A whole shop devoted to tiny, mysterious, brightly colored Japanese desserts! The store specializes in sweet rice and bean paste classics such as ohagi and daifuku. … Though they do get wild sometimes with inventions like peanut butter mochi. [link]

Frozen yogurt! A Pinkberry is located right across the street from Cefiore, so remember to give this one a chance before succumbing to the siren song of the 'berry. … Cefiore is quite similar but just a bit smoother and richer, and it comes in fruit flavors in addition to the standard plain and green tea. [link]

Mmm, nibbles. Portions at this izakaya are wee but delicious. It's a great place to indulge in the proud Japanese tradition of getting rip-roaring drunk after work, since … it has a large beer and sake menu as well as multitudinous small plates. [link]

The Little Tokyo Shopping Center doesn't have a whole lot going on besides the supermarket, but this simple place has some pretty good grub for a mall restaurant. … Lunches, usually variations on simple fish-and-rice classics, are an especially good deal. [link]

Although cooking on your own shabu shabu restaurant meal can be very expensive, this is a slightly more populist option. The ponzu sauce the meat is cooked in earns … especially effusive praise. [link]

You could drop a whole lot of cash at this shabu shabu place. If the meat you order to cook yourself is from Kobe, expect to pay around $150 per person, but there are … much more affordable options. The meals all come with appetizers and sides and dessert, and it's high quality across the board. [link]

Open till 1 or 3 a.m. every night, Suehiro is an all-American, down home diner serving tonkatsu and curry noodles. It truly is set up like a 1950s diner, with booths and … be-aproned waitresses, and the food aspires to be nothing more than filling, hearty carbohydrates. [link]

Izakayas are Japanese taverns that serve small plates in low-key, inexpensive settings. Haru Ulala seems to specialize in seafood, with various oyster preparations and … marinated and grilled fish taking pride of place on the menu. If that's not your thing, they've also got udon, okonomiyaki, pork belly, yakisoba ... the list goes on. [link]

If you think ramen is something from Costco for when you're feeling poor and/or lazy, Daikokuya is here to teach you a lesson. Arguably the most famous ramen house in LA, … it serves up rich, flavorful, huge bowls of pork broth and noodles with the occasional bit of meat and greenery and always a boiled egg. Good tempura and gyoza as well. [link]