Otafuku

Authentic, high-quality, and classic Japanese restaurant known for their soba noodles. Everything was delicious and the flavors are straight from Japan, across the Pacific Ocean, to the South Bay. Their sashimi was melt-in-your-mouth fresh. Honestly there's nothing but good things to say about Otafuku. From taste to service to price to size, it's no surprised they're a stable of the community. You know it's authentic when you show up 30 minutes before restaurant opening and there are already squads of Japanese elderlies waiting outside. The only downside is the tiny parking lot in the back. Expect to pay $60 per person and be stuffed!

This was incredible Some of the best sashimi I’ve had in a long time And the yakitori was phenomenal as well - we got everything!! They were out of tendon and chicken wings unfortunately but we got just about everything else on the menu. We were in a group of 4, with one of us having spent 6 months in Japan recently so it helped to have his expertise in ordering. Parking was plentiful and service was excellent. They were able to accommodate most things for my gluten free preference wife. With the yakitori sauce having some gluten they just prepared it with no sauce and a bit of salt only - still delicious. Can’t wait to go back!

My favorite noodle shop. Several types of store made soba noodles. Also one of the best tempura in SoCal. Try the aji mini bowl for something a little different. Also look at the different tempura offerings - you can get shrimp anywhere but anago is harder to come by.

Instead of sitting through traffic I decided to hop off and have dinner. Best Japanese food I've had in California. Authentic everything including the vibes and service. I'm shocked with the attention to detail and delicate flavors. Yey for spontaneous adventures! I ordered the grilled steak (half portion) and cold sero soba (half portion) and it was the perfect combo and portion. I recommend eating every part of the steak. It's perfectly grilled even down to the rendering of the fat.

Kris Takasuka

Yummy Izakaya. Patrons speaking Japanese which is always a good sign. Parking in the back which can be a tad tight. Street parking in the front. We had chicken wings (yum) , karage (yum), ginger pork (looked good but i did not personally try), soba (yum). We were lucky to get a table without a wait. The telephone was ringing a lot. The servers were super sweet and the whole team was nice. Looking forward to returning.

Don Nguyen

The staff is wonderful and the good here is great. My wife enjoyed her cold soba and we shared the deep-fried shrimp egg rolls. Oddly, the wrap wasn't that crispy but the tail was (which is what I really care about) and the flavor was fantastic. I think it has to do with moisture from the shiso leaf inside. I'm not normally a fan of shiso but this was delicious. I have to say the bowl was fantastic. Everything was cooked and seasoned well. The portion was big! Great item! Just a heads up- this place gets warm. My wife and I went on a rather warm day and there's no AC. Thankfully, where we were sitting, a breeze would come in through the backdoor from the kitchen every now and then.

Jaja C

Delicious appetizers, noodles, and fish. The miso sea bass is to die for! Melt in your mouth delicious and the ginko nuts are light and tasty! Highly recommend the karaage chicken. Enjoyed the buckwheat tea, hot soba and tempera too!

C N

What a great find! I want to try everything here. My first trying roasted ginko nuts, and it was interestingly good. Seiro Soba with ume and vegetables was delicious. Friendly staff. Lunch was great and I look forward to visiting for dinner.

DAISUKE OKAMOTO (OKAINA IMAGE)

The most amazing and authentic soba noodle restaurant in LA county! The soba noodles here have a great texture and go perfectly with their special broth. My most favorite soba here is Seiro soba noodle. This is so addictive and extra noodle is not enough because I want to keep eating! Otafuku is a one of a kind and taste is better than some of soba noodle restaurants in Japan. And soba tea they have is also pretty tasty. And then try their Aji gohan bowl (Spanish mackerel bowl)! Everything here is so delicious! I strongly recommend this most favorite restaurant of mine!

Kevin Chen

Ordered the Japanese Style Jidori Egg Omelet (Dashimaki Tamago), Deep Fried Jidori Chicken (Karaage), Deep Fried Shrimp Egg Rolls with Plum Paste and Shiso Leaves, Zaru Soba (hot temperature) and had Wild Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura on the side. The Egg Omelet was a sweet and plump dish, the omelet was juicy and had a firm but soft texture. The soy sauce with grated radish on the side was a pleasant salty addition to this appetizer. The Deep Fried Chicken was very hot, crispy outside and firm inside chicken meat; complemented by the lemon and sugar on the side. The Deep Fried Shrimp Egg Rolls were a good take on deep fried shrimp, decently sized shrimp and crispy exterior. The Zaru Soba was dense and delicious, soaking up some of the soba broth flavor in its nice QQ consistency. The additional wild shrimp and vegetable tempura were all nice to have on the side too, especially the tempura kabocha slice which had a nice sweetness to it as well. Service was fast and patient with our order. The place is warm and inviting, the interior is well designed with great Japanese themes, lots of woodwork and traditional decor. Parking in the rear can be a little tight but alright at dinnertime. Great spot to have soba noodles.

wook kim

Heard that Torrence was the place to go for real Japanese food so we made a trip from downtown to Otafuku. Awesome food in a casual setting. The soba noodles were amazing…chewy and delicious with the dipping sauce. Got the tempura as well, which was light and crispy. The mackerel and rice was a perfect side and didn’t have any “fishy” taste to it. Beyond the food, service was also fast and friendly.

Monica Guevara

Dined in the outdoor patio. Indoors is open for dining as well but it’s a bit cramped for my taste and the outdoor patio is nice enough with cute bistro lighting and some nice plants. Everything we ordered was top notch delightful from the sashimi to the tempura. The tempura was light and delicate, the karaage was very juicy, the pork cutlet permeated all the rice in the bowl in the best way possible. Dining here was a treat.

Tonalli Martinez

Delicious and fresh! Such amazing broth and tender noodles. The best tempura and shrimp we’ve had outside of Japan so juicy. Amazing dinner it can get a little loud inside, but the food makes you not care.

Jared Cohee

🇯🇵 JAPAN (via Eat the World Los Angeles) - Like any great izakaya, the menu is expansive and can cover any direction you want to bring your meal. It also seems to have a lot of more special and/or rare things that are not seen on a ton of other menus around town. Most likely at dinner there could be a wait if you show up unannounced, but it is always worth it as proven by the wide variety and ages of customers who are consistently enjoying meals.

CH

Authentic, high-quality, and classic Japanese restaurant known for their soba noodles. Everything was delicious and the flavors are straight from Japan, across the Pacific Ocean, to the South Bay. Their sashimi was melt-in-your-mouth fresh. Honestly there's nothing but good things to say about Otafuku. From taste to service to price to size, it's no surprised they're a stable of the community. You know it's authentic when you show up 30 minutes before restaurant opening and there are already squads of Japanese elderlies waiting outside. The only downside is the tiny parking lot in the back. Expect to pay $60 per person and be stuffed!

Doctor Bo

This was incredible Some of the best sashimi I’ve had in a long time And the yakitori was phenomenal as well - we got everything!! They were out of tendon and chicken wings unfortunately but we got just about everything else on the menu. We were in a group of 4, with one of us having spent 6 months in Japan recently so it helped to have his expertise in ordering. Parking was plentiful and service was excellent. They were able to accommodate most things for my gluten free preference wife. With the yakitori sauce having some gluten they just prepared it with no sauce and a bit of salt only - still delicious. Can’t wait to go back!

Fumihisa Biff Yamazaki

My favorite noodle shop. Several types of store made soba noodles. Also one of the best tempura in SoCal. Try the aji mini bowl for something a little different. Also look at the different tempura offerings - you can get shrimp anywhere but anago is harder to come by.

Zin Chiang

Instead of sitting through traffic I decided to hop off and have dinner. Best Japanese food I've had in California. Authentic everything including the vibes and service. I'm shocked with the attention to detail and delicate flavors. Yey for spontaneous adventures! I ordered the grilled steak (half portion) and cold sero soba (half portion) and it was the perfect combo and portion. I recommend eating every part of the steak. It's perfectly grilled even down to the rendering of the fat.

Kayla F

10/10 on everything. The udon combo chicken soup was delicious and very flavorful. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the udon soaked up all the yummy flavors. The seiro soba was very nice as well. We added crispy tempura flakes (you can share toppings with your table because they are pretty big portions) and next time I want to try the mochi. The shrimp egg rolls were incredible and they will probably be in my dreams. If you like Umeboshi do not skip these egg rolls. The tempura was light, fluffy and crispy! Service was impeccable and I was lucky to find a parking spot in the lot out back. I will definitely be coming back soon.

D J

Where Japanese ex-pats go to eat and drink. Good udon, great soba, good service. The broth was sightly on the strong side but still very good. Great for outdoor seating with outdoor heaters. Warm soup and noodles on a cold night is pretty awesome. Staff spoke Japanese, most of the customers spoke Japanese. Curious what the Thursday/weekend menu is like, next time.

We had a lovely dinner! Every dish was mindful and delicious. We felt incredibly spoiled and wished to have a second stomach to eat all over again. We were too busy enjoying ourselves to take photos but had the kikouchi dipping soba, shisito with sardines, yellowtail collar and sea bass. We look forward to coming back and trying more from the extensive dinner menu. (Please note they unfortunately don’t offer outdoor dining anymore. We were really hoping that they did)

It’s a nice and cozy place to have lunch. Although the menu is limited compared to the dinner menu, there are still a variety of items to satisfy your craving. The tuna bowl was done really well; it was a perfect mixture of Akami and Chutoro. Tempura and fresh homemade soba noodles were great.

Little hard to find but seems a real authentic place. Restaurant was full and food was very delicious and something I have never tasted before. once I haven’t been to Japan I guess that’s a flavor what comes very similar to. I also got the recommendation from Japanese friends and was nice to try.

Japanese restaurant specializing in soba. Came here for dinner on a Sunday around 5pm with a friend and got seated immediately. There’s a couple of outdoor tables as well as indoor seating available. There’s a private lot in the back or you can park in the residential neighborhood. Credit cards are accepted. There are single occupant bathrooms available. Dogs were allowed outdoors. They do serve alcohol. The kitchen is open so you can see the chefs prepping all the food, which is cool. For the soba, you have the option to get cold or hot, and then get add-ons. I got the hot soba with a Jidori chicken curry mix, and the soup was extremely viscous and hot. They did provide more hot water at the end to thin the broth. The noodles still kept the next day for leftovers and they made sure I got two containers so I could separate the soup from the noodles. My friend’s cold soba with tempura was lighter and more refreshing - a more summery meal. The waitresses were polite and helpful.

Rachaphon Wangtepanukhor

It’s a nice and cozy place to have lunch. Although the menu is limited compared to the dinner menu, there are still a variety of items to satisfy your craving. The tuna bowl was done really well; it was a perfect mixture of Akami and Chutoro. Tempura and fresh homemade soba noodles were great.

Florian rockstroh

Little hard to find but seems a real authentic place. Restaurant was full and food was very delicious and something I have never tasted before. once I haven’t been to Japan I guess that’s a flavor what comes very similar to. I also got the recommendation from Japanese friends and was nice to try.

Shanelle S

Japanese restaurant specializing in soba. Came here for dinner on a Sunday around 5pm with a friend and got seated immediately. There’s a couple of outdoor tables as well as indoor seating available. There’s a private lot in the back or you can park in the residential neighborhood. Credit cards are accepted. There are single occupant bathrooms available. Dogs were allowed outdoors. They do serve alcohol. The kitchen is open so you can see the chefs prepping all the food, which is cool. For the soba, you have the option to get cold or hot, and then get add-ons. I got the hot soba with a Jidori chicken curry mix, and the soup was extremely viscous and hot. They did provide more hot water at the end to thin the broth. The noodles still kept the next day for leftovers and they made sure I got two containers so I could separate the soup from the noodles. My friend’s cold soba with tempura was lighter and more refreshing - a more summery meal. The waitresses were polite and helpful.

Saturday lunch. It's 150 dollars for three people. It's delicious, but I can't recommend it if it's 50 dollars per person for soba and tempura. I should find a restaurant that is more delicious and reasonably priced.

Maybe the move is to go for dinner but our lunch experience was only so-so. Vinegar noodles were very good but nothing remarkable about the soba,tempura, or katsudon. Lots of great authentic choices in the area and this one didn’t live up to the others we have tried. Dining room also had very little character.

Daniel John

Maybe the move is to go for dinner but our lunch experience was only so-so. Vinegar noodles were very good but nothing remarkable about the soba,tempura, or katsudon. Lots of great authentic choices in the area and this one didn’t live up to the others we have tried. Dining room also had very little character.