B. Hansen

Osaka entrance

​Osaka, the new Japanese-Peruvian place in Hollywood, has the scariest entrance. It's very dark, and you have to cross over stepping stones in a pool of rippling black water. I subconsciously felt drawn to fall, and all the time I was in there, I worried about how I would get out -- dry.

Osaka is part of a chain founded in Peru. The look was designed by Kristopher Keith of SpaceCraft (probably a good swimmer).

There are nice touches inside, like an overhead rope motif inspired by the ropes of Peruvian fishing boats. The food is Peruvian-Asian fusion, predominantly Japanese, but also with touches of Thai and other cuisines.

It's a small plates place with the expected Peruvian ceviche, tiraditos, anticuchos and cute miniature causitas. But also fish in a banana leaf with anticucho sauce and coconut reduction, miso-truffled American Kobe skirt steak with Peruvian potatoes, Parmesan scallops, grilled octopus with sweet miso paste and duck confit with miso oranges and caramelized onions.

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davidwangla/flickr

For people who eschew red meat yet eat poultry (you might hear them claim they "do it for the protein"), duck is a gateway drug, an opulent bridge between feathered and hooved things. It is the color of liver, encased in a scuba suit of fat, and drawn to fruit, spice, and smoke like a magnet to the fridge. And yet it remains a bird. In Lukshon chef-owner Sang Yoon's version of the popiah, a fresh spring roll popular in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and parts of China, duck, in an appropriately elegant twist, replaces the humble turnip, traditionally a go-to filling.

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The fast-casual chain that taught millions of Americans how to say "chee-poat-lay" is bringing its marketing savvy to another foreign cuisine. Chipotle is set to launch ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, with the first location opening in Washington D.C.

The healthy-ish chain will feature an array of flavors inspired by Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese cooking. Chipotle founder and CEO Steve Ells hopes the broad southeast Asian concept will help ShopHouse gain traction among consumers and, according to NRN, "open up real estate opportunities in locations... where there might be lease restrictions because of an existing Chinese or Japanese concept."

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Esther Hahn

School Food's Kimchi Noodles, "Jjol Jjol Myun"

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Restaurant openings in Koreatown seem to follow a distinct pattern: first, grow into a popular, multi-location chain in Korea, then open an outpost in L.A. That has been the case for the successful restaurants Yu Chun Chic, Chil Bo Myun Ok, and now School Food, a Seoul favorite catering to the young, K-Pop crowds.

Offering such casual fare as kimbap (Korean-style sushi rolls), ramen bowls with tobokki (savory, glutinous rice cakes) and kimchi risotto with cheese, School Food neatly packages and presents its foods in a hip setting, changing these formerly typecast, after-school snacks into complete and proper meals.

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Marsha Inouye

The Spam gogi taco from L&L. It only looks nasty...or does it?

In the Hawaiian mind, it's difficult to improve upon that classic of fine dining: Spam. Sure, you could add some gravy, a couple eggs, a mystery meat patty and a dollop of macaroni salad. But Vartan Shahnazarian, manager of the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue franchise in Eagle Rock, has come up with a real Spamilicious sensation--the canned ham product smothered in kimchee sauce and wrapped in a tortilla. It's what L&L is calling their gogi tacos, or Mexi-Hawaiian fusion tacos.

Besides Spam, the tacos, which sell for $1.50 each, come in beef, chicken, Kahlua pig, short rib and katsu. You can add a red sauce made with kimchee and Sriracha hot chili sauce, or a green sauce made with tomatillos and jalapeños. "I had all the stuff I needed--everyone likes the short ribs, the chicken katsu," Shahnazarian explained. "We put a lot of meat in the taco. Two tacos is all you need."

If the tacos are successful, L&L may offer them at their other 199 franchises. If they are not, well, there's another fabulous idea gone the way of McDonald's McLean Deluxe.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue: 4430 York Blvd., Unit #B, Los Angeles 90041, (323) 259-8888

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It takes a special kind of bravery, at least, to go from having no professional cooking experience to running your own restaurant. With Xoia Vietnamese Eats, Echo Park locals and married duo Jose Sarinana and Thien Ho will undertake just that, starting tonight.

Sarinana and Ho have taken over an old paint shop next to El Prado, a surprisingly large space now filled with big, bright canvases and splashed with red, from the chairs to the chopsticks. It's got a raised, covered patio, and pedestrians have been coming up the ramp for some time now to get a look at this much-anticipated restaurant. And finally, it soft opens tonight at 5 p.m., serving, among other things, pho beef tacos.

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Well, here's something we didn't expect -- but perhaps should have. With our city's growing love for craft beers and Asian fusion cuisine (thank you Kogi), it was only a matter of time before we had a place to watch a playoff game, drink a pitcher of St. Bernardus and eat tempura battered French fries. No, this isn't some trendy, publicist-driven spot in West Hollywood designed by Kristofer Keith. This is a modern, Korean (and indoor) twist on a classic German biergarten, right in Koreatown.

N. Galuten

Korea and Germany meet in Los Angeles

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Chaya Brasserie

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Since the mid-1980s when the first Chaya Brasserie opened, notoriously aggressive paparazzi, Chanel and Diavolina boutiques, and the rise of the Kitson empire have replaced novelty fusion cuisine and shoulder pads as popular conversation topics on upper Robertson Boulevard. But the Japan-based restaurant has remained a part of the L.A. dining scene. And so to mark a few anniversary benchmarks this year, the various Chaya Los Angeles locations are rehabbing, refreshing, and retooling.

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Barbara Hansen

Tiger's dining room and sushi bar

​From conveyor belt sushi to duck confit with kabocha ravioli is a big step. And that is what has happened at 340 N. Canon Drive in Beverly Hills, where Tiger, a contemporary Japanese restaurant, has replaced Luckyfish.

The clean, woodsy, almost stark, lines of the space speak of subtle, high end Japanese food. Part of the long room is open to the street (with warmers, so it's comfortable at night). A glass partition and door keep the street noise from the main dining room and sushi bar.

Contemporary Japanese means fusion, apparently, and so sea bream sashimi, or tai umami jime, has a Thai basil vinaigrette, while seared kampachi comes with yuzu soy, caramelized shallots, wilted watercress and chanterelles.

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If you're looking for the most authentic and diverse Asian cuisine anywhere in the Los Angeles area, one should look no further than the San Gabriel Valley. The same applies after midnight. Even then, despite somewhat limited options, you can find a good variety of regional styles available until the pre-dawn hours. Inspired by Brooke Burton's late night top 10, here is a list of ten SGV late night spots to get your food on, arranged by closing time (#10 being the earliest, #1 the latest).

Jim Thurman

Good Shine Kitchen

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