Where To Take Your Date In Little Tokyo, Vol. 2
345 E. 2nd Street (in Little Tokyo)
Phone: 213-680-0344 | map | website

As is to be expected in much of Little Tokyo, Teishokuya of Tokyo is also responsible for another of our dinner destinations, Joy Mart. If Joy Mart is the darkly dressed, jazzy den of sensuousness, T.O.T. is the spartan, sunnier younger sister. Tucked between the Popkiller store and Hama Sushi, T.O.T. serves us best as a lunch stop or a quiet dinner, ranging across the Japanese culinary spectrum.

Inside are thick pillars and round paper lanterns, eggshell contrasting against brown, with Japanese paintings in miniature stoically ignoring the disco beats thumping from hidden speakers. The booths feel private and intimate.

While repetitive dish names usually make me cringe, the Tuna Tuna Bowl is one of my favorites here. Tuna and spicy tuna, lightly seared and striped with wasabi mayonnaise, is heaped on chopped greens and rice, all white and pink and sparking with taste and texture. The pork cutlet, deep-fried and reposing between rich brown curry sauce and white rice is quite good, although I daresay less inspired than that of the Curry House.

In summer I find their bamboo platter of cold buckwheat soba noodles is refreshing; the dipping sauce brisk and not salty. T.O.T. also handles soup dishes properly, especially the pan-stewed udon noodles, hidden in broth beneath tempura shrimp, spinach, chicken, mushroom, fish cakes, and egg, served with sansai rice. Bianca declares the udon very good and not overdone.

Their sake selection is brief but comprehensive; a bottle of Urakasumi junmai is a pleasantly dry accompaniment for T.O.T.'s crisp interior, presented in an ice-filled bowl with an indentation made for laying the bottle's neck down.