Prior to the pandemic, Izakaya Hachi was one of the busiest restaurants in the South Bay. Their brick-and-mortar is located on Carson St near many Japanese eateries. Reservations were required and sometimes you had to book a couple of weeks in advance. As an izakaya, they operate similar to a Spanish tapas bar.
Izakaya restaurants feature adult beverages with small plates that are frequently paired with beer, sake, or shochu. Like in Spain, diners visit these types of restaurants to reconnect with friends and coworkers with drink and good food.
During our visit, only outdoor dining was permitted by LA County. An outdoor tent with two open sides provides ample ventilation and space heaters are placed throughout the tent. They even have small portable heaters to keep your feet toasty.
Thinly sliced Kobe beef (Uni Maki $14) is wrapped around Santa Barbara uni and a shiso leaf and topped with caviar. It is beautifully presented served in a Japanese eating spoon with a dash of their house soy sauce. The light soy sauce is slightly sweet and gives this dish a nice umami flavor boost.
My daughter is a self-professed authority with regards to chicken karaage ($7.50). It was just out of the fryer, light brown, and crispy. My daughter nodded her approval as she ate it.
Beef tongue ($17.50) is grilled in their Bincho charcoal grill. This high-quality Japanese white charcoal is made from Japanese oak. This style of cooking imparts a unique flavor that adds a smoky element to the meat. The beef is prepared medium, a little chewy, and much like a lean steak in flavor.
Roasted duck breast ($8.00) is thinly sliced and served cold in their house sauce. The duck’s delicate flavor nicely pairs with sake.
I wasn’t expecting to find interesting salads at an izakaya. The compositions are unique and definitely worth ordering. Mixed crabmeat with miso over lettuce; octopus with daikon radish over mizuna leaves; cold tofu with dried Japanese anchovies and scallions; and sauteed Kobe beef over shredded cabbage.
Hot Pot ($22 sm, $42 lg) is one of their signature items and is served shabu-shabu style. A single-burner portable stove is delivered to your table with a pot of steaming tonkatsu broth. Vegetables and two trays of thinly sliced Berkshire pork are provided separately for you to drop into the bubbling broth. After you’ve eaten the meat and vegetables, they offer ramen noodles to add to the remainder of the broth.
With restaurants now permitted to open at partial capacity, I look forward to returning to Izakaya Hachi so that I can enjoy the full experience indoors.
Izakaya Hachi, 1880 W Carson St, Torrance, CA 90501; 310.618.8357
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