Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori in Gardena...
wow, what a treat! went for sunday dinner and was first in line. the small place filled up quickly and was packed!
had a feast on yakitori items...
chicken with wasabi
chicken with shiso (my favorite!)
chicken with plum (& shiso)
chicken with leek (so fragrant)
chicken with asparagus
chicken with enoki mushroom
chicken cartilage
chicken wing
gizzard
pork belly (mighty tasty)
meatball (juicy)
sausage (yum!)
fried tofu (great crunchiness on the outside, tender on the inside)
ginko
quail eggs
shrimp
from the a la carte menu, had shark's cartilage (i think it was shark's fin mixed with bonito... was interesting in terms of flavor, not my favorite) and sweet potato in butter (delish!!!)
i think we basically cleaned out their chicken menu... my friend treated me, and it came out to about $60 for all that...
By tuttifrutti
on Nov 27, 2006 07:17 PM
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how long did the line/wait get?
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not sure... my view was blocked because i was in a booth, against the wall, and the door was blocked from view by a wall separation..
but my dinner companion assured me that we were lucky to be first in line, because the line formed almost instantly. we were there for 2 hours!
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I went for dinner on Thanksgiving and had the first reservation. There were about 6 or 7 other reservations. After that, only a few other parties got in before it was filled up.
The sausage is my favorite.
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Been there a few times... love the place. It has a great friendly vibe and the food is excellent... far superior to the elitist Kokkekoko in Little Tokyo, where regular diners are given preferential treatment and we wound up paying $80 for 2 people.... yeesh. It's just chicken, man...
Only downside is that the place is small and there can be a horrendous wait. I like going around 10pm... you can sit right down at the bar.
Mr Taster
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that's one of my favorite places. but the line can be HORRENDOUS. i can't count the number of times i've gone over for dinner and then found a parking lot full of japanese teenagers just waiting to get in. but once you do ... the pork belly wrapped around shiso leaf is mind-bending.
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It kills me that I don't live in SoCal anymore but I still hold SSG as a standard for Japanese food (I live next to Japantown in San Francisco and it SUCKS that we have NO Yakitori!!!).
I was really lucky. It was 1:50 and they were closing in ten minutes - just enough time to get my standard, Takana Rice. The rice is blended with bits of tiny, dried fish, sesame seeds and some other green bits I never quite knew... The plate on the back, left contains fried tofu with shredded bonito, sliced scallions, a light sauce, and a bit of daikon. This gets dumped on the rice and all eaten together. Where there used to be a little bento of pickles and a hard-boiled egg, that was now replaced with the cooked squash on the top right. For $7.00, the Takana Rice lunch is also served with two yakitori; grilled chicken and meatballs. These are what I miss...
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