344 W. Huntington Dr., Monrovia 91016 626-357-1144
Type: Japanese/Korean
Quality: !!! Price: $-$$ Ambience: **
The name of this place is deceptive--you can actually order classic American submarine sandwiches at this place. I haven't ordered any of them, so I'm leaving that out of this review. This is a fast food-type of place. The food is generally tasty, affordable, and generous in portion sizes. I've had their spicy tuna, California, and catepillar rolls here. I've had better in different places, but they're pretty good here, and they're probably a bit cheaper. For their chicken teriyaki, they marinate their chicken before grilling, so it's flavorful. Overall, this is a good lunch place--tasty, pretty inexpensive, and actually pretty good for your body. The staff is friendly, too. They also offer Boba Tea and Smoothies. Tables are limited to seating 4 at a time, so don't plan for a major party here. It's located in the King's Ranch mini-mall behind Burger King. It's hard to see from the street, but it's fairly popular.
1366 W. Huntington Dr., Duarte 91010 626-932-0114
Type: Japanese/Korean
Quality: !! Price: $-$$ Ambience: **
I've only eaten here once, so perhaps my review of this place isn't very fair to the restaurant. It's more or less a clone of BBQ Teriyaki, even down to the takeout menu. I kid you not. The format and layout of both menus are almost identical. Only the names, prices, and pictures of dishes have changed. Despite this, they are not related to BBQ Teriyaki. I wasn't impressed with the food here--merely OK. Perhaps I went there on a bad day or needed to order more items.
106 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia 91016 626-256-6705
Type: Japanese/Korean
Quality: !!! Price: $-$$ Ambience: **
I'm putting this one down as Japanese/Korean because they serve jap chae and I heard the staff speaking Korean. In general, they serve grilled chicken (hence the name) with a number of side orders, such as spinach, veggies, rice, noodles, etc. Overall, the food is pretty good, although it would be a stretch to call it Japanese. So, why did I place this review here? I don't know how else to categorize this one. It doesn't really fall into any neatly-defined category.
5927 Cloverly Ave., Temple City 91780 626-286-5786
Type: Japanese
Quality: !!! Price: $$ Ambience: **
Thanks to divine intervention, this place has a new owner. Under the previous owners, they produced some of the worst Japanese food (I use that term loosely) imaginable. However, the new owners have turned this place around. The new owners actually own a seafood wholesale business, so the fish is much fresher than before. Last time, I could barely stomach the raw tuna or salmon. Now, they are actually quite decent. This restaurant mainly emphasizes sushi and sashimi, which makes sense given the background of the new owners. The new cook is also a vast improvement over the previous one. I don't get too much of a chance to eat raw fish because my family doesn't really like it, but I intend to return to this restaurant again. The prices are very good for a sushi place: the sushi party platters cost about $1 per piece.
9679 Las Tunas Dr., Temple City 91780 626-309-4301
Type: Japanese
Quality: !!! Price: $-$$ Ambience: ***
Hanabi specializes in warm dishes, even though they do have sushi on the menu. The ramen was a great choice, and the chicken katsu was pretty good. When you order an entree, you can order additional side dishes (e.g. sushi, unagi, etc.) for just a couple of extra bucks. One thing I rearlly liked was their gyoza--absolutely fantastic. They claim to make it by hand on premises. If you order this, make sure you eat it there instead of for takeout. The crunchy skin is great, but it won't survive the trip home. The staff is very nice. In essence, this is a good, solid choice for warm Japanese dishes. It's cheap enough to eat lunch here on a regular basis. You're not going back to the office or home saying, "That was a transcendental meal. I have reached elightenment" No, you'll be saying, "That was pretty good. And it wasn't expensive at all."