Izakaya Bar Hanbay

This place definitely has its strengths – the Assorted Sashimi had an awesome unique presentation made with an ice bowl. Their soba (hot and cold) were both delicious in their own ways – just depends on your mood at that moment. Note that the cold soba is meant to be dipped into the accompanying sauce… I must have had a look of confusion on my face when another diner told me to dip rather than pour: P
The Dashimaki was pretty tasty, too, even though it’s pretty much just a rolled up omelet, haha! I’m not a fan of omelets, but this was good even by itself – came w/​a side of shredded daikon (enjoyed the egg on its own).
At the end of the meal, ended up getting their Green Tea Crème Brûlée – perfect amount of sweetness (not too much, not too little) w/​a hint of green tea flavoring!

If you are craving izakaya style Japanese food, this is the spot! They have traditional Japanese tables and seating too!
The Sashimi Assortment platter definitely deserves 5 stars for presentation and taste. The cuts are thick and taste is super fresh and there is even an ice bowl in the middle to keep it all cold!
Mizuna Daikon Salad was refreshing and a great appetizer. It’s light and the sauce it comes with is citrus-​y and complements the salad well!
Dashimaki is like an egg… rolled up? It is a classic at traditional Japanese meals and I liked how each bite had a burst of flavor.
Kushi age assortment is basically an assortment of fried veggies and meats! My favorite was the fried prawn! The fried potato. was interesting! This is well known in Osaka! Also, it may be kind of fun to play the guessing game because since they are all fried you’re not sure what it exactly is until you bite it!
Tonteki is pork sizzlin on a skillet! Yum! I personally liked how the pork was quite tender. The spicy sauce they poured on top was… however unnoticeable. So. maybe ask for more sauce? or maybe the sauce itself lacked flavor?
Soba! They serve it both hot and cold. I personally like it cold and dipping it into the broth. Be careful not to let it all splatter on your clothes like I did though… The noodles itself were very clean tasting. I heard they were made in-​house too but am not sure.
Green Tea Crème Brulee. OMG! The highlight of my day honestly because I love green tea anything! The hard caramelized shell on top was perfect to break through into the creamy mousse-​y green tea! I loved it! It could use a bit more green tea flavor though…
Overall, I’d recommend this place if you’re looking for a good overall Japanese izakaya with many variety of dishes!

I came here a few days ago with friends. I hadn’t had izakaya style dining in a while and I was really looking forward to it.
Our evening started off with a sashimi plate, with fresh cuts of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, Spanish mackerel, and red snapper. Very fresh, and pairing some of the garnishes, like shiso leaves, added an extra layer of flavor.
Next, we were presented a daikon salad, with mustard greens, cucumber, and tomatoes, and the dashimaki, a nicely formed egg omelet. The soy vinaigrette dressing was nice, but needed a bit more citrus. The omelet was fluffy, nicely stacked and cut into pieces to share.
The Kushi Age came out next. Deep fried, lightly battered cuts of chicken, shrimp, and vegetables that our table cut into pieces and shared, so we could get little tastes of these lightly breaded pieces of fried heaven.
While munching on these, the tonteki was brought out. Pork steak in a garlic soy sauce sitting on a bed of cabbage on a hotplate. As it sat there, the shredded daikon, garlic soy, and cabbage cooked on the plate, creating this nice vegetable dish to go with the pork pieces.
To finish off our main course, we ordered hot soba. After all I had eaten, this wasn’t my favorite. The noodles were overcooked, and the broth was light. This would have been a good dish to start with to cleanse the palette.
We finished off the night with some desserts. Ice cream is good anytime, and Izakaya Hanbay doesn’t just serve you a scoop in a bowl. They PLATE it with a flute cookie and topped with chocolate drizzle for the black sesame, and a strawberry sauce for the lychee sorbet. The green tea crème brûlée was excellent. Not too overpowering with matcha flavor, and still enough to maintain the creamy custard texture. The panna cotta is also delicious as well and topped with strawberries.
I can’t wait to try more items here. The food was thoughtful and fresh, the menu with plenty of options, and everything is made to share, so invite your friends and bring your appetite.

Wow, are all the 4 star reviews paid for or were they written by the staff here? Because this place is nowhere near worthy of 4 or 5 stars let alone even 1. Torrance has truly disappointed me for the first time.
I originally came here with some new friends (Armelda, Julio and Stanley) after we had debated where to eat lunch at. We strolled around the plaza until we finally settled on this place as it had offered enough variety for the four of us.
Reading the reviews here, I’m wondering if we had stepped into some alternate dimension on a Saturday afternoon. All the reviews here make it sound like they had some high class multi-​course meal consisting of kobe beef, bluefin otoro, artisan crafted soba noodles, dessert flown in from a French Patisserie and rare vegetables that vegans have wet dreams about, served to them by beautiful geishas in a tatami room facing a moonlit Mt. Fuji. When my friends and I went in, it just looked like some small mom and pop restaurant with a bar tucked away in the corner and a tiny private room in the middle. The menu itself was very simple and didn’t seem to indicate that there was this type of fancy cuisine, but more like basic noodles, tempura and donburi, along with a flyer for their new katsu curry plate.
Maybe the first warning sign should have been that as we entered, there was only one couple in our area and another inside the private dining room with a baby that was shrieking for quite some time on a Saturday during the lunch rush and remained relatively empty during our time there.
First mistake — Julio and I order coke, since they have soda on the menu. The server comes back about 3 minutes later and tells us that they don’t have any soda at all, as I guess they forgot to restock and forcing the two of us to order water instead. Stanley wanted coffee since he needed a caffeine boost, but they didn’t have coffee and so he had to settle for green tea. Then, when he had to ask for more, the server told him they don’t do refills for tea and he had to buy another one instead.
Next — I ordered the katsudon and let me tell you, that was just the worst katsudon I’ve ever had. First off, the bowl was large, but the quality was horrible. The katsu itself was literally mush and no hint of crispiness or even pork flavor to tell me that this was in fact a breaded pork cutlet. The egg and katsu mush were way too salty. Even the miso soup was salty. Was the saltiness coming from inexperienced cooks not knowing how to season food properly or was it from the tears of the cooks who know the food is crap and this restaurant job sucks?
Among my friends’ dishes, Armelda said her katsu curry was rather salty as well and the cutlet was far too burnt in taste and texture was rather chewy, Stanley could barely eat 2 pieces of his tempura set and they even managed to overcook his rice and Julio barely touched his salmon bowl, describing it as just bland and too fishy.
In all the years I’ve eaten Japanese food, I’ve never had anything that salty. I believe in the Japanese idea of mottainai or not wasting food, but I could only eat maybe like 25% before giving up and the rest of the people in my group did the same, because the food we got was just that bad. Hell, I didn’t even want to take it home to my dogs. That tells you something right there.
Finally, after we ask for the check, we decided to split it with two paying via debit card while I pay in cash. Our new server comes back and tells us that for splitting payments, we can only use 2 cards per group, which was obvious that we had just two cards (Armelda was paying for her and Julio and even marked on the check which ones she would being paying for). As we look through the check, we notice that they were charging us for the cokes that we never got. The server apologized and removes it from the check. A few minutes later, she comes back and tells us that to make things easier on her, she’s going to just give us separate checks now. She hands us four separate checks, which we take care immediately and hope is the last of this issue.
As annoying as it got, she comes back a few minutes later and now tells us she can’t split the check, as its been closed and its no longer in her hands and just gives us one check again. At this point, all us of had that «Are you serious!?» look, after the horrible food we just had and now you’re playing these stupid games with us. As frustrated as we were, Armelda just said put it on her card so we could hightail it out of there.
Seriously, just avoid this place like a smelly, plague ridden zombie that’s been set on fire and charging at you. Shitty food and horrible service doesn’t make for a good restaurant, so I’ll be waiting for the day this place takes a massive dive like Ramen California and some new owners turn it into something that is truly better than this place. If Hanbay means «Relationship» in Japanese, then this relationship between us and the restaurant is dead and beyond repair.

Hooray for Hanbay!
In the mood for authentic Japanese food in a traditional izakaya setting, my culinary radar led me to Hanbay in Torrance. Formerly a soba restaurant, the place was reformatted into it’s current iteration. I salivated at the thought of dining on fresh seafood and the other foodie delights Hanbay had to offer.
Sashimi assortment–
Excellent presentation! With an ice bowl as the centerpiece of the plate, the assorted sashimi were cut thick & tasted as fresh as can be. Oddly, although the plate came with wasabi, ginger did not. Being a ginger fan, it was imperative for me to ask for some. My favorites were the yellowtail & saba (Spanish mackerel).
Mizuna daikon salad–
Light & refreshing, the mizuna daikon salad was an excellent palate cleanser after the fatty cuts of fish.
Dashimaki–
I’m generally not a fan of dashimaki, as it’s an omelet and I’m more interested in the loaded omelets that can be had at the local greasy spoon. Hanbay’s dashimaki was simple, each piece fluffy & easy to eat.
Kushi age assortment–
Gotta love fried food on a stick! What I thought were fish/​squid balls, were actually breaded cherry tomatoes, which quite surpised me, with the tartness of the tomato enveloping my tastebuds. All of the kushi age were fried to perfection, complimented by the sweet & salty dipping sauce.
Tonteki–
One of the highlights of the night, the pork loin was succulent & packed with flavor, especially with the pour over of sauce. A little overcooked for my particular taste, nonetheless, the tonteki was presented well & was a more substantial dish to eat.
Cold soba–
In-​house made noodles, the cold soba was hearty & filling. Being the gringo that I am, I started pouring the sauce over the noodles, which one of the staff politely corrected me on. The sauce is meant for dipping. Duh! I happily slurped up the soba noodles. Again, simple yet elegant.
Green tea crème brulee–
Of all the dessert options (ice cream, panna cotta etc.), the one that I had to try was the green tea crème brulee. I do not regret ordering this, not one bit! Breaking the crunchy sugar shell revealed a crème brulee that had a subtle sweetness, toned down by the earthiness of the green tea. I relished each bite, and left wanting for more when the bowl was empty.
Panna cotta–
The strawberry panna cotta looked delightful as well. I didn’t get to taste this. Others in my party like theirs.
Service was excellent! The staff were attentive & ready to provide service. My party was never wanting for water and/​or hot tea. Each plate we ordered came out in a reasonably timely manner. There is bar seating (serving beer, wine & soju), sushi bar seating, tables & 3 private tatami mat dining rooms (for a fee).
Parking is in a private lot, shared by 85 Degrees & other businesses.
What more can I say, Hanbay? You definitely impressed with your fresh seafood, excellently plated dishes & your house made soba noodles. The great service equally matched your delicious food items. I’m looking forward to coming back & trying the rest of the menu.
Highly recommend!
NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM

THE ORDER:
Sides:
Mizuna Daikon Salad: $ 7.00
Dashinaki: $ 7.00
Assorted 5pc Kushiage: $ 9.00
8pc: $ 15.00
Entrée:
Assorted Sashimi: $ 18.00
3 – 4 people: $ 34.00
5 – 6 people: $ 48.00
Tonteki: $ 10.00
Zaru Soba: $ 8.50
Kake Soba: $ 8.50
Desserts:
Panna Cotta: $ 5.50
Green Tea Brulee: $ 6.00
THE FOOD:
The Dashinaki is very simple and plain. They are just fried eggs. For $ 7, I would avoid this.
The Assorted Kushiage is good if you want to try a little of everything, but you can select your own at different prices ranges. I really liked the kabocha (pumpkin), shrimp, chicken, and fish. The kabocha was very soft inside with a slight crisp on the outside with the batter. The batter was lightly dipped so you didn’t get so much in every bite, which I loved. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and tasted absolutely amazing. The chicken and fish were good, but nothing amazing. Still good though and I would want more.
The Mizuna Daikon Salad was a nice salad with a slightly acidic vinaigrette that went well with the mizuna and daikon. A great appetizer or side dish.
The Assorted Sashimi is presented in a beautiful style. They have an ice bowl filled with daikon and topped with some big cuts of sashimi, surrounded by more sashimi on the plate. The ice bowl is very cool and keeps the fish a little cold. All of the sashimi (aside from the salmon) tasted really fresh, had great flavor and thick cuts, and I really enjoyed this dish. The salmon was disappointing since the flavor wasn’t so strong. I don’t know about the freshness of that.
The Tonteki was overcooked, unfortunately. It was a little too chewy and hard. Other than that, the sauce drizzled on top of it went well with the tonkatsu.
The Zaru Soba is a cold soba with a side of sauce where you dip the soba in. I liked it at first, but after a while I didn’t enjoy the sauce as it became a little too much for my tongue. The sauce was overwhelming, but without the sauce the soba was so plain.
The Kake Soba is a hot soba with a nice, slightly salty broth. I enjoyed eating this much more than the Zaru Soba because there was a little flavor in every bite even if I don’t drink the broth. However, the broth by itself was very good, and I enjoyed this dish a lot. It did get a little plain and repetitive though, so I would want some meat inside to go with it.
The Panna Cotta has a nice strawberry sauce on top, which paired well with balancing the tart flavor of the Panna Cotta by making it a little sweeter. I ate too much of the strawberry too soon, so when I tried to finish the rest without the strawberry, it was a bit difficult for me as I don’t like tart.
The Green Tea Brulee is presented really ugly. It does look like a Crème Brulee, but that’s it. There is no decorations or something to break down the plain little caramelized circle. However, the taste was pretty good. It could use a little more flavor and a lot more decorations, but it was good.
THE STORE:
There is a pretty big parking lot right outside the restaurant, so parking is not an issue. They accept card, and there is a private room to be rented for $ 25. There is also a bar inside if you want to drink, and then another bar in front of the chefs if you prefer to eat there. It’s a nice Japanese atmosphere with a good selection of different Japanese dishes. Very clean place, and it’s definitely a good place to go for some simple Japanese food.
THE RATING:
I’m giving this place a 4 because of the overall taste of everything paired with the place it is. I’m not going to go here every time I’m craving Japanese food, but it’s a place I’d love to take some company out when they want to try certain dishes. The assorted sashimi is beautifully prepared and I’d love to wow some people with that. Having a private room is also nice for a celebration or something. Overall, it’s such a nice place to come eat at with some company.

Hanbay is located in the same plaza with 85 degrees and a few other restaurants. We got lost a little, but it’s on Carson and Western. Plenty of parking and plenty of options at the restaurant. Inside there was a bar area, sushi/​bar area, along with 3 private rooms. $ 25 charge for the room; possibly no minimum. Cool!
Beer and wine served here.
For dinner we had mizune daikon salad, assorted kushi age, assorted sashimi, tonteki (pork), dashimaki (egg omelette), soba — hot and cold. There’s a For dessert we got green tea brulee and black sesame ice cream.
What stood out:
The sashimi was beautifully plated, especially to be placed on top of a hand carved ice ball. We got salmon, tuna, yellowtail, albacore, Spanish mackerel, and red snapper. The fish was fresh but sadly some pieces had tendons in them. That was a bit disappointed. There’s no ginger that comes along, but can be requested.
Their soba was the best of the night, especially the cold soba. The soba is made in house — and you can tell, it had a great texture, good flavor with the dipping sauce (cold) or in the broth.
The dessert was light and refreshing. Since I am not a big dessert fan, I can only tell you 85 degrees is in the same plaza and you be the judge.
The service was great especially when our tea was never empty. If I’m back in the area, I want to try their pan fried kimchi with sliced pork. It was cooking by where we were seated and it smelled amazing.
Thanks Hanbay!

Family izakaya! Generous sashimi platter! Tasty Skewers! PorkTonteki wasn’t a favorite; Cold Soba noodle with well-​balanced dipping sauce… Save room for desserts: PannaCotta, iceCreams and sorbet!

I came here the other night as part of a tasting event.
I had a little difficult time looking for the place since I was looking for Izakaya Bar Hanbay. Their sign says Hanbay so take note of that when you come here.
When I walked in 2 ladies greeted me warmly and directed me to the tasting area:
The place has decent décor.
Now my review on their food. Please know I am not familiar with most of dishes except sashimi and soba and desserts so keep that in mind when reading my review.
a. Assorted sashimi
I was immediately struck on how inviting the presentation was. An ice bowl sits on the center of the plate filled with cold vermecilli noodles topped with slices of ahi tuna and albacore tuna with sprigs of pea sprouts. Slices of spanish mackarel, salmon and albacore tuna were placed on the plate along with green scallions, pea sprouts, wasabi and lemon wedge.
The great presentation matched the taste of each type of sashimi. All were fresh and tastes great.
This is my fave of all the tastings we sampled.
b. Mizuna Daikon Salad
Presentation is a 3 stars, simple and average. The taste the same as my first impression of the dish, simple and average. A big of a let down after the fab assorted sashimi.
c. Dashimaki
My initialy impression? Okay. interesting. didn’t really wow me. But the taste surprised me, creamy and tasty. It reminds me of an omellete rolled up into small wraps. It’s good if you like omelets.
d. Assorted Kushi Age
I got excited when this was placed on the table. I love anything crunchy so I was looking forward to trying this despite the very simple presentation. Were given a couple sticks of sqash, 1 shrimp, 1 tuna, and a couple fish ball sticks. This dish I think is meant to share with only 2 people not 4. It was a bit of a struggle to determine on how to split it. Finally, I tried it. Very good crunchy texture, lightly battered (perfect the way I like it) but so sad there was absolutely no seasoning! If they would add seasoning and right amount and improve on the presentation, this would be a perfect dish!
e. Tonteki
The plate looked 2 stars and uninviting and sure enough, the taste matched it. The pork meat was boiled it seems then grilled presented in a sizzling plate. It tastes chewy, a bit tough, and not enough seasoning and the sauce did not help one bit. A couple of my slices had a lot of fat in it. One of my friends said that’s part of this dish. Nope, not for me. My least fave of the samplings.
d. Soba (choice of hot or cold)
I’ve never has cold soba before so was looking forward to this dish.
Presentation to me was plain, simple. Cold soba noodles spread out on a bamboo style plate with thin slices of seawood sprinkled on the center. A small bowl of dipping sauce is included with a small dish of wasabi and green scallions.
Then I took a few noodles with my chopsticks and dipped into the sauce that was mixed with wasabi and green scallions, deelicious! It was refreshing, sauce was perfectly seasoned and light. Noodles was the right firmness (a bit al dente) and feels freshly made. I forgot to ask if it were fresh noodles but it seems it is. I love love this dish! I woud suggest to include add-​ons though bec it seems to be lacking more ingredients.
e. Desserts
Strawberry Panna Cotta — it was presented in a small glass in a black square wood plate, great! The panna cotta was creamy, smooth. The strawberry on top of it looked like coulis. It was not too sweet nor tart. I like the combination of both. My fave dessert of the evening.
Lychee sorbet — a bit too icy texture but taste good. Presentation was good too.
Green tea crème brûlée — looked okay. The brulee on my bowl was even all across. Unfortunately, the custard is a bit watery not thick and creamy which means to me it needs more yolks in it. It also did not have enough green tea taste. This was my least fave dessert.
Overall, I would recommend this place. Tons of parking, friendly service and warm ambience. A little improvement on certain dishes I sampled but I would come back just for the sashimi and udon noodles.

Nice little eatery in the same shopping mall as 85*C and Ikkousha Ramen. Lovely atmosphere for dining. Came here the other night with a few friends to sample some of their offerings.
We started with the Assorted Sashimi, which had good quality fish. Some of the sashimi was served in a bowl made of ice, which is a nice touch to keep the keep the sashimi inside the bowl and on the plate chilled.
Mitzuna Daikon Salad was refreshing from the daikon and cucumber. Despite being topped with bonito flakes, the salad could have used a creamy dressing instead of the oil based one, which would have given more flavor to the salad, as a creamy dressing would adhere to the daikon and cucumber rather than dripping to the botttom of the salad bowl/​plate. Good salad, but could have been great.
Dashinaki (Tamago) is an egg omelet with dashi folded in. The dashi flavor was subtle in one slice of the tamago, but was missing in the other one I ate. Perhaps, it needed a bit more in order to give you that additional savoriness to the omelet.
Assorted Kushiage were skewers of panko breaded cuts of vegetables, chicken, fish balls and shrimp. Although served with the traditional sweet miso dipping sauce, only a small serving of the sauce was provided, which didn’t allow for one to get a good dipping of the sauce that helps elevate the kushiage (serve the sauce in a tall container so we can get a good dunk). Perhaps if the ingredients were seasoned with salt and pepper first before battered and rolled in panko bread crumbs and deep fried, perhaps there would have been more flavor without the sauce. In addition, the kushiage was slightly overcooked as the shrimp and kabocha were a littled dried out and stuck to the skewer. The lotus root was sliced a bit too thick, so it was a little too crunchy for my taste. Did love the fact that it was not greasy at all.
Tonteki is sliced grilled pork loin served on a sizzling platter with shredded raw cabbage. The sauce was poured on top of the pork loin. Sauce was tasty, but a bit on the salty side. Probably would have been better served on the side as a dipping sauce instead. While I enjoyed the tonteki, I didn’t quite understand the need for so much water added to the sizzling plate. It kind of washes out the flavor of the pork loin that sits on that water.
Zaru Soba was a nice savory ending to the meal. Soba was cooked to a nice slight al dente to give it a little chew, and the dipping sauce wasn’t overpowering. Add the scallions and wasabi that came on the side to the sauce, it gives the sauce an extra depth of flavor from the bite from the wasabi.
We ended our sampling with a few desserts: green tea crème brûlée (didn’t find it custardy enough, and the green tea flavor was too subtle), strawberry panna cotta (done exceptionally well) and lychee sorbet (which had bits of lychee in it and was delicious).
Service was wonderful here, polite and thorough. Tasting had it’s ups and downs, but it started well and ended well. I ended up enjoying the meal a bit more than my friends. it’s 3.5 stars and rounding it up, because of the enjoyment of some of the dishes, the wonderful service, and the pleasant dining atmosphere.

Enjoyed my visit here! While not a place that WOWs in terms of innovation or uniqueness to get a 5 star rating, the food is of good quality, price, and quantity. A good balance overall. The menu is straight forward with a short explanation for each item. The staff is very attentive and friendly. The interior is clean from table to bathroom. Plenty of parking in the plaza. I recommend Hanbay if you’re craving some good Japanese, and it’s even better if you bring friends to share each dish and enjoy a nice meal together!
My two favorites: black sesame ice cream and cold soba!

Taste & Value: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Located in the same plaza as Torihei and Musha but it’s at the very end, closer to Abalone Ave. The atmosphere is casual, the space is open and well lit and it’s a great restaurant for large groups or private parties. They also have 3 private tatami rooms that seats 8 – 10 people. There is a $ 25 room charge during both lunch and dinner for the private rooms.
My favorites here:
–Dashimaki ($ 7): It was moist, delicious and went well with almost everything!
–Mizuna daikon salad ($ 7): Light, mild and tasty salad. The portion was enough for 4 to share!
–Cold zaru soba ($ 8.50): Tasty dipping sauce and generous portion. Great to have on a hot day! I liked it better than the hot soba (kake).
–Blue fin tuna (hon-​maguro) sashimi ($MP): Had a very pleasant taste and texture — a sign of its freshness and quality! I would order this again!
–Strawberry panna cotta ($ 5.50): This was my favorite and I would order this again! The lychee ice cream ($ 3) came in second place for me.
Their menu is extensive and comes in both English and Japanese. Overall, the prices are competitive and I have a few favorites and so I’ll be back! I’d like to check out their sauteed pork with kimchee next time — it smelled really good!
Parking: plenty of parking spaces in the shared lot.

After having many a spicy and full flavored dinners it was time to try something that is in the subtle category. Tofu dessert is definitely one of them and so is Japanese cuisine, especially the sashimi, salads and Soba. So we ordered the Sashimi combo which was great. It was fresh, clean tasting and beautifully presented. This was the best dish for the evening.
Next was the Daikon Salad. It was simple, a little crunchy; what is there not to like about it. The Kushi age was very average to me since I generally don’t like fried foods but it probably taste great to others.
What was particularly noteworthy was the cold Soba that came with a dipping sauce. A simple dish but very satisfying as the last dish to round off before dessert.
To end the evening on a sweet note we had an assortment of desserts and the 2 favored desserts were the heavenly Strawberry Panna Cotta and the delightful Lychee sorbet. We very much enjoyed the meal and would return to try some of the other dishes.
The décor is very tasteful and the ambient noise was low, so it was possible to have a normal conversation with screaming necessary in order to be heard and understood. Even though the parking lot looked full, it was possible to find a few empty spots without having to break into an insane paroxysm when I loose a parking spot to someone else for the tenth time. Om shanti.

Overall, great new place that changed ownership.
Came to check their Izakaya bar.
Hanbay means relationship in Japanese.
Parking: Free shared parking lot.
It is the last business in the rear corner — behind the 85 degrees bakery.
Inside: They have a bar with tvs. They also have 3 private rooms that can fit 8 – 10 people.
Note: There is an additional $ 25 room charge for use of these private rooms.
Food: We started with dashimaki (egg), It is a fried egg rolled up. Like a tamago without the rice. It comes with 7 pieces and some grated radish.
Cost $ 7. Rating: 3.2
We tried their assorted sashimi (Medium size 3 – 4 person — Cost $ 34)
We got to try tuna, salmon, yellow tail, mackerel, and some other fish. I missed hearing her explain the names of the fishes. Rating 3.4 We thought the fish was fresh except the salmon. Loved that some of the fish came in an ice bowl. Not sure if this is their norm as it didn’t match the picture displayed in the menu,
We ordered the $ 7 mizune daikon salad. It comes with dressing on the side. Rating 3.0.
We tried their assorted kushi age $ 15. It was good but didn’t like the tonkatsu sauce. IMO, It did not seem to pair well with dish. Rating 3.2
Who doesn’t like deep fried shrimp and vegetables?
Our second meat item was tonteki $ 10 (pork). We wished the server didn’t pour the sauce on the meat. The sauce was very salty. Rating 3.0.
We tried their $ 8.5 soba. We got both hot and cold. We thought the soba noodles was better served cold. It matched our servers recommendation. IMO, if the noodles were thicker, it would be better hot. One even suggested better with udon noodles. Recommendation, get the cold soba.
And, we ended the meal with several desserts, we tried black sesame ice cream. Rating 3.7.
We tried the lychee ice cream. Loved the large lychee pieces. Rating 3.7.
We tried the green tea crème brûlée. Pretty good. Rating 4.0
We tried the panna cotta. This was my favorite. Rating 4.0.
Overall, this is a decent place to try izakaya food. For all this, came around $ 25 pre tax/​tip per person

Me and slave girl were in the area and saw this place in the same plaza with 85 degrees. It was dinner time and we decided to drop in and check out what’s good and what not.
The parking was easy since the lot was pretty big. Inside the restaurant, there was a bar area that only serves beer and wine. Sushi bar seating was also available. I noticed they have 3 private rooms as well so maybe birthday party in the future?
For dinner we had assorted sashimi, dashimaki (rolled up pan fried egg), soba (wheat noodles) in hot broth and cold dip style. For dessert we got green tea brulee and black sesame ice cream.
The sashimi was beautifully plated, especially to be placed on top of a hand carved ice ball. We got salmon, tuna, yellowtail, albacore, Spanish mackerel, and red snapper. The fish was fresh but sadly some pieces had tendons in them. We did found it strange that sashimi did not come with ginger and we had to ask for it… Yes, strange.
The egg was done perfectly with tofu alike texture. The only thing I wished for was a more defined seasoning. It was neither too salty nor too sweet. I couldn’t tell if it was mean to taste like that at all. However, if they could roll a ham inside, that would be a hit for me.
Their soba was the best of the night, especially the cold soba. I was told they made their noodles in the back so it was always fresh and I agreed. Great texture, good flavor with the dipping sauce, everything about the soba was done right. The hot soba was not bad but the texture was a little bit weaker compared to the cold one. I believe it was because the noodles was soaked in the broth and now I understand why they use ramen instead of soba when it comes to hot broth.
The dessert was light and refreshing. Since I am not a big dessert fan, I can only tell you 85 degrees is in the same plaza and you be the judge.
Overall experience was good. The service was great especially when our tea was never empty. I would like to come back one day to try their pan fried kimchi with sliced pork. It smelled really good and I could still smell it on my clothes after I got home.

Fantastic! We showed up for the $ 10 bento lunch. The first 10 customers get this huge amount of deliciousness including a starter salad, a warm custard soup mix, zaru soba, mackerel, tempura, rice and a mushroom, chicken and root veggie concoction. The place was clean and service was great. Will definitely be back.

Was confused to see why there were hardly any reviews, but I realized that they changed management, and therefore, their name changed. It pretty much remains the same in terms of its location, but I see their menu is a bit more extensive now.
I usually come here during lunch hours to get their Zaru soba and tempura combo. It really hits the spot! If I’m really hungry, I also get a katsu-​don (pork katsu and egg rice bowl).
Everything you find here will be just the right amount and taste just as good. Definitely recommend!

Good food and service.
For lunch greatly recommended.
I tried pork cutlet with salad and soup and it was good!