Kabuki at Howard Hughes

My mom danced odori for most of her adolescent and young adult years. She danced in the parades of Disneyland, in New Orleans, at Disney World in Florida, and so many places I have yet to visit. But when I was just a little girl, my mom tried to get me to love dancing just as much as she did. She took me to the same dancing studio she went to many years, with Madame Fujima Kansuma. But instead of loving the discipline and the structured steps, I wanted to dance footloose, kick off my Sunday shoes...Ooowhee! I was a rambunctious little four year old, and didn't want anything to stop me from playing on the monkey bars, drawing outside the lines with my unsharpened Crayolas, and making brownies and cakes in my Easy Bake Oven. And after a few lessons, I was never to donn the traditional zoris for dancing ever again.



And when I spend time with my nephew and niece, I'm reminded of my youthful days. A few weekends ago, my family went to Kabuki Restaurants for a Sunday dinner. With 7 of us, we had to sit at neighboring tables unless we wanted to wait over an hour or two before we could be seated. A hungry clan of Kristy and her family is definitely not a pretty site, and lucky for everyone we were seated after 5 minutes.



Since I sat at the Adult table, I ordered the Sake Sampler [12.95] to drink with some edamame. Two ounces each of Otokoyama's Junmai, Kikusui's Ginjyo, and Mu's Dai Ginjyo, the light and fruity sakes were a great starter with our [1.50] warm and lightly salted boiled soybeans.



From TL clockwise, my bachan ordered the Sushi Combination B [14.95], I ordered an order of the B.S.C.R. - Baked Scallop California Roll [4.48], the kids were in the mood for some tempura udon [10.95], and Auntie felt daring to get the Seared Tuna Tataki [13.95]. All of which were mediocre at best. It's no wonder that most sushi is 50% off. But what was good...



The Miso Marinated Black Cod [14.95] left Kristy a very happy little girl. The buttery fish melted in my mouth, the roasted kernels of corn were sweet morsels of crunchy goodness, grilled asparagus and green onions with a bite...all smothered in a miso teriyaki sauce.



And we ended the meal with Banana Tempura Ice Cream in a Caramel Sauce [4.95] and the Tempura Ice Cream deep fried [4.95]. Nothing exciting with these two dishes, I'd stick with getting the Cod dinner and maybe some Mango Sorbet or regular ice cream. Because you're never too old, too young, or too full to have some dessert!

Kabuki at the Promenade Howard Hughes Center
street: 6081 center dr. #203, los angeles 90045
t: 1.310.641.5524
web: www.kabukirestaurants.com
$1 parking in structure
for more than 6 people, call 2hrs in advance for reservations