ShinSenGumi Hakata Ramen Restaurant

Of the many ways to translate the flavor of sputtering hardwood into meat, the Japanese art of kushiyaki is perhaps the most efficient, a straightforward gesture of toasting skewers of marinated protein over a hot, fragrant charcoal fire until the surfaces brown, the smoke insinuates its way into the flesh, and the chicken tails, or bacon-wrapped asparagus, or bits of beef tongue cook to a luscious medium-rare: the center barely touched by the heat and the outside brown and crisp. As practiced at Shin-Sen-Gumi, a mini-mall kushiyaki bar on the southern edge of Gardena, the process is extraordinarily precise, with each delicate meatball, each chunk of chicken thigh, cooked just enough and no more, and with an entire busy restaurant being fed from a grill that looks not much bigger than two or three steel shoeboxes welded end-to-end. Recommended dishes: gyoza, hakata ramen.

• Cuisine(s): Japanese

  Hours: Sun,Sat 11:30am-11:30pm, Mon-Fri 11:30am-2pm, Mon-Fri 6pm-11:30pm

  Price: $$

• Payment Types: MasterCard, Visa

  Features: Takeout

  Serving: Dinner, Lunch

• Alcohol: Beer/Wine

  Reservations: Accepted, Not Necessary

  Parking: Lot Available