Musha -- Torrance

Location: 1725 W Carson St, Torrance

What: Japanese Tapas
For: $$

If you're ever in the Torrance area, both Jonathan and I definitely recommend this place. We both love japanese tapas so Musha was perfect for us. If you've never had japanese tapas, they're basically small plates. The meal itself is on the expensive side because you have to order so many small dishes, but the attention to detail and flavors always surprises me at tapa places. Japanese tapas, especially, combine really great and interesting flavors. If you're in the Bay and interested in trying, hit up Gochi or Red Crane - both in Cupertino.

We started off with a duck dish in Ponzu sauce. As you know, I'm a sucker for duck so this one was clearly a winner. The meat was thick and tender, and the duck itself was pretty lean in terms of fat. Even the garnish was good on this one.

The best plate of the night came next: Pork Belly. Now I'm not a fan of pork, but this one is a must try! The meat was so soft, juicy and full of wonderful flavors. Towards the end I was basically sipping the sauce it was sitting in because it was that good. Most of the reviews on this place rave about this dish too so don't go without trying this one!

The next plate we tried was the Portabello Mushrooms with truffile oil (I couldn't resist!) but it ended up being just raw mushrooms with a side of oil. They give you a grill at the table, but this dish a tad expensive and nothing special. We also tried a kimchi pork dish and a fried prawns dish but unfortunately they were both overshadowed by the yummy Pork Belly.

The last dish we tried was the Cheese Risotto. I was a little hestitant to try this one because the description made it sound extremely cheesy with a japanese twist. But the description said it was served in a cheese bowl so my curiosity got the best of me. It was no lie:

I found the risotto to be slightly bland and the cheese flavor only mild (I had to add extra parmesan cheese) but it was still a good dish overall and definitely worth trying - if not just to take a picture of this bad boy.

Happy eating!

--fatty regina