Miyagi’s

Try not to choke on your miso at the end of this review, k? Matter of fact, you should probably just put down your chopsticks altogether and go back to your nom noms later.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for your choking on rice, seaweed, or other throat-​lodged items. ;-)
Who reviews a place that no longer exists? Namely me. Why? Character reference. Well, maybe not.
Between the time I danced on the bar and the time I got thrown out, there are plenty good stories within the bamboo-​esque walls of this Americanized Japanese house of mystery and eats.
But I’m not the only one – Heaven knows – who made Miyagi himself blush. Miyagi’s people: Were we off the charts with our antics or wuuuut? Ghostriding, streaking, you name it; we did it all right here on Sunset Boulevard. The Miyagi’s parking lot used to be THE official celeb meet-​up b4 after-​hours. Ahhh, to be young, broke, and eager again… (or NOT.)
Once beyond the parking lot, a candlelit alcove led to stairs that lured guests up the first flight and into an intimate lounge for group-​style dining. A further climb would land one at a lively bar and couples dining room. A few more feet of escalation, and the dance floor beckoned you to put your back into it.
I’m definitely #teamreopenmiyagis.
So that just leaves one question: What on earth did Kali do to get tossed out of such a gem (yes, bouncers and all – and even a few saucy words of reproach)? I cannot *tell* you what is too hot for Unilocal!; I’d otherwise have no qualm. I will give you this slurper: It was the most daring kinky act my ex-​husband (then my fiancé) said any woman had ever publically performed.
Me: Nom nom. Miso, anyone?
And speaking of throat-​lodged items… ;-)

Miyagi’s? Closed? :(
This really hurts my heart.

Avoid the all-​you-​can-​eat special at all costs. While you are at it, you might as well just avoid the entire place itself too.
So do I judge this place as a restaurant or a nightclub… it is a nightmare either way you cut it (and is the reason I have not been back since 2006)
It’s an interesting place for people watching I suppose, but really only for watching lots of pretty but trashy Hollywoodistas (male and female) all pretending to be famous, trying to become famous or trying to sleep with the famous. I can’t blame Miyagi’s too much for that — it’s just par for the course in these parts.
But first and foremost Miyagi’s is a sushi restaurant. Sort of. It is so low-​grade though I hesitate to give it that designation. The rolls are made for presentation not consumption, filled with more mayonnaise than fish. Sushi cuts are better, but simply do not stack up even to grocery store sushi. It may be better when ordered a la carte, but when ordered as part of the all-​you-​can-​eat, it is all pretty nasty stuff.
The good part about Miyagi’s is that since it is a nightclub in addition to a restaurant, you get some very, very drunk people in here late at night who all got the very bad idea of feeding their inebriation with mayonnaise-​based sushi. Now THAT is entertainment.
The thing I dislike the most about this place is that it it *could* be great.
–edit–
Just realized after posting that Miyagi’s closed down… pity.

Confession — We hadn’t been to Miyagi’s since well… Truman was president and the Spice Girls were all the rage and Jesus walked (literally).
Second confession — we only tried Miyagi’s after checking out Bar Marmont and realized they’ve shuttered their «Bailout» happy hour deals — despite our «We’re still in a recession, please baby!» plea.
Miyagi’s is a nice enough pan-​Asian-​themed Sunset Strip bar-​restaurant. Their happy hour deal is good — 2-​for-​1 on all drinks and select food items from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Their signature drinks are fruity, frothy, and strong. We had the Rainbow Skittle and Blue Lagoon — both tasty slices of summer! The Rainbow Skittle was made of Malibu rum, amaretto, peach schnapps, melon liqueur, & cranberry juice. The Blue Lagoon included Malibu rum, stoli, triple sec, blue curacao, sweet & sour, and pineapple juice. Sweet drinks, but not complaining. Have read some complaints about the food, but the tofu eggrolls and chicken potstickers we tried were perfect bar-​food dinner. The menu was a bit confusing, being that our menus has conflicting serving sizes, but our server did answer any of our questions.
The ambience is okay — though the east side of the strip is pretty quiet, especially at this time of day on a weeknight. Staff is friendly, albeit a little slow — there seemed to be two people working and the bartender (though helpful) smoked on the patio next to us. We did appreciate our waitress coming around for a happy hour last call. The crowd is a mix — other patrons included a loud group who seemed to get quieter the more Rainbow Skittles they drank (!), a mother and her two sons (?), and a couple sets of friends and dates. This location could be a lot of fun with the right mix of people.

This is one of those that should really be zero stars, but the system doesn’t allow that.
I had been to Miyagi’s about six years ago and had a decent experience. Someone in our group was a friend, of a friend, of someone who worked there, etc… The rolls were expensive, but were thick — about 2 ½ inches in diameter and the service was decent since we «knew» this mysterious someone.
Jump to present day, and Miyagi’s is on
, so I go for it. The experience was so miserable that I feel the need to bullet point the problems:
1. We didn’t have cash on us, but the parking folks were not courteous enough to wait for us to finish our meal and pay when we came out. The only option was to pull cash from Miyagi’s «conveniently located» ATM and pay the fee, since the restaurant was also not courteous enough to get you cash back on your card/​dinner check. Also — $ 10 for parking is a little outrageous, especially when the lot is for your customers rather than general parking.
2. We stood in the entry for (no exaggeration) over 10 minutes before anyone bothered to take notice of us. At least three employees walked back and forth past us, multiple times, as if we weren’t even there. Not even a «Hi, we’ll be with you in a moment.»
3. Service was very slow. It took a while for anyone to come back and ask for our order, and we were constantly having to ask to have our drinks refilled when they were empty.
4. We ordered 3 sushi rolls and all of them were a disappointment. The quality/​taste was only ok and the rolls were much smaller than before (about 1 ½ inch diameter). In general judged each roll to be priced at about $ 4 more than they would be anywhere else (priced at $ 13-​$ 14).
5. The waitress came back once to ask how everything was, and then left before we could actually answer. She tried to do that a second time and, when she had only managed to take two steps, I piped up to note my list of issues: «Actually, it’s not going so well. When we got here we had to wait 10 minutes before anyone even noticed us…» That’s as far as I got before she interrupted me, «Sorry, I’m the only waitress on right now.» and walked away. !!!
6. As if the attitude in #5 wasn’t bad enough, I then looked around me and counted. There were 11 tables seated. Granted, one of them was a party of 10, but HALF of the tables were couples. A decent section, but not at all overwhelming for one person to cover! Plus, the bartender was walking the floor taking her own drink orders, and the food was being delivered and bussed by two other people.
Three moderate-​quality sushi rolls and two diet cokes came to a total of $ 67 (before the
certificate or gratuity). This is the first time I can ever remember being pissed off that an 18% gratuity is mandatory when using a
certificate! If I’m going to pay that much, plus $ 10 for parking, I expect a MUCH higher quality experience than what I received.
I was still hungry, but didn’t want to give them any more business. I ended up going down the street to Carney’s and was, strangely enough, treated much better for my $ 6 order of a hot dog and frozen banana (with free parking).
It really re-​emphasized why I leave Sunset to the tourists!

Two for one Happy Hour!
But, the sake we ordered was $ 30 a bottle unbeknownst to us.
So, sushi was $ 30 and sake was $ 30. Not bad for Hollywood. The sushi isn’t incredible, but the ambience is fun, and we were in walking distance from our hotel.

DAMN. This place AIN’T what it used to be. You used to be able to come here and valet for $ 3.00, get cheap drinks and dinner (Mondays were AYCE) and the sushi was good quality with a lot of interesting specialty rolls. If you stuck around after dinner, the three stories turned into a huge club and it was a lot of fun and the drinks were decently priced.
Lately it’s hit-​or-​miss. Some good days, some bad. Once, the service was so bad that we complained to the manager who came over and generously gave me his business card with «two house drinks» written on it… only if we came back on Wednesday.
Fail.

Yea, it’s almost a year since I moved to LA and my first ride down Sunset I remember seeing all the fancy bars and restaurants the celebs must frequent. One of those establishments I specifically remember looking at and saying to myself, «That place must be a major hot spot and REALLY expensive!» Well, that place happened to be Miyagi’s. I didn’t know what the place was called until I met a friend there one Friday night for Karaōke. It was pretty nice inside, but for a Friday at 10pm I wondered why it was so empty.
It’s clean and all but the menu is sorta’ pricy and the sushi was just O.K.-meaning I like my philadelphia roll wrapped in the rice like most places, not wrapped with a half salmon cutlet. Drinks are same as any other place but the bartenders should do better at keeping the bar clean. OH, and why were two young girls going around trying to sell us colorful paintings that you find in a dollar store or an old Armenian person’s home??? That annoyed me-​to know an establishment would allow that to happen… in my opinion, I think it was part of the management’s plan to try and get some extra $ in. I dunno! Anyway, I’ll end it here… this place is good if you wanna get some stage practice and learn to work a crowd. PS-​some of the karaōke regulars can get a little scary… I’m JUST saying!

A street so bustling with night life like Sunset, I was surprised to stumble into Miyagi’s and find it so dead.
I had heard about its glory days from my cousin. Its amazing what a few 4 – 5 years will do to a place!
I went on a Thursday night when they were having a karoake night.
The crowd was very mixed. Mostly older people I’d say.
Drink prices was around $ 10 for my AMF.
I knew it wasn’t a crowded night because the whole bottom floor was closed off.
I also didn’t like the girl’s bathroom. It was cramped and gross!
I did enjoy watching people make a fool out of themselves singing.
I can’t believe they charge that much for drinks when no one else is there…

I remember when this place was bursting at the seams and I never had the desire to try to worm my way in to try it. That’s when times were good. Tonite it was so dead, so of course, I’m there. Why? The bartender was reading the newspaper on the customer side of the bar. There were only 2 parties there on the patio other than Fatty & myself.
We came here last night to get a snack, have some sake to continue the buzz we had acquired from beer pong, and then to bar-​hop.
We ordered the house hot sake, a spicy tuna roll, and a Mainlander roll that was a California roll with seared albacore. The food was alright. Service was the good kind of service where all this attention is lavished up you when a place is deserted or when it’s between prime times. But this was Saturday night at 11pm.
I felt sort of bad for the people working there.
Miyagi’s, I crown thee with these piteous 3 stars. To quote your optimistic door man, it should get better.

9.20.08 OMGoodness! What happened to this place? Yes there was no cost admission but it was really sad. The place was horribly slow and well it was almost as if I could see a tumble weed going across the room. The girls and I stayed about half hour hoping and waiting that something exciting will start happening, but nothing.
The good part was that the drinks was really good and it was cheap. I never seen such cheap drinks. Vodka tonic for $ 6.50? Strange but hey at least we got something out of this lonely place.
So if you were thinking of coming to this place to party, think again. Its not like how it use to be. Back in the days people dancing on the bars, crowds everywhere. It was 12 midnight and not a single soul was moving or grooving.
Sad.

Is it an unfun kind of fun or a drunken kind of good fun?
I’ve been here at least half a dozen times years ago, and it was always a sardine dance-​a-​thon. I guess the dudes come here knowing the girls weren’t gonna be very much covered up. It really did get old. Waayyy too crowded. This place wasn’t small, but even the stairwells are crowded. It’s over-​capacity every time, so thank goodness there weren’t any incidents. The patio was a smokefest, so it’s not the best place for a breath of fresh air. The night air was still cooler than the sweltering club scene inside. *shakes head*
It’s quite sad that my most memorable experience here was finding gum on my pleather pants. *fun* At least it was throw-​away clothing. Otherwise, Miyagi’s was good for brainless buzz/​drunken dancing.
Never been here for sushi, but from the sounds of some other reviews, I didn’t miss much and the place has not changed either. *meh*

Wax on. Wax OFF.
This place is lame-​o central. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to see buste-​ass women dancing on the tables like they’re hot or acting out some secret dream to be an exotic dancer.
This place is so crowded on the weekends. Whoa! If you want to get blasted and hit on some busted-​ass chicks from the 909, then hook yourself right up.
If you want to get crazy like Prince, then this is your place. I’ve not had the food here. But I’m pretty sure I’d go somewhere else for sushi.
Don’t half step. Have a backup plan in tact before you set foot in here.

the only reason i think we went into this place was because apparently mr. JT himself rented out dublins across the way. (at least that was what the rumor was for the nyte… i dunno if it was tru or not)
i dun think we stayed long… more like a once around and we left.
the only things i remember about this place is that it was way to packed and it had an awfull smell… kinda like a combination of fish n piss. yeah i know its a sushi place but when im tryin 2 get my drink and dance on… i dun want it to smell :0(

Bad sake, worse maki.
The employees here are cool. Good just getting a regular cocktails at the bar with friends and chatting with American Hollywood bartenders and the 70 000 + karaōke library on Thursday nights.

Came here around 4PM with my husband and our friends after deciding to not go to a taping of the Tyra Banks show. Haha thank goodness we didn’t go to that!
Instead, we made our way to Sunset Blvd. after driving back and forth looking for a decent place to eat and drink. We did the whole valet thing and made our way into Miyagi’s. We were promptly seated outside which was nice. I kept looking at the Gap ad that stood on the billboard next to the restaurant. I wonder if it’s still there, which I highly doubt, but anyways, the food was alright. We drank heavily and I had over 2 premium cadillacs and beer. We had a table filled with empty glasses all over the place!
Spent $ 100 for 4 people on food and drinks and I think it was reasonably spent since all of us we’re definitely on a good one afterwards lol.
Doubt I would come here again. There are so many other places to eat in Los Angeles, this place would be one of the last resorts to visit on my list.

Miyagi’s is really sad, trying too hard to revive its prior days of pretentious popularity and livelihood… kind of like my boss, a mid-​thirties dad with incessant stories of his prehistoric frat days. I love the guy but he needs to get over it and give me a raise.
The only reason I give them 2 stars is because they have a good 2-​for-​1 happy hour, which includes all drinks and menu items. Not that their food is very quality, but it’s a decent effort.
I passed the venue the other day and it looked dark and deserted. Another one bites the dust? Hopefully.

First time I went was in college, when it first opened. And guess which celeb I saw FABIO. Yes, I know I rock. ;p This was before he killed that poor bird with his nose.
Have no reason to go back, especially since I’m not a fan of cheesy Asian influenced places. Amazed it’s still around. I’m hoping they have a DJ by now instead popping in CDs.
And if my old age hasn’t robbed me of my memory, there was a cute boy in the coat check but that was many, many years ago.

This is one of my least favourite spots. There’s nothing special about girls dancing on countertops. It’s overly crowded, and maybe an ideal spot for some college kids. But even when I was in college, this places wasn’t so great.
I did go in for their all-​you-​can-​eat sushi for dinner one time. It was decent but they take so long to get to your table that I felt it would take me 3 hours to stuff my belly. Maybe that’s how they milk you– you get so freakin’ tired of ordering and waiting that you just leave.

They totally mess up the exclusivity and value of the minimalist art of Japanese food. I came in here and thought I was at Cabo Cantina… with bad sushi.
Don’t recommend for a good meal. For a drink with friends… maybe.