Izakaya Fu-ga

A sign that says Rooftop Beer Garden caught our eyes. We followed the signs that led us to Izakaya Fu-ga. Located on the rooftop of the parking structure, Izakaya Fu-ga transformed the space into a traditional street izakaya in Tokyo. The space is open and cute.

They have a pretty extensive booze menu. As for food, they have Yakiniku, Teppan, yakitori, hotpot, and some tapas (such as karaage, gyoza, calamari rings, etc.) On this visit, since we weren't hungry, we got the assorted kushiyaki and a kimchi nabe hotpot to share. The kushiyaki came with 5 skewers- bacon wrapped gobo, bacon wrapped asparagus, chicken with green onion, beef filet, and shishito pepper. They were well seasoned and delicious. Kimchi nabe was also very flavorful, and perfect for the chilly evening.

It was a nice light dinner, under the starlight. The vibe really brought me back to Tokyo, and reminisced about traveling aboard.

Only came here for the bar and small bites!

Drinks menu and bar food was more extensive than I expected and the bartenders there definitely seemed to know their stuff! Ours was able to expertly recommend me a drink to go perfectly with what I was eating and drinking prior and the small bites hit the spot to soak up that alcohol, lol!

The food around us that other people were trying looked great, maybe something to look into for coming back!

Izakaya Fu-ga is a Japanese restaurant that is more on the upscale in terms of ambiance and price. Located in Little Toyko, there is plenty of competition but it does set itself apart from the competition with their choice of alcoholic drinks and small dishes. My interpretation of the restaurant style is that of a bar. The menu is composed of many small dishes as you enjoy one of a few drinks. There is a bar and their alcohol menu is extensive.

Food: My girlfriend and I shared a couple of plates: salmon ceviche roll, sauteed ginger chicken and a rainbow roll. We also had a vodka blueberry and cherry blossom margarita. This amount of food was perfect for us. The salmon ceviche roll was a twist but very good! The pico de gallo was very jalapeno based and had a kick of spiciness, but overall a great roll. The sauteed ginger chicken was good but could do without it; did not taste much of the ginger, but the chicken was moist. The rainbow roll was also excellent and the fish was very fresh. Definitely recommend this basic sushi roll. Our drinks were also very good with an excellent ratio of drink to alcohol. Definitely recommend both of them if you are a fruity drink person.

Ambiance: The restaurant is dimly light, which is setting because the seating area is underneath the street level. There is a flight of stairs you need to walk down before reaching the restaurant. I would recommend not wearing anything to worn down. The tables are clean and the chairs are very comfortable. The restaurant is very intimate and perfect for nice family dinners or a date place to spend quality time.

Service: The service was decent. We had a party around 10 people and were all given recommendations individually, which was very helpful.

Overall, I would recommend and visit again. Parking can get a little crazy in Little Toyko so street parking is how I parked. We got lucky.

Provender: this place is a decent izakaya joint, but I wouldn't recommend it for drinking. It's more of a fancy date night venue, due to its ambiance and dimly lit environment. I recommend the chicken karaage and shishito peppers. I don't recommend the scotch though. The pours are ridiculously small.

Prices: reasonable, a lot of dishes are under $10. Certain items will run you a lot more though.

Parking: there is a dedicated lot adjacent to the restaurant. You pay, then get reimbursed if you validate and leave within the allotted time. 2 hours for lunch, and 3 for dinner.

People: mostly adults, I would leave the kiddos at home, unless you grab lunch here.

Perks: izakaya joints offer small portions, so don't expect full-sized entrees. The staff can be non-attentive. It's bad when you have to keep waving down a server for more booze. They also ran out of particular items on the menu the night I was there. Happy hour is M - F, 2 to 6pm.

My husband and I love this place. For him, it's his go-to bar in little Tokyo. For me, it's a special little treat and semi throw back to the times in Japan. The staff here is incredibly friendly. The drinks are lovely.
I'm a high ball type of gal, so that's my drink of choice when I'm here.
There's also this super amazing yuzu sake... I think the bottle is like $25ish... it's actually very different than what I expected. I'm used to alcoholic sakes w clean tastes but this is like a sweet, semi-syrupy beverage that is way too easy to drink. It's good!!
Love the garlic fries here. Also, the sausages and the karaage... anything happy hour is great.
I've come here for a quiet evening out, happy hour, to celebrate birthdays, etc. it is a great space and clean.
Good luck w parking tho. It's dtla so you're on your own! O_O

Found this place randomly because it was near a movie we were watching in DTLA for Valentine's Day. I made the reservation on Yelp for 6:30 - luckily there were still reservations left, maybe a week out.

We took a Lyft there and had to go downstairs into their secluded location. It wasn't super packed yet, but slowly did as the night progressed. We sat down and they gave us the valentine's day menu -a champagne cocktail, appetizers, one main dish that you could use from. Food came out slowly as to time it with each table. Cocktail was nice and fruity, appetizers were delicious, as was the food. Overall a great dining experience with a nice ambiance. Would come back.

Nestled underground in the Little Tokyo District of DTLA, you can easily miss the entrance if you are not paying attention.

This alone gives it a nice Tokyo feel as a lot of restaurants in Tokyo are also modeling like this. Just a discreet entrance, with a nice restaurant hidden below.

Remember it's an Izakaya so dishes are portioned small. Order 2-3 per person.

Food: overall, very very good.
Japanese Risotto: was told to try this but was underwhelmed. The Italians do it so much better. HOWEVER, I still enjoyed it.
Pork spare ribs: SO good, meat fell right off the bone.
Takoyaki: Actually better than the takoyaki I had in Japan. Really flavorful and texture was good.
Agedashi Tofu: absolutely delicious
Fried Chicken wings: good, not out of the ordinary
Creamy udon: highlight dish. Must order.
Sake: CHEAP!!!
Also beer flights for 7 bucks. what whaaaaat.

Came with 6 people, we ordered a ton of food, decent amount of sake and beer. Bill came out to ~$35 a person with tip. Not bad.

Our waiter was so cool. What was his name? Had no idea. Name tag was Japanese. At our table we speculated his name was Trevor or Blake and decided he was an actor given his sleek looks and "Riverdale" feel.

Would definitely come back.

I don't go to izakayas very often due to their costs. I've been to one in Sawtelle in March, but haven't gone to one since. I was going on a double date with friends, and I wanted to pick a place with a nice ambience. I looked at the photos for Izakaya Fu-ga in Little Tokyo, and decided this would be a good restaurant given its distance and accessibility.

The restaurant is very nice, and has a fancy vibe. It's located downstairs from the entrance, and has a nice vibe of being isolated from the rest of the city while still being fancy and comfortable. The menu is very expansive, as is the case for many izakayas. We shared a variety of dishes, including uni udon, miso eggplant, crispy tuna, tuna sashimi, rib eye steak, and the miso baked chilean sea bass. We also got a variety of drinks. I don't drink alcohol, but I did order a non alcoholic lychee colada. The drink was what I would expect from a pina colada with lychee flavor.

The food was absolutely amazing. I loved the creamy uni udon, in particular, but I also loved the rib eye steak my friend got (ordered medium rare). The tuna was a nice cut and well seasoned, and the miso eggplant was exactly the flavor I wanted, sweet and savory. A lot of izakayas tend to be overpriced while offering mediocre food, but this restaurant gives you high quality food for the price you are paying. Definitely a recommended restaurant to try in Little Tokyo.

As many reviews expressed this a well hidden gem in Little Tokyo. We had lunch here when there were little to no other customers and received great service.

We all ordered lunch bento boxes and had a greatly priced delicious meal. It was a perfect combination of hearty shrimp with the lighter touch of sushi , sashimi and a salad. I definitely recommend this place in off peak hours.

I've only been here once so far, but this eatery has quickly made it's way onto my list of favorites. The food is tasty, the service is awesome, and just about everything else about this place is positive as well.

I sampled the chicken karaage, assorted sausage plate, agedashi to-fu & eggplant, and onigiri. All of these dishes were extremely pleasing to my palate, and I felt the pricing was not unreasonable for the quality and portion size of the food.

The food is only 1 of the many things I really liked about Izakaya Fu-ga. The servers were quite friendly and humble, but still pretty diligent. The seating was very comfortable, and the general ambiance of the restaurant was relaxed yet swanky - I was quite the fan of the classy piano music in the background, as well as the dimly lit interior. The restroom was reasonably clean, as well.

Parking availability in the area admittedly seems questionable ... I had parked at a metered spot near 3rd/Alameda, and hoofed it from there (I later learned that there is an adjacent parking structure, for which the restaurant will apparently validate your ticket). Also worth noting is that you can take the Metro Gold Line, get off at Little Tokyo Station, and walk about 2 blocks to get to the restaurant.

I'm definitely coming back here ... and again ... and again ...