Saijo, Gushi, and Heng Heng Chicken Rice

Saijo

plus Gushi and Heng Heng Chicken Rice

Galbi plate at Gushi in Westwood is always generous.

Hi coworkers (and coworkers' son)!

Heng Heng Chicken Rice 2 in a sleepy little corner of Hawthorne.

Part of the menu.

Chicken broth was delicious.

Dark meat chicken with garlic rice.

Chicken was just a tad dry, but portion was massive and overall excellent.

Inside. Done up for the holidays.

8th gen Maxima all fixed up in Stillen's ricer parts?

Guessing that is a Z1 retrofitted Nissan 350Z/G35 BBK, I think those fit out of the box.

Time for corn.

E85 may have many drawbacks but at least it's cheap.

Tank was almost empty, ended up with E72.

1963 Chevy Impala. Clean.

Saijo Hand Roll in Culver City.

Newly opened as of two days ago.

Inside just after 5:00pm. Menu.

Menu.

Miso soup and edamame were both good.

Toro hand roll is a strong opener.

But a bit conventional, at least with regard to the local hand roll scene.

Salmon hand roll pretty decent.

Blue crab hand roll is quality, but not quite my favorite.

Signature hand roll is shrimp, blue crab, imitation crab (?), cucumber.

Negima (chicken thigh and green onion) yakitori.

Shrimp yakitori.

Oyster mushroom yakitori.

Tsukune (chicken meatball) yakitori.

Daily special uni, stupid expensive. (tasty but short of amazing)

Second daily special, botan ebi, not as tasty as the uni, but also not nearly as expensive.

Quite full after 6pm. Best to show up before 5:40pm or 5:45pm.

ChocoVivo is next door.

European style hot chocolate, 80%, nearly pure.

Inside is quite modest.

Fooding roundup... quick dinner with coworkers at an old standby, Gushi. Their galbi is not the highest quality, but it's a very substantial portion and quite tasty all things considered. Always good to catch up as well!

Lunch the next day at Heng Heng Chicken Rice 2. Hainan chicken could have been a tad more moist, but overall was very good. Chicken broth with melon was superb. Garlic rice a nice touch as well, and for a sleepy strip mall this was an unexpected gem (and again, a substantial portion!).

Finally, dinner at the newly opened Saijo Hand Roll in Culver City. There's a bunch of hand roll places now, Saijo seems to have the most style by far, and unlike their competitors, they do yakitori as well. The latter was okay, a bit of a mess on the service end, but they had been open for barely two or three days on this visit, so hopefully that will sort itself out? The sushi was pretty good, although their special hand roll (was blue crab, crab, shrimp, cucumber?) was just okay, and their two daily specials were... tasty but pricey, especially the uni. Versus their competitors, feels like a more fashionable experience, yakitori was not really a strong value-add, but hard to say until they sort out their service.

ChocoVivo is right next door to Saijo, the European hot chocolate at 80% was intense but smooth. Not sure I'd come often, but a nice visit post-dinner.