Church of Choppers Blog

Nan Ban Kan - W. Los Angeles

A couple weekends ago Steve Skourpa, Mykill & I rode to a Yakitori restaurant in West Los Angeles called Nan Ban Kan

From the back of the menu - "According to ancient legend, Yakitori, which literally means "roast chicken", first grew out of falcon-hunting contest among Samurai warriors. However, another tradition states the Kushiyaki, or the practice of roasting bite-size pieces of meat, poultry and vegetables was introduced by Dutch traders (known as "Nanban-jin" or "Southern Barbarians") residing at Dejima, Nagasaki during the 17th century. Japanese Yakitori is virtually any ingredient which can be skewered, grilled and eaten hot.
Casual Japanese atmosphere with a handful of tables and seating around a large "C" shaped bar around the chef's main cooking area with grills using Japanese white charcoal (Bincho-tan), usually oak.

Since Mykill & I hadn't been there before we left the ordering in the hands of Steve. He played nice and didn't get crazy and order the chicken tail, skin or innards. We dined on Ika Somen - sliced squid sashimi sprinkled with sesame seeds, nori (dry, toasted seaweed), served with tempura soy sauce. Tsukune - chicken meatballs dipped in a homemade teriyaki sauce. Geso - squid legs dipped in a seafood soy sauce. Kisu Fish Tempura - small white fish with a tempura dipping sauce (scallions, fresh grated ginger and radish to season the sauce). Gobo Maki - pieces of burdock root wrapped in a thin layer of lean pork.

Kaibashira - scallops with seafood sauce. Shiromi - Chilean sea bass with scallions, Momiji Oroshi (grated Daikon radish), red chili peppers and a little seafood soy sauce. Nanban Yaki - top sirloin beef covered in a spicy beef sauce. Garlic dipped in olive oil before grilling. Ginnan - ginko nuts out of the shell (also dipped in olive oil before grilling and lightly salted).

Most dishes are served with slices of lemon. There was plenty Togarahi (Japanese 7-spice) at the tables (bar). We only sampled a small selection of the menu. Thanks Steve, for suggesting Nan Ban Kan. I'll be back for sure to try some of the other dishes.