Izakaya Fu-ga

Izakaya Fu-ga has been open about 2 months. I checked it out last week with some friends and ordered way, way too much food. But yet we still managed to eat dessert.

When I first viewed the menu online, I didn’t think there was much I actually really wanted. Rolls? Bleh. Garlic fries? Eh. Is this an izakaya or what? But then I dug a bit further and thought the mushrooms would be great. And those garlic fries have a bit of nori on ’em though you can’t really taste much. The roll, well, it’s a roll.

The next three items were more my speed. The curry shrimp was pretty fantastic. I was just bummed the shrimp weren’t a tiny bit bigger. And I could have used more green beans. You really can’t go wrong with sausage and a grainy mustard. And mussels? Gimme.

I thought with all the food we were ordering, perhaps we should get some noodles (again, not very izakaya-minded of me/us). Unfortunately, the broth wasn’t very flavorful. It’d do but not in a pinch. The fried brie was great but I wasn’t really into the dynamite (not a mayo fan). Still this dynamite wasn’t overly greasy or oily.

I really wanted the miso-scallops and our friendly server talked us into getting the scallops and the dynamite. I could see why, the dynamite was better sharing for the group. But the scallops were tender (even if they weren’t really miso-y).

We waited a long time for our 21-day aged ribeye. It came cooked past medium rare. I don’t like sending things back but we had to and the next steak was much better. Eating dry, overcooked steak is really a waste of stomach space.

As I mentioned, I didn’t think I could stuff myself with dessert. But when I heard about the peach ice cream with figs and ports, some of my favorite things, I couldn’t resist. The fried cheesecake was a hit with the table.

As an izakaya, this didn’t really satisfy. As a cool, somewhat underground hang-out with friends, it was a great night. The bar is huge. I can imagine coming back for happy hour.

Izakaya Fu-ga

111 S. San Pedro Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

213.625.1722

** free parking with validation