Sawtelle Japantown and Little Tokyo

Little Tokyo has had a presence in downtown Los Angeles for many years, but recently, a newer (albeit much smaller) Japantown has emerged in West Los Angeles, perfect for those who are looking for authentic Japanese options, but want to avoid the busy hustle and bustle of downtown.  Sawtellle Boulevard is lined with a number of different restaurants, desert houses and speciality stores, all catering to those looking for a Japanese experience. 

We started off at Daiso, the Japanese version of a Dollar store. I was slightly disappointed to see that it was a much smaller version than the one in Vancouver that I’m used to.  It also definitely had much more of a “dollar store” feel than the one in Vancouver. 

After a bit of shopping, we had every intention of trying some ramen at Daikokuya, a place that I had read great reviews about.  However, the lineup outside the restaurant and the appetizing pictures of the Curry House we passed by, made us change our minds.  We ended up having dinner at the Curry House, which reminded me of the fast food restaurants in Japan.  They just so happened to have a soft shelled crab ramen special and although I’m sure the ramen at Daikokuya is likely better, it was still a good experience.

After dinner, we walked by a café serving cheese tea, and since I hadn’t tried the hot version yet, I had to stop in and order one.

It was just as delicious as the cold version and I can’t wait to try more of these in the future.

On our very last day in LA, we had a few hours to spare before we had to be at the airport, so we ended up in Little Tokyo in downtown LA.  It has quite a different vibe compared to Japantown in West LA, and you can immediately tell that this was definitely the original version.  Los Angeles is home to the largest Japanese American population in North America and Little Tokyo is one of the prettiest ethnic neighbourhoods I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, we had just had lunch, so we weren’t able to sample one of the many restaurants in the area, but we did have dessert at Mikawaya, which is the shop credited with inventing mochi ice cream.  It was exactly what we were looking for, as we had just taken a 20 minute walk from Chinatown, through Olvera St to Little Tokyo in a humid 25 degrees.  Mikawaya offers a huge array of flavours from savoury to sweet and we all agreed that the fruity flavours were the most refreshing.

After the much needed stop at Mikawaya, we headed towards the James Irvine Japanese Garden located within the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center.  As soon as you enter the building, you are greeted by the receptionist who will point you towards the elevators to head down to the basement of the building, where the entrance of the garden is.  It is a very small garden but as with all Japanese gardens, you come away feeling relaxed and peaceful.  It’s amazing that this place exists in the midst of such a busy city centre.  

Both Japantown in West LA and Little Tokyo in downtown LA were great experiences.  However, I would pick Little Tokyo over Japantown any day.  The history and culture of Little Tokyo really stood out, whereas Japantown was more of just a gathering of Japanese restaurants and shops.  The only thing I didn’t quite understand about Little Tokyo, was the lack of public restrooms.  Even within businesses that serve food, such as Mikawaya, they didn’t have public restrooms.  You’d think that there would be public restrooms available if people were to spend time there shopping and eating.