We all ordered the AYCE for $35. It came with a ton of seafood, some which I did not recognize.
My favorites of the night were the porridge and the uni. Yes, I said uni. Mind you, this was my first time tasting uni and I was quite scared to do so. I've heard that it's an acquired taste and many of my friends have expressed their disdain for it.
porridge and salad
However, being the adventurous eater that I am, I dipped into it carefully. Hmm.. it was.. actually pretty good! The taste is hard to explain, but I guess it's similar to roe, but more creamy. It was quite fresh too, as it was served in it's prickly shell. I heard that the freshness really makes a difference in taste.
Uni!!
no idea what this is
There was a plate full of sashimi as well. The salmon was best, very soft and buttery. Yellowtail was okay. Halibut was meh. There was also some abalone in a shell which was so nasty that I spit it out. It was so hard to chew and had a gross, fishy flavor, I could not muster the strength to swallow it. BLECHHHH!
sashimi
sushi and rolls
A plate of crab showed up soon after. Shit. That crab was quite good. I would have ate more, but was getting stuffed.
Next up, they brought a hot plate with raw shrimp and beef on it. I had a piece of beef, and was quite unimpressed. It was just beef. Nothing special. Usually, beef speaks to me, you know, like mooing with flavor. This one was just beef. I did not eat any shrimp.
raw beef and shrimp
Oh, I have to say that the spicy soup with daikon in it was really good! They bring that at the end of the meal. I had 2 bowls, and would have had a 3rd, but didn't want to scare my fellow diners with my big appetite.
For a place that advertises "live seafood", nothing that we ate was alive. Humph!!
Service was very spotty. We had to keep asking for water and other stuff, over and over.
At $50 a pop, I think I would rather spend that somewhere else. A place where live octopus is ALWAYS in season.
Neptune's Lounge
601 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 365-0730
5 comments:
No octopus? Not in season?! Who knew octopus had seasons? You think maybe they just ran out?
Really fresh uni taste very mild with a very slight fishy/ocean taste; the texture is nice. Asakuma always has good uni it seems. Glad you liked it at Neptune's.
Crab looks damn tasty, and I'm surprised they plated raw shrimp next to raw beef--I suppose they're expected you to cook everything well done =).
Yeah you wouldn't scare me with that 3rd bowl :).
They lied! my friend went to a diff resto the next day, and they had live octopus!
ya, i got lucky with the uni. i heard it can be pretty bad if it's not fresh.
Wait... you're suppose to eat the shrimp and beef raw?
nooo, only the live octopus, which they didn't have.
Thank you for your insightful Very detailed review. i have been looking at this place for a while and tonight was going to be the night.... But i think i'll wait.
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