Clean and trendy dining area. Staff uniforms are professional. Service is good. Â
Went for happy hour on Friday. Easily got seating. $3.50 Sapporo draft or cheap sake.
Yakitori not as good as competition. Okra beef wrap was best yakitori item. Yaki ongiri was not so good.
Sashimi platter was ok. 3 pieces each of tuna, salmon, hamachi, snapper, and 2 shrimps.
Overall a little bland but edible. Â Prices average to a little high for izakaya.
Our experience last Saturday was less than satisfactory. First off, it was not busy at all. Food wise, the servings were small and mediocre at best. But the real issue was the lack of service. More to the point, out of our party of four, three of us had ALL our orders served before the fourth received his first! Many of the orders were wrong. We asked for separate checks up front, the waitress couldn't even get that right. I'm not into beating up on sixteen year old waitresses, but ours was clearly in over her head. No sign of a manager anywhere- a better restaurant would have at least comped something, offered an apology, a coupon, or thrown in an appetizer; not so in this case. This is not brain surgery, people. Running a sushi restaurant in Southern California is a pretty well-travelled path.
Oh, and the 'back ground' music was SO loud, Â when I went to the restroom, the water was vibrating in the bowl.....
If I could give 'no points', I would.
So, if you like corporate chain sushi joints with lots of trendy graphics and 'sizzle', this may be your bag, but I won't be back.
Isn't it funny how the service is slower when there is not a lot of customers? I was at least seated quickly which should've been the case since I was the first one in. Â Finally, a waitress took my order probably because I was looking dehydrated and hungry. Ordered the miso salmon set. The fish was actually marinated and not just brushed with a miso sauce. It was not bad with the flavored permeating through the fish. I will always laugh at the miso soup bowl being bigger than the rice bowl. They turned on music, soft rock, definitely not koto music.
Review Source:I went to this restaurant with my family last night, and we did not have a great experience at all. First, we waited at the front for a while with no communication whatsoever, which the waitresses scrambled around trying to find us seating (it wasn't that busy). After about 10 minutes someone finally asked to take a name and that we will have to wait (couldn't you have told us when we first came in?).
The second strike is the waitress spilled an entire bowl of soba noodle sauce all over my sister's lap. She did apologize but no one came to mop up the puddle of sauce at her feet (she ate dinner with a puddle at her feet). My sister had to go to the bathroom and rinse out her dress too.
When the waitresses were clearing our bowls one of them accidentally flung chopsticks in my husband's face! Yes, it was an accident, and they apologized but it just added to the bad experience.
Finally, when the bill came there was no discount or dessert on the house for dumping a bowl of sauce on my sister. That's fine, we'll just give an appropriate amount of tip - an 18% tip was already added to the bill! I thought tip is up to the customer's experience and we had poor poor service all night!
The food is ok, but for ok Japanese food I will go elsewhere. What a disappointment!
Went here for lunch today. The restaurant is really nice inside - very modern but welcoming. Lunchtime servers were super nice and extremely efficient (Thank You Jessica!!!!)
I ordered the chirashi bowl lunch set that came with a small salad and a pretty large bowl of miso soup. For $15 including tip? Awesome! Soup and salad were typical fare but the bowl was really, really yummy. On top of seasoned rice with a sprinkle of furikake was juicy salmon roe with a hit of sake marinade, perfectly spicy chopped tuna, thick uber fresh sliced fish, and ripe avocado and cucumber slices.
I will definitely be back and the worst part will be having to decide to order somethimg else!
Happy they do not charge for tea because I drink a lot of it. They only had Uni Sushi. Unfortunately, Sashimi Uni was unavailable at the time. Server seemed to be new at the job, but I can tell he did the best he could. Felt bad for the guy sitting next to me--he sat by himself but no one attended to him for 15 minutes.
Sashimi Platter - $27.25, came with Fried and Miso Shrimp Head. Miso Shrimp was too salty, I prefer it fried.
White Rice - $1.75
Raw oyster 1/2 Shell (Single) - $3.95 (Not that worth it in my opinion).
Recommend:
Salted Hatsu Yakitori - $1.95, 3 - 4 pieces
Pork Tonkatsu - $6.95
I'll be back. It's one of my mom's favorite places to get sashimi, the ambiance is nice, and the wait is never longer than 10 minutes for smaller groups of people.
Don't listen to the good reviews it's BS. Pricing does not match quality. Portions are ridiculously small. Hand rolls were basically rice wrapped in seaweed. Wasabi was like it was made in ancient Egypt. Sadly the only way they compensate for horrible food was friendly service. People that enjoy eating here have never had good sushi. Maki & sushi down the street 5 stars!
Review Source:When J town is too far from you, this place is definitely the best alternative if you're craving for japanese food. Price is reasonable. The dessert Tofu Fritti A La Mode (fried tofu + vanilla ice cream) and the beef tougue are the best ones I've ever tried.
Oh one more thing, for those who want to eat/ drink during midnight, instead of Hong Kong style Chinese cafe (such as Garden Cafe/ Tasty Garden), this place is definitely your #1 choice because it closes at 2am.
My wife and I went there to celebrate our anniversary, and we had a very nice dinner.
Sashimi was fresh, and food was delicate. Â The portion of the food was not large (at least not for a big eater like me), but the presentation of the dishes was awesome. Â You know a lot of places people just put the food casually on the plates and don't care if they look good or presentable or not.
We also ordered a Uni bowl, and that was the highlight of the night. Â We ate quite an amound of food already, and save the best for last. Â Both my wife and I just loved it.
Food was decent, not amazing. Waitresses were all very nice and energetic. Oto Oto doesn't have atsukan (Japanese hot sake).
The one thing that made me rate it 2 stars was the because of the owner and this other lady that looked like the owner's wife. First the owner did absolutely logging but stand at the bar counter and drink with the bartender and a random girl. The other lady was super rude. One of our food didn't come out for more than 20mins and when we told her that we don't need it, she just continued to say that  it wasn't their fault. She kept saying that when she should have just apologized.
Ughh all bad.
My boyfriend and I went here a few weeks ago, when we were desperate to find a place for a quick lunch. We are not local, but we had driven to buy a car and needed to kill time while the paperwork was being processed. We drove around and decided to give Oto-Oto a chance.
We arrived just in time for happy hour on a Friday afternoon. The happy hour deals were really great and we ended up having some delicious rolls for a very good price. If we lived closer, I could see becoming regulars here.
The server was nice and attentive.
The restaurant is clean and pretty. It was also busy for a late afternoon and I can imagine that this restaurant is packed solid at peak times.
Please check out my blog for more reviews and musings.
Wanted some sushi but wanted to find a place I could call my spot. Â Decided to try this new place that I have driven by a few times. Â Anyway walked in and was greeted quite nicely by the hostess and the bartender. Pretty cool... The decor was a bit fancier than i expected but what was cool because the snob factor that goes with fancy places was non existent! Everyone that came to the table was very nice and pretty cool. Anyway, ordered the Salmon skin salad, a spicy tuna roll, and The Jidori Chicken Karaage.
I'm a stickler when it comes to salmon skin. Â The salad was excellent. Â The skin was crispy yet tender. Perfectly cooked! The spicy tuna roll was great too. It had a very fresh spicy taste. I read about chicken Karaage and decided to try theirs. Seriously juicy. The only thing missing was a sauce that I read about that pairs along with the chicken. Â I asked the server about it and she said theirs doesn't come with a sauce but to ask next time and they will put something together. How cool is that?
So that's it. Think I found a spot to grab my weekly sushi plus suggest to friends to try. Â Great food, cool decor, great service, friendly server....What more could you ask for right??
FINALLY, a decent Japanese restaurant near my house! I always try to go during lunch time or happy hour since the prices are much more reasonable. Favorite things to order are: Yuzu drop (plum wine drink--super delicious and citrusy), spicy tuna roll (my fav), spicy tuna pizza (basically spicy tuna on crispy rice), chicken wings, and salmon rice bowl. Love the presentation of the food as well :)
Review Source:I love Oto Oto! I was here since the beginning and it was the restaurant that was well needed in this area. The food is awesome, and their menu has expanded since the beginning. There are so many new items that I really wished they would add pictures cuz some of the, I have no idea what to expect unless you order it. There's one waitress there that has no personality or expressions whatsoever, I always pray I don't get her as our server. I'm so glad this place is packed on weekends and that they're opening more locations! Put TVs up along the walls to get people in for Happy Hour! Seating is nice n comfy!
Review Source:I recently went to Oto-Oto on Saturday night 5/25/13. I went with a group of friends and enjoyed the service as well as the food. Resonably priced, friendly, warm, and inviting. A nice cozy spot too for a couple or a night out with friends. I would highly recommend this place for sushi lovers!
Review Source:Been coming here for awhile now because it's one my sister's favorite restaurants. I gave a 2 star rating because we came here on Mother's day and the service was sub-par. Well, it basically boils down to the waitress forgetting my dad's order completely and out of everyone my step mom gets mad. She never gets mad AND especially on Mother's day of all days... The waitress didn't even admit to her mistake, and all she said was that she would check on it. We asked another waitress a second time and she said she would check with our waitress. That same waitress came back telling us that the order has been put on a "rush". So obviously that tells us she forgot the order. We all sat there forever waiting for my dad's order to come out. In the end, we thought that the waitress would at least comp my dad's meal for her mistake and kinda ruining our Mother's day lunch but nope it was still there and of course the automatic 18% tip...
My sister still likes this restaurant but we probably won't be coming back with the whole family.
I've been coming here for a while now. It is a nice place to have dinner and they have a pretty big menu. The best time to come is probably during happy hour; the drinks are cheap and there are a few snack items for happy hour as well. The only thing is their happy hour sake seems really weak. But they do have happy hour on the weekends just past dinner time probably around 10 o' clock so it seems like a good deal. Pretty chill place never too extremely packed either. Their yakitori is okay I do enjoy their fried vegetable chips-delicious! I come back here from time to time; it's a great place to hang out with friends.
Review Source:A measly three and a half stars for one of the best izakayas in LA? You guys are seriously kidding me? Come on, spoiled big city people, you think "rolls came standard with wasabi" and walk-in "8 people group waited for 60 minutes" are valid complaints? Well, then try finding good sushi in San Diego!
Anyhow, in my (humble, of course) opinion, Oto-Oto rocks! And here's why: not only do you get top quality food and service, a great menu selection and a hip New York style dining environment, but they like to innovate with the sushi rolls and the result are such masterpieces as the West Covina roll with mango and jalapeño and the Monrovia roll with mint, truffle oil and cucumber - delicious culinary creations you won't find anywhere else, even if you go to Japan.
And the comments about happy hour? Let's just say happy hour here lives up to its name. Don't forget to try the green tea crème brûlée.
Highly recommended.
Wide variety on the dinner menu. Â Stars include the wagyu beef and fish foie gras (ankimo liver), grilled bacon wrapped mochi (rice cake) yakitori, and beef and mushroom clay pot rice. Â The clay pot rice takes about 30 min. and is great as a last course to the meal because it gives a warm and filling feeling. Â The chicken karaage (fried chicken) is surprisingly crunchy and not super meaty like at other izakayas. The grilled pork tenderloin was so succulent... I was almost shocked.
The servers brought extra napkins and refilled the waters without us having to ask. Â When beers were finished, they dropped by to ask if we wanted more. Â When dishes were eaten, they took the empty plates away promptly.
Reasonable prices for happy hour. Â The lights get dim, and the music gets turned up.
Oto-Oto is awesome to have in this area of town because there are no other izakayas in the area. Â Most of them are in Little Tokyo, Sawtelle, or South Bay (Torrance, etc.). Â It's located amongst the Downtown Arcadia Huntington strip of Souplantation, Olive Garden, Claim Jumper, Black Angus, Red Lobster, and BJs. Â Anything different from a typical American family casual restaurant in this area is especially welcoming. Â Even the plaza that it is located in has a Baja Fresh, Daphne's and then old remnants of Macaroni Grill.
Good food. Â Great service. Â Large beer and beverage selection. Â And the bathroom is clean. Â And offers mouthwash for whatever reason you may need it for. Â Uh huh.
I wish Yelp could give me zero star option because this restaurant doesn't deserve a single star at all. And if you want to be seated and wait for hours when not in PEAK time, if you wanna hear rude receptionist murmured SH*T when you got mad and walked out the door, HERE YOU GO!
We got a 8 people group and waited for 60 mins and was told there was only one group before us. Since then we were in BIG TROUBLE... It was 20 mins after another 20 mins with no sign of any tables available. But receptionist kept telling us table would be ready soon. SERIOUSLY?! Finally we lost patience and asked whats going on, we didn't get a reasonable explanation and not even a single apology. THE MANAGER IS EVEN WORSE. HE TOLD US THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO SINCE WE WERE WALK-IN. WHAT THE HELL?
And here is the most hilarious thing happened at the end of story, when we finally gave up wasting time here and walked out the door, the girl murmured SHIT. When I returned to her and told her to watch her language, she acted like a OSCAR WINNER and denied what she just said. WTF? ARE YOU PULLING THE TRIGGER OF A WAR?!
I highly doubt those five stars reviews since I wonder if people actually could have a seat in this place... Here is my final tips, if you wanna eat, go somewhere else.
Oto-oto was pretty alright overall.
In regards to food, the place was fantastic. I really recommend the Calamari Crispy Roll for those who aren't completely comfortable with raw fish. Also, the mochi ice cream here is really good. I was impressed by the fact that the food didn't take too long at all, although it was a full house.
However, the service was pretty awkward. The place, although it was a full house, seemed pretty over-staffed - leading to confusion and miscommunication.
For example, after our waitress took orders for drinks, a second waitress came by asking what we'd like to drink. Also, I ordered a Sprite, but it was pretty awkward having four different waiters/waitresses trying to pour water in my cup of Sprite that wasn't even close to half-empty.
(And it's probably just me, but I found it awkward how they tended to butcher the "standard Japanese phrases")
So, yes. Great food, but awkward service.
Came here with a girl friend for dinner and we had just missed Happy Hour.
We got the following:
-Chawanmushi- Excellent. Smooth and flavorful. The flavors from the shrimp and chicken made the dish complete.
-Mochi Bacon- Pretty good, but I think I like it at other places more.
-Baby octopus karaage- This was too fried for me. It was really crispy and chewy. Now I know why other places just marinate and don't fry this...
-Enoki Beef Wrap- Great flavor, beef was ok and not too tender
-Kawa/Chicken Skin- Noms. What isn't to love about chicken skin with sauce on it?
-Sea bass- Cooked so its tender, pretty good.
-Ginger pork- surprisingly really good. Tender and thin slices of pork flavored well.
-Grilled Hamaguri clams- This was just ok. Nothing too special. Probably should have went for the one in a broth.
-Yakionigiri- didn't try this, but looked pretty good.
Service was excellent. Waitress was patient and explained everything, and gave us ample time to keep reordering when we had trouble picking what we wanted.
Price was decent at $22 per person before tax and tip if we split it evenly because we did have a good amount to eat. Food was okay overall. I would go back for Happy Hour but not for regular dinner. I would give this place a 3.5 stars since I'm sure there are better yakitori places out there.
One star review due to:
- horrible service, they were not attentive to seating us, serving us, or explaining to us that their rolls come standard with wasabi.
-Rolls come standard with wasabi and you get no warning to this fact. Waitress did not mention to us that you have to ask for no wasabi. Basically to me this means your fish sucks and is not fresh so you have to mask it with this spice/heat flavor.
-Overpriced menu, we ordered a large prawn dish, for $9.00 and we only got 1 prawn. Seriously? What a misleading menu. I can go buy half a pound or more of prawns for $9.00. The prawn didn't have any exceptional or heavenly flavor to justify the cost.
Overall horrible experience, no customer service, food is a disappointment, would never come back.
If I want yakitori or izakaya I'll go to hintori, at least I know I'm getting good service and I know the food is pretty good.
A Honda-ya type kind of place in Monrovia. It's in the same plaza as Daphnes. If you are coming from the West, it is more confusing since you kinda have to bust a U. Can't miss it, the name is big and blue.
Came here for dinner at 6pm on Saturday and didn't realize there was happy hour. So, of course, we ordered a ton of food from the happy hour menu.
What we ordered from Happy Hour Menu:
Lychee Sake-tini - watered down and no hint of lychee
Truffle oil edamame - anything truffle oil is pretty good
Spicy Trio Sushi Cones - Spicy salmon, tuna, and yellowtail in friend wonton skin cone. Pretty good.
Spicy Tuna Rice Pizza - um, its just spicy tuna on crispy rice, nothing special. It was ok, not great.
Vegetable Tempura Chips - very fried and drizzled with teriyaki soy sauce. The sweet potato pieces were good, but everything was all bunched together so you can't really pick it out. Some pieces were over fried. Different twist, good.
Tebasaki Karaage - chicken wings were average fried chicken wings with a terriyaki sauce drizzled on top.
Spicy Tuna Roll - average
Crunch roll - basically just shrimp tempura roll - nothing special or that great.
What we ordered off regular menu:
Rainbow Roll - average
Creamy scallop roll - average (fyi scallop is raw)
Yakitori:
Beef Wrapped Asparagus - a little tough and a little gamy
Chicken Meatball - tasted more cilantro and onion than chiicken
Chicken meatball with cheese - Â chicken meatball topped with mozarella
Overall - food was okay. I still prefer Honda-ya better.
Service - our waitress was very friendly and attentive but it was hard to flag her down when it got busy.
It was my first time here. If you are not familiar with the area you might miss it. It's located in the very back inside a plaza..the same plaza as Daphne's Greek food.
Not a very big place. They take reservations which is a good thing.
Everything tasted great. Took a long time for the food to come out though. Servers are friendly but slow. Maybe because it's a Saturday night.
They have a small..very small happy hour menu which is suppose to be from Mon-Fri but they honored it last night.
A few of the girls ordered drinks from the happy hour menu and they were super diluted so don't do it.
A must try: veggie chips!
I've been to a few sushi places and have had a lot of sushi. There is something that stands out about this place. They have a pretty big menu and a variety of sushi. They have quite a few rolls on there but not as many as you would think. I gave this place 5 stars for a few reasons. I'll start with the food and go from there.
Food:
Spicy Albacore Roll: This has to be the best albacore roll I have ever had. Â There is a slice of seared albacore on the top of the roll that is just awesome. I would come here just for that alone.
Spicy Tuna Roll: This one is pretty standard but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy it. The spicy tuna is one of the regular things I get.
Wagyu Beef Roll: This one is a bit different and that is mainly because of the Wagyu beef. It you haven't had Wagyu beef then I would be prepared for a different flavor than your normal beef. it is good but it takes some getting used to.
Dynamite Roll: This roll is a bit different than other dynamite rolls. Theirs has mushrooms on the top of it while covered in the dynamite sauce. It is pretty tasty actually even if it is a bit different.
I also recently had their sweet potatoes. I'll have to go back to get an accurate description since it isn't on their online menu.
I've been there for both lunch and dinner. The dinner service is a bit busier so I would either call ahead or be ready for a little bit of a wait. I went for lunch around 2 or 3pm and there wasn't a wait at all.
I was attended to each time in a timely manner and my waitresses were really sweet. I look forward to going back again.
After researching new sushi places to eat around Arcadia, yelpers lead me to Oto-Oto in Monrovia. My cousin and I arrived early to avoid the dinner rush and we got seated right away. The waitress gave us the menu and proceeded to serve the surrounding tables. She came back to take our order about 7 minutes later, she didn't ask us if we had any questions or needed any recommendations. We ordered a agedashi tofu, Jr Tonkotsu ramen, Monrovia roll, Rainbow roll, spider roll Hatsu (Chicken heart yakatori), 2 Beef tongue yakatori, and wagyu beef yakatori.
The sushi rolls were mediocre at best. The rainbow roll was lacking in creaminess and freshness. I was really disappointed that they couldn't get even the most basic roll down. The spider roll was not good and it had chunks of carrots in the middle instead of julienned carrots and they used too many radishes in the middle. The Monrovia roll was also unsatisfying because the mint over powered the sweetness of the cucumber.
My cousin ordered the Jr Tonkotsu ramen and she said the ramen was too salty and the noodle were undercooked and they served the hard boiled egg cold.
Throughout the dinner, our waitress only came by 4 times, first time was to take our order, second time to take another order of the yakatori, thrid time to give us a to-go container and lastly to give me the check. During these times, not once did she refill my drink. When I asked her to refill my drink, she only brought it when she brought the check.
The bill with tax and tip came out to $44 per person. For that price, I would have wished for a better experience, better service from the kitchen and also the waitress and finally much better quality sushi.
Overall, I would not come here and I would recommend everyone else to try Mountain View sushi or Yoshida. BEWARE, if the kitchen is busy they will serve you under cooked yakatori. I ordered the hatsu (chicken hearts) 2 time during my meal, the first time it was cooked perfectly, but the second time it was still raw.
We came here on a Friday night for dinner and the hostess wasn't too friendly, but we got a table easily. Interesting decor with a lounge-y, yet casual ambience -- reminds of a real izakaya in Japan, a nice place to go drinking and hang out after a stressful day at work. We took a long time reading the menu, as it's incredibly vast, but with the help of our server, we got the hang of it pretty quickly.
Combination Yakitori -- $10 <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oto-oto-izakaya-japonaise-monrovia-2?userid=3KK7L2Q6NMfJA1Ky4Ntmdg#CVTnvwH1hsIli2XuoNJ6OA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
This is definitely not their specialty and I wouldn't recommend ordering anything from the Yakitori menu. The combination includes an assortment of meats (chicken, pork, etc.) but lacked overall flavor.
Spicy Tuna Rice Pizza -- $6 <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oto-oto-izakaya-japonaise-monrovia-2?userid=3KK7L2Q6NMfJA1Ky4Ntmdg#kkmrfexW6O5qWR2-nYMx5Q">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
Essentially spicy tuna on crispy rice. Yummy and comparable to Gin Sushi.
California Roll -- $8 <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oto-oto-izakaya-japonaise-monrovia-2?userid=3KK7L2Q6NMfJA1Ky4Ntmdg#6BkLPpPy-q75Tg84nSYqKQ">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
Better than average. They use real snow crab!!! Kudos.
Dynamite Roll -- $11 <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oto-oto-izakaya-japonaise-monrovia-2?userid=3KK7L2Q6NMfJA1Ky4Ntmdg#biYH_oeIcNJREHp-QQKmHg">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
I'd pass on this next time. It had mushrooms (ew) and lacked the strong Japanese mayonnaise flavor I'm so used to in other Dynamite rolls I've had.
Tonkatsu Miso Ramen -- $8 <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oto-oto-izakaya-japonaise-monrovia-2?userid=3KK7L2Q6NMfJA1Ky4Ntmdg#5g2ABhlBUkouswVSw08PBA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
I got the junior size and it's a nice addition to an entree. Noodles were good, not too hard or soft, quite chewy!
Premium Sashimi Platter -- $45 <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oto-oto-izakaya-japonaise-monrovia-2?userid=3KK7L2Q6NMfJA1Ky4Ntmdg#XryDPbpMsynXvnCPC_IWtw">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
I believe this included 24 pieces of sashimi (the regular platter only has 14 pieces). I don't know my fish, so look at my pictures to see what was included (the only thing I remember is Toro). They also throw in the shrimp heads, which we requested to come in Miso soup <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oto-oto-izakaya-japonaise-monrovia-2?userid=3KK7L2Q6NMfJA1Ky4Ntmdg#iR5uu-rj4n01SMLn34_EVA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>.
Tempura Ice Cream -- $5
While it was yummy, the majority of it the ice cream was melting on the inside... which meant they left the ice cream frying too long. No bueno!
For the three of us, it was about $100 for food and drinks, so the price isn't too bad. Their Happy Hour doesn't seem that great to me, as it seems like most drinks and starters are only on average $2 off. I like the food and ambience, so I would definitely come back for dinner or with a large group.
Wow, my wife and I love this place! Â The first time we went last month was absolutely Amazing. Â It was my wife's birthday and our waitress Karnnia gave us the best recommendations for different dishes to order. Â Every one of her suggestions was perfect and soooo delicious. Â We just got back from our second visit tonight and it was just as yummy. Â Some of our favs are Yakitori chicken heart, Wagyu beef with salt, and the grilled Saba. Â We also had the best Sweet Potato ice-cream.
We will be coming back for sure! Â Thanks Karnnia for all your scrumptious advice; Â You Rock:) and Oto-Oto is one of our new favorite restaurants.
December 2, 2012- I found this place last minute for my Birthday Dinner with my family. Wow...this place not only LOOKED awesome, this place IS awesome! On a rainy Sunday, for my #27th year of life, I finally found a place that isn't gorgeous, but a place nearby that is worth the money! Okay, so here it goes....I arrived to dinner and my mum and sis ordered the mochi, green tea ice cream, and red bean paste. OMG...this is THE BEST mochi ice cream fused with red bean I have ever tasted! I wanted more, but it's pretty pricy...$4.95 for a scoop of ice cream, four mochi balls, and a small pool of red bean.
Next, I ordered the Monrovia Roll. What is this Monrovia roll, you say? Well, instead of rolling your sushi with the seaweed...it's rolled with CUCUMBER!!!!! Wha-da-heeel? I was so excited to eat it that I destroyed the gorgeous roll and ate the long-thinly-sliced cucumber first, then the sushi rice, and then the advocado and the sashmi! Obviously, I took in the whole experience on the next pieces.
After that, we thought...MAN, WE'LL STILL BE HUNGRY after the next roll! Well...what I didn't tell you is that before I arrived, my sis and mum already ordered a clay pot that will take 40-minutes to prepare...so they ordered it wayyy in advance before I arrived. But, we'll get back to that in a few.
So, after worrying about our tummies, the next roll came in...I totally forgot what fish it was....but GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY! Outside the roll, instead of the traditional sesame (that I despise) it was rolled with crushed nuts. Wha-dahhhh! OMG...I couldn't get enough of THIS dish! I thought the Monrovia Roll was amazing...but after I placed this piece of heaven in my mouth....I SWEAR TO YOU I gave a deep sigh along with the two hands patting and rubbing my thighs. YES! Yes...it was THAT GOOD!
Again, all us ladies are still worried because our last dish is the CLAY POT. I though of asking the waitress for the menu, until.....IT CAME!
The waitress brought out, with both hands, the clay pot. It was huge...for some reason, I was thinking of the Korean Tofu soup clay pots. But this one.....this one is four times that size. She warned us that the pot and it's contents are extremely hot. She opened the pot, and the AROMA....oh! The aroma was rediculous! She mixed the rice up, dumped in some Japanese ingredient and scooped up two scoops of rice and whatever orgasmic ingredients were in there.
She said, I hope everyone's hungry....
Obviously, we were smiling at her because she's so sweet and funny.
She gave us our bowls and....MMMMMmmmmmmMMMmmmmm.....Softshell Crab! My sis told me about this order, and I love my softshell crab. Since both mom and sis never had it...I'm glad they ordered it. The ingredients...I wish I knew what was in it because I can taste saffron and some other spices that gave the spicy flavor that isn't too overpowering.
Guess what? We.WERE.FULL! We each had two bowls of the rice from the clay pot and devored it! After about ten or so minutes, the waitress came back and said, "How was it?" As she looks down and opens the lid....she gave this huge, "WHOA-HO-HO!"
So, this isn't me exaggerating, but the food there is amazing. I just wished my smartphone was smarter. It didn't allow me to upload any of those photos I had taken just for YOU, the reader(s).
But...Go if you want GREAT JAPANESE FOOD!
T'was a great 27th Birthday, indeed. It was great after I spend my pre-birthday in K-Town for SOJU and Karaoke!
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