LAReview
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Budonoki
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The phrase “party restaurant” seems like a back-handed compliment. It might make you think of fishbowl cocktails, selfie walls, neon signs, and strangers who offer to “read your chart” while in line for the bathroom. These sorts of places can be fun under the right circumstances (divorce, youth, etc.), but rarely do they serve the kind of food you hunger for regularly.
But not Budonoki. This Japanese izakaya in Virgil Village delivers an uncommon combination of strong drinks, spicy playlists, and tremendous food. Which makes it the kind of party you should find an excuse to show up to as often as possible.
Budonoki started out as a roving pop-up, landing a permanent space on the ground floor of a newly constructed condo complex at the end of 2023. You'd be forgiven, though, if you thought the grungy space had been around for decades. And that’s a compliment. Black walls make it feel like you accidentally stumbled into a sticky K-town basement, while a fluorescent Orion beer sign casts a pink glow over booths filled with friends ripping sake bombs. Dates at the bar sip from cute penguin mugs filled with rice milk and plum sake, or blood orange shochu slushies. Don’t be surprised after a few rounds when you and surrounding tables start gyrating in your seats to old-school Missy and 90’s Kylie. (The music here is so good we once asked our server for the playlist. They had it ready.) Any debauchery you partake in here is the furthest thing from manufactured. The fun happens naturally, like at an after-after wedding party when everybody’s just happy not to be dancing to “Twist And Shout” anymore.
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
The fairly straightforward menu at Budonoki doesn't veer much from the traditional izakaya formula. There are a dozen or so "snacks" designed to go well with drinks, plus two kinds of oshisuzhi (pressed sushi) meant to be shared, plus some very good soft serve. The term “snack” isn’t quite accurate though, as these plates are designed to be passed around the table. A few dishes lean Thai as much as they do Japanese, none more so than the naem, a sour-savory fermented pork sausage with crispy rice and slaw that’s easily the best thing on the menu. Most plates fall in the $12 to $18 range, so if you’re with a big group, it’s wise to load the table with things like juicy chicken oyster skewers, yakisoba noodles, and a charred sweet potato with miso butter that tastes like warming your feet by the fireplace. Even the pressed sushi—the least exciting thing on the menu—has its place. And by that, we mean in the middle of your table so all your increasingly drunk friends can grab bites of decadent, sauce-smothered rolls throughout the night.
Unlike your typical clubstaurant, a night at Budonoki isn’t weighed down by the performative act of “going out.” You don’t have to put on uncomfortable clothes, consider bottle service, or stand outside while someone carrying a ring light gets in before you. The most high-stakes decision of the evening will be whether you want another order of pan-fried noodles, chicken wings, or both. And that’s the kind of party restaurant we'll happily celebrate.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Naem
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Negima
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Chef's Salad
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Seafood Pancake
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Aburi Salmon Oshizushi
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Yakisoba
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Soft Serve