Imagine Chipotle, except instead of pseudo-Mexican food, it’s all Japanese food and instead of ordering at a counter, all the ingredients for the combination can be ordered off a menu.  That’s Wakasaya.

I happened upon this restaurant accidentally when I wanted to visit Little Tokyo downtown for lunch. My original plan was to get a bowl of ramen at Daikokuya, but the line was just too long and I didn’t want to wait hours for lunch. I walked through the Little Tokyo plaza and saw Wakasaya and thought, “why not?”

Their main claim to fame is a fully cusotmizable donburi, although it’s more like chirashi for me.  Pick any combination of available toppings, which include staples like tuna, salmon, fish roe, and eel, and they’ll serve it to you over rice.  I went with yellowtail, salmon, and uni.

The fish quality wasn’t terrible, but it just wasn’t good.  For a $15 bowl, I expected better. I could have gotten better quality fish from a supermarket chirashi but hey, at least the rice was warm here. I’m amazed that Wakasaya can stay in business with so many better sushi restaurants within walking distance.

Wakasaya
335 East 2nd St
104-106 Japanese Village Plaza Mall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 621-2121