Yamashiro Restaurant

Konnichiwa !! O-Genki Desu Ka !

Of all the CalAsian restaurants in all the world, I highly recommend this one! Located at 1999 North Sycamore Avenue, in Hollywood, Yamashiro Restaurant is, as Alton Brown would say GOOD EATS!

I desperately needed a delicious pick-me-up. Why? My 2010 started badly when a close friend died in January.  The year really tapered off in February when my younger dog Nicky died, and the less said about March when I had to have my other dog, Floyd, sent to the Rainbow Bridge, the better.  Then one evening, depressed and staring at the computer screen wondering how I would EVER get to level 61 in Farmville (like I said I WAS depressed), the phone rang and it was Kimberly.

If you are one of the 6 regular readers of this blog, you will know that my friend and colleague Kimberly is very often dragged along a willing participant in my culinary adventures, and on this occasion, she really stepped up to the plate (pun intended).  She invited me to see a mutual friend sing in the Hollywood Master Chorale and suggested an early dinner somewhere first.  "YAMASHIRO" I yelled into the phone, and to Kimberly's credit (and after her perforated tympanic membrane bounced back into place), she agreed. The photo below shows you the view as you pull up in front of the restaurant.  It is really spectacular.

I confess I have been to Yamashiro before, several years ago, when my mum visited me from my native England. On that particular dining occasion, we went to Yamashiro in the evening, and the gardens outside the restaurant were beautiful with all the twinkly lights.  Mum seemed entranced by the whole experience, but then again, she could just have been suffering from the shell-shock of being in Los Angeles, and therefore  not constantly needing to pack an umbrella in her bag "just in case the weather tinkles".  Anyway, it was really nice to see the gardens during the day.

If you want to see the "virtual tour" of the entire restaurant, go to the restaurant's website www.yamashirorestaurant.com.  Yamashiro Restaurant has watched the rest of Hollywood below it for 88 years, and was started as a private estate by the Bernheimer brothers to house their collection of Asian treasures.  It was their dream to build an exact replica of the palace located in the "Yamashiro" mountains near Kyoto in Japan.   (Yamashiro means "Mountain Palace").

That said, allow me to casually sweep aside almost 90 years of  history and move onto the food !! We arrived at 5pm just as the restaurant was opening as we needed to be at the Chorale performance by 7pm sharp (and you just don't keep a Chorale waiting, and certainly not a "Master" Chorale). Arriving so early it was pleasantly quiet as we were lead through the restaurant to our table.

And what a table!   Window seats thank you VERY much.  We  drooled over our menus, looking up only occasionally to watch an extremely industrious hummingbird who was happy to put on a show for us).  I took a quick shot from my vantage point  (the first person to spot the hummingbird wins an all-expenses-paid-trip to California !!)

We began our meal with the classic Miso Soup.  One thing I immediately noticed about this soup was how low in salt content it tasted, and it was delicious.  It just goes to show you how much salt is added to these dishes in other establishments (ahem).  The soup is laden with enoki mushrooms, tofu and scallions and is great value for money at $6.

Kimberly ordered the pan-roasted chicken breast.  I tried a little of the chicken and it was deliciously moist.  The dish is served with Chinese long beans, fried brown rice and teriyaki sauce ($19).  As you can see, the portion was large !

Oh bliss ! I ordered the  sweet and spicy shrimp, and although I STILL cannot use chopsticks, I added them to the plate for photographic effect.  The shrimp was large and perfectly cooked, served with bok choy, snow peas, baby corn, bell peppers, scallions and steamed rice ($24).  I could not finish the dish (thanks in part to a tummy-filling Miller Lite cocktail.  It made for a delicious lunch the next day however, so it was two meals for the price of one.

I heartily recommend Yamashiro Restaurant. I must admit I could not afford to eat here all the time, but this would be an excellent spot for a "special" dinner.  Our waiter had exactly the right balance of being there when we needed him and leaving us alone during mid-conversation.

Value for money:  Excellent
Service:  Excellent
Two thumbs up.  In fact, if I had more than two thumbs, I would be waggling them all in the air right now!

Yamashiro Contact Information:
Tel: (323) 466-5125
Fax: (323) 462-4523 (seriously does anyone really fax anymore??)
Email: info@yamashirorestaurant.com
Valet fee $8