Last Christmas, I Gave You Yakitori
For Christmas last year, we decided not to give each other tangible gifts and instead, treat each other to a staycation and dinner at Nanbankan. Nanbankan is a yakitori spot in Sawtelle not too far from Tsujita that we didn’t find out about until recently (thanks for the reco Dillman). Can’t believe we’ve been coming to the area for so long without ever knowing about this little gem!
Nanbankan has a tiny restaurant front that is completely overshadowed by its overly extravagant Persian restaurant neighbor next door on Santa Monica Blvd. The interior is minimal with Japanese decorations hanging all over the walls and quiet jazz playing in the background. The waiters, restaurant owner/manager and chefs are extremely attentive and respectful. We sat at the bar this time which is where the bulk of the seating is in the restaurant so that we could be in the middle of all the action.
Naturally, we wanted to compare the whole dining experience to yakitori in Japan, but we definitely realize they are two different dining experiences to be enjoyed in their own right. This place is a little bit on the more upscale side complete with cloth napkins and coke served in goblets with a slice of lime, but still retains the essence of any yakitori spot: open charcoal grills with chefs attentively flipping all the yakitori and cooking each order to charcoaled perfection.
We ordered a bunch of different yakitori plus one entree. We started with Ninniku No Me, garlic sprouts sauteed with mushrooms and scallop. This came served in a mini cast iron in a sweet, rich, buttery white wine sauce. It was so delicious and definitely one of the highlights of the evening.
Next, we had Okura Maki, okra wrapped with pork side. This was also one of our favorite dishes: the okra was crunchy, not slimy at all, and wrapped in salty crispy pork. Each bite was the perfect combination of a fresh crunch, salt, crisp and smoke. We of course had to order one of our favorite grilled dishes: shishito. These were pretty standard... It’s kind of hard to screw this one up. Delicious as always with some fresh squeezed lemon on top.
We then had Tsukune, chicken meat balls, and Negima, dark meat chicken and scallions. These were delicious and tasted exactly like what we had in Piss Alley. Grilled to perfection and oh so tender. The tare sauce, succulent meat and grilled flavor from the charcoal is heavenly.
Next up, we had Tebasaki, grilled chicken wings. These were much simpler than the previous chicken dishes and were simply grilled with a little bit of salt and served with a fresh lemon wedge. These were perfectly crispy and juicy. After this, we had the Nanban Yaki, grilled top sirloin. It had part of the restaurant name in it, so we had to get it right? These were okay, but probably the least favorite of the night. Though the sauce was very tasty, we found the beef to be a bit chewy and dry. Guess we’ll just have to ball out on the Wagyu next time.
We finished off with one of my personal favorites: shiitake. Perfectly grilled, meaty, and succulent served with a nice sour ponzu sauce. A perfect end to an assortment of dankness.
To top it all off, the price was totally reasonable for everything we got. Definitely a great date or treat yoself spot. We find it really strange that there aren’t more delicious yakitori spots around LA. We’re not sure if we just don’t know about them or if they don’t exist, so if you know of any around the LA area, we’d love to hear your recommendations.
Nanbankan
11330 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
