117 Japanese Vlg Plz Mll
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 613-1028
Like all the cool kids, Delicacheena had to visit the Takashi Murakami exhibit at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary. We were bombarded with color, flowers and toothy grins and loved it. As we expect at art exhibits, we experienced moments of "Is that what I think it is?" and of beauty. But we weren't challenged to think too deeply about the art and it was the first time that Delicacheena contemplated buying the same Louis Vuitton bag in a dozen different colors. After deciding we didn't really need to lay down hundreds of dollars on plush flowers (got the coffee table book and pink KaiKai, instead!), we followed our stomachs to Japanese Village Plaza across the street.
Usually we don't miss Mikawaya for mochi ice cream, but it was closed. Fortunately our other standby, Mitsura Cafe was cooking up fresh imagawayaki. They are pancakes filled with red bean paste. INK still wonders who was the first guy to think, "Let's add sugar to beans and make dessert!" Hot off the griddle, theses sweets are irresistible and are the Japanese version of the gorditas de nata enjoyed in Baja. But we can't live on pancakes alone so we also ordered a skewer of takoyaki (octopus balls) drizzled with a sweet sauce, slightly chewy and juicy.
Folks rave about that shabu-shabu spot and the maddening crowd waiting for tables knew what they wanted, but we couldn't endure the wait and a step inside revealed a not-so-nice aroma. We decided to travel west from Japan to Korea. One of Delicacheena's companions, MH, seems to partake in Korean barbecue once a week. We ordered a plate of beef tongue because we could. Hey, it's all you can eat! We decided we don't need to do that again.
