Summer 2013 DineLA dinner #1 -- girls night out! Â Having only been here before for happy hour, I was interested in trying out more dishes here. Â DineLA was the perfect way to do just that.
1st Course: Sumiyaki Skewer Duo. Â 1 skewer each of seasoned grilled pork belly and chicken in tare sauce. Â Both were tasty. Â While I liked the savory, rich flavor of the pork belly, it had a tougher texture than I'm used to. Â The chicken was juicy and tender, and flavored well with the tare sauce. Â A great way to start off the meal.
2nd Course: Teppan Seared Salmon. Â Salmon was cooked perfectly with a crisp sear on the outside, while still juicy and flaky on the inside. Â It was served in a shiso ponzu, over rice seasoned with yukari (a rice seasoning with dried shiso leaves and salt). Â The salmon was very fresh, and the ponzu was light and citrusy. Â The rice was very flavorful, and a nice change from plain Japanese white rice.
3rd Course: Almond Tofu Panna Cotta. Â Light and refreshing! Â Lots of almond flavor in a creamy panna cotta. Â It was served in a champagne flute, which was very pretty, but it made it impossible to enjoy the panna cotta with the mango syrup that was at the bottom. Â Still it was very refreshing and not-too-sweet, and a great way to end the meal.
If you haven't tried this place yet, the DineLA menu has some great dishes, and it's worth trying! Â After this experience, I would definitely return for dinner.
Had a business lunch here Thursday with two of my partners.  First,  this is located in a  hotel, friendly staff with a "green" approach to energy.  Normal hotel with above average decorations and interior.  For $139 a night  this is a gem.  We went into the restaurant which was beautiful with a full bar, a sushi bar and a full restaurant.  Service was excellent and staff friendly and always checked up on us.  Ice Tea refills constant.   The lunch menu is reasonably price with plates from $8 to $18 or so.  Most of the entrees come with ALL YOU CAN EAT salad and miso soup.  Â
I ordered the Temptation Plate which was 2 types of rolls - tuna and california I believe. Â I received this huge plate of rolls, maybe 20 or so and was pleasantly surprised at the quantity. Â Sushi was excellent and came with more wasabe and ginger than I needed (I hate to ask for more). Â Before I dived in i hit the "complimentary" salad bar and made a small garden salad and got a full cup of miso soup. Â Salad had lots of options and was crisp fresh. Â Miso soup made daily and excellent . . . Â i'd recommend adding seaweed though. Â
This is a beautiful location to dine, the staff is great and the food / prices are great. Â I don't get to Torrance much but will definitely make it back here. Â Also, this is all Japanes (area, theme, owners, hotel, food) but don't get intimidated. Â Most of the folks in the restaurant are not Japanese and more of the business crowd. Â The staff all appear to speak English as their first language and very friendly and warm.
This review is for Breakfast Buffet (aka Viking) only.
I am not sure where else I can find this type of Japanese breakfast Buffet in North America..... Â The selection of the side dishes was not a lot, but every dish was tasty. Â My favourite was some type of Shell fish salad, it was very tasty!! I had 3 portion of those.
Would like to see pouched eggs too. Â
There was salmon and mackerel. Â The salmon was very tasty! Â Not a big fan of mackerel so I did not try. Â Tamagoyaki was good too! Â
Western selection was not that good. Â I did not try anything. Â If they can have franfkurt sausage instead of the meaty sausage, it would be more like a Japanese breakfast. Â Dessert is missing too that's why it only has 4 stars. Â
Salad was very fresh, dressing is nice. Â
Cannot compare to any Viking in Japan but it's definitely the best in America. Â
I will definitely come back if I am in the area again!!
Went to this place for the first time tonight. Overall, the food was good (mostly sushi on the menu with a few other non-sushi items like a $16 burger, steak, etc.). I had the seafood salad and Philadelphia roll. Neither was anything special and there are much better sushi places in the area (like Oki-Doki in Hermosa and Kai Sushi in Torrance). The service was awful. I still don't have any idea who our server was. Â About four different people helped us and I use the word "help" loosely... we had to motion them over for refills on water and coffee. I finally went up to the bar to get a couple glasses of wine and just opened a tab with the bartender.
The things I like about this place... the ambiance is terrific. Big, high-back booths that seat six, as well as long tables for bigger parties, and a very nice outdoor sitting area. The sushi 'kitchen' is in the middle of the room with sushi bars on both sides and there's a small but classy little bar off to the side with a few t.v.'s. I love the recessed fireplaces and open floor plan. It's very cozy and classy.
Parking in the hotel lot is free and there's free parking on the street, as well as valet if you prefer.
Overall, if you're looking for great sushi at a good price, this is not the place. But if you're looking for a cozy, upscale place to bring a date or to chat with business associates or friends, it's a pretty good bet.
Located in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel Gonpachi has an upscale feel with a huge Sushi bar in the middle of the restaurant and the wait staff is helpful and attentive.
We have been wowed by the Sushi and other time it's been just okay but always fresh, they do have a very nice lunch with a Japanese style all you can eat salad bar and hot Miso soup that is very enticing.
We have eaten here a number of times and we really like Gonpachi but they need to be more consistent with there offerings.
This review is for breakfast only. Â We stayed at Miyako Hybrid Hotel last night and I knew we could enjoy a Japanese and American buffet breakfast here (reviews said $17 but it was $19 per person). Â Eric R. actually tried everything but I stuck with the Japanese food (shocker).
The breakfast was perfectly reminiscent of delicious breakfast buffets we had in Japan - I had similar breakfast in Tokyo, Hakone, and Hiroshima. Â Breakfast included steamed rice out of a rice cooker, 2 types of furikake, nori packets, an extensive platter of pickled vegetables (napa cabbage, hijiki, kinpira, etc.), squid salad, cold tofu with ginger and green onion, natto (haha, watched Eric try it and spit it out), onsen tamago!!!!, miso soup with wakame and green onion, cooked salmon and mackerel, and salmon onigiri with nori sheets! Â
We also got hot green tea, so we could possibly do ochazuke! Â I loved steamed rice, furikake, green onion, a dash of soy, onsen tamago mixed in, tons of green onions = perfection. Â I loved this meal and it was plenty to eat to set us up for a day of Japanese grocery shopping!
It's dineLA again and I was finally able to dine at this Torrance restaurant. Â It is located in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel and upon entering it did seem a little mixed up with its traditional sushi bar side and a modern bar with large metallic oversized seats, paper lanterns and stencil-like flowers. Â The decor is definitely eye-catching.
I was pleasantly surprised as the service was great as well as the meal.  See the dineLA menu here: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.discoverlosangeles.com%2Fwhat-to-do%2Frestaurants%2Fgonpachi-miyako-hybrid-hotel%23poi-tab&s=f4a00eea0875142e0e19fc574872c54ddec3d082155d7d69cd9667f2323cabc2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.discoverlosan…</a> which has a starter, entree and dessert.  Yes, the regular menu is pricey, but the $35/pp three-course meal was a wonderful way for me to try Gonpachi out.
The albacore tataki is a dish I have had at many Japanese resstatraunts, but the sauce was the winner as it was spicy and sweet with some ginger. Â No complaints about the quality of the fish at all. Â I also chose fish for the second course. The whitefish was cooked well and the portion was fairly large. Although I don't eat risotto often, the faro-style one they served was a twist on traditional rice as a side; however, I would have liked more of the mushrooms and less of a cream sauce as it was a little heavy for me. Â Dessert was smiles all around. Â How could you not like an Asian style sundae (yes there were almond sticks and mochi in it) and fruit panna cotta?
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/gonpachi-torrance#QPazWCjdJv4BDWUolq5t5g">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
I would say that the chefs seem to put a lot of care and attention into not only the taste, but also the presentation of the dishes. Â Also, fancy meals are often tiny in size, but I was full when I left and the food portion is more than fair. They also have an interesting cocktail menu I got a sake/green tea syrup that was something new for me and a nice Friday drink.
Folks, we're talking about Torrance. So let's start the review with that and lower our expectations a tad bit.
I work in Torrance and this is the only classy joint in this city. Your other options are Lucille's BBQ, Chik-Fil-A, or El Torito. Moving on.
The interior decor is beautiful, the outside patio area is great on a sunny day, and the sushi is delicious. They also offer gourmet burgers if you want non-Japanese food. I had the "Luxury Chirashi" which gives me an extra whopping large mushroom, and sea urchin for an additional $6. I'll skip the luxury next time and just slum it.
It is pricey here so this is not a weekly habit type of place. But for business lunches, job interviews or other special occasions, I'd highly recommend. You can walk next door to Mitsuwa afterwards and pick up some Mochi ice cream for dessert.
I'm giving 4 Stars for:
- Excellent customer service!
- Good flavors and food presentation
- Nice contemporary interior
Appetizer
- Agedashi Tofu (just ok)
- Ebi Mayo (just ok)
Main
- Wife had the Misoyaki Butterfish (Black Cod Miso) it was great but small and no sides :(
- I had the Kurobuta Pork Chop and it was fantastic! One of the best pork chops I've ever had and it came with kale/bacon/onion + cheese polenta sides! :) Awesome with a side of Awesome? Yes please!
Overall Bill? Pricey? Yes :(
Fancy Japanese restaurant nestled in the Miyako hotel.
The Miyako hotel is pretty tame on the outside. Â When you walk in, you know you're in for a treat. Â Contemporary furnishing everywhere and a staff that's happy to greet you. Â Gonpachi is straight through Mikayo's doors, and like most Vegas hotels, you'll notice they try and create a new experience with heavy decore and ambience, except you're not in Vegas. Â You're in Torrance.
The restaurant features a full bar with a generous wine and sake list.  They also have your standard Buds of the Japanese world - Soporro,etc.  Give the Old World a try - yamazaki whiskey, honey and blackberries surprisingly  made a refreshing drink. Â
The menu is stuffed with appetizers, rolls, sashimi, entrees and soba. Â The entrees looked enticing, but the rolls and sashimi were screaming to be tried. Â The portions were slightly larger than your typical Japanese restaurant so you don't have to worry about going home starving. Â The cuts of fish were fresh and were prepared quickly. Â The Dragon Ball entree was huge - 5 different nigiri sushi's, a caterpillar roll, and a diced "spicy" (not so spicy) crab roll topped with sashimi. Â The garlic edamame really stood out and is highly recommended as a starter. Â
Self park if you can. Â Valet is $5 for the first 3 hours (validation req'd).
For lunch, this place is the bomb. Â And it starts with the salad bar. Â The veggies and other fixins were fresh and the miso soup was pretty good, too. Â I thought the lunch combos were reasonable and delicious. Although, next time I may skip the soba noodles. Â The waiter hyped them up, but they weren't THAT good =P
I also think the ambiance is really cool/hip/chic here. Â Surprised that it's in a salaryman hotel in Torrance. Â I bet the place has a pretty cool vibe at night. Â I wouldn't mind coming back at night for the bar scene. Â Hot.
Came here for our anniversary. For a Saturday, i was expecting it to be packed, but no, not really. Even though it wasn't packed, they were trying to sit us in the bar area. Not sure why. Eventually we moved, which was cool. They even let us order from the bar menu even though we moved out of the bar.
Waitress was informative in the beginning, but after we ordered, it seemed she went to car to smoke a joint or something. She was a bit out of it, took a while to come back and forgot to order one of our items. Seriously, it was like she was high or something.
Food was good. We ordered a lot of food! The wife got the sashimi platter, I got the salmon with a side of wasabi mashed potatoes. Loved the mashed potatoes!! But I dont understand why they gave me a bed of mini, bland white potatoes underneath my salmon. Didnt enjoy those too much. We also ordered a bunch of appetizers. We got the tofu salad, karage, yellowtail gonpachi with jalapeno stuff on it and compressed watermelon. Never heard of compressed of watermelon and could've done without it. The chicken karage was killer!! Loved it! Prices was surprisingly pretty reasonable. I was expecting the bill to be crazy high!
Ambiance was pretty chill! Even though parking wasn't hard to find, the wife wanted to valet it cuz she didn't want to walk across the street. Since I drive a truck, parking in little, dinky ass compact spaces aren't my thing.
Overall, pretty enjoyable experience. Wish our waitress would've smoked us out too!
Our omakase chef Kudo-San is super sweet and is patient enough to translate each sushi neta to my boyfriend. For his serive, I'd like to rate our omakase meal 4 stars but taste wise, it's a 3.5 stars for me.
My mom's friend wanted us to try Kudo chef's omakase meal. Omakase meal is when the chef cooks up whatever he desires with ingredients that is in season. You can let him know what ingredients or sushi neta you don't like beforehand and he'll avoid serving you whatever you dislike. It usually comes with one or two appetizer dishes and then it becomes full on nigiri sushi.
I liked my appetizer dishes which consisted of fried shrimp thing, lightly roasted duck, cooked conch, fish, and uni tempura. It was creative and nicely presented. But I wasn't impressed with the sushi. Some of the neta was pretty good such as toro and mackerel pike (sanma) or abalone (awabi). I was able to taste each neta but it wasn't as distinct. I liked the idea that I experienced an omakase meal but the sushi quality wasn't worth $120. Will I try again? Most likely not. But I may comeby Gonpachi for other occasions!
PRO: Ambiance is great.
CONS: Food was okay, cost
I came here with some friends, and it was my first time here. In case you used a GPS and don't see it, it is INSIDE the hotel, just walk straight in.
PARKING:
There was plenty of parking on the street and self park. I didn't really have a hard time finding parking here.
AMBIANCE:
Pretty nice. I would think this is better for a date AND it's in a hotel.
FOOD:
The salad and miso soup is self serve. It's awesome, though last time I went, the miso soup was saltier than I would like. I ordered the chirashi set and it was okay. I wouldn't recommend it though. For 4 dollars more you get hot or cold soba. It's not worth that.
SERVICE:
Service was great. Refilled drink quickly and we were outside.
Overall, I wouldn't come here if I had a choice, but I wouldn't mind it.
Hubby and I came here to enjoy a little adult time sans baby and at first I was reluctant because of the 3-star average rating but I really enjoyed our meal. The atmosphere made us feel relaxed and unrushed. We were able to unwind and enjoy a yummy filet mignon, sushi, buta kakuni, and a shrimp appetizer that I could pass on.
I asked about whether there was a new chef, I was told that it's the same chef since it opened. Whatever, I would come back for a lovely meal.
Not sure about the lunch and dinner of this place, but the breakfast bar they have going is delicious.
Imagine being in Nijiya or Mitsuwa or your local Japanese grocery store after hours, and there's no one there to stop you from eating all of the bento box goodies you want--grilled mackerel and salmon with rice, seaweed, pickled veggies, and eggs. Include some fresh fruit, a sticky Japanese soybean dish, traditional American breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, sausage), and a fancy decor and you're in Gonpachi!
Can't go wrong with AYCE.
We came here a couple of months ago, but it seems like the chef has changed since we last came for dinner.
but, here's my review for the restaurant from a couple of months ago...
First of all, the decor is awesome! I love all the different kinds of chairs they had and the lighting in the room was great too!
The food was great but a bit pricey.
We had...
Salmon skin salad: Â the vinigrette was delicious paired with the crispy salmon skin was perfection!
Salmon toro tartare: great flavors and the presentation was so cute.
We had the sashimi where the waiter sears it a bit with a torch at the table, I forgot was it was called. It's cool to see the waiter use a torch in front of you, but the taste of the fish was just ok.
Wasabi mash potatoes: not enough wasabi flavor but the mash potatoes were good.
We also got one of their rolls, I forgot which one, but it was just ok.
I saw a couple other of their appetizers the other parties ordered and they all looked exquisite and delicious!
Overall, I enjoyed their appetizers more because they had different presentations and great flavors. I would love to try more of their small dishes the next time I visit.
:)
This a review for the Sushi bar only. Â
I was here several nights ago and noticed that Chef Masa, previously of Gonpachi Beverly Hills and Hachi (West LA), now works here. Â Don't be thrown off by the fact that he works at Gonpachi Torrance, admittedly not a top-tier restaurant. Â I feel Chef Masa is one of the most skilled Sushi chefs in Los Angeles, originally trained at a top Sushi restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, which is the Fifth Avenue of Sushi restaurants. Â (The same area of such legendary restaurants as Kyubey, Jiro and Mizutani.) Â Years ago, Chef Masa trained and made Sushi in the vicinity of those big names, which says a lot.
Masa's Sushi is truly Ginza style.  Sleek, elegant, delicious.  Definitely not the sloppy-looking Sushi often seen at other popular Sushi joints such as Sugarfish, Sushi Zo, etc.  I would call the sloppier Sushi "Tsukiji Style", meaning the casual yet delicious  Sushi served at the Tsukiji Fish Markets, where aesthetics are not as important.  Ginza style is just as much about beauty as taste. The only other place that serves "prettier" Sushi may be Sushi Sushi.  Next time you go to Gonpachi, make sure you ask for Chef Masa, and ask him to do an Omakase, and he will not disappoint!
Though I do have to say, however, that occasionally, Chef Masa does have a slight tendency to over-season his Sushi. Â (True to Omakase style, he usually seasons the Sushi as he wants it to be eaten.) Â But since I like my Sushi sauces to be as light as possible, sometimes he does over-do it (for my lowly palate.) Â So 4 stars, not 5 stars, Â but it's really just because of my personal preference.
- huge variety for breakfast. I love all the little japanese pickled vegetables and the mackerel and salmon are especially tasty.
- lunch was eh... while the salad bar was satisfying, there just wasn't as much variety as there is during breakfast. You can probably find a much better deal at the countless other Japanese restaurants in Torrance for a plate of sashimi and salad. Despite the salad bar being all-you-can-eat, I much prefer the breakfast selection better. However, the salad bar does change daily I believe, so maybe I just came on a not so great day? I only really ate the seaweed and the burdock roots/salad.
- Toilets are bidet-style :O
I like Gonpachi's breakfast selection compared to their lunch and dinner menus (which aren't a lot) .There are other restaurants nearby plus the Mitsuwa Marketplace food court that offers more choices and is also less expensive.
I like the ambiance (contemporary Japanese design) while eating here. :) The service is prompt and the chef is also friendly. You have 2 breakfast choices - Western-style and Japanese-style. I always have both LOL.
You can't find any restaurants around the area that offers Japanese-style breakfast. Some establishments only open at lunch and some at dinner time. I guess this is why this place is unique and why keep on coming back here. :)
Very nice design and the waiters/waitresses were all very nice and welcoming.
Basic Sake was good, smoother than most other sushi places I've had.
Tamago was good size and very yummy!
Garlic shoestring fries are soo good! and it was a lot too!
We got Seiro and Kake Sobas and I thought they were delicious! The noodle tasted fresh 9they are handmade!0 and my hot Kake was flavored perfectly!
Their Rock Shrimp Tempura is really cool looking and tastes great!
I love the decoration of the restaurant and the food is pretty and tastes great!
Must try!
Did you like your dinner? Well, everything on the menu, except for the burger, sucks and will be replaced next month! Â Aren't you glad you ate something else??
This is not *exactly* what the server said, but it's what I heard.
One of my friends had the burger, but everyone else ordered other things. I even ordered one of the course menus. After spending almost $60 for dinner, I wasn't a happy camper hearing that everything I ate wasn't good enough to be kept on. Â I wish he had told me this earlier. I would have gotten something else (the burger), or I would have just eaten something smaller and less expensive.
There's a new executive chef, and I guess he's the one making all the changes.
My friend said the burger was good, but she didn't rave about it. She wished the charcoal bread had an actual flavor instead of just being black. From what I gathered, it tasted mostly like barbecue sauce.
Another friend had the lamb. He liked it, but it was a VERY small serving.
The wasabi mashed potatoes were a hit.
As for my course menu, it left me rather disappointed. It was a great deal of food, so I was extremely full afterward, but the flavors were not what I would have wished.
I started off with a trio of small dishes. There was an eel cake, a piece of tofu in a thick syrup, and some sort of fish on a lemon. Â The eel cake was dry. It reminded me of the canned eel that I used to eat when I was broke and in college, but I think I might have preferred the canned stuff with some white rice. The tofu dish was almost flavorless. Throughout the entire meal, I kept hearing my mother saying, "Japanese food has no taste." I always tell her she's being stupid and doesn't know better, but in this case, she would have been right. The fish didn't taste that fresh.
The tempura was good, but really oily. The piece of eggplant was rather large, which I actually liked. The tempura breading was really thin, but it was almost too thin. The shrimp was sagging and flopping all over the place. I've never had that happen ANYWHERE, not eve in Japan. I wish the shrimp had been firm and crispy. The softness made it hard to handle.
The next course was two dishes, the pork belly and another white fish. The white fish had almost no taste. The pork belly was AMAZING! Â I would have that every day. It was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. They have it on the small hot appetizer list with the wasabi mashed potatoes that everyone liked, so I'd order that only.
The soba was good as well, but by the time I got it, I was too full to enjoy it.
The pumpkin zenzai was bland. All I remember of it is ice cream and red bean.
The hotel is pretty, and the restaurant is elegant. The only item worth returning for, in my opinion, is the pork belly, but if everything on the menu is being replaced except for the burger, I guess it was an expensive and disappointing one-time visit.
Biggest disappointment ever. Â I spent a night at Miyako Hybrid. Â I ended up having dinner and breakfast here.
For dinner, I went with Edomae sushi. Â Miso soup that came with my sushi was extremely salty. Â This menu item costs $32 I believe but it's definitely not worth that much.
My first choice was to go to Morizo Sushi (take out sushi place near Del Amo mall) but since it was past their closing time, I ended up here. Â For less than $10, I can get better tasting sushi at Morizo than here. Â Yuck.
Next morning, I came for breakfast. Â Breakfast buffet hasn't changed since my last visit but Saba and Salmon were plain nasty. Â Full of bones, indicating cheaper cuts of fish.
Overpriced, and mediocre food. Â Not coming back again.
Brought my parents here a few times since they wanted to eat soba.
We came here during lunch and had their tempura zaru soba. Â The tempura is fried nicely and is not overly battered as some places do. They had a self serve salad bar type of deal that we tried but there really wasn't anything really good about it. Â The soba was ok. Â Not bad but definitely isn't as good as Otafuku.
Haven't tried the other items like miso cod but I feel that you can get that anywhere. Â Came here for the soba so my review is based on that experience.
The Gonpachi restaurant in Torrance is located inside the Miyako Hotel. Â There are plenty of free parking.
I've been here once to eat and once for drinks. Â I ate here over a year ago and had a very nice lunch. However on a more recent trip for drinks I would have to say it was just okay. Â We had a big group that took over the bar/lounge area and I just didn't feel the love. We ordered a few cocktail drinks, one being the ginger mojito (I think??) and it was good but nothing worth driving to the South Bay for.
Overall it's an okay place, I wouldn't avoid it but I wouldn't go out of my way.
A trendy local restaurant with high end appointments situated in a new hotel.
I however found this visit to be less pleasant than previous visits. They have a new, menu but the salad bar with your entree is the same however the selection of toppings was somewhat limited.
Perhaps the new chef had a bad day but serving a grilled salmon that was raw in the middle was a bit disappointing.
I'm Japanese-American but lived in Japan for several years and grew up eating authentic Japanese food. Â My coworkers took me to Gonpachi for my birthday lunch today. Â I'm glad we went there because they had fun, but they also don't know authentic Japanese food. Â Here's my review of Gonpachi.
I got the Unagi Don Set, which came with Unagi Don, soba (hot or cold), and the salad/miso soup bar, all for $19. Â
The unagi seemed a little on the raw side but that doesn't bother me. Â The sauce was good. Â But for that price, you would expect some bigger unagi pieces. Â Mine had two rather small pieces. Â And the rest was all rice. Â There was a large piece of kale in there as decoration or perhaps to make it appear voluminous? Â I won't order it again.
The soba you could get cold or hot.  All three of my friends got it cold with the dipping sauce and I got it warm in a soup base.  The soba was supposedly handmade there at the restaurant but it was so overcooked that instead of having a tender but firm consistency as soba should, these noodles were so soft that they were  breaking into tiny little pieces as you attempted to grab it with your ohashi (chopsticks).  I was trying to teach my friends how to take a bite-sized portion of the noodles and dip it into the dipping sauce, but the noodles kept breaking into tiny pieces that it was impossible to dip or even get half a mouthful of noodles without using a spoon!  And who uses a spoon to eat soba?  Never again.
The salad bar was well stocked and had some nice items. Â We were all excited that they had the Japanese dressing with the grated daikon. Â It was bland though...no flavor. Â No one went back for seconds.
The miso soup bar was fun because you could make your own soup by adding as much wakame (seaweed) and negi (green onions) as you wanted. Â But again, bland and watered down flavor.
I'll give this place two stars because the restaurant was nice and quiet and service was good and the servers were very polite, just as any other upscale Japanese-staffed establishment. Â This restaurant is located in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel. Â I stayed there a couple years ago and had a fabulous hotel stay. Â I wish I could say the same for Gonpachi. Â I'm thankful for my birthday lunch but feel bad that my co-workers paid so much for my birthday lunch. Â Next time, I'm going to the hole-in-the-wall Mexican taco place across the street for a tenth of the price but for better food. Â Sorry, Gonpachi.
I came here for the breakfast buffet. One section had your traditional all American breakfast items like cereal, pastries, yogurt, sausage, bacon, eggs. They do make omelets too. I ordered the ham, sausage, egg white only omelet. Everything was fresh. So thumbs up to that!!
The other section had your traditional Japanese breakfast items. They had miso soup, rice, fish (salmon and what looked like macro) and these pickled dishes. My friend had several plates so I assume it's good :)
The service met my expectation. The waiter always made sure our coffee cups were filled and asked several times if we needed anything.
The buffet price is about $20 per person.
Went here with my mom for a nice little lunch, and she wanted to take me here since I've never been. She told me it was..eh not too bad. When you walk in, it looks very nice and well put together. They seated us at a very nice BIG, comfy booth.
It took a while for a waiter to come help us, but we were able to help ourselves to a complimentary salad bar and some miso soup. The only thing that tripped me out was..NO RANCH DRESSING?! WHATTTTT -__- so I got some apple ginger dressing, which was okay. Also the miso soup is not that great. My mom can beat theirs by a jillion.
We both ordered katsu chicken with brown rice. It's a very small portion, but it took them literally more than 30 minutes to make. Since they were taking so long, the waiter brought us out some free spicy tuna rolls. Not a sushi fan, so we got ourselves free veggie rolls. Yum :] . Those were definitely delicious!
Finally we got our food, and it wasn't too bad. Not the greatest, (I just actually gave it 1 less star :/ sorry) and I was able to finish it within less than 10 minutes. It was a small portion like mentioned above. My mom seemed to enjoy it though.
When we finished, the waiter came to take the plates and he dropped one and it shattered all over my mom's leg. He seemed very out of it at the time. Idk.
I feel it should be a lot better tasting seeing that many Japanese people from Japan stay at the Hybrid hotel (which it's located in) and eat at that restaurant.
Don't think I'll be coming back here though.
I came to this restaurant last night for a work sponsored event and the service was top notch.
This restaurant like the Hotel is geared toward Cooperate America. The food was good and the service was great. I was with a group that tends to demand excellence and the staff knows this so any time you made eye contact with a staff member they were on the ball.
I know my work will bring me back to this spot and I have no objections. I dig the area, I dig the Hotel, I dig the staff and dig the vibe.
Gonpachi is located in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel. Â My favorite part about this place is the unique decor. Â They have cute booths and nice lighting with the sushi chefs working at the center..I love the ambiance at dinner but the food is nothing too special and the service could be a lot better. Â I had the sashimi, garlic edamame, calamari, and some rolls. Â Everything was decent but short of South Bay expectations. Â The dessert however, was another story... the pumpkin cream red bean ice cream was memorable :D Â It was not too sweet, not too creamy, or heavy.. just perfect. Â It even had some mochi and almond slices in it.
I am going to give it another chance.
Gonpachi ramps up~ given another chance....
Returned to give them another chance and was pleasantly surprised they ramped up their service.
Their service was timely and efficient. The lunch buffet was clean and well stocked...
I so want this place not to fail, thus the review and much to my surprise, received the following reply from Gonpachi after their poor review: Â Thank You Gonpachi.
"Hello Oliver,
I wanted to take a moment and respond to your review/comments on Gonpachi Torrance and introduce myself as well. I am the floor manager here for dinner at Gonpachi and I also manage and monitor our Yelp account. Thank you for your feedback and for your input as I can honestly say that it really does help us to correct what needs to be corrected and to better ourselves.
I wanted to extend my sincere apologies for your last experience here with us during lunch time. I truly am sorry you were disappointed with the service and food quality. I also cringed when you mentioned the miso soup incident at the salad bar line and definitely the bathroom issue as well. I completely understand you being upset as I would be too and that is unacceptable for any public business that offers service and especially our place and our service standards. We do work hard at doing all we can to better service you and we have come a long way from a year ago when we opened but I see we have so much more growth to do.
Just so you know we have fixed that bathroom issue and we have someone who is staying on top of our bathroom maintenance now and so that is resolved. Again, please forgive us for being "off" on that particular day and for not being better prepared I guess is the best way to put it. Â
I know you mentioned your guest called the restaurant to express your disappointment and can you tell me what manager or who they spoke to? I really hope that they took care of you and handled it as they should and please let me know otherwise. My hope is that you will give Gonpachi Torrance one more try before you ride it off completely. I appreciate you being patient with us and for your business. We do value you as a customer! Â
Please feel free to contact me for anything as I would love to assist you. I would love to meet you as well so please notify me if you do have mercy on us and give us another chance!
***Gonpachi looks nice and upscale, but the food is not as good as the many strong Japanese restaurants in the South Bay; Gonpachi does offer a Japanese style breakfast, which is not easy to find***
There is no shortage of good Japanese restaurants in the South Bay, which makes it difficult to recommend the just okay Gonpachi. Â Still, Gonpachi (located in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel) has three key advantages over its nearby competition.
First, it features a sleek and upscale decor (very nice hotel-like), which creates a more upscale dining experience than the many nearby hole-in-the-walls. Â Gonpachi also has a big dining room (indoors and outdoors), which makes it much easier for big groups to dine here than other spots like Sanuki No Sato and Kappo. Â Finally, Gonpachi's menu offers a good variety of options (hot meat dishes, noodle dishes and sushi) so this might be an okay one if you are looking to please an indecisive group.
The problem with Gonpachi is that the food here (at lunch) is just not as good as other nearby restaurants. Â They feature teriyaki dishes (chicken, salmon and beef), but there are better options at Yuzu or I-naba. Â The sushi is typically okay (occasionally dry) though it gets quite expensive. Â Their spicy tuna bowl (spicy tuna plus albacore sashimi) varies in quality and flavor, but when it is fresh, it is a decent option.
Each meal comes with the salad and soup bar. Â The salad bar is good. Â There is a wide variety of toppings and almost all of the ingredients are crisp and fresh. Â The salad bar typically offers mixed greens, bean sprouts, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, dried fruit, nuts, and several salad dressings (including a good and sweet ginger dressing).
The tofu miso soup is nothing special, but it is okay. Â The green onions and wakame are self-serve. Â There are also fruit options, but they are not that good.
Gonpachi also offers a breakfast buffet and I have enjoyed that more than lunch. Â One side of the breakfast buffet is Japanese while the other side is traditional American (as well as a continental breakfast).
The Japanese side is good. Â There is miso soup as well as steamed rice. Â They have two great garnishes for the steamed rice--furikake rice seasoning and individually packaged crispy and salty nori wrappers. Â They also offer two cooked fish dishes--salmon and mackerel. Â The fish here definitely ranges in moistness and can be a little bit dry (depending on how long the fish has been sitting out). Â Still, both fishes typically have a good flavor.
There is also a little Japanese dishes section featuring Japanese pickles, root vegetables and really good minced seaweed.
The American section is not as good. Â They have a made-to-order bar that features eggs cooked to order as well as omelets, pancakes and French toast. Â I've only had the omelets, which were below average. Â On both of my visits, the fillings (meat, cheese and veggies) were bland and the eggs were overcooked. Â Also, the omelets were quite oily, which made me think that they didn't get the pans hot enough before cooking.
There is also a juice bar (good), several milk options, individual cereals (Frosted Flakes and some other varieties), granola, yogurt, fruit, whole dates (pretty good but very sweet), bagels, toast, cinnamon rolls, danishes, and pecan rolls (not bad; better than they looked).
Service is usually friendly and nice; the staff works hard too. Â Since breakfast is buffet style, it is not surprising that servers are hard to track down. Â At lunch though, it can get difficult as well. Â The restaurant is pretty big so they might need more staff at lunchtime.
I do not know many restaurants are serving Japanese breakfast in Los Angeles, which makes Gonpachi worth trying if you like or have never had Japanese breakfast. Â For lunch, Gonpachi is an okay option. Â Some of the dishes are too expensive, but you can get at least a serviceable meal at lunchtime. Â If you are seeking a better Japanese lunch experience though, you may want to head to Yuzu, I-naba or Sanuki No Sato instead.
For parking, Gonpachi has a free lot next to the hotel. Â There is also preferred parking right next to the restaurant entrance for hybrid and electric vehicles.
Wow, I'm surprised by the bad/mediocre reviews of this place!
I came here for dinner when they first opened around April and had a good time getting a course meal with the family.
Today's review will be for Gonpachi's LUNCH :)
When they first opened, business was slow and the staff seemed a little rusty on their service, but now that business is up and running, I feel like Gonpachi settled in pretty nicely.
The lunch menu has a variety of different options ranging from udon, soba, katsu, sushi rolls, to donburi (rice bowls). Â The price range is FANTASTIC! We ordered "luxury" sushi ($24), spicy tuna roll ($8), and chirashi bowl ($12?!?!? WOW!)
AND the best part is they give you self-serve unlimited salad and soup!!
The salad bar has fresh mixed greens, an assortment of Japanese-esque dressing (orange-ginger?, thick ranch/cheese, miso something? I could be totally wrong but there were 3 different dressings that go well with the salad), assorted veggies including alfalfa spouts, carrots, etc., pecans, walnuts, almonds, raisins, etc.
The miso soup is self-serve so you put in as much tofu, seaweed, and green onions as you want. Â
There is also a small fruit section that you can enjoy at the end of your meal :)
The salad section is small but it's clean and the dressing taste was very refreshing.
My CHIRASHI bowl was great! Really fresh assortment of fish that was flavorful and just plain good!
If you have room for dessert, I recommend the PUMPKIN dessert--its this pumpkin sauce they pour over ice cream and it's DELICIOUS!!
I'm not sure why the reviews are so bad :( I had a great time and service was courteous--a bit slow but that was only because they had so many customers! and it helps that there's a salad bar while you wait--I went twice for salad and twice for soup before my food came out but no complaints when I'm happily eating :) Give Gonpachi a try! :)
Geez, I have no idea what happened to this place in the last three months, but the lunch I had recently at Gonpachi was terrible. I wasn't crazy about my oyako don during my first visit, but my pork katsu was just plain horrible. The meat was dry and tasteless, the crust tasted like it had been double fried, and it just looked really sad. The mustard sauce in its own little container was cute, but that's about all it was.
I did like sitting outside next to the water feature, but even that was poorly organized since you could see all the hoses and stuff next to it. It's like when you have a really nice living room that you spent all this time on, and you just have remotes thrown all over the place, or cords showing.
Bf had the chirashi bowl and that was unimpressive. I was wondering if he was going to get sick from the sushi that did just not look appetizing. Finally, the salad bar was not replenished and every time I went back for something, the bowls either disappeared or were empty. This was the same for the fruit and dressings.
The decor is nice, but it's basically just a facade to hide the horrible food and service that's just below the fancy surface. Will not be back. My katsu was so bad that I had to go to Curry House next day to redeem my faith in pork katsu. Thank goodness CH came through. Just like it always does.
I came here for breakfast and dinner, but everyone seems to be loving their lunch. I liked their dinner menu. I got a set course meal that included salad, sushi, entree and dessert. The entree and sushi were pretty good. Dessert was a strawberry moose I thought was just okay.
Their breakfast is like your average hotel breakfast. I felt like I had just spent the night there and had headed downstairs to eat breakfast before checking out.  They had a salad bar with your  typical American breakfast items (bagels, toast, yogurt) along with traditional Japanese breakfast items (mackerel, miso soup, Japanese veggies). They also had an omelet and waffle station that did a superb job with my omelet. Â
The decorations are nice. The staff here is cheery and attentive. However, when I went during breakfast, my server was just okay. He brought the check even before I had finished eating my food. I think it's rude when servers do that. It's unwelcoming and pushy. Plus, this place was pretty empty for breakfast, and it's not like he was so busy with other customers he had to give me my check that far in advance.
I can't write anything about their food.
(why???)
I didn't get to EAT any of their food.
(why???)
They didn't serve us when we arrived.
(why???)
They cleaned up the salad bar and everything else.
(why???)
Customers came early and by 2:30pm customers all left.
(WHAT?!?!?!)
Their automated machine SPECIFICALLY stated that hours of operations for lunch is UNTIL 3:00pm. Â We arrived 2:40pm. Â Obviously if they won't serve lunch till 3:00pm, then they SHOULDN'T advertise that!
Do what you say and say what you do. Â Being a "Japanese" restaurant, you ought to know better.
Located inside the Miyako Hybrid Hotel, (what do they have Priuses as their towncars?) Â this place is quite mediocre in a sense that it's - well hotel food. Â The service was pleasant but the food itself is not really much to write home about, so I write it on Yelp.
Came here for a friend's birthday - there were about 15 of us at one long table. Â We all had the omakase, which was very reasonably priced at $35 pp plus beer & wine.
First Course:
Spinach Salad with Chirimen Jako. Â I have no idea who came up with this but it was far from elegant and bland.
Second Course:
Sushi platter. Â This was probably the best course we had throghout the night. Â Came with (4) different nigiris and (4) pieces of some funky catepillar like roll. Â Not bad! Â Not great, but doable.
Entree:
Baked Salmon on Hijiki Risotto. Â I thought it was quite creative to add hijiki (a form of sea vegetable) in risotto. Â The salmon was a bit dry and overcooked... lacking in seasoning.
We brought our own birthday cake from an excellent Japo French bakery so we were set for dessert...
If you're going to trek to the South Bay, hit up Yuzu which is far more over the moon.
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