This Saturday we had the opportunity to check out the sights and eats at the 8th Annual Japanese Food Festival, which was held at the lovely New Otani Hotel in downtown and hosted by the Japanese Restaurant Association (JRA) of Southern California. There were lots of tasty bites to eat, and plenty to drink, as well as crowd pleasing entertainment, like the Sushi Making Contest. We did our best to capture a taste of... more ›

The Japanese Food Festival, a one day event being held at The New Otani Hotel, will be occurring this Saturday, October 27 from 11AM to 3PM. Tickets are 50 bucks but that includes all-you-can-eat-sushi as well as all-you-can-drink sake and beer (yay!). more ›

It's certainly no secret that LAist loves Japanese food. After all, we're on a constant search for new adventures in sushi. This weekend we're excited to report that the Japanese Restaurant Association of Southern California is sponsoring a one-day only Japanese Food Festival, to be held in one of our favorite downtown spots, the New Otani Hotel. The event will include demonstrations, for food preps like ultra long rolled sushi and filleting a large tuna, a Uni recipe contest as well as a sushi contest. Take a survey and you'll be entered to win two round trip tickets to Japan. Heck, just for attending you get a gift bag, and the chance to sample some of the city's best Japanese Food. Tickets have to be purchased in advance, and attendance is capped at 1,000. To purchase your $30 ticket, contact the JRA: 324 E. First St #350, Los Angeles, CA90012 (213) 687-4055 or visit the Festival's website. more ›

...the Beer Garden, that is. Back in June we applauded the impending summer opening of the New Otani Hotel's rooftop Beer Garden, and now that we've enjoyed some mugs of Kirin and some hibachi grilling, we're ready to laud this seasonal downtown hangout yet again. A few floors above the lobby level (not quite the roof, but a roof) is the hotel's lovely Japanese gardens, complete with waterfalls and streams, paper lanterns in bright colors, stringed lights, and modest skyscraper views through the treetops. It's rather quiet up there, and it's easy to forget that you're right on the edge of the civic center. Casual patio tables are set up, and a simple menu offers basic fare: Beer, Meat and Veggies to grill, and side dishes. We ordered a pitcher of Kirin (we hope you've gathered by now that we weren't alone!) a sampling of things to grill: Salted beef, chicken breast, shrimp, and veggies, and some rice and kimchi pickles on the side. The edamame is plentiful, and our bowl was constantly being refilled. The food appeared quickly, the grill was hot and oiled, and we set to searing our raw slices of meat and produce. Everything was quite tasty, and paired nicely with the beer, but most importantly, with the atmosphere. We were there as the sun went down on our lovely city, and we made our way (on foot!) back to the Metro Red Line station, which is just a couple of blocks up 1st street. The Beer Garden is a great place to go with a group of people, to unwind after work or to start an evening's celebration off with food and drink. We'll be sad to say sayonara to the Beer Garden when it closes down in September, but there's still plenty of time left to get us back to that garden...again! more ›