Go Go Gyoza/Hinoki and the Bird/Shunji

Go Go Gyoza

LA County Safer At Home: Days 61 and 62 Hinoki & The Bird.

Hinoki & The Bird.

Modern, high ceilings, yet subtle.

So sad to see so many places empty of customers.

Go Go Gyoza's dipping sauce offerings.

And cocktails in a bottle.

Lincoln's Anecdote and Cucumber Sammich.

Hello Kitty sake? Wines.

Wines.

Beers.

The kitchen. Normally abuzz at this hour....

1,500 people on the waitlist for these.

Much easier to get.

Pork gyoza!

Just need to be cooked.

Tiny chickens. Tasty but why so small? Hinoki & the Bird's butter lobster ramen to-go.

Hinoki & the Bird's butter lobster ramen to-go.

It definitely hit the spot.

Lobster ramen? Yes please. Shunji.

Shunji.

Nodoguro (black throated sea perch) chirashi.

Presentation.

So tender and delicious.

Nom nom nom nodoguro is delicious.

Couldn't resist another close-up.

Over 1,500 people on the waitlist for Go Go Gyoza, Chef Brandon Kida (of Hinoki & the Bird fame)'s special to-go only project. Took something like a month to be acknowledged I was "soon" to see my spot come up on the wait list, then three more weeks for that time to actually come. Crazy.

Hinoki & the Bird isn't subject to nearly the same hype. The jidori fried chicken is reasonably tasty but uses tiny chickens, El Pollo Loco sized. The butter lobster ramen, while not something worth restaurant pricing, was oddly fitting to re-heat/re-construct at home-- it hit the spot!

The next day, dinner at Shunji. They've been doing a great job with special orders of fish from Japan and Europe, with a nodoguro chirashi that was buttery and delicious for this latest special. Blackthroat sea perch is definitely a delicacy, although it's sufficiently pricey that I'm not sure it's worth the money unless you are a serious fan of it.