Far Bar - Baseball World Series Happy Hour in Little Tokyo, LA

I just missed 3 shots of sake for free. Every time Shoehei Ohtani hits a home run, the Far Bar in Little Tokyo pours a free shot of sake for everyone who's there.

I was across the street during that game at another Happy Hour watching the LA Dodgers battle the Philadelphia Phillies, the afternoon Shohei Ohtani hit 3 home runs in one game. 

Oh well, wins some, lose some. Happy Hour at the Far Bar, in downtown Los Angeles, is a deliciously fine time with or without winning a free sake shot. 

I started watching the Dodgers at different restaurant/bar Happy Hours around Los Angeles during this year's Baseball Playoffs because I'm too cheap to buy cable TV channels. And, a senior *LA Metro ride is only 35 cents, so I hit the rails.

Click on any photo to see larger.

The star attraction for the LA Dodgers is Shohei Ohtani, originally from the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan. The Dodgers have two other Japanese players, so I wanted to hang out with the locals in Little Tokyo (in downtown Los Angeles).

I found the Far Bar on 1st Street in Little Tokyo a cool restaurant/bar with cheap food and drink specials, and their Happy Hour goes 4 hours, from 3pm to 7pm, Monday thru Friday. 

The tall neon sign, above the outside entrance, has "Chop Suey Far East". A flyer outside says "Free Shohei Sake Shot When He Hits A Home Run". Shohei Ohtani has hit 55 Home Runs this regular season. That's a lot of free Sake Shots! Who knows how many he will hit in this year's Baseball World Series? 

When you enter the historic Far East Building, the Far Bar's large front room has half a dozen tables and a long bar lined with television screens. 

If you keep walking to the back and bear right, past the restrooms, then make another right, you enter a long outdoor patio, or a smaller bar in the back room. I planted myself in the small room with a bar and four small 2-chair tables. 

For a quieter experience, sit in the outdoor patio. I like the small back bar for watching the LA Dodgers on two TV screens, while nursing a Sapporo Draft with a Sake Shot for $9. Even the wait staff and the cooks do a quick peek in the bar for the TV screen baseball scores. 

The draft Sapporo is smooth and light, and the Sake is sweet - it's a good combination.

I decided on the Happy Hour Shrimp Tacos for $8. You get two small, but loaded, tacos. Inside the corn tortillas were whole, lightly sauteed shrimp.

The Pico de Gallo salsa is chunky with tomato, chopped onion, and jalapeño.

The additional Salsa Verde is mildly spicy when topped with a light Cilantro Cream. These are very tasty tacos, well worth the Happy Hour price.

That was enough to last me for half of the ball game. For the second half of the game, I had another round of Sapporo + Sake Shot, and Wasabi Fries. 

The French fries are McDonald's-style, thin and crispy, just the way I like them. The fries are topped with a wash of Wasabi Mayo and flecks of dried seaweed. Across the pond in Europe and the Far East, they like mayonnaise on their French Fries, and it works for me. Next time, I would ask for a small cup of Wasabi Mayo on the side to dip the fries. I do like a lot of ketchup (or Wasabi Mayo) when I have fries.

The first time I came here, early in the Dodger Playoffs, the small back bar was jammed and I barely squeezed in.

For my next game visit, there was plenty of room at the bar and small tables. The back room bar is less raucous than the front of the house.

I ordered a Sapporo and a Sake shot again. This time I tried the Ming Wings from the Happy Hour menu. They were crisp, Japanese Tempura-style. The batter is light with the possible addition of light cornstarch to heavier flour. 

They have a sweet coating similar to a Thai dipping sauce.  The chicken wings had whole spicy red chilis, chopped green onion, and specks of garlic - a very tasty chicken wing coating. 

The order included 5 chicken wing pieces, combining drummets and flats. They were large and meaty, moist and perfectly cooked.

The last Happy Hour item I ordered was Teriyaki Mango Sliders for $7. They come 2 to an order.

The Teriyaki Mango relish on each small beef patty is sweet and tangy. You get about 3 bites per Slider. No cheese, but that's okay.

The regular menu has a nice variety of entrees and specialty drinks, with prices in the low teens and twenties. (Click here, to see the full menu.) The menu is mainly Asian Fusion cuisine. Far Bar is a casual setting that gets rowdy on sports game days.

The Far Bar hits all the bases for Happy Hour during the World Series Playoffs. The crowd is there to cheer on the LA Dodgers, and you can't help but join in with high-fives, fist pumps, and chants of "Let's Go Dodgers". And, the *LA Metro's Little Tokyo rail stop is half a block away.

Far Bar

347 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: (213) 617-9990

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday:  3pm - 12am 

Friday - Saturday:  12pm - 1:30am

Sunday: 12pm - 12am

Happy Hour: Monday - Friday 3pm - 6pm

Social Media:

Twitter: x.com/farbartweets

Instagram @farbar_la

Facebook: facebook.com/farbarlittletokyo

* LA Metro

Website: www.metro.net

Seniors 62+/ Medicare/ Customer with Disability: www.metro.net/riding/fares/seniors

When you are a senior (62 years old) with a senior-issued LA Metro TAP card, it only costs 35 cents per ride during off-peak hours. The normal base fare is $1.75 per ride - it's a steal. 

Shrimp, Jalapeño & Egg Tacos - Video Recipe

This Breakfast Taco blows all the others out of the water! And my Shrimp, Jalapeño, and Egg Tacos are Tex-Mex cuisine at its tastiest. 

I have my Mom to thank for the recipe. It was handed down from her mother and I first had the taco as a child when we lived with Mom's parents for a few months in Port O'Connor, Texas. Her father was a shrimp boat captain and he would bring home fresh-caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp. We had shrimp all the time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Most breakfast tacos and burritos have scrambled eggs, bacon, Mexican rice, and pinto beans. Locals in our small fishing town added shrimp to their Breakfast Tacos. And it's easy for anyone to make Shrimp, Jalapeño, and Egg Tacos.

All you do is saute a little chopped onion and jalapeño until soft, cook peeled shrimp for a couple more minutes, then scramble in some eggs. As the eggs scramble heat up a couple of flour or wheat tortillas. 

When done stuff the tortilla, add your favorite salsa or hot sauce, and chow down!

Texans usually make their tacos with flour tortillas, but it's okay to use corn tortillas. Tortillas are still cheap at my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. 

Onion and  jalapeños are cheap enough. I get mine from my local Latin grocer.

6 eggs for $1.25 have not shown up at Dollar Tree this year. I can still get small packs of frozen cooked bay shrimp in the cold deli case. It's enough shrimp for a couple of tacos. You only need a few shrimp for this recipe.

For larger fresh shrimp, you may peel them and remove the black vein (small/medium shrimp may not have these) along the back of the shrimp. The vein can have a subtle mealy flavor. Fresh shrimp only take a couple of minutes to cook pink and frozen cooked shrimp need defrosting. I've also eaten fresh boiled shrimp where you do not remove the "vein." 

You can use cheap jars of salsa, I do. Tapatio is my favorite Mexican-style hot sauce. 

Shrimp, Jalapeño, and Egg Tacos come together quickly and I know you will like this recipe, courtesy of my Mom and her Mom. 

Shrimp, Jalapeño, and Egg Tacos - Video        Play it here. Video runs 3 minutes, 13 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here. 

Ingredients (about 2 tacos)

• 4 to 5 Shrimp - medium size, peeled, and back vein removed (if necessary.) 
• 2 to 3 Eggs - I use medium size eggs.
• 1/4 Onion - or about 2 tablespoons chopped.
• 1/4 to 1/2 Jalapeño - okay to add more or less according to your spice limits. 
• 2 Teaspoons of Cooking Oil.
• Salt and Pepper to taste.

Directions

Add a teaspoon of oil to an omelet pan or regular frying pan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and jalapeño. Saute for a couple of minutes to soften.

It's okay to leave out jalapeño if you can't stand the heat. Remove the seeds and white ribs and the jalapeño will be milder in spiciness.

While veggies cook get shrimp ready. Defrost frozen shrimp. You can defrost them in a heated frying pan. For shell-on shrimp peel and devein (if necessary.) 

When you peel a shrimp check along the back of the shrimp and you may see a shadowy black line that is called the "vein." The vein is actually a shrimp's digestive tract. It has a gritty taste if it is a thick line. Very small shrimp often do not have one large enough to fool with.

After you peel a shrimp, slice with a knife along the back of the shrimp to expose the vein. Remove the vein. Small shrimp may not have a vein to remove. Again, it's up to you if you want to remove the "vein."

Add frozen or freshly peeled shrimp to the frying pan. If the shrimp are large it's okay to slice them in half. 

Raw shrimp cook for two or three minutes until done. They will turn from white/grey to pink when finished cooking. Frozen cooked shrimp only need to be warmed for a minute.

Add another teaspoon of cooking oil then add eggs to scramble. Scramble eggs any way you like. You can premix eggs in a bowl or just add them right to the pan with shrimp and veggies.

Scramble eggs for a minute or so until done. Salt and pepper to taste.

While eggs scramble you can heat up the corn or flour tortillas in a pan or microwave for 15 to 30 seconds, or until warm and soft. Tortillas need to be heated through to soften or they may crack and split when folded and loaded with filling.

When the eggs are done and the tortillas heated, build your Shrimp, Jalapeño, and Egg Tacos, and don't forget the salsa and hot sauce!