Manpuku Tokyo BBQ

Only a word can describe one of my favorite bba place. GREAT! I brought all my good friends there.

The kobe beef is good, service is also good. But the environment inside the restaurant just okey. We sit table not inside place. We can’t easy to talk, because I think the music is too lound. And someone sit next to us, made lots of smoke.

Absolutely everything me and my bf ate was delicious!!! from the sides such as shishito peppers, kimchi, to the tofu soup, garlic rice, and awesome cuts of meat. Loved their yukke. so bomb! Service was excellent. I love this place!

This is definitely THE BEST yakiniku around this area. I am very picky about food since I cook a lot and traveled extensively to different parts of the globe, my husband is just as picky since eating is really his hobby! This place has exceptional quality meat (both beef and pork) and the service has always been excellent every single time we were there. I have taken friends there numerous times and everyone loved the place without a doubt!
For the quality you get, the price is really not expensive! The Kobe set is what we always get and it is as good as it can get! Thumbs up!

Quality meat, quick enough service, and decent prices. The dish with the raw egg yolk is yummy!!! Definitely would order next time I come here.

Came here for a colleague’s going away party. The parking lot is small so you can find parking on Border Ave., perpendicular to Carson St.
The place is clean and has a good ventilation system. As soon as you walk in, you do not get a puff of BBQ smoke or smell. After our dinner, none of our clothes smelled either.
The food is absolutely delicious. Everything we ordered was 5 stars. High quality. Service was excellent. Good drinks. This is my favorite place for Japanese BBQ in the South Bay now.
As others have noted, the seasoning they put on the meats and vegetables is like crack and pretty addicting.
This place might not be the cheapest, but it is worth the money paid.
P. S. The wagyu sukiyaki was amazing. Eat it with the raw egg, it’s worth it.

I love this place. I’ve been to many Yakiniku places around LA but this place is by far the best. Very kind staff, nice interior, clean, not crowed. I recommend Jo Tan Shio, Jo Kalbi Shio, Jo Harami Shio, Jo rosu, Jo kalbi, Jo harami, Pork Toro. Pretty much anything that starts with «Jo» tastes good. Don’t forget the Negi Rice to eat with the meat. Also try «Kobe Style Wagyu Rice Wrap Sukiyaki» and you will experience what it feels like in heaven. And how come all the waitresses are so pretty?

Definitely quality over quantity at this Japanese yakiniku aka J-​BBQ spot!
For mother’s day, the fam and I decided we needed to try something new and this place came highly recommended. Our party of 5 was quickly seated (we had reservations) at a table, but I saw that they also had private tatami areas which I LOVE!
They have a variety of combos for parties of 2 and 4. Expect to spend at least $ 45 per head if you want a package meal which comes with salad, soup, meat.etc.their meats were all super tender, juicy and very good quality. My favorites were the shio dishes, jo harami, rosu, and the kobe wagyu finger meat. Lol half of our entire combo!!!
For dessert, we tried the zenzai pumpkin $ 5 which is pumpkin ice cream with deliciously chewy mochi balls and red bean… yummmm!
Service and ambience were both pretty good. Our food arrived promptly and the servers were friendly whenever we needed something. I’ll likely be back again ;)
Ps: your clothes won’t really smell because their vent system is built into the grill… it sucks away the smell right when it floats off the meat! Awesomeness!

This place is awesome. The meat quality here is as good as it gets and the service is top notch. It is a little pricey but I think its definitely worth it. I would suggest making a reservation if you are planning to eat around peak dinner time (6−8pm) as it does get busy.

Hands down the best JBBQ place in Torrance. Although it’s pricey, manpuku offers the best quality of meat. If you want to eat some good quality barbecue, come here. If not, then go to Gen. I don’t need to write a 5 paragraph essay to explain how amazing this place is. The meat talks for itself.

The waitstaff was great! Very communicative, sweet, & friendly. Great ambience.
Though it’s a BBQ, it worked great for my mostly-​vegan diet. I ordered the four veggie options to grill. They don’t come in foil, so they were a little dry, but still delicious. The shishito peppers were especially fun. My son enjoyed his meat dishes and was crazy about the Ishiyaki Bibimbap. The coconut milk pudding is heavenly!

Overall, the Manpuku Set Course Meal was amazing. The quality of the beef slices were superb .as testament .they literally would melt in your mouth.delicious. .delicious!!! Their service is also wonderful and welcoming.

— Locale Destination —
It’s on W Carson St and Gramercy Ave in Torrance.
It’s right next to «izakaya hachi», high end izakaya (I wasn’t that impressed). I know only Costa Mesa one, so my expectation wasn’t high. Don’t get me wrong. I mean Manpuku offers very good quality with very reasonable price — way better than «Gen Korean BBQ» (they cut the quality way too much after the popularity. They are too cheap to charge the same for way lesser quality meats! No more for me) for sure. But I didn’t expect it like «Tamaen» nor «Seikoen» level…
Ambiance: Great for date! Simple, classy, a bit dim, clean. They have tatami seating booths with hole underneath the table so you can sit like chair but look like you’re sitting on the traditional tatami mat. They close that area early, so go earlier than close to closing time if you wanted to be seated in the booth!
Service: Friendly
Menu: wide varieties — a la cart to the course menu
Parking: Plenty
— Gluttony Expedition —
Garlic rice: garlic and Japanese pickles (shiba zuke) in the rice cooked in the hot stone pot. Not bad. Very garlicky, FYI.
Shungiku kimchi: I like shungiku in my hot pot, but not so much as «kimchi». Very garlicky, FYI.
No premium beef tongue — I tried regular ones, but it was very tasty! Cook medium rare! Don’t overlook it!
«rice wrap sukiyaki»: The bomb! The server will make it for you in front of you. Ask for medium rare, not rare. After the good quality meat was cooked by the server, she pour good quality egg yolk on it, put the small rice ball in the meat and wrap with it. Soooo good! One piece is $ 5, yet well worth it. The piece is very thick (yet tender) and very big slice. After I enjoyed «Otafuku» (nearby awesome izakaya) very much, I came here for this. I ate 2! I could have eaten more: p This place is the only one that has the «rice wrap sukiyaki»! You won’t get this at any other manpuku ;(You must try it!
— Conqueror’s Deduction —
Better than the one in Costa Mesa — ambiance and menu. The meat quality is as good as or even better than some premium Japanese/​Korean bbq places in the area like «Tamaen» and «Seikoen». Surprisingly good! Such a dark horse in the area.
I’ll definitely come back for more!

Still delicious second time around.
What we had (everything was good):
US Kobe Beef Ribeye (32.5) — tender perfection, as long as it’s cooked just long enough
Kalbi (9) — marinated bliss
Yuzu Flavored Pork Cheek — the highlight, the yuzu taste is so strong and blends in perfectly w/​the pork
Tiger Shrimp — 5 pieces
Cabbage Salad — never did I thought this could ever taste good — as attested from my many encounters with this salad variation in tonkatsu and ramen places — manpuku proved me wrong
Wakame Salad — sesame dressing salad — always solid
Premium Beef Tongue & Thick Cut Wagyu Beef Tongue — i’m just a big fan of beef tongue
Sausages — yummm, even the sausages are good lol
Except this one, which was a downer: Beef Tripe

Love love love this restaurant! The meat quality is supreme! It’s pretty far from where I live but anytime I’m in Torrance I’m always willing to come back to eat. I would say I like this better than Anjins in oc, cuz 1 the wait time, I always come around 4ish so I always beat the crazy crowd and make sure if u want to have dinner here, MAKE A RESERVATION!!! Their meat omg melts in my mouth!!! Beef tartar is a must try! Everything is so fresh and yummy! I leave happy everytime

I would say it’s more 3.5 stars but I’ll round up.
I would say their service and décor/​environment is the best part about the restaurant. It’s intimate with dim lighting at dinner which makes it a good place for a good catch up or date. Our server was super sweet and attentive, and when certain requests were made she was quick to make them for us without question or attitude. She also came to change our grill before I even thought it needed to be changed.
We ordered the cabbage salad — which is a simple shredded cabbage salad with light dressing
Asparagus to grill — pretty much just asparagus haha
Yookgaejang — (korean spicy shredded beef soup?) Don’t expect the korean stuff. To be honest I didn’t really like the soup and just let my friend order whatever he wanted when we were ordering and he was talking about how much he loves yookgaejang so we got it. In my mind I was thinking the stuff you get at Korean restaurant, but the soup here is nothing like it in any way besides maybe the color of the soup. It was really oily and mainly consisted of broth with a few bean sprouts and other ingredients.
Kimchi — The kimchi was really good and fresh. They had three different kinds in the order the regular cabbage kind, daikon, and cucumbers.
Short ribs peppered — were my favorite of the two meats we ordered. It was soft and flavorful and slightly marinated.
Overall, their Japanese/​korean bbq fusion is definitely cool, but I feel like it’s got a lot more Japanese influence than Korean. To be honest, the price is a little too steep for what you get.

Husband and I just had dinner here and I had to jump on Unilocal to leave a review.
For the service alone, this place deserves 10 stars. We stopped by when it was pretty busy with about an hour wait. Husband put down his name and left his cell number asking the hostess to please call us because we were going to be nearby. We really didn’t expect a call because some places just don’t want to be bothered. About 20 minutes later, we received their call saying they can seat us in about 10 – 15 minutes so head on in. They didn’t just call to say our table was ready, she gave us a heads up so we could get there in time! That’s spectacular isn’t it?!
When we got there, everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. Our waiter was awesome! Very attentive and delivered service with a smile.
The food was so yummy delicious! A lot of people make the unfair mistake of comparing Japanese BBQ with Korean BBQ. Yes, there are slight similarities but there are definite differences. As far as Japanese BBQs go, this place, for me, was exceptionally good.
We ordered about 12 items between the two of us and enjoyed all of them. But the cabbage salad alone is definitely worth coming back for!
Cute décor, great ambiance, and the vents surround the grill so you don’t leave smelling like a walking BBQ!

Amazing meat. High quality. Prompt service. Relaxin, yet intimate atmosphere. The servers here are extremely polite and remind me of my time in Japan (plus, it’s well known that the owner of this location only hires attractive waitresses, which holds true).
The quality of the meat is worth the money.
Parking is a decently sized lot.
Reversions are highly recommended. I prefer this location over the West LA one, as it is a bit larger, and I’ve had overall a better experience here.
Their wine selection is also adequate.

I love Japanese BBQ. And now, I love Manpuku.
You come here for the quality of the meat NOT quantity. There is no such thing as AYCE here! Portion size is definitely smaller here but the quality of the meat is stunning. You see a beautiful marble on every cut of meat.
AMBIANCE:
Very traditional and small Japanese BBQ restaurant. They have both table seating as well as little rooms where you sit on the ground. Very Japanese like but a different dining experience. What I didn’t like about this place is that they have no vents above the grill, so you come out smelling like smoke. So, don’t wear your best outfit here.
FOOD:
To start things off, we ordered the wakame salad. I loved the dressing they put on the salad. I tasted a lot of sesame oil and it was super light and delicious. A great way to start the meal. ⁵⁄₅
Then, my dad ordered some part of the stomach sashimi. I was a little scared but intrigued. It had a chewy texture to it but it didn’t taste gamey or anything. It tasted very fresh and with some miso, it was pretty good! ⁴⁄₅
We ordered so many dishes this night but the items that really stood out to me:
1. Tan Shio — salted beef tongue with minced green onions and sesame seeds. WOW! 6 pieces of flavorful meat that still had a perfect chewy texture to it. This dish was so good I ordered it twice.
2. Miso/​Shio Horumon — two different seasonings for the horumon (intestines). Both were delicious but the miso was on the sweeter side whereas the shio was on the saltier. Both were great because you got to see the contrast between the two. What I love most about horumon is the texture — it is very chewy but not difficult to eat. These pieces were cut up smaller so it cooked quicker and the quality of it was really good because the oil didn’t splatter everywhere. ⁵⁄₅
3. Ribeye — super tender and beautifully marbled cuts of ribeye. The meat literally melted in your mouth. ⁵⁄₅
DRINKS:
Order yourself a pitcher of beer. There is no other way to eat yakiniku. I’m not a huge fan of sake so beer is always the way to go for me.
Their wine options aren’t that great here anyways.
SERVICE:
For a place that was super packed, they never lacked on the service! Everyone is extremely nice and very quick as well. They constantly kept coming back to make sure nothing was short of perfect.
My dad and I both truly loved our experience here. He kept raving about it afterwards saying he can’t wait to come back. I seriously feel the same way. Manpuku reminds me of the delicious yakiniku back in Tokyo.

This was my first time at a Japanese bbq so I didn’t know what to really expect other than what I’ve experienced at Korean bbq. The first thing I noticed was how much more expensive Japanese bbq is compared to Korean.
Since this was not all you can eat, it’s not a complete fair comparison, but if I were to compare the price paid for the amount of food between the two, Korean bbq is definitely a lot cheaper. For example, for 5 – 6 slices of their premium prime beef ribeye, it will cost you $ 11. For other cuts of meat, they range from $ 4-​$ 12, with seafood being a few dollars extra. If you’re really feeling hunger, you can order their 3.5 oz Kobe Beef Ribeye for a whopping $ 32. I understand with higher quality cuts of meat there is generally a higher price point, so I think that’s something you have take into consideration before deciding between the different bbq places.
The different selection of meats we ordered were great. High in quality and as tender as can be. We also ordered the cabbage with garlic and garlic rice. If you like garlic, I highly recommend both dishes. The garlic rice is prepared in a stone bowl where the white rice and garlic are mixed together in the smoldering hot bowl. With the intense heat of the bowl, the garlic starts to sear and char, creating a nice smoky garlic flavor.
The quality of the food and service should compliment each other, but there seemed to be a slight disconnect with the service. Some of our orders were forgotten and there didn’t appear to be one designated server. Perhaps that may be the reason for the disconnect.
In summary, if you’re looking for a higher scale bbq not on the cheap, you may want to come here.