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Shin-sen-gumi Yakitori

Shin-sen-gumi Yakitori

18517 S Western Ave, Gardena, United States Of America

Tapas • Asian • Steak • Casual


"Seems like Shin-Sen-Gumi is a pretty reputable Japanese restaurant group as most of the locations have a lot of glowing reviews. Tried this spot, which is the yakitori version (there are ramen and shabu shabu versions elsewhere). Pretty decent yakitori overall. The standouts were the coarse-ground sausages (tasty, juicy, and snappy like Taiwanese sausages), the meatballs (delicious light teriyaki glaze), and the shishito peppers (perfectly salted and charred). The other items that I tried were alright. The shiso basil w/ pork belly tasted average (nothing special) and the pork belly could've been cooked longer. The Hokkaido scallops were cooked unevenly as one of them was really dry. First time trying beef tongue; not sure if it's just the nature of beef tongue but it was like eating extra-chewy medium-rare steak but it's fully cooked lol. Eh, a little too chewy for my liking. The spicy cucumber tataki was a tad too salty. Although the geso itself was really tender, the batter of it was too thick and wasn't fully cooked on some parts (mushy in the crevices). The yakitori fries weren't great; stale, McDonald's-like fries with bland chicken. The mayo-cheese sauce on the fries helped a little but ultimately I don't recommend ordering these. So, I'd say 4 stars in terms of the food collectively. What made me bump the rating to 5 stars was the service. When you get seated you're loudly greeted, in Japanese, by the whole group of staff lol. Similar thing happens upon leaving. I wished I got my server's name to shout her out here as she was super courteous and was willing to answer any questions I had on the menu. The rest of the staff was very efficient on removing finished plates from tables. I arrived here 30 min after opening on a Sunday and the place was already half-filled (it's a small place). By the time that I left there were several people outside waiting for a table making me believe that this place gets super busy later in the day!"