Totoraku -- Secret Pico Teriyaki

From a Japanese international travel guide:

Totoraku
10610 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

The place, where it is, is far from downtown LA. The store, or lunch house, stays because it is making confusion. Considered from outside you do not understand at all. In the store, which it appeared to be, you are surprised by tasty kind of meat which is the meat eaten only in Japan. The storekeeper to the last has only done business with word-of-mouth communication, no advertisement having been done. It is a very good place, known to very few people.
If you go to the LA please try going, by all means.

[ldodb]

I'm excited, I managed to score reservations through someone who's been there many times. I am going in a couple weeks, I can't wait.

[risottoman]

How was your experience? And how would a person (namely me) procure a reservation? (I don't know personally know anyone that has gone there)

[Ernie]

I've been to Totoraku a few years ago before the word got out, but it is a lot more expensive and still not as good as similar places I went to in Yokohama and Tokyo earlier this month

[fdb]

Concur! No Kobe beef here in the States compares to the authentic Japanese Kobe.

[rickym13]

fdb - so it sounds like you been there few times...what do you really think of this place? i was able to go there once and i believe i can go again with few people that i know but...
i thought it was very good but do you really think its all that? not comparing to authentic japanese kobe beef but compare to top notch steakhouse or restaurant in town with same price range?

[fdb]

No, this was my first time. I enjoyed the meal but honestly wasn''t in awe. The beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender but I felt it somehow lacked the flavor and texture of a good American steak.

[russkar]

We have a reservation Mar 5th 07. I had to depend on good friends who know someone because it's difficult to get in , to say the least!

[Dommy]

Be sure to report back!! We drive past it all the time, so it just makes it EXTRA tempting! :)

--Dommy!

[E Eto]

Bringing a good bottle of wine to share with the chef will go a long way, since he's known to be a wine aficionado. Have fun at Totoraku. Looking forwar to a report.

[condiment]

And not just a good bottle, but a famous and expensive bottle. He is a real label drinker, and it may just open him up. It's BYOB in any case.

[brandnewuser]

Do they also sell wine? Or is it strictly BYOB?

Thanks!

[rickym13]

"And not just a good bottle, but a famous and expensive bottle. He is a real label drinker, and it may just open him up. It's BYOB in any case."

when you say famous and expensive, lable drinker...what would that be? lable like (silver oak, opus one) or (harlan, sloan and sine qua non)?

[fdb]

Like 86 Ch. Lafite...that's what we brought a few days ago. The owner warmed up only after we mentioned a very prominent client of ours who frequents the restuarant. He even gave us his business card to which when we originally asked, his reply was, "It's expensive."

[condiment]

Specifically, in our case, Sine Qua Non, which a friend brought. (I brought an '83 Chave, an astonishing wine that is one of the Rhone-buff's grails, and he couldn't have been less interested.)

The question isn't whether or not we should go, it's how we should go about getting in! I notice that there isn't any advice here on how one can clear that hurdle.

I agree. (How charming was that message?)

If a place is that desparate not to have my business (as per earlier postings), I'm more than happy to oblige.