Happy Hour During the LA Dodgers Baseball World Series - Izakaya Go for Japanese Tapas

If you are looking for an authentic Japanese Happy Hour in Little Tokyo, Izakaya Go has a delicious and varied selection of bites, along with a 60-ounce pitcher of Sapporo Beer for $16 to wash it down with. Their regular menu is extensive and a click away, here.

I tried small Tapas plates of Spicy Garlic Edamame, Fried Chicken Karaage, and Crispy Pork Belly, plus Hand Rolls, and raw Oysters, all on the cheap.

There are a dozen food items on the Happy Hour Menu, and they all look good. I'll be back to try them all.

Click on any photo to see larger.

What brought me (and my friend Drew) here was the LA Dodgers Baseball Playoffs. The Dodgers have 3 Japanese Players on the roster, and I wanted to watch a few games with the locals in Little Tokyo, located in Downtown Los Angeles.

 

Little Tokyo is only a few city blocks and easy to walk around and window-browse the restaurants, looking for food and drink specials. 

Izakaya Go is a restaurant on Central Avenue, conveniently, right down from the *LA Metro Little Tokyo Station at 1st Street. It's a short walk past a cool LA Dodgers mural.

Entering Izakawa Go, you pass a small sushi bar on the left, large tables in the center, and small tables on the far right with a long upholstered bench seat against the wall. A large TV screen is centered, above and in front of the back wall, so anywhere you sit, the Dodger Playoffs are easily viewed. 

If you have been following my Happy Hour Tour of Little Tokyo this week, my previous stop at the Far Bar, down on 1st Street, is where you want to watch sports, as the crowd is loud and boisterous on game days. Here, at Izakawa Go, the crowd is there to nosh, not yell out "Let's Go Dodgers". 

The Happy Hour is only an hour and a half, and most baseball games last 3 hours, so I can always end up at the Far Bar for the rest of the game. (Read my Far Bar Happy Hour review by clicking here.)

My friend, Drew, and I started with Spicy Garlic Edamame and a Pitcher of Sapporo Beer. 

Usually, Edamame is plainly steamed in the shell and a bit bland, and that's fine. I liked the addition of pungent garlic and spicy chili flavors.

The cold Japanese pale lager, Sapporo, kept things in check. Sapporo Beer is smooth and light and goes good with any food.

We followed up ordering Chicken Karaage and Crispy Pork Belly, both were fried. Might as well get the heavy stuff first.

The Chicken Karaage nuggets were large, tender, and so juicy - done perfectly. The crunchy coating is not heavy like typical Southern Fried Chicken. 

The Karaage batter is light like Japanese tempura. This is a large tapas plate for only $7 and is very tasty. It was easy to split between these 2 Dodger fans.

Crispy Pork Belly reminded me of fried pork rinds I've had in Louisiana.

Very dry and crispy, light and airy, like fat matchstick potato chips, the Crispy Pork Belly order is like crunchy Beer Nuts snacks. They did not last long.

We finished up with seafood: Sushi Handrolls and fresh Chef's Choice Oysters. 

The Oysters are only a dollar apiece - a great deal. The raw Oysters are served on a half shell with a light soy/vinaigrette and dressed with chopped scallions. The Oysters were small but pungent and briny. 

You could slurp the whole thing down, but be prepared for a tasty sour kick from the vinaigrette. I wanted to taste the oyster with minimal extra flavorings, so I used chopsticks to pick out the Oyster, and gulped the vinaigrette as a chaser - Whoa!

The waitress wrote down the type of Oyster for me. The Kumiai Oyster is cultivated in Baja California, Mexico. They went down smoothly.

I was fooled by the California Roll. Typically, it is made with krab, or imitation crab. Looking closely at my Handroll, the filling did not look like krab, it looked like real crab and tasted like it, too. I asked a waiter if they used real crab in their California Roll - they did not.

The krab was shredded and finely chopped to look like real flaky crab meat. Plump sushi rice, crunchy cucumber, and creamy avocado slices filled out the roll, wrapped in a sheet of seaweed. It is a fine California Handroll for $5. (Click here to see my easy-to-do, cheap$kate recipe.)

The Spicy Tuna Handroll had a nice balance of chili heat and cool, raw chopped tuna. Again, a great treat for $5. And an excellent finish to a Japanese Happy Hour. (Again, I have a Spicy Tuna Roll recipe, here.)

They have a Yakitori menu with grilled skewers of Japanese Eggplant and Shiitake Mushroom, I want to try, and the prices work for me, even without the Happy Hour.

 

 Izakaya Go is a grand slam of a Little Tokyo Happy Hour in Downtown Los Angeles, especially when you leave the driving to the *LA Metro rail line.

Izakaya Go

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 265-7324

Website: izakayago.com

X (Twitter): x.com/GoIzakaya

Instagram: www.instagram.com/izakayago_la

Email: izakayagola@gmail.com

Monday, Tuesday: Closed

Wed: No Lunch, Dinner 5:00PM - 12:30AM

Thurs: Lunch 11:00AM - 2:00PM, Dinner 5:00PM - 12:30AM

Fri:   Lunch 11:00AM - 2:00PM, Dinner 5:00PM - 12:30AM

Sat:  Lunch 11:00AM - 2:00PM, Dinner 5:00PM - 12:30AM

Sun: Lunch 11:00AM - 2:00PM, Dinner 5:00PM - 12:30AM

* 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. 

Spicy Tuna Roll - Sushi Video Series

An Asian version of a burrito, a sushi roll is a meal wrapped in dried seaweed. Almost any seafood and veggies can make up the filling, along with sushi rice. In my latest Sushi Recipe Video, I'll show you how to make a Spicy Tuna Roll.

If you were here a few weeks ago, I showed you how to make a Spicy Tuna Hand Roll -- now on to something a little more tricky to do, a typical sushi roll.

Sushi rolls are sold everywhere now, even Trader Joe's markets (at least in Los Angeles.) You can easily get colorful refrigerated sliced sushi rolls ready to go. The sushi roll selections are small, but I've seen a variety, including California Roll, Krab, Tuna, Veggie, Salmon, and Scallop Rolls. Although these pre-packaged rolls are a bit on the expensive side.

While I like the convenience, fresh is still best. And it's not that hard to make. You only have to cook sushi rice (my recipe is here.) The trickiest ingredient to find is sheets of dried seaweed, but even that is now being carried in larger chain grocery stores.

You can use a bamboo rolling mat, also carried at larger markets and Oriental grocery stores. They look like tiny bamboo window blinds, and they are super-cheap, just click here to see (or order) online. (Here is a video that shows you how to roll with a dry kitchen towel -- you could even roll sushi with a large one-gallon plastic Ziploc bag or a flexible placemat.) And with a little practice, you could try rolling it by hand.

Fresh sushi-grade fish is expensive, but I have a generous neighbor who supplies me with fresh, locally caught tuna for free (to see my blog post and video about him, click here.) So I can do this Sushi Recipe Series and stay within my budget - because it pays to be friendly with your neighbors. (For a cheaper sushi roll it's okay to substitute tuna with cooked imitation crab, or krab.)

My recipe uses chopped tuna, mixed with mayo and hot sauce.You can add some thin-sliced veggies to stretch out the expensive raw tuna.)

And for all my pescetarian visitors,  this post is especially for you. (A pescetarian dines on veggies and fish, but no other meat.) Plus sliced Sushi Rolls make great party appetizers. You can make them with fish or keep it vegan to include everyone. If you are new to the sushi experience, click here to see a video about how to eat sushi.

Like my other sushi recipes, it takes a few tries to get good at it. So you may want to make your first couple of sushi rolls with cheaper faux crab, or just sliced veggies (avocado is a luscious seafood substitution.) But once you get the hang of it, you'll be sushi rolling often. It's actually fun to do.

  Spicy Tuna Roll  - VIDEO

Play it here, video runs 2 minutes, 17 seconds.

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

Spicy Tuna Ingredients (2-4 rolls)

• About 6 ounces of tuna - skinless and no bones. I used fatty tuna for this recipe. Okay to substitute cheaper imitation crab, also known as krab.
• 3 tablespoons mayo - I used light mayo. Add more or less to the desired creaminess.
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha Chili Sauce - can also use a favorite hot sauce or a pinch of cayenne pepper. Add a little at a time to reach your own desired spiciness.

Other Ingredients

• About 2 cups cooked sushi rice - for my recipe click here.
• 2-4 sheets of dried seaweed - depending how much Spicy Tuna you use for each roll.
• Favorite veggies - optional. Thinly chopped or sliced carrot, green onions, cucumber and avocado.

Directions for Spicy Tuna Roll
Prepare Sushi Rice according to my recipe, click here for details. The rice should be at room temperature when making sushi.

Roughly chop raw tuna into small pieces.

Mix mayo and Sriracha Chilli Sauce (or favorite hot sauce) in a bowl. Mix chopped tuna and spicy mayo in a bowl. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Now time to bring it all together.

Lay out sushi mat (dry kitchen towel, or large Ziploc plastic bag.) The surface should be dry, as dried seaweed is very absorbent. Place one whole dried sheet of seaweed on the center of the sushi mat.

Now dampen your hands (as Sushi Rice is sticky and water will make handling easier,) and spread out an even layer of cooked rice over the dried seaweed.

You will be rolling sushi, so leave a half-inch edge empty of rice. You can cover all the seaweed, on the right and left sides, with rice. As for how much rice you pile on, it's up to you. I just do enough until you can't see the seaweed underneath -- about a 1/4 inch deep.

When seaweed is covered with rice (except half an inch along the closest edge to you) gently press on the rice with damp fingers, so it's spread evenly across the seaweed.

Cover about a quarter to a third of the rice with Spicy Tuna. I spread it across the center area, end to end. You can use a lot of spicy tuna or just a little - it's up to you. Use less tuna if you are adding sliced veggies, too.

Now time to roll it up. You can rotate the mat away from you to roll, or keep it facing you. Roll the loaded seaweed with medium pressure as you go, tightening the roll. Keep rolling and adding pressure until you reach the half inch of clear seaweed at the end.

Dampen your fingers and moisten the seaweed edge and just press together to seal.

Once the roll is sealed, wrap the roll one more time in the mat and give the roll even squeezes from end to end. This will help keep the roll from falling apart when you finally slice it.

Remove the mat and place the whole Spicy Tuna Roll on a cutting surface. Take a sharp knife and dampen the blade with water. I start in the middle and slice it in half. Then I slice each half into 4 pieces, so I get 8 slices per roll, in total. You can make thicker pieces if you like, to get 6 pieces total. The object is to make each piece edible in one bite.

You can eat the sushi as is, or pour a small plate of soy sauce and dip sushi pieces as you eat them.

Hindsight

It's optional to add sliced veggies on top of the Spicy Tuna layer. 

Thinly slice favorite veggies such as a carrot, green onion, cucumber, and avocado. Slices can be long or short. You can use packaged shredded carrots, or peel and slice your own. For cucumbers slice in half lengthwise, spoon out seeds and slice. (You can peel some of the cucumber.) For green onion slice off and discard roots and any yellowed stems, then thinly slice.

Spicy Tuna Hand Roll - Sushi Video Series

The easiest sushi to make is a Hand Roll. And for my next Sushi Recipe Video I'll have you literally eating out of my hands.

When you dine at the sushi counter in a Japanese restaurant it can be intimidating -- all that precise assembling and slicing choreography.

Making a Hand Roll is like making a flatbread (or tortilla) sandwich roll. Just slice up some veggie and fish ingredients and pile it on a sheet of seaweed (known as Nori) half covered with cooked sushi rice -- then roll it into the shape of a pointy-end snow cone.

Japanese chefs work overtime on visual presentation, but a Hand Roll is more about what you put in, than how it looks.

For this Hand Roll I'm using Spicy Tuna. And Spicy Tuna is just mayo and hot sauce (usually Sriracha Spicy Chili Sauce, or an imitation brand) mixed into chopped raw tuna. But any hot sauce can be used.

(For a cheaper hand roll scroll go to the end of my blog post under Hindsight, and read about making one with imitation crab - I'll have a fake crab recipe, with photos and text, posted in a few weeks, too.)

If you made my Nigiri Tuna Sushi from the last blog post then you may have saved some tuna scraps. A hand roll is perfect for the small trims of tuna, any uneven pieces, and unattractive cuts. (When I make sushi I never throw away the fish scraps unless it's just too stringy or chewy.)

The only tricky thing is spreading out sticky rice and rolling the Hand Roll. And even that isn't too difficult.

For handling sticky rice just dampen your hands. And for rolling, roll the loaded seaweed diagonally, and seal it with dampened fingertips -- the ingredients will hold together in a sleek black wrap.

With a hand roll, the rice doesn't have to be perfect sticky sushi rice. You can use any favorite rice recipe. The sheet of dried seaweed will hold it all together.

You will need a good cut of raw fish (I get mine free from my fisherman neighbor Don, click here to see the video.) For this recipe, I used fatty tuna. I used a leaner cut of tuna for my Nigiri Tuna Sushi video recipe from last week. And Click here for a list of fish commonly used for sushi.

Probably the most unusual ingredient for a Sushi Roll is dried seaweed. They come in 8-inch square thin sheets; anywhere from 10 to 30 sheets to a package. I get mine at Oriental markets, but they are now being sold in some regular chain grocery stores. If you have a Little Tokyo or Chinatown nearby, then you can find dried seaweed, for a decent price. The best price I've found is 30 sheets for $2.49 -- that's less than 10 cents per sheet! Even if you have to pay twice as much, you will surely use up the whole package trying out everything in my Sushi Recipes Video Series.

I was intimidated to try making sushi for a long time, but now I do it frequently. The main thing is to do it a few times -- with a couple of mistakes under your belt, you will get better. I have.

So do check back for more sushi recipes, including a cheap, easy-to-make, California Roll, that's made with krab, cucumber, and creamy avocado.

  Spicy Tuna Hand Roll- VIDEO 

Play it here, video runs 2 minutes, 30 seconds.

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

Ingredients for Spicy Tuna (2 to 4 rolls)

• About 6 ounces of tuna - skinless and no bones. I used fatty tuna for this recipe.
• 3 tablespoons mayo - I used light mayo. Add more or less to the desired creaminess.
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha Chilli Sauce - can also use a favorite hot sauce, grated horseradish, or a pinch of cayenne pepper. Okay to add a little at a time to reach desired spicyness.

Other Ingredients

• About 2 cups cooked Sushi Rice - for my Sushi Rice recipe, click here for text with photos, or scroll down to the end for video only.) You can use any type of cooked rice for a hand roll.
• 1-2 sheets of dried seaweed - sliced in half
• Favorite thinly sliced veggies - carrot, green onions, cucumber, or avocado. For a hand roll, fill it up with any favorite sliced veggies, raw or lightly steamed.

Directions for Spicy Tuna Hand Roll
Have Sushi Rice at the ready, room temperature. To see my Sushi Rice recipe, click here.

Mix mayo and Sriracha Chilli Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce) in a bowl. Add a little hot sauce at a time and taste, to bring up to desired spiciness.

Roughly chop raw tuna into small pieces. Mix chopped tuna with spicy mayo. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Thinly slice favorite veggies such as a carrot, green onion, cucumber, and avocado. Slices can be long or short. You can use packaged shredded carrots or peel and slice your own.

For whole carrots just peel off skin and chop off ends. Split the carrot in half across the middle, then split one more time lengthways. Finally, slice carrot segments thinly.

For cucumbers slice in half lengthwise and spoon out seeds. You can peel some of the cucumber or not. Thinly slice cucumber.

For green onion slice off the green stems and give the stems one more slice lengthwise. (While the green stems are tasty they are tough to bite through, so slicing them thinly makes it easier.) You can sprinkle in some of the chopped white onion pieces too. (Discard green onion root and any wilted stems parts.)

Next, slice the dried seaweed in half. It's kind of brittle so handle carefully. Please note that dried seaweed is super-absorbent, so make sure the cutting surface, your hands, and the knife are dry.

Time to bring it all together. Place the halved seaweed section, lengthwise, on a dry surface. Dampen fingers and spread on a layer of Sushi Rice over about one-half of the seaweed. Just enough rice to cover the surface, no need to pile it on too thick.

Now add spicy tuna on the rice side of the seaweed. It's up to you how much fish to add - a thick or thin layer. Again, once you've made a few Hand Rolls then you will get better at figuring out the amount of rice to fish you like.

 Okay, let's wrap it up! Lay your veggie slices diagonally over the spicy tuna and rice. Next, roll the seaweed in a diagonal direction: bottom left side to upper right side. (I'm right-handed, but if you're left-handed then make the hand roll filling on the right side of the seaweed, and roll it bottom right to top left.)

Finally, seal the Hand Roll with a bead of water. When you have rolled it up moisten your fingertips and wipe the seaweed end-edge and press it together. It should seal up and stick together easily.

The end result will look like an ice cream cone with a pointy end. You can make Hand Rolls one at a time or all at once.

Hindsight
If you don't like raw carrot, it's okay to seam for a few minutes to desired softness. This pertains to any veggie you like to use.

It's up to you how much veggies, rice, and fish you add to each roll. You can be generous or skimpy doling out the spicy fish.

I know sushi-grade raw fish is way expensive. A cheap seafood substitution is krab. You've seen the small frozen packages in seafood deli cases and even laid out with fresh fish. It's tasty and you don't have to pry it out of a shell. Sometimes the quality is suspect. It can be a little dried out from freezing for too long. An easy way to reconstitute, after defrosting, is to sprinkle on a little water, loosely cover, and do a 30-second microwave (take out pieces as they get warm and soft, and continue to zap in 10-second increments, if krab pieces are still cool.) The krab will soften and plump up perfectly. Finally do a rough chop and mix it with some Spicy Mayo.

Hand Rolls work well with imperfect rice, too. Since the rice is in a wrap, you can use reheated cooked rice from another day, or even defrosted from the freezer. Just make sure the rice is heated to room temperature.

You can easily use brown rice, just follow my Sushi Rice directions. And after the rice is cooked, let it set for an extra 10 minutes. Brown rice is toothsome with an extra nutty flavor and is more nutritious.

Sushi Rice Recipe Video