Birthday Dinner

Warning, this post is heavily image and calorie intensive.

Mark and Iris took me to Yuzu in Old Town Torrance for my birthday.

The charming menu doesn't translate well.

The view from my seat. I love the willow and miniature rope light arrangement.

I ordered the "Japanese Salad" because I saw one delivered to a neighboring table.

Mark says that the pickles taste like kosher garlic pickles-only made with Japanese eggplant and other vegetables you don't find in a kosher deli.

We had to have the phat oysters again.

We also ordered the pork again. Iris loved this.

Iris was lured to Yuzu by the promise of gourmet rice balls.

She seems to be enjoying the food and her book.

For my birthday, they sent us all green tea ice cream. It was fabulous, but I missed the sesame ice cream we had on our first visit to Yuzu.

The floors looked familiar and not familiar at the same time. Closer examination showed they are made of giant bamboo. I have never seen bamboo planks like these before.

These are the bamboo planks you most commonly see. When we put bamboo in our bedroom 10 years ago, it was considered exotic. Now, every remodel you see in the LA Times requires bamboo. How quickly we went from green trendsetters to bourgeois bohemians.

Old Town Torrance has an edgy feel that outsiders know nothing about. We like to keep it secret from the trendoids.

Read about our first and second visits to Yuzu in The past, deliciously present and Tofu and Toto.