I’m not sure if that’s the "official" name of this area but on Sawtelle just north of Olympic there are about 3 or 4 blocks of Japanese stores. It seems alot more lively than Little Tokyo in downtown L.A even if it is really small. I’ve heard it called Little Osaka and also L.A. city had flags up calling it just Sawtelle.
It’s also called Little Tokyo West. I used to really enjoy Hide Sushi there until I ate sushi here in Japan.
One of the best dentist offices in LA is just down the street to the north (towards SM Blvd). When I lived in Germany, but was in LA visiting and running the gamut of Dr. visits (annuals)…a visit to Hide after the dentist was a must. Maybe I’ll try Mizu 212 next time, which is a relatively new shabu shabu place on the next corner to the dentist. I still do Dr. visits in LA when I can.
Shabu Shabu is a mixed bag for me. For me it all comes down to the sauce. If the sauces are good then I’ll enjoy the shabu shabu. Unforunately it appears my taste in sauce is not common because most of the places I’ve been I didn’t like the sauce.
My favorite place was on the corner on Olympic and Bundy. About 2 years ago they closed and then re-opened under new management. The new management changed the sauce
Mizu 212 is very trendy looking but it’s one of those places that has also has bad sauce.