Hinoki & the Bird in Los Angeles

Our dining experience at Hinoki & bird was delightful! The staff were very friendly and welcoming, every dish that we ordered were absolutely exquisite and the atmosphere was great too. We’d definitely plan to visit again on our next trip to LA.

We ordered the brussel sprouts, fried chicken, sashimi and the kale salad for appetizer. They were so delicious, especially the sashimi. For the large plates, we ordered the black cod and the hanger steak. The cod was so good, but found the steak not flavorful. Their cocktails and wine lists are pretty extensive. We truly enjoyed our dinner.Today, we went to try the menu for our daughters wedding. Each dish was unique and incredibly delicious.

Just OK. This place wins points for being very vibey - its secluded and the decor is a top notch combination of natural fabrics/materials and upscale touches, and the people dining there seemed way more chill than your typical trendy LA restaurant crowd. But, the food was so lackluster that I was shocked. Honestly, it has probably been the most flavorless I have had at a sit down meal in LA. The person I was with said they didnt even have a favorite dish because it was all so blah.There werent a ton of options in general, so gluten free and/or vegetarian/pescetarian options were also pretty limited, but there were definitely enough to piece together a meal we shared. I thought the best thing was the local sashimi, which seemed fresh and had a nice finish. The octopus was pretty weird. It was fried, which was super cool as Ive never seen that presentation, but that ended up poorly as it was really oily and the larger pieces didnt cook properly. The potatoes with it also tasted like they literally had no seasoning. Ive never left a carb, especially not a potato, on a plate before and I could only eat a bite of one. We also got the fried rice, mushrooms, and carrots. I thought the carrots were the best of them, surprisingly, but my dining companion thought everything was way too salty. They also tried the lobster roll, which I couldnt have but had thought looked really good, and said it was also not seasoned and pretty bland compared to the presentation. We ended up leaving the vast majority of it untouched.A couple redeeming qualities (in addition to the spectacular ambiance) were our server, who was super friendly and just attentive enough to make sure we had what we needed but not interrupt too often, and the drinks. I would absolutely go back here for drinks alone. Their specialty cocktails were super fun, and our server knew the menu well enough to recommend some items we loved based on our mood/taste. We tried the jalisco dragon, cafe racer, and fire + smoke that we liked a lot. Update: went back for just drinks and loved it! Its the perfect place for that.

Hidden GemWe came for lunch and the service and restaurant is a really good atmosphere and the servers are very friendly and attentive. Food, loved the fried chicken for appetizer, the fries and the clt sandwich. Will be coming back to try more.

I had the absolute pleasure of eating at Hinoki & the Bird, and it’s an experience I wholeheartedly recommend.Upon entering the restaurant and opening the front door, the dark yet elegant setting set the mood, as well as a well curated playlist of music. The waiter was quick to our table and provided a full run down of all the favorite items (to which there are many).We began with the lobster roll, which we shared 3 ways. I could have eaten the whole thing myself it was so good. The sashimi in a special ponzu sauce was fantastic and the fish tasted fresh. The kale salad really surprised me. They use three types of kale and they all melded perfectly to create an amazing salad.Now we move on to the mains. The beer battered fish sandwich looked a bit like a gourmet filet-o-fish, but I can assure you after your first bite that thought is immediately cast aside. It was an outstanding sandwich. But the real winner was the Hinoki wagyu burger. I’m not joking when I say this might be one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. The smoky, tender, medium rare wagyu patties melt in your mouth. The pickled veggies are a nice touch, and the potato buns added to the decadence. I can see why this burger was once heralded as the best burger in LA.The great thing about this place is you can order to share or order individually. I highly recommend sharing as you’ll want to try every dish that arrives at the table.Lastly, I noticed a lot of reviews stating this place had bad service. Either those waiters got fired or the management took the feedback to heart because the service was outstanding. Never was there a moment where you were waiting too long, and there was always someone ready to fill up your water.While expensive, the experience is worth it. You must go here!

The food is absolutely amazing! The ambience is very nice specially if you’re seated outside. It’s like your own private and nicely decorated garden. We expected the shared food to be small but it was a very good portion. Fried chicken was perfectly cooked. Lobster roll was superb! But the beef tenderloin took the prize!One down side, the parking was a s-show. Took us 20 min to get out since they had one attendant and a million cars. That may need to be resolved or just don’t park there. I saw many coming in frustrated and left.Highly recommend minus the parking!

A delicious culinary experience, everything was perfection, especially the fried chicken and their homemade bread. The grilled avocado was a hit and so were the desserts. A must try spot, with an amazing atmosphere. However, We were a big table and our waiter couldn’t care less about us (since the tip was included) we had to ask multiple times for water and other items, which became a tad annoying at the end.

Wonderful atmosphere & ambiance! The food was delicious. The service was good not great. The servers were nice but not very attentive. We had wanted a couple more cocktails - they we really good - but the waiter never checked back in on us. We needed to flag him down a few times for drinks & desert. Not to miss dishes: the Boar ribs, the Salmon, the Fire cocktail & the Pana cotta

20% automatic service charge regardless of the party size is what most people have opinion on. Sadly it has gradually becoming a norm in this geopolitical climate, where restuants charges, workers health care %, water fees and the sort. Ive also been intimidated by counter service workers at other places where they passive aggressively asked for tip by simply flipping their iPad. Some restuarants checks give you the tip options of 20%, 22%, and 25%. I suppose we should be happy that they only do automatic 20%.Perhaps our Hanoki and the Bird waitstaff wanted addition 5%? Because as we were leaving, they were not as friendly as when we arrived. I maybe too self conscious, too sensitive. But thats what the city do to you.Its the LA experience.Overall, food were not bad. Service was cordial. Location is a bit out of way, where valet parking is cheaper than parking lot parking rates.The best dish for the night for us was the fried chicken.

The restaurant is beautiful,great for a date night or hang with friends.The food and drinks were fantastic!!!