#japanesefood

#japanesefood

LA’s Oldest Japanese RestaurantFor businesses to thrive and gain more customers, they usually rely on marketing and advertising. For restaurants and other types of food places, you’d probably see them reach out to food critics, post TikToks and hope to be viral.One restaurant in LA, however, has survived for so long without a single penny spent on marketing. Meet Otomisan, a Japanese restaurant that has been open for 66 years. The owner, Yayoi Watanabe, claims his place to be “the last Japanese restaurant in the Los Angeles Boyle Heights area.” Customers flock here via word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family. Otomisan is known for its tempura, udon, oyakodon bowls, and karaage. Check out VICE’s video on how the restaurant started, and how it is still standing today.Image credit: Richard Schave#restaurants #Japan #cuisine #JapaneseFood #LosAngeles #Otomisan

Darth Vader OnigiriLando Calrissian made a deal that will keep the Empire out of Cloud City forever. The dinner party with Darth Vader sealed the deal when Lando no doubt served these onigiri by food artist and cookbook author Noriko Araki.Onigiri is a Japanese food that consists of sticky white rice and wrapped in a nori seaweed sheet. I’m uncertain how Araki shaped it into the image of Darth Vader’s helmet. Although there are Vader helmet food molds available, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did the work by hand.