Apparently, a table for two has a 90-minute limit, while a table for four gets two hours—I’d love to see the mathematical theorem she used to calculate that logic. The kicker? The restaurant was practically a ghost town all night, and there wasn't a soul waiting for our table. She wasn't managing a floor; she was cosplaying as a drill sergeant for a parade that never showed up. Despite her obsession with the clock, the kitchen clearly didn’t get the memo. The food crawled out with the urgency of a tectonic plate. The "course order" was a total fever dream—we were served rice at the very end of the meal, like some sort of post-steak palate cleanser. I’ve had more logical sequences in my dreams. The food was "fine," I suppose, but "fine" doesn't quite compensate for a side of hostility. The "Server of the Year" reached her final form when we asked for a second bottle of sake. She actually told us no. Why? Because of our “timing.” Mind you, the restaurant was still half-empty, and the only reason we were "behind" was that we’d spent the last hour staring at empty plates waiting for her kitchen to wake up. When we asked for clarification, she dug in her heels like she was defending a fort. She made it her life’s mission to ensure our sobriety remained intact. For someone so concerned with the clock, she was remarkably absent for the basics. Water refills were non-existent, and she never once checked in to see if the food was actually edible—though I suspect she was just afraid to find out. She seemed genuinely allergic to the concept of hospitality. To top it all off, we were celebrating two birthdays. Did we get a candle? A slice of cake? A half-hearted "HBD"? Absolutely not. The only thing that got lit up tonight was my temper, because we were treated like dogs. DOGS. And honestly? I’ve seen Golden Retrievers get better table service and more enthusiastic birthday wishes.

T M

Brought my bf here for his birthday because it was on The NY Times best restaurants in LA list. Honestly the food was really average, especially for how expensive it was. Maybe we ordered the wrong thing but neither of us were really impressed. Also, I told the restaurant ahead of time it was his birthday, and it turned out the people seated next to us were also celebrating a birthday. They were brought out a free dessert and told happy birthday by the staff, and my bf's birthday wasn't acknowledged at all. Luckily he didn't care but I found it a bit disappointing to be so blatantly forgotten about by the staff, especially considering how much everything cost.

Bill Wu

This restaurant is discriminating customers!! We made a reservation for 2 at 5:45 pm and arrived on time. At this moment, nearly all the small tables inside are empty. However, the server refused to seat us on a normal table, but only the high table near the window. We gently asked why we couldn’t be seated at the table cuz most of them are empty but he kept behaving in a contemptuous attitude. He talked to a manager on the back and the manager just kept laughing with him. Their response is simply that that’s how they arrange the reservations. The tables are all for 2 why we came the earliest but you’re gonna keep them for the people absent. They showed zero respect to us and their behavior does not make any sense. I feel like they are really discriminating customers like us. At last, he said that “if you want to dine in here, this (the high table) is the only accommodation we can provide”. Avoid this restaurant at all costs! SHAME ON THEM!!