DEATH OF KUISHIMBO WILSHIRE
Saddened by the announcement on another foodie blog that KUISHIMBO, the amazing Japanese grill at Wilshire and Wilton, has closed its doors.
In its heyday in the mid- to late-80s, Kuishimbo--loosely translated "big eater" or "glutton"---was a lunchtime sensation among the office workers along the Wilshire Corridor.
I remember the controlled chaos that was Kuishimbo---a flame-sputing grill, the clamoring lunch crowds, the fight to grab a place to sit or to battle your way to the exit with your to-go containers clutched to your sweaty bosom.
With it's delicious grilled beef ribs, chicken, fish, miso soup, rice and a mysteriously addicting sliced cabbage salad with some kind of mayonnaise/shoyu mix dressing, Kuishimbo proved that if you serve good food at decent prices people will throng to you.
Braving the fact that there hasn't been a Japanese manning the grill since the early 90s,
my visits of late have been in response to a jones for the pork yakisoba/yaki-udon (friend noodles), now deftly prepared in Spanish, not Nihongo, but still the best yakisoba in town.
I have spent virtually my whold life eating at Kuishimbo, and word that it's gone has shaken me.
I want somebody to reply to this post saying, "No, it's still open! I ate there this afternoon!"
The Sherman Oaks' Kuishimbo? Uh-uh. Not the same, baby.
Gohantabeyoka?
