6.27.2012

Takami Sushi & Robata


811 Wilshire Boulevard, 21st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 236-9600

Parking: $7 Valet
Days: Daily (love it, rare for a DTLA Happy Hour)
Hours: Monday-Friday: 4-7pm; Saturday and Sunday: 5-7pm
Drink Deals: $5 Wines and Bottled Beer; $6 Sake; three $7 Featured Cocktails
Food Deals: 11 Food Options (!!) for $4 each

Gorgeous Views

Like The Huntley Penthouse another high-up bar with killer views, Takami Sushi & Robata is an excellent Happy Hour at which to impress and entertain – out of town guests, prospective mates (like on National Geographic :), local friends who complain that there ain’t shit to do… you catch my Tokyo drift. Takami sits 3 stories higher than Huntley’s Penthouse, up on the 21st floor of a downtown Wilshire Blvd. building with panoramic views of LA’s downtown skyline*- perfect opportunity to sight-see and get your Happy Hour on.

Entering Takami - Bar Area
Takami shares the floor with Elevate Lounge, which opens later at night on weekends and is probably not so much my scene, like tres club-by. To be fair, Takami after Happy Hour probably isn’t totally my scene either – really, I’m not hatin’, but I’m also not feelin’ the buttcheek-revealing skirts arriving as we left.  Also lending itself to the club vibe is that part of the patio is zoned as a lounge and you can actually smoke on it. I was thankful nobody lit up on my visit, but I know many cigarette-o-philes are always looking for a public space to get their nicotine fix. Cigarette-o-philes, here’s your spot.

  
Takami's restaurant area

Whatever your feelings on butcheek-revealing skirts and cigarette-o-philes are, you will love, or at least very much like Takami’s Happy Hour. Besides the excellent views, HH draws an interesting and diverse crowd and has very nice servers (they took a little warming up, but were perfecto in the end!). 
 Served at the bar and bar patio, The Happy Hour deals are  great – especially for food; it’s ½ off Lounge fare food items which are $8 at full price, so $4 during HH (I did get an A in 4th grade math). Miss Kitty Packard (link to blog) and I ordered a nice array of items to make a delish dinner:

Calamari Arare 
Calamari covered with Japanese Rice Crackers, served with a Cilantro Aioli

Japanese Fries 
Flavored with Seaweed flakes and served with another aioli

California Roll
Crab, Avocado, and Cucumber in a seaweed wrap

Vegetable Tempura
Not on Happy Hour – full $8 price


Bellini Cocktail and LA Cocktail ($7 each)

Happy Hour drinks are pretty sweet too. Their featured cocktails run $7 each, a little high for Happy Hour – but not so bad considering the food and views.  Kitty had the Bellini Cocktail made with a very dry prosecco sweetened with Pama (a pomegranate liqueur) and St. Germain (elderflower liqueur); and I had the LA Cocktail – a sweet concoction with Absolut Berry-Acai, Pama and St. Germain, made just tart enough with a float of lemon juice.
We thoroughly enjoyed all our bites (though I was a little aioli’d out after the calamari and fries) and drinks and left at just the perfect time – when the buttcheek revealing skirts started to arrive. Just another night in LA!


--JB
Rating: 4.5 Martinis

* You should really take your friends who complain there ain’t shit to do on one of LA Conservancy’s cool walking tours – I learned a lot about downtown on their Modern Skyline tour).

Takami Sushi & Robata on Urbanspoon

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