Misasa - Torrance

You're hungry and you don't want to cook. 

Misasa has you covered. 

They make a solid Cutlet Curry. Get chicken or pork per your preference. I find the pork more savory and satisfying, but that's just me. 

The curry is rich and just thick enough to blanket the cutlet and drip between the crevices of rice. The Beef Hamburg Curry is another lovely choice if you want less breading and more texture to your meat. 

You're hungry and you don't know what you want to eat.

Misasa has you covered.

Build your own Bento, 3 items are awesome, 2 items are also enough. The karaage is good, the chicken teriyaki is a generous portion, juicy and covered in sauce. Boiled beef is sweet and pretty tender. I love the Chikuzen-ni that comes with the box. The veggies are full of chicken broth, and it's as good as any entree. 

Sometimes your food just has to taste good, and Misasa will give you that. Comfort platters to please any palate, solid staples to rest and digest. 

N/naka UPDATE - Los Angeles

 

It's the 10th anniversary of LA's most mesmerizing restaurant, commemorated by a Kaiseki Jubako most enchanting.

A bed of rice cradles a cache of jewels: ruby swirls of tuna, shiny slicks of salmon, pearly scallops in shimmering white. A buttery toro and what I believe is amberjack peek behind a leaflet of wasabi.

There's genuine gasp of delight as the second box is unveiled. Bright little bits dance around an eyeful of uni. A spiked fortress cradles a delicate roe shielded by a snow crab sclera. To the left, a Chawanmushi brims with ikura brine, a fishy flavor most surprising. A liver full of fat succumbs to a scarlet strawberry further south.

To the right is a variety of vegetables, served in simplicity to maximize their majesty. A simple spear of broccoli or a cut carrot flower may sit in modest obscurity, but its flavor is coaxed out in a way that the vegetable bares its soul. Go lower to get higher with the buttery bliss of branzino.

Take a breath between your bites of branzino before moving up to the softly seared wagyu that spreads across a soy-butter rice. Savor a simple shrimp, a most succulent surf to the turf, and let the stewed abalone leave you seduced and stunned.

Even the Lobster Miso Soup is a memory in the making, rich and almost creamy with soft grits of miso and broth of sweet lobster. 

Spring for the sake if you so choose, a single tasting can be split to share. The Manzairoku is crisp and clear, a waterfall sipped with sushi. The Chogetsu lasts a little longer, more acid to amplify your heavier morsels and meats. 

Dessert is not an afterthought - the Sakura Panna Cotta has florals that sweep you away. 

Matcha Cake costs extra, a powdery mix of bittersweet. An acquired taste, easy to acquire. 

Opinions may differ, taste buds may diverge, and critics will split hairs, but not a single person will decry N/naka. Its story is seducing, its menu is captivating, its cuisine is a revolution. 

Konohiki Seafoods - Lihue, HI

Konohiki: My favorite kinda-sorta restaurant in Kauai. No tables, best enjoyed as a picnic, or, in our case, a parking-lot Jeep. 

You just grab whatever you want from this modest little market, a cube of Kulolo, a mildly sweetened poi-type dessert reminiscent of red bean cake... 

or a quick Musubi if savor is your flavor. 

A lunch Bento from the land has a load of fried chicken with a few samples of sausage and pork roast. A bed of rice is your start, and you even get a pickle. 

The Chirashi Bowl costs next to nothing, but you can see each slice of fish glisten with the freshness. It sits on real sushi rice, and each bite tastes like it was sliced off a still-breathing fish. 

There's a Chocolate Pie to finish it up, a creamy cream and an almost-pudding filling beneath. They have everything at Konohiki, a little something to scratch every itch and fill every food(ie) need. The quality is unbelievable, better than anything I've had on the island, and I'm so glad we found this for our last Hawaiian meal. If you're looking for a taste of the real Kauai, Konohiki is where it's at.