Seoul Sausage Little Tokyo Is Open, But Very Different from the Original

Just a quick note to say that Seoul Sausage Company opened up this week in Little Tokyo. I can’t believe it’s been three years since I first posted about them. They’ve since become a fixture on Sawtelle and haven’t changed much.

But this new joint is different. Really different. The food is much the same, with a few new dishes. But there is a full bar. And table service. And prices to match.

I was expecting a quick takeout place like the old place, which was almost like a stationary food truck (per its roots). I wasn’t expecting a $28 kalbi dish or everything to be over $10. Or not an easy way to place a takeout order.

Anyways, I’ll report back when I try it. Hopefully, they’ll make lunch a more casual affair.

Seoul Sausage Company

236 S. Los Angeles St. Suite G

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Demitasse Pastry Update — Sugarbloom

It has been a very long time since I’ve done a Demitasse pastry update. I thought I’d take the opportunity to highlight the fact that they carry Sugarbloom pastries now, which are pretty great, and reflect back on Demitasse briefly.

Snociety — When Did Everyone Decide They Liked Poke?



Apparently everyone had a meeting over the last few months and decided that Hawaiian poke is the best thing ever. Little Tokyo got the memo and Snociety is set to debut soon.

Creative Destruction and Destructive Construction in Little Tokyo



A cornerstone of Little Tokyo, the Galleria, is undergoing huge changes. The last couple years have seen new tenants come in, and now they are doing some changes to the facade.

Does this mean the end of the fortress mall in the 90013?

A Rash of Closures in Little Tokyo

For all the hype the Little Tokyo food scene has gotten in the last few years, there has been a surprising number of closures recently. Fierce competition and rising rents seem to be taking their toll on an area where a lot of ambitious chefs took a chance.

Saddest of all is the closure of Bryant Ng’s Spice Table.

Who else has fallen and can’t get up?

U-Space — Ukeleles and Coffee! Yet another reason to never go to Starbucks

Ukeleles and good coffee? You may never have put the two together, but this below-the-radar spot in Little Tokyo will make you realize the genius of the combination.

Mama Musubi Pop-Up in Little Tokyo – 3/7-15

Aburiya Toranoko has partially given way to Mama Musubi, a rice ball stand that is usually at the Altadena Farmer’s Market. It’s not life-changing, but I definitely recommend stopping in for lunch this week for a great value lunch.

Almost Last Call for the Spice Table

It’s not done yet, but it is now certain that Bryant Ng is closing the doors on the Spice Table and moving west. if you’ve been putting off trying some of the best and most innovative Southeast Asian flavors in the city, hustle, son. They’ll be closed by early 2014. The date is unclear, but I wouldn’t count on waiting until January.

Fruit Farm – a Juice and Sandwiches Place in Little Tokyo

Another new place opens up in Little Tokyo, this time in the fortress of solitude — the Little Tokyo Galleria Center. The owners are doing their best to turn this ghost town mall around by bringing in a bowling alley, a Koreatown coffee shop, a high end dim sum place, etc. The newest opening is on the sadly half-vacant first floor, next to the froyo place, Boba on Top, and the Beard Papa.

Fruit Farm is a juice and sandwiches place — the kind of healthy, fresh place that is abundant in the Financial District, but not in Little Tokyo. So is it any good?

Bento Man Is Here — Isn’t What Little Tokyo Needs a Place That Makes Bentos?

Little Tokyo has been deprived for decades of the one thing its traditionally Japanese clientele has craved . . . Japanese food for lunch. What a cruel twist of fate that in a place famous for sushi bars, Karaoke, and handmade mochi would not contain a single lacquered wood compartmentalized box that could hold rice, teriyaki, and/or tempura.

Well, wipe away those tears, Little Tokyo, because Bento Man is coming.

* UPDATE *

1) Bento Man is open.
2) Uh, this is embarrassing. I didn’t notice that this is taking the place of La Chicken. So, no more Lexus chicken. Hopefully, these bentos will taste like Lexus.
3) interior pictures below