Izakaya Dongame

I saw this restaurant on an Instagram Reel and thought it would be a great place to eat. Unfortunately, I was mistaken...It started out great with the offering of the hand towels and then went downhill from there. First of all the service definitely needs some attention as there was a lack of it. Learn to read your customers a little better and stay on top of their dining experience.The food was so so and I think they put too much on presentation rather than taste. We started with the 5-stick yakitori comprised of beef, pork belly, scallops, eel and mackerel. They were decent but cooking them on a gas BBQ rather than traditional charcoal loses a lot of that traditional flavor I was expecting, especially for the price. The seafood mix was excellent! I should have ordered two and would be happy as a clam. The broth was delicious. The potato salad was something I wanted to try from the video. Now that was good as well. The presentation with edible flowers was a nice touch.I will say that the restaurant had no life. There wasn't any ambient music. The staff seemed bored and not at all interested in dealing with the customers. Just take the order and deliver the food. That's not a good recipe to build any restaurant business.Ambiance 5/10Service 5/10Cleanliness 8/10Food 7/10Value 4/10Bathrooms 9/10Will I Return? With Little Tokyo and other Japanese restaurants within a 10 minute drive, not likely.

Didn't really expect much because it seemed like it was new and was just popping in for few drinks but their food was actually not too bad. We had the sashimi specials and surprisingly they were very fresh and fairly good quality. Also had yakisoba, karaage and chicken fried rice and they all weren't bad! Only wish the portions were slightly bigger for what we pay for. Also good drinks selection I enjoyed my lemon tower shochu. It'd be great if they added happy hours but would come back to try out their yakitori options!

5/5 stars!5 assorted yakitori + scallop were incredible! Can't wait to return for more. Indigo Cow next door is a bonus - equally delicious!!

If you've been to or are from Japan you won't think this place is authentic or worth the price. It is not bad but not what we expected as it says it is from Japan. Maybe good for happy hour.I did come the first week they opened so hoping their flavors improve over time.

First of all, I want to preface that this place opened very recently so I'm sure they're still working out all the kinks. With that said, my experience was very mid and I don't feel inclined to come back.Lemon Shochu $10- they give you two halves of a lemon and a small juicer with a glass of shochu. I think this is supposed to be a fun wow factor like 'this is so fresh!' but the lemon was hard to squeeze, there were more than 12 seeds in just one whole lemon, and it did not mix well/just kept sinking to the bottom of the glass. Super underwhelming and I have to get my hands sticky. Don't try if you already had a few drinks or don't have any grip strength to do it yourself.Calpico Shochu $10- Not that much calpico in the drink, kinda watery alcohol taste. Waitress recommended and I'm sure maybe it's good for her but I would skip this.Sprite $4-my sister wanted it.7 type assorted yakitori $42-The thing is, we ordered this first and got it last because it was accidentally given to another table. Waitress kindly apologized but the original plate was served to us so it was already cold since the pieces are small. At least it would have been nice if they remade it or heated it back on the grill but for the price and value this was the worst. Nothing was noteworthy. Unagi was maybe interesting but everything else was whatever. Chicken tender and thigh was dry but also it was just sitting out so of course it was. Beef short ribs each piece were the size and shape of chicken heart lol. Instead of asparagus, they gave us enoki by mistake. (Actually ordered asparagus wrapped with pork and enoki wrapped with pork separately from the 7 yakitori so that is additional $6 each)Japanese style pork and chicken gyoza $7- honestly not bad. It says pan fried section of the menu but I'm pretty sure these were deep fried. They are a bit on the small side but there were six pieces and it was crispy.Deep fried takoyaki $8- taste of Osaka? Aren't these kanto style? It's well seasoned and plated nicely, only thing is that they were the doughiest and most dense takoyaki I've ever had before. Crispy rice with spicy tuna $8- you get four pieces, and it was pretty good. Not spicy at all (could be more spicy would be nice) and there is some hidden masago.Total damage was $128.77 either before or after 18% tip I forget. I don't think it was worth it but also they were super busy so I think timing matters maybe. I went around 6:30pm on a Friday. Also I like when they give you a little thing to dispose your skewers but they have a bunch of random different sized ceramic plates that are cute but so inefficient and you can see where all the oil rolled around the plate getting from the kitchen to the table. Maybe make it easier/lighter/more stackable for the server and kitchen with something more standardized.Parking in the behind lot was only 25 cents per 30 minutes so I only paid $1 for two hours which is amazing in LA.

I've never been to Osaka, or any place in Japan for that matter, but I have been to most of the izakaya places in LA and this place is right there with them. Is it the best? No. Is it the worst? Not by a long shot. The food was well seasoned & meats tender. I even enjoyed the unagi and mackerel, ordering both the two times I visited -- and I don't even like either normally. Portion sizes were just enough, especially if you order a varied number of items. The okonomiyaki and potato salad are "must order" items for my every visit now. Service by everyone, not just our waitress, was always friendly, helpful, and attentive. Critiques. Even though they were satisfyingly crunchy, I felt that the deep-fried skewers are a little heavy on the breading. One of the chicken skewers was slightly undercooked. A little more protein on the sushidogs relative to the amount of rice wouldn't have hurt. Lastly, the bathrooms were very clean. Seriously, I wouldn't mind an epidemic of clean bathrooms sweeping across restaurants spurred on by signs to shame/guilt trip people. Really, who complains about bathroom signage?

Unfortunately, I don't think this place is going to make it. Food is extremely underseasoned and service was slow. It didn't taste too authentic in the sense that everything we ordered almost catered to its demographic. Honestly the food was just terrible all around. I'll just say one thing about everything we got. Interesting take to go with a tomato and bacon for a skewer. Okonomiyaki could use more cabbage and less cake. Rice was rice. The restrooms also were full of reminders to keep the bathroom clean... not sure if I cared for that. I think I saw 5 labels to remember to keep it clean. Sorry but if you're looking for an izakaya place for food, don't come here. If you're here for the vibes then sure.

After reading previous reviews, I was a bit hesitant to come to this place, but I thought it was pretty good. I ordered the gyoza, takoyaki balls, garlic butter chicekn fried rice, karaage, and yakitori (chicken thigh, pork belly, and short rib) all for around $60. It was very filling even being shared between 2 people. I thought all of the food was delicious besides the short rib yakitori.The only thing I was ??? was them having a section called "Sushidog".

Ok i dont know what's up with the mid reviews but this place is bomb. Super clean, good vibes, kind staff and most importantly great food. Everything we tried was delicious. Ima break it down: Garlic fried rice 10/10 a must! The umami flavor in this hitsPork/chicken gyoza 8/10 crispy and delicious Veggie tempura fritter 7/10 the veg are shredded and fried. Flavor is good but texture for me personally was ok. Scallop yakitori in soy butter 9/10 cooked perfectly Short rib yakitori 10/10 great flavor cooked perfectly Unagi yakitori 10/10 my fave we tried Will definitely return and try more things. Absolutely recommend this business.

Food was amazing for its price! Ambiance is very mellow and has a lot of open space. Service was amazing! Ask for Andrea! She was very accommodating. Parking is available on the street or parking lot behind. Really affordable and definitely can't wait to go back.