Shin Yakitori Dining

I was surprised to find a yakitori-​ya so close to my home! Came here with my wife to try it out. We had a variety (35 skewers!) of everything, including the hearts and gizzards. She immediately blogged about the meal inspiring my brother from Las Vegas to come down just to try the food. We returned a week later for a second extremely memorable meal which included shrimp, artichoke, chicken and beef skewers chased down with large amounts of Sapporo lager. Once again, the meal was amazing. Everything was exquisite. I have never been to Shin Sen Gumi, nor do I think I have to. I have found my yakitori place.

Have they gone out of business?
I stopped by a while ago and they were closed up.

The portions are extrememly small and very pricey.
If you come for dinner, the prices are double what you would pay for at lunch time.
I’ve experienced better at other Japanese restaurants…

Their food is awesome! We ordered the bacan wrapped asparagus, meatballs, chicken with onions, octopus balls, ground chicken with rice, kalbi, salad, and a whole bunch of other delightful stuff. Everything was great and they have happy hour specials. Their service is wonderful and their staff members are super friendly. They have autographs of famous Asian people on their walls. I was checking them out while I waited for someone to leave the restroom. Speaking of which, their restrooms are clean. They have private rooms if you want something more intimate. Their prices are reasonable and did I tell you that their food is awesome? Yeah, try this place out. It’s pretty good. If you like Shin Sen Gumi or Honda Ya, then you’ll like this place. Just don’t go when I go because I don’t want to wait for a table.

Definitely not a 5 star place, I don’t know what drugs I was smoking when I wrote the first review.
Tried it again, and it was average at best…
For your Yakitori fix, go to Torihei on Carson/​Western

Shin is having an anniversary $ 1 yakatori promotion. Two of us were stuffed for under $ 40. The yakatori is not the best in South Bay but it is good (3 ½ stars).
I highly recommend the chicken thigh, gizzards, and pork asparagus. The pork belly and beef tongue were good also but I rather have them sliced slightly thinner. The chicken breast and chicken cartilage were a bit dry but were tasty. We also ordered a fried oyster dinner. My advise is skip that and stick with the yakatori.
Service is a bit sporadic with only 2 waitresses but they were nice. Overall, I enjoyed the dining experience and will definitely eat at Shin again.

After a lovely evening of shopping at the Del Amo mall, my boyfriend and I wanted some sushi so we drove around Torrance in search of a good Japanese restaurant. We stumbled upon a small asian plaza on Hawthorne Blvd and decided to take our chance with it.
Upon entrance my first impression of this place was «small and cozy». We sat at the Yakitori Bar and our lady server brought us a small dish of cabbage as an appetizer… i usually don’t eat raw cabbage but it was actuallie kind of good with soy sauce and some spices. =)
The menu is very simple, just plain words and no pictures. They also give you a list of Yakitori items to order from… all you do is write down the quantity of what you want.
To get to the main point… here is what we ordered and my feelings towards it.
— Stir fried Kimchi and Pork: oh so very very yummie in the tummie! the Kimchi was JUST right… not too spicy and not too blah. The pork was cut very thin and it came with mayonnaise as a dipping sauce… just simply delicious!
–Chicken Meat Ball — my favorite! I’ve never had chicken meat balls before and oh my it just melted in my mouth! so soft and juicy and just had the perfect sauce on it… not sure what it was but it was amazing!
–Gizzard: Very… chewy. I liked it but not in love with it… i can live without it but my boyfriend reallie liked it
–Pork Belly: yummie, the perfect amount of pork and fat grilled to perfection. like fat but too much fat is bad for you =(
–Chicken Thigh: very good… the sauce topping the chicken was delicious and the chicken thigh itself was very juicy and had just the perfect taste to it… yum!
–Smelt Fish: this small fish was soooo yummie! grilled and the fish is filled with tiny eggs inside! so yummie! i’ve had this type of fish before but never knew the name of it. I enjoyed it very much
–Shiitake Mushroom: i’ve always liked this type of mushroom, it was tasty but needed sauce with it in my opinion
–Baked Rice Ball: Its just rice… but not reallie. Rice mixed with a bit of soy sauce and Baked until golden brown on the outside. Outside is very crunchy and inside is just rice with soy sauce… simple yet delicious! its also in a shape of a triangle… not a «ball» like i’ve imagine it would be but it was a piece of delicious art.
–CamuCamu drink: this drink was fantasbulous! CamuCamu is a fruit found in the amazon of Peru and it has the most vitamin C of any fruits, its also called the Super Fruit! It sure was super delicious! a little sour and a lot of goodness! i likie!
Please note: When ordering from the Yakitori menu keep in mind these are small portions… so you have to order a lot. The dinner menu has bigger portion but Yakitori Menu is so much more fun! I love trying different things in small portion, it makes the dinning experience unpredictable.
When the check arrived, we were offered 10% off the entire bill if we paid in cash with a coupon they gave us… to top it off the next time we come back (don’t have to pay in cash in time) we will also get a 10% our check! sooo awesome!!! =)
We reallie enjoyed this place and glad we took a chance with it. We will definitely come back to try the many different wonderful things on the menu! =)

I like Shin for two reasons, I can hold an audible conversation with people who are dining with me without yelling my head off (ask those at Shin Sen Gumi how their eardrums are doing) and it isn’t that packed. The food is good, not mind bending though okay? It’s good enough to pass for me to eat, hang out and enjoy the steady stream of skewers. Their selection of choices for yakitori is minimal though so please be aware, their menu selection far from spectacular. My take on this place is that it’s cozy, comfortable and casual enough for me to kick it with a beer or two and order (the same ol’ things) yakitori and some sides, finish and go home. They just started a frequent eater card too and ironically passed them to us as we were the only ones there (9pm on Sunday night). Anyways, they’re legit to eat at, price comparable with other yakitori places without all the yelling. I wish I could give it 3.75 stars!

Finally, one of my reviews that doesn’t involve ramen (well for the most part XD)
So on a drive to Torrace to go to a travel agency and try no. 6 on Rameniacs Top 10 list of Ramen shops in LA, it soon evolved into a long day of mishaps and finding out Umemura Ramen was closed the one day we chose to go there., So after driving around in circles in Torrance, we ended up Shin Yakitori after Noël suggested we try hot pot. We had attempted to come here a month earlier for lunch, but we arrived just as they closed for the afternoon and we ended up at the Chinese buffet that’s in the same plaza.
I came here with Noël and Pablo on a Tuesday night. We came in and instead of the deafening «Irrashamase» from the workers I’m used to hearing from ramen shops, we had had a waitress ask us how many over the loud Japanese conversations and then she lead us to a table by the window to the right of the entrance. The place itself looks pretty nice, with a lot of wood and various Asian influenced art on the wall. I though the place was actually small until I saw their website which indicated there are more rooms in back including a traditional zashiki room .
The dining room we were in was packed with Japanese people who looked like they just got off from work throughout the night. While we had looked at the menu, we got something that seemed to be chopped up lettuce with a very light citrus taste as something to snack on. After debating which hot pot to choose from, we chose the large curry hot pot for $ 29.99, adding chicken and ramen topping, while I ordered a dish of pan fried dumplings for $ 5.99.
So after a few minutes, we got the dumplings, which came as 6 pieces with a light dipping sauce and then the portable stove that we we would be using to cook the hot pot. Afterward the waitress returned with an iron skillet filled to the brim with vegetables and meat in a brown liquid. She told us to wait 10 minutes so the food could cook as she turned on the stove. The food boiled down, and after a few more minutes of stirring around, we had a stew consisting of tofu, carrots, onions, cabbage, chicken and ramen, full of curry flavor, that was made better with shichimi togarashi. (which was a lot more potent here than at other restaurants) It definitely filled us up, as the large hot pot is suppose to feed 3 – 4 people.
Overall it was pretty good. The hot pot and dumplings were good, even though we paid about $ 45 before tip. Of course, its a yakitori restaurant, so next time I’ll definitely try one the yakitori dishes (along with the buta kimchee since it sounded pretty good). but I think this place is worth going to if you’re in the area.

Disappointed. Brought a coworker here for her birthday weeks back, and the lunch experience was a bummer. Was really hopeful — wanted to do yakitori in torrance, wanted to try a place other than shinsengumi (which is always enjoyable if not loud).
we were the only ones there during our entire noonish meal, not an issue, but thought this was a bit suspicious.
Part of the reason for the low score was the lack of lunch options. If I’m coming to a yakitori place, let me have the ability to order yakitori! Instead, it seemed like the menu was packed with cookie-​cutter chicken-​everything combos that all tasted the same. No variance between the chicken balls, chicken thighs, chicken rice, etc.
Certainly the food isn’t bad. But its just that the experience falls so far short of what you expect from looking @ their site and comparing to comparable priced stuff at Shinsengumi. Probably won’t be back.

From the ashes of a prior yakitori place, another one is resurrected. Ok, I’m being a bit over dramatic. The prior ownership didn’t run the business very well or make very good quality yakitori. The unfortunate part is that this place has taken up some of their tradition and carrying on the prior ownerships habits.
You can’t really fault the food or service because they are both average. It is just a neighborhood restaurant that serves okay skewered meats. For the price I expect a lot more since there are several in the area that are leaps and bounds better.
For convenience, it is a good place for eats and drinks. If you are willing to drive a few miles further, you can go and get a better yakitori experience for less.
Décor: 4 Stars (classic Japanese tavern)
Service: 4 Stars (self explanatory)
Atmosphere: 3 Stars (the interaction of people, staff, surroundings)
Food Quality: 3 Stars (about average)
Quantity of Food: 3 Stars (a bit sparse on few items)
Price: 3 Stars (The cost of food in relation to what you get)
For a Grand Total of 3 Stars.

I really like this place. I’ve been here a couple of times and enjoyed it each time. It’s an intimate place. You can sit up at the counter and watch the chef prepare your skewers or sit at a small table to the side. I prefer to sit up at the counter and enjoy the experience. If you’re new to Japanese food or the whole yakitori thing, try the tsukune, which is a sort of chicken meatball dipped in sauce. Very, very good. Tender, juicy, not over-​done. The salads are quite good. I came by for lunch one time and had a salmon combination plate. It was very good and a pretty good deal for real Japanese food for lunch (maybe $ 9 – 11 if you’re willing to swing that on lunch). Service tends to be pretty good. The grillman tends to be pretty friendly. If you have a question, don’t be afraid to ask. And if you have a hard time pronouncing Japanese food names, use the ol’ «point at the menu» method of ordering. Give the place a try. I doubt you will be disappointed with the quality. For the best experience, try yakitori after a hard day’s work with a tall bottle (or three) of Sapporo with a good friend. You can usually find parking pretty easily in the lot. The restaurant is located in a strip-​mall type area off of Hawthorne.

Well, I decided to give this place 5-​star because of pork intestine pot availability. I was surprised to see that on that menu even though this place should have a good distributor for pork intestine normally used for skewed meat. In any case, I chose the salt version instead of spicy miso version because both my date and I prefer planer taste.
I haven’t had that version of pork intestine pot (motsu nabe from then on). Sure, I’ve had stew a few times, but not pot. The pot had cabbage to make the overall taste milder, leek to add some weight (like onion would) and wonton for carbo-​lover like me ;). The intestine was fresh and chewy. Some places would have intestine somewhat smell, but this one didn’t at all. I also liked the texture of wonton and cabbage that made the pot very easy to eat but with lots of flavor. For a small pot, $ 20 is not bad at all.
Since we had some room for our stomachs, I decided to order pork-​wrapped enoki (velvet shank), liver, and chicken with beefsteak and pickled plum paste. Enoki was actually very good, with the balance of simpleness from the mushroom itself and the volume from the pork. Liver is just a notch down from what I have had at Shinsengumi. But then, eating right from the grill instead of being served on a cold plate might change the taste. The chicken was a nice way to change the palate on my tongue. Pickled plum and beefsteak made a refreshing end to the dinner.
The interior was pretty spacious with relatively high ceiling and modern-​looking HVAC huge pipes hanging. The picture of thunder diety was at the front me, which I thought was a cool touch to the ordinary wall. The atmosphere is a little quiet at the beginning of the night, but by the time we left (about 8: 20 p.m.), it was pretty loud. That would make a nice party occasion.

The term «yakitori» refers to grilled (yaki) bird (tori), but we ate so much more than just birds.
I forget why we came to Shin, but I’m glad we did. We ate everything got full and then ate more! We first ordered a pitcher of beer, which came in a fancy pitcher with a cylinder full of ice in the center and then began selecting our prey. I believe we ordered a yakitori set, which included some different meats and veggies. On top of that we ordered many bacon wrapped items, some tasty innards, random veggies with mayo and/​or roe and a few appetizers just to be safe.
Before they food started flowing, they brought out some greens and dipping sauce with our beer.
Then the meat jockeys behind the bamboo wall began depositing skewers of meaty delights in front of our faces.
At one point, we began to have such a backlog of food that we had to ask them to slow down! But the meat fiends didn’t listen to us. They continued to force our gluttony and barraged us with impaled animal parts. I didn’t mind but the woman wasn’t pleased with the pace.
Besides the skewered items, we had some other dishes that I enjoyed that I can’t recall what they were, but here are some pics:
I had a really good time here! I enjoyed 90% of the food, I got to eat a huge variety and they had tiramisu for dessert! Prices were reasonable-​ish. To feed us two piggies was just over a bill. I’d like to go back with more people so then we can try more animals! Totally tits!

The décor is nice and trendy but the taste… let’s just say Monjiro was wayy better.
Last night I went with my mom to Shin and we expected the same great taste as Monjiro. Sadly we were mistaken.
The tsukune (chicken meatballs) were too soft. One bite and broke into small little pieces.
The only thing that was great about the meal was the squid. The squid was really big and 1 order was enough for 2 people.
Other than that all the other yakitori pieces just wasn’t what I expected.
Next time I have a hankering for yakitori I’m going to stick to my usual Shin Shen Gumi. It’s loud but at least it’s close and it’s pretty good for the area.

1. Be prepared for long wait if you go on friday night (reservation preferred!) But once seated, food comes out real fast.
2. It’s Yakitori (portion is small) so be prepared to spend $ 40 per person or more. If you add alcohol with the food, bill can easily climb up to $ 60 or more.
3. None of the loud greeting as you find with Shinsen Gumi Yakitori. I don’t know if Shinsen Gumi still does it but everytime someone walks in chef and waiters screamed «Irashai mase.» Can’t eat with people
screaming in my ears.
4. Pretty much all of the guests at Shin Yakitori are Japanese. Mostly from local Japanese companies so there are lots of business related conversations taking place when you go at night.

Cute little place to try Yakitori dining (Yakitori = think of a Japanese version of chicken satays, and it offers variety parts of chicken with different sauce). Cozy, warm, and friendly. If the place was a bit darker, it might be a perfect date place, but this place would still do the job.
I came here last weekend with my friend (too bad…). We shared one Yakitori course meal and ordered some more random yakitori and dishes as an a la carte.
**Yakitori Sakura Course**
— Salad
— Chicken Thigh
— Chicken Meat Ball
— Chicken Breast w/​Wasabi
— Beef Short Rib
— Chicken Wing Tip
— Enoki Wrapped w/​Pork
— Shrimp
— Soboro-​Don (ground chicken rice bowl)
— Soup
**Additional Yakitori stuff that we ordered**
— Quail Egg
— Asparagus Wrapped with Pork
— Japanese Pepper
— Butter Potato
— Shiitake Mushroom
— Garlic
— Tomato Wrapped with Pork
I didn’t like the Chicken Breast with Wasabi as it was a bit too dry, but everything else was pretty good. I especially liked the Chicken Thigh and Chicken Meat Ball. They were so tender and drizzled in sweet sauce… Tomato Wrapped with Pork and Asparagus Wrapped with Pork were also pretty delicious. Asparagus was slightly crunchy, just the way vegetables should be cooked. The ripe tomato juice almost burnt my tongue, but it was still very very good!
Cool thing about this place is that they give you 3 dipping sauce for your Yakitori: Sweet soy sauce like thick sauce, spicy avocado sauce, and one more that I can’t remember… The spicy avocado sauce was the bomb! We kept dipping our cabbage leaves (provided as to clean your palette) and oh boy, it was so addictive!
As an A La Carte, we had Kobe Gyu no Tataki (Seared Kobe Beef) and it was also pretty good. It came with freshly grounded garlic. Nice. Agedashi Tofu (deep fried tofu) was ok, nothing to wow about.
Over all, I very much enjoyed my visit here. Our bill came out to be about $ 100 for 2, and I think it was a bit steep as the food bill was only about $ 60. We kept drinking sake, or wait… *I* kept drinking sake, and the price of sake was definitely not reasonable. If you stick to the course meal with no booz, your bill should be about $ 30 per person, including tips and tax, which is not too bad.
Minus 1 star for the place being heavily filled with Christmas decoration. It was a bit too much, and no mood what so ever… Over doing something can definitely kill the mood.

Finding out that a new place opened where Monjiro used to be I go.
I have mixed results from the place, but good overall.

The 2 breast skewers with different toppings on each were mushy and dry, no flavor from the meat itself.
The chicken meatballs were great however, some of the tastiest I’ve had. They’re like these juicy meatloaves on skewers, nice portions too as well as extremely soft and flavorful. These are worth the price on the menu.
The other items were average I thought, nothing out of the ordinary.
Overall the portions are smallish so if you don’t order more than 9 pcs you’d come out hungry.
One unique sauce that caught my attention was this green sauce that very much tastes like the Peruvian cilantro sauce (mild but good). There re no Peruvian dishes on the menu however, odd but a nice touch (I love that green sauce from Peruvian restaurants, just can’t get enough of it).
The menu is full of other main dishes and gave me the impression that this is actually an Izakaya (ala carte dishes and alcohol) and not a hardcore yakitori place. They serve from shabu shabu to nabe dishes, and the menu is all over the place actually but fun to look at (the only non-​yakitori item I had was their ramen. It’s actually noodles in their chicken broth, served in a small bowl slightly larger than a tea cup. It was not bad though, like drinking chicken soup.
They also serve a variety of meats from ducks to lamb on skewer (but no boar or deer meat like Monjiro had). There are a lot of different items on the menu so this place should be a safe place to bring a group or family (kids to elders). Four stars. Minus one star for the so-​so yakitori.

first off, thank you Unilocal mobile. without Unilocal on my treo i would have never ever found this place ever. also, thanks rony for suggesting yakitori even though i totally shot you down on all the other food suggestions you brought to the table. who the hell would want pizza after they went rock climbing? c’mon now.
anyways, so yeah, there we were in the parking lot of beach city rocks trying to decide what to eat:
rony: how bout pizza?
me: you freakin nuts? i just WORKED out. i dont immediately want to undo that.
rony: um ok… how bout thai?
me: *whining* but noooo thai place is as good as sophia’s thai kitchen in davis. i want STK.
rony: you can’t have STK, we’re in LA.
me: shutup
rony: fine. what about yakitori?
me: is that heavy? do they make you eat intestines?
rony: no annnnnddddd i dont think so.
me: fine whatever. as long as i get fed. can we go to davis soon?
so we flipped open Unilocal mobile on the ol treo and found the nearest place for yakitori which happened to be shins. we drove over, found the place, and were genuinely surprised to find such a lovely atmosphere. it was clean, it was modern, it smelled delicious. by then i was so hungry i could have eaten the furniture. we were immediately seated by a super friendly hostess and served the bestest hot tea ever.
we each got a bowl of hot udon and then decided to split the 7 course yakitori meal since neither of us had ever had it and we figured it would be more than enough food. we were right. the bowls of udon were huge and delicious with the broth being extra extra hot and flavorful. the 7 course yakitori meal came with a side of soboro-​don (spelling?). i dont care how you freakin spell, that stuff is chicken crack! ground sweet chicken on a bowl of white rice. it was like i was eating «happy». i was happy.
we had a delicious array of stick food: kalbi, chicken meat balls, chicken and wasabi, wing tips, asparagus wrapped in pork (my absolute favorite), shrimp, and something else. i forget right now, but youre just going to have to deal with it. they were all excellent and super duper flavorful. i was a happy camper.
such good food, such great service, and such a great atmosphere, i’m definitely hooked. yakitori anyone?

Formerly known as Monjiro.
Undergoing some SERIOUS reconstruction during the late spring, early summer months of 2007, Shin made its grand debut in August 2007.
New ownership, new name, new appearance, different quality of food and service. Read the reviews for it’s predecessor, Monjiro, and get the skinny on the makings of Shin, then post here for the second chapter in this restaurant’s changing reputation.
Neutral rating because it’s fine for what it is but I miss the one and only, the original Monjiro Izakaya.
Monjiro: