Ton Ten Ko Japanese Restaurant

Worst sushi ever…

This was my most favorite Japanese restaurant when I was a kid. They made the best teriyaki chicken ever with their special sauce. I wanted to swing by today to enjoy their delicious food only to find out that they closed down.

I was invited by celebrity chef Jack Lee who wanted to introduce me to the extremely talented chef Eddie YaMalawi and his fabulous cuisine. Let me tell you, NO ONE is doing food like chef Eddie on LA! He is amazing. No need to look at the menu. Just sit down, have some of the new sake champagne and let him make you dish after dish of his unique creations! His co owner and beautiful cousin, Grace will show you their extraordinary hospitality and make you feel like you are in their home somewhere in a quaint Japanese town. They are truly the nicest people. Come enjoy this location now before Chef Eddie is stolen to go open a hotspot on Hollywood, because with his food, it’s bound to happen! Tell him Gino sent you!

This place is GREAT! I can’t wait to go back. Some of the freshest and best sashimi I’ve ever had.
The lunch specials are a bargain. You get plenty of food and the quality is excellent.
The staff is very friendly and personable and the sushi chef is top notch!
I don’t understand the negative reviews. I think they are very unfair. Everyone in the restaurant was enjoying themselves when I was there, including me!

I don’t“t know whats with the negative reviews. This place has the best waitstaff, the freshest made-​to-​order sushi and a the sushi chef is one of the kindest people I have ever crossed paths with. I didn’t see a bug or vermin in sight. The bathrooms were clean and the seating was prompt. Even the customers are fun and toast when it’s time to eat.
My favorite? The Ama I Bi (which is seasonal). Chef Eddie prepared it 3 different ways for us. AMAZING!!!
I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Came here after remembering some good experiences a few years ago. Wish I never came back.
Service was terrible. Not knowledgeable about the food. Food took literally 45 minutes to come out. Tried the ankimo on the specials board (something I order at every sushi restaurant). It was terribly rancid and had a metallic taste that was unbearable. When I tried to send it back the waitress insisted that it was fresh. We canceled all other orders and hurried out.
Fake sushi joint. Should have read the reviews first. The table next to us also complained of a weird taste in some of the dishes.

I’m Sorry but I have to rate this a 1-​star because I have no choice for a negative.
For me it is rather odd that this japanese place has chinese speaking people as the wait staff… strike 1!
I wanted some Lion King roll… I know not all places have it, but for me it was… strike 2!
So I settled for some miso… let me tell you… There was absolutely NO CONTENTS in the soup. it was extremely watered down… no tofu or seaweed… disappointment… strike 3!
you would think the third time is the charm… but NO!
STRIKE 4! we find a lovely COCKROACH! crawling up and down our food… YUM! NOT!
GROSSS!!! and they had the audacity to show us that they just at the exterminators come in… O so you KNEW you had the problem and you didn’t trippppllle quadrupple check!
However, I will say at least they were nice enough to take off the boat on which the cockroach was on.
Good luck if you come here… make sure to check your fooodddd!

WITHOUT A DOUBT, I WILL NEVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN.
I experienced the most horrific dining experience in MY LIFE the other night. My mom was finished eating, and she was staring at her plate when she noticed something MOVE. At first, she thought it was the just the light reflecting off her terriyaki chicken, but then it she quickly realized that it was not.
She looked closer, and saw a half cooked COCKROACH (the size of a finger nail) trying to crawl around in the terriyaki sauce.

If you want to try some unique sashimi. This is the place to go.

The last time I ate here was about 6 years ago when I actually was bragging to everyone what a great little find this was. I used to order their dragon roll and misoyaki like clockwork. Every time I ordered it previously, it was too yummy for words. This time I ordered it, I immediately knew the chef was gone.
My beloved misoyaki dish has been reduced down to one piece for the same price as opposed to two as the waitress stated that the price of Yaki was extremely high. I thought ok… Japan crisis and all… price of fish must be high. When it arrived, it was insanely dry on one end, to the point where it looked like old plastic. Being completely inedible on the plastic end, I decided to eat the semi decent end. The flavor was completely miso empty. It was basically a broiled fish with a hint of salt and maybe hair of miso. Oh boy was my night ruined! Ok maybe I’m a bit melodramatic but I was truly looking forward to it.
My next beloved dish was the ever unchanging spider roll. The taste was 95% the same. The other 5% would have been there if they would not have been so skimpy on the sauce and bonito. Back in the day, it was overflowing with bonito!
My friend ordered the nabeyaki udon which she said was ok and I believe her. She also ordered the seaweed salad which was rather large and able to be shared by two people with leftovers.
My hubby got sushi platter of which I can only review the two pieces of salmon I stole. It was truly yummy and worth stealing! He mentioned how good the tea was and was surprised they used popcorn tea. It felt just a bit nostalgic since he used to drink it in Japan often.
The green tea ice cream given at the end of the night was a sweet surprise and tasted extra smooth and creamy.
All in all, I’d have to say I wouldn’t come back but I would get the spider roll to go and and ask for extra fixins.

Tip: It’s the same manager+sushi chef from Yamakawa, which was a sushi place that closed in Arcadia. I’m glad to have found them again! They’re super nice and friendly.
Décor/​Ambiance: 3/5.A lot of the space was kept the same despite the change of ownership. Pretty plain, quaint, and casual. I do like that there are 2 flat screens in the space. Even though it’s different from your typical serene Japanese sushi bar setting, it’s almost always appreciated by people in tune w/​the world, especially the sports world.
Service: ⁵⁄₅. Service was great. Like all the Unilocal reviewers have been saying, everyone there is very nice. This is unrelated, but I thought it was funny the waitress (late 50s?) was wearing a DC skater shirt, haha.
Food:
Tea– ⁵⁄₅. I loved their tea! This was delicious. I was also happy their teapot was so much larger than other restaurants I go to because I’m a heavy tea drinker.
Complimentary Miso Soup– ⁴⁄₅. Yum. Not the best I’ve tasted, but it’s pretty darn close. It was served at the perfect temperature and they didn’t skimp on the ingredients inside.
Saba fish plate– 4.5÷5. The fish was cooked absolutely perfectly. All four of my family members agreed. There wasn’t enough to go around even though Ton Ten Ko’s Saba fish portion was significantly larger than most sushi restuarants. The rest of the items on the plate weren’t very spectacular… in fact, they were pretty average, but the fish was very delicious.
California Roll– ³⁄₅. It comes out with 8 cut rolls. This was pretty average. The rice for all sushi rolls were a bit hard, but that’s understandable since we’re not in Japan, haha.
Dragon Roll– ⁴⁄₅. This was probably the best sushi roll we ordered today. The eel was of pretty good quality.
Tiger Roll– ³⁄₅. This was basically a California Roll covered w/​a few strips of avacado and shrimp.
A la Carte Tempura– ⁴⁄₅. Tempura was freshly fried, so it was great. That’s probably all it takes to make tempura delicious. :)
Complimentary Cooked (not sure how…) Tuna– ⁴⁄₅. The sushi chef was kind enough to treat everyone in the restaurant to some cooked Tuna. I thought it was especially nice to treat everyone in the restaurant vs. just picking out a few favorite customers and showing favoritism. Even though he may not have recognized me, I felt really appreciated as a customer. Thank you! :)
Free Strawberry Cream Ice Cream– ⁴⁄₅. This was given to us from the manager/(owner?) after we recognized each other from Yamakawa. The ice cream was fantastic, but I won’t lie and say I wasn’t confused why I was eating this in a sushi restaurant. Oh well– it suited our mood for some reason, haha.
Overall: ⁴⁄₅. It was absolutely fantastic to rediscover this manager+sushi chef team because my family and I were great fans of theirs at Yamakawa. Yes, the prices are definitely steep (one of the first things I noticed walking in… I almost walked out!), but at least come once in a while. You don’t need to come every day.

I cannot understand all the positive reviews this restaurant has received. Mediocre fish, poorly executed entrees, and premium pricing = 1 star.
Do not order the unadon (eel rice bowl). For $ 12.50 you get a dinky 6“x5″ ‘bento box’ filled ¾″ high with rice and six pitifully tiny pieces of eel. The eel tasted like mud from a riverbed.
Rolls and sushi are only so-​so at best. Definitely not worth the high prices. Not exactly fresh fish either. No offense, but people who think this is passable as sushi should broaden their experiences.
«Grilled» meat and fish items tasted steamed. Teriyaki beef was pretty laughable – tough flavorless steamed meat decorated with grill marks. Not only were our grilled fish dishes undercooked, the flesh just wasn’t fresh. The off-​flavor «sea» taste of old seafood was prominent.
Huge rip-​off. Go and get cheated if you don’t believe me. Or learn to have higher standards, because Ton Ten Ko is well below average. Friendly service doesn’t mean it should get high ratings. Again, no offense to Unilocalers who rated this restaurant highly, but please do not mislead other Unilocal patrons who have higher (or in this case, simply reasonable) standards.
There are far better Japanese restaurants in LA County. Do some research and explore… just don’t explore Ton Ten Ko.
Friendly service doesn’t justify more generous ratings, folks. We pay a restaurant for food not friendliness.

Once upon a time I wouldn’t recommend this place but under new management I feel this place is worth going too.
The fish is def fresh and I really enjoyed all the sashimi delivered to us at the bar. Everything was refreshing tasting really good. Almost all my sushi came with no rice which I realized halfway into dinner. Presentation of my good eats were good and tasty to my liking.
Chef Eddy was a cool dude to chat with and new current owner for the past 7 months.
At first I was looking at the counter and noticing not too many fishies or maybe lack of them but shortly after that I noticed them coming out as I ordered. My buddy Henry P invited us out awhile ago but yesterday was when I took him up on his invitation. Thanks dude for the introduction and we will def be back.
Prices a reasonable and def sit at the bar to experience the fullness of your eats.

Since my last review, Ton Ten Ko has changed owners, but kept the same staff. Even with this shift in ownship, not much has really changed. In fact, I don’t really notice much of a difference; but they did add about 8 new sushi rolls to their menu.
If you’re sitting by the sushi bar, look for the chubbier sushi chef of the two; he’s really sweet! I come here so often that he gives me a little sample of different types of sashimi to see which one I like best! (:

This is just a typical Japanese restaurant in the area where the owners are not Japanese. I think the new current owners are some kind of Japanese Chinese.
I’ve been coming to this place for 20 years ever since I was a kid bc my family likes it. When I was younger once a california roll gave me such food poisoning I threw up all night and I never ate raw fish/​sushi for 15 yrs until I went to Urasawa. I still can’t eat rolls or rice + seaweed combos… but appreciate sashimi and rice now.
And yet… I still go here. Because although it’s not consistent, it’s cheap and only ¹⁄₁₀ times it’s not good, but still not bad. Just that 1 time it was reallly bad. But it has decent food and now they serve more Japanese kitchen cooked like dishes: curry and etc. Good eel rice, and I like their albacore salad.
Pretty avg except thanks to price and good service and nowadays, barely a wait time– I’m a fan.

Ton Ten Ko is a fairly average sushi joint, but gets the «Yay! I’m a fan» rating primarily based on two things. First, the service is very attentive without being smothering. Second, I like the HUGE sashimi pieces that are the right firmness, texture, flavor, and freshness I expect from any decent sushi place.
The Tuna (maguro), Yellowtail (hamachi), and even Salmon Sashimi (sake which I usually pass on) are all outstanding. The Octopus (tako), Squid (ika), and Roe Sushi (Ikura) are also good. I don’t get many rolls, but the Dragon Roll was memorable.
The negatives really are the prices and the feeling that the place just isn’t quite clean. I don’t mind occasionally paying a high price for great sashimi or sushi, but this place isn’t in that elite class. Parking is tough when the neighboring businesses are busy, but with patience we found one in back.
I wouldn’t drive out of my way for Ton Ten Ko, but I’d get it again when in that part of the SGV.

Came back here and realized to actually try the sushi, but it was fairly disappointing. On top of that, the prices were NOT cheap for sushi– probably only for the soft shell crab salad.
However, service here is amazing, which deserves 1 star for their hard work.
Oh, and this time we got complimentary green tea ice cream. Also, minimum charge of $ 20 in order to use a credit card.
Low lights:
— Pricing.
High lights:
— AMAZING SERVICE.

Before taking my sister, niece and niece’s friend to LAX, we ate dinner here. They wanted to eat at a Chinese owned Japanese restaurant and Ton Ten Ko qualifies. We made a reservation and were promptly seated when we arrived. The restaurant was about 75% full.
The service here is good and I’ve eaten at this restaurant several times before, but hadn’t reviewed it. I ate here BY (Before Unilocal).
This time I had the sashimi plate (salmon, tuna and yellowtail). The fish was good, fresh and cut in healthy slices. My dinner also came with miso soup and a bowl of rice. I enjoyed my food.
Not much else to say. It’s a good Japanese restaurant in the heart of a gang load of Chinese restaurants.
Cheers!

Been here a few times, the time between each visit is vast. I believe the last time I been here was about a year ago, but nothing much has changed from what I can remember.
–Interior
Plenty of booths and tables and seats at the sushi bar. When you’re walking to the restaurant you would think it’s small but it’s a bit larger than what I pictured when I walked through. They have a coffee machine sitting next to the door for those who are waiting for to-​go (I passed on it today, don’t know how fresh it is). Even if you come with party that requires more than a booth they won’t mind moving a table over to the booth, although it may cause some problems when someone sitting inside needs to get up.
–Service
From my recollection of bits and pieces of my past experiences here, service is great, the waitresses are friendly and the food came out promptly. Today the service was no different, the workers were friendly and it was (surprisingly) the sushi chef that greeted me and asked what I needed from behind the sushi bar. It was because the waitress was in the kitchen getting someone’s food and she gave me the menu.
When I ordered and paid she told me it would take about 10 minutes, I decided to take a stroll around the plaza and the old Hong Kong Supermarket (now known as HK2 Food District, coming soon) to reminisce about my past and how things have changed (I feel old writing this –_​-​).
–Food
I ordered the two item bento dinner ($ 14.15 after tax) with pork katsu and sashimi. The pork katsu was ok, kind of thin, but it wasn’t bad; the sashimi came with nine pieces: 3 pieces of tuna, salmon, and yellowtail (I think). The sashimi was good, got a chunky piece of tuna so I was happy. I was sad to only find 1 packet of soy sauce but when I used my napkin another packet fell out, this was after I finished eating –_​_​_​_​-​Lesson learned, I’ll check my napkin next time.
So yes, if you want some good sushi, service, environment, and leave with a smile, come find Ton Ten Ko. Just walk through the automatic doors and go all the way down it’ll be on your left. I need to try sitting at the bar next time because I keep hearing you get free stuff from the sushi chefs. They also have a 50% off sushi at the moment, 2 pieces of sushi for about $ 2.50-$ 3.

Because my oh-​so beloved Maneki’s got evicted, I had no other choice but to look elsewhere to fulfill my sushi-​craving desires. Good-​bye $ 1 sushi…
Anyways, this place was okay. Nothing spectacularly great about it — I came here with two friends and it was pretty empty for a Saturday night. We were probably one out of maybe four parties there. We were whispering and talking really softly, because it felt… weird :) hahaa, like everyone else could hear us.
I ordered the Ninja Rolls, and it was really goood! If you like eel :) And ask them to put more teriyaki sauce on it for you. My friend Jenny got Spicy Tuna Rolls, and it looked gross. The coloring was off in some spots — aka NOT freshhh.
The décor is super cute, with upside-​down paper umbrellas on the ceilings, and lots and lots of cute paintings all around the wall. I wanted to walk out with one, hehee. The staff was really friendly too, but they all spoke Chinese — NOT Japanese.
And I guess it was because they had no other customers to attend to or something, but our waiter kept hovering over us. LIke, she came twice to take our order but we JUST sat down and weren’t ready! So she just stood there. watching us. Soooso awkward. And I was talking to my friends about what to get, and she just walked over, interrupted, and started flipping around my menu for me. I was like okaayy, just let me look for myself yo –_​_​_​-​x