"A hidden back-alley spot in the Warehouse District Downtown...means...this "private" Japanese venue whose decor is "minimalist" and "stylish without being pretentious"; "arrive early to sit at the sushi bar" or just kick bak" in the cool Frank Gehry designed cardboard chairs"; either way you'll find "artfully presented" sushi as well as cooked items like a "lobster temp ... Read more...

Little Tokyo's R23 is hooked on fresh seafood

The freshest imaginable catch - and clearly the best available - distinguishes R23, a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar on the scruffy fringe of Little Tokyo in downtown L.A. Yet this isn't an Asian restaurant that emphasizes its raw nibbles to the neglect of all else; we found the cooked entrees to be ever ... Read more...

This might just be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for sushi lovers. Built in what was once a railroad loading dock, the sleek, minimalist dining room offers only the freshest and most divine sushi in town. It might not have the heat of some entertainment industry-favored spots, but you won't be disappointed in the excellent quality of the seafood. Some secrets are best kept to yourself.

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This gallerylike space in Downtown's out-of-the-way warehouse/artist loft district has been the secret of sushi connoisseurs since 1991 and has consistently ranked as one of the city's top sushi restaurants. At the back of R23's single, large exposed-brick dining room, the 12-seat sushi bar shines like a beacon; what appear at first to be ceramic wall ornaments are really stylish sushi platters hanging in wait for large orders. More functional art reveals itself in the corrugated cardboard ch ... Read more...

Seated at the Japanese restaurant R-23, waiting for the last of our party of four to arrive, I feel the tensions of the day begin to unravel in this serene space. Just as I order a few appetizers for the table, my friend ambles in. As he sits down, his sleepy eyes take in the sushi bar at the back of the old warehouse, and then the big Gauguin-inspired paintings on the exposed brick walls. "I've been here before," he says. "Years ago, when I first moved to L.A. and had absolutely no clue as t ... Read more...