Midtown Lunch

Stars aligned?  Cycles converged? Hell, maybe the restaurants peed in the same fountain (sorry, bad “The Change Up” reference.)  Not sure what sort of cosmic event has caused this, but Hannosuke, the excellent tempura spot in West LA’s Mitsuwa market food court, and Ichimiann, the totally-worth-drive-to-Torrance soba specialist, have made mirror image changes to their menu.

Hannosuke has been slowly adding to and changing their menu since opening a little over a year ago. What started as two options has now grown to over 10, and the latest might be one of the best.  You can now get zaru soba (the cold dipping noodles version) along with your tendon bowl… and the best parts is, it’s only $9.  The bowl is smaller than the regular order, obviously, but you still get two shrimp, a shishito pepper, a piece of pumpkin and a piece of eggplant, along with a pretty great plate of soba.  It’s a ton of food for the price, and the soba is good enough to make it worth giving up some of that valuable tempura room in your stomach.

In a weird twist of coincidence Ichimiann Bamboo Garden in Torrance has also made some big changes. Last month they expanded, taking over the place next door to expand their dining room (if you could call the counters along the wall a “dining room”) which makes the drive to Torrance even that much more worth it since you now know there’s a more of a chance of getting a seat. In the dining room they hung signs announcing new tempura options and last week they finally started serving them.  In addition to all their mind boggling array of soba options, they now serve a $10 tenpura-don bowl, a $13 deluxe tendon bowl, and the best value: a lunch special small tempura rice bowl with hot or cold soba.

In the lunch special tempura bowl you get three shrimp, sweet potato, eggplant and fried parsley. It’s also a ton of food, but is the tempura as good as Hannosuke?  Not even close, but it makes for the perfect combo if you’re in the mood for a little bit of tempura with your great bowl of soba.

And if you want great tempura with some decent soba?  Then it’s Hannosuke for you.

Hannosuke, 3760 S Centinela Ave, Los Angeles. 310-397-4676
Ichimiann, 1618 Cravens Ave., Torrance. 310-328-1323 (Closed on Tuesday)