Shin-Sen-Gumi Chanko - Gardena

Have tried the different hot pots here. It does take awhile for the food to arrive because everything is being boiled. There's enough food for at least 4 people.1. Spicy motsu: Was expecting something more like the motsu nabe at Hachi but this one has a more miso type flavor. Very rich. Adding rice at the end might be good idea.2. Original chanko: comes with shrimp and meat. This reminds me of nabeyaki udon. I love nabeyaki udon. This really hits the spot. Would get this again next time. 3. Hakata mizutaki: comes with chicken meat and meatball. not a fan of the meatballs but the soup is more flavorful near the end.Usually will take the rest home and add extra veggies and meat for an extra meal. It's usually not as busy as the Yakitori place next door and you can order yakitori in addition to the chanko which is a plus. Definitely the place is a plus for the colder season. The staff is great as well and always attentive.

Ambiance 3/5: very tiny and packed establishment, certain tables were put right next to the door, disturbing and not so convenient for dinersService 1/5: CARELESS and totally absent-minded, the waitress made the same mistake twice; UNDERSTAFFED, it's so hard to get attention from the servers, and they tend to ignore your request; absolutely SLOW, it took almost one hour to get the food after placing the order Food 2/5: menu photos are very misleading, what you would get is not what's showing on the menu Original Chanko Hot Pot - *** Chanko soup was light taste Shrimp - ** so very fresh Salted Kurobuta Pork - * on the menu thinly sliced fresh pork, what you got thick cut frozen meat Chicken Meatballs - **** tender and juicy, recommend Assorted Vegetables - *** average Deep-Fried Tofu - *** average Tofu - *** average Price 3/5: stingy portions and overpriced for the quantity and quality, about $30 per person Overall, I won't recommend this place to friends and family. I used to like shin-sen-gumi a lot more and it had been the to go places for Japanese food in the area, but nowadays the quality of their food and service went downhills and became very disappointing.

Shinsengumi Chanko specializes in food that is associated with feeding Sumo- wrestlers, the most famous being Chanko Nabè which is a hot pot containing Dashi/broth from dried Katsuo/bonito or chicken. All sorts of Japanese vegetables such as Daikon, etc. & To-fu. Rich in protein there is usually chicken, fish, sometimes beef. Chanko Nabè is not in itself fattening, but the mega doses of Nabè, rice, beer, noodles cooked in the Nabè broth eaten by Sumo- wrestlers make for rib sticking food. Ergo, the décor is mostly Sumo- based decorative motif such as autographs & hand prints, photos of champions, posters, placards, etc. Shinsengumi offered Seiro- Mushi at a discount around Fathers' day so we opted for this unusual dish that is rare in Socal. Culinarily, Mushi refers to steaming. Seiro- Mushi is steamed in a traditional Hinoki wood box that uses no nails for its construction. The bottom is made of narrow bamboo slats that let the steam pass through from the pan of boiling water below to cook the ingredients. Thinly sliced fatty, meat pork belly, Shimeji mushrooms, To-fu, big tiger shrimp, okra, zucchini, purple Okinawa sweet potato, red bell, Japanese eggplant, cherry tomatoes, Japanese pumpkin, sweet white corn, okra, cabbage, Nappa cabbage, asparagus, snap pea, eggy Chawan Mushi/Japanese egg custard soup. All the above was steamed in the box w/ the top on for 20 minutes. While we waited, we ordered Orion beer from the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa which is a refreshing lager w/ toasty sweetness, bit of acidity, light bitter hops. Seiro- Mushi is the ultimate heath food since it is vegetable based using only steam to cook the entire dish. Dipping sauce is Ponzu which has Dashi based soy sauce, Japanese rice vinegar, touch of citrus for fruity gastrique. Grated Daikon, chopped green onion, their house made Yuzu Kosho-, which is piquant green chile, Japanese citrus zest, sea salt, can be added for different taste variations. They also have other menus that do not follow the traditional Sumo- based menu. Also, you can order the Yakitori from next door. Service is quiet, understated, competent unlike enthusiastic yelling & noise making by the staff that can be heard from next door at Shinsengumi Yakitori. Overall, 4- Yep stars.

Shin-Sen-Gumi Chanko offers Japanese BBQ at night which was AMAZING! We had 2x for $60 which included ( salad, bean sprout , kimchi , potato salad , ox tail soup and variety of bomb Japanese BBQ. The food was delic and our waiter Yusuke and Justin made our night! This spot made us feel like we're in Japan with the quality and customer serviceP.S try the Yuzu sauce + lemon with the BBQ

Loved this place! If you want yo eat hear, come early when they open at 5pm. Each guest is allowed 90 minutes to eat, with the clock starting when the mest is served. We waited for about 45 minutes being our first time, but it was worth it! Fresh meat and vegetables. We had the tonkatsu and sukiyaki broth in a split pot. Soooo tasty! Broth becomes richer with more food items cooked. We will definitely be back again.

I love JAPANESE hot pot foodServers are friendly and room is cozy I would love to go there anytime

Decided to try something random tonight. I loved the food, it was small portions but I actually got full. Loved the cucumber and beef skewers!! Delicious. It was cozy and enjoyable and quite the experience.

I eat like a Sumo! If you do, then eat here too!A Sumo..Yup, sure do. Kudos to Maggie C. for telling me about this place. A unique experience to say the least. I have to say I was a bit surprised. When I got here, I went into SSG Yakitori thinking it was the same. It is the same except this is the other side. It has its own address and entrance.Sit on the floor and let the grub begin!This is your own private room. They knock before entering and treat you like you are a king.Hot Chicken Broth, Chicken, Veggies, Ramen..Good. No, Great! The broth was fantastic. TIP..Order a coke or beer. Either goes great with this meal.Take you time. No hurries and no worries. They leave you to be. A nice break from the distresses of everyday LA living.

Overall, very good, reasonably priced skewers. However the portion sizes of certain skewers is a little small.FoodPrimarily skewers. I ordered a yakitori bowl (3 chicken skewers on rice) for a very reasonable price of $7 on Tuesday ($10 normally). It was two normal, decent yakitori skewers with one chicken meatball thing which I wasn't a huge fan of.They also have another menu on paper which is for ordering skewers by themselves (no rice). We weren't handed this menu at first, we had to request one. Most skewers on this menu cost $2.25 each. I highly recommend the pork belly skewer.The only downside is that the skewers are quite small. For reference, the pork belly skewer was not thick at all. I still believe that it is tasty enough to justify the price, but if you are looking for somewhere to stuff yourself for relatively cheap, perhaps look elsewhere. ServiceIt seems like this place is run somewhat Japanese style. In other words, the waiters will expect you to tell them to come to your table instead of the other way around. Its not necessarily a bad thing, it's just different and probably not what many people expect (hence the salty people complaining about service).Staff was friendly, willing to combine tables for our party of 5. Very polite, no issues.VerdictWould I come here again? Yes.

We ordered the $60 hotpot set menu, they gave us the $50 hotpot meat on purpose and charged us for the more expensive version. The shrimp was super tiny and not the more expensive head on shrimp that was pictured. It was not enough for 2 people, much less the 3 people it was advertised for. One of the younger male staff was eating in the background and was loudly playing a youtube video on speakers, which made it hard to focus on the meal and hear our own conversation. A really terrible dining experience overall, would not recommend to anyone else.