Izakaya Restaurants near Encino, CA

“Traditional Japanese izekaya. Daily specials. A definite must try.“

“心の居酒屋です🏮 モツなべなど　博多メニュー充実“

“Best seafood and Japanese food I've ever had in my life — not exaggerating. The freshest seafood you'll ever taste. I brought multiple people here and they agree I'm not exaggerating. The quality is unlike anything else in LA. Everything is incredible but the raw seafood gets the most special shoutout.“

“I love this place! The food is fantastic! And I’m a regular for a reason 😉“

“Found this restaurant in March and just returned for Mother’s Day dinner xoxoxo Great quality food and drinks, very pleasant staff!!! Authentic Japanese food items plus a touch of personality of its own makes their menu awesome and unique. We will come back for many many more.“

“Hidden gem. Noticeably high quality ingredients and great service. Even my Korean mom, who is germaphobic and difficult to impress, enjoyed her meal very much. Will be coming here again.

We ordered the oyster/uni (!), the baked scallop roll (!), the chirashi bowl, the sea cucumber, and the spicy japan scallop roll. Everything tasted fantastic and we didn't leave a single grain of rice.

In my opinion, it's rare to encounter Japanese food in America that I end up loving. Every raw ingredient looked and tasted fresh. Uni here was creamy, the green tea was well-steeped, and the sesame seeds on the spicy japan roll were aromatic.

I highly recommend that you come here for a special occasion or whenever you crave extremely FRESH Japanese food.“

“Delicious food, fun atmosphere and very affordable! Always a great time!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“

“Intimate atmosphere with the best fish, vegetables and pickled vegetables. Like being in Japan.“

“Northern Chinese cuisine is so good! We were in the mood for some good dumplings and noodle, and I remembered that I wanted to try this restaurant Northern Cafe right by CSUN.

It's a nice, spacious restaurant with plenty of booths and windows. The staff were friendly and the food came out on time, so that's a plus there.

Now when it came to our meal, we definitely enjoyed everything that we ordered. We started out with Garlic Chicken Wings and Popcorn Chicken (not spicy at all, but delicious), and they both were great starters, especially if you like having the saltier side of your fried chicken. The Popcorn Chicken is almost addicting and it's easy to finish it before you know it.

Then out comes the House Special Beef Noodle Soup which I think is almost a mandatory must-have. I did wish I went with hand-pulled noodles instead of the regular noodle, but you can't go wrong with any of their noodle options. The broth was, warm, calming, and steeped in the wonderful aromatic beef flavor, while the noodle and beef were cooked to near perfection. Add some (or a lot) of chili oil, and you have yourself some noodle nirvana!

The handmade Juicy Pork Dumplings may be hot (caution), but slurping the hot soup out of them was half the fun! They were well made and were just a treat. 8 pieces are plenty to start so they're not stingy with their portions.

Finally, the Angus Beef Fried Rice was our last dish and it was quite good although it fell a bit short compared to the other dishes. It's not that it was not tasty, it just wasn't as tantalizing and was a bit more one-note and could have uses a bit more kick in the flavors.

All in all though, I'm looking forward to coming back to try more of their menu!“

“This spot is amazing and I have never had a bad experience here. Servers are all nice and attentive and the sushi is top tier. They do not stuff you with rice and add a tiny piece of protein on top like other spots do. You really get great rice to protein ratios here.

All the rolls and shareables are phenomenal. It gets busy and there is a wait to be seated, but it's worth it, and to me that is a great sign. Busy is good for restaurants.

Sometimes the servers do get overwhelmed and forget a roll you ordered, but as soon as you bring it to their attention it's a very quick fix.

Highly recommend eating here!“

“While the ramen is quite good, try their other non-ramen offerings. Katsu curry rice is very good here (katsu pork was prepared perfectly and curry flavorful) as well as their gyudon (beef over rice). Service as fast, friendly and attentive and the dining area was very clean. Value for the meal is excellent especially for West LA! Cannot recommend enough!“

“❤️❤️ this place. Spicy Rayu Ramen is hubby's favorite (he orders a side of White Rice to dip into the ramen). I tried the Yakisoba (no broth) and loved it. Very flavorful and the veggies had good crunch. Service is professional and courteous.“

“Shoutout to our server Danny for being so friendly, and accommodating. We asked for a few extra things that were weird asks because I’m pregnant and he didn’t say no, but figured out a way to make it happen.

The food is also very fast and delicious and the presentation was on point. This is our favorite sushi spot in our neighborhood by far.“