Kyoto Born, Ten no Meshi brings Japan’s tonkatsu & wagyu-katsu to Sawtelle, Los Angeles. Crispy outside, tender inside — every dish is crafted with care. Perfect for lunch, family gatherings, or a little indulgence. Taste authentic Japanese craftsmanship in LA.
Hours
| Saturday | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5–10 PM |
| Sunday | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5–10 PM |
| Monday | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5–10 PM |
| Tuesday | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5–10 PM |
| Wednesday | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5–10 PM |
| Thursday | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5–10 PM |
| Friday | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5–10 PM |
Address and Contact Information
Address: 2006 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (310) 231-1177
Website: https://tonkatsu-la.tennomeshi.com/
Menu Photos
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Ten no Meshi Los Angeles (@tennomeshi.la.official) – Instagram
Kyoto Wagyu Tonkatsu Ten No Meshi – Review – Los Angeles
Kyoto Wagyu Tonkatsu Ten no Meshi | 2006 Sawtelle Blvd, Los …
Reviews
Food : Authentic Quality
I had the A5 wagyu katsu plate.
The beef is very tender—you don’t need a knife. They give you so many kinds of seasonings/sauces that you run out of katsu very quickly, haha.
Every time an order arrives at your table and they serve their signature ikura (salmon roe) scoops, the whole restaurant calls out like a ceremony. That’s a quite new and fun experience!
Their menu may not be on the cheap side in L.A., but they do offer free refills on rice, miso soup, cabbage, and more. It offers quality food with good value.
Service:
Very energetic and caring. They explain about dishes in details if you are not familiar with them
Atmosphere:
Upper casual, it is a full sit down restaurant.
Interior decor is interesting but not over the top. It is clean and unique.
They have inside and patio area, if the weather is good, you can enjoy Sawtelle vibe at the patio seating too. I saw the patio heater so you should be comfortable even in cold nights.
The challenge is the parking. But it applies to almost every restaurants on Sawtelle blvd, so you know what to expect.
I ordered the US Wagyu, and the meat was incredibly tender and fluffy, almost melting in my mouth. I also enjoyed being able to try different sauces, which made the experience even more fun and flavorful.
One of the highlights was watching them generously pile salmon roe on top of the fried scallop with an enthusiastic call It was entertaining and added to the excitement of the meal.
I also had matcha and sencha, and both were excellent. Everything was truly delicious, and I would love to come back again.
Food:
T’was good, but for $32? Hell no. With tonkatsu being my favorite dish ever, I know how rare it is to find a place in LA that does it justice. I ordered the pork tenderloin set (see picture); the pork was good, but I almost laughed when I saw the size of it. Mind you, I’ve had tonkatsu all over Japan and throughout East Asia, and I’ve never seen such a tiny piece of meat served as an entree. It’s literally the size of my fist. The breading was semi-detached from the meat, which actually came lukewarm. The portion of the cabbage is also weirdly small (note: apparently they do refills) and came without any dressing? I thought they’d at least offer some sesame or wafu dressing. One minor detail that got me puzzled is that for a $32 combo, the miso soup didn’t have anything in it (other than seaweed). No tofu, no vegetables—not even green onion? I also couldn’t taste the broth; it felt like just hot water + miso paste. Also, the onsen tamago tasted like it was just removed from a freezer…?
Service:
Our waiters were very pleasant, but you can tell they’re inexperienced, and communication between staff is not very good. Also, I’d expect at least a little explanation/tutorial for the various sauce options placed on the table (super confusing for my friend who’s never tried tonkatsu). The guy at the front seating people is extremely unhelpful; he has a smile on his face but you can tell he’s perpetually annoyed.
The wait:
If you go when they open (5PM), it’s first-come-first-serve, and it doesn’t matter if your name is on the waitlist or not. The estimated wait time is unreliable (probably 1-2hr). Don’t bother to go if you join the waitlist after 7PM (they close at 10PM). Also, the booths only fit 2 people, and there are only a couple of counter seats and a large table; it’ll be very difficult if you are a party of 3+ people.
Vibe:
Kind of unpleasant. It’s super loud in there (mix of people’s convos and the whole staff yelling いくらだしまーす!Every other minute), and because seating is so limited you feel pressured to just get in & out. Definitely not the vibe I’d expect for a $40 meal. Floor is slippery. But the bathroom does have a nice toilet…
In conclusion: I’d come here if it’s sukiya vibes with sukiya prices. But for $40 and an hour+ wait? I’d go somewhere else.
Also, our server Chaw was amazing. She took the time to explain the menu and gave us recommendations, and I’m so glad we listened because everything she suggested was spot on. She was super friendly, attentive, and made the whole experience even better.
Definitely coming back for that A5 again. Highly recommend!
A particularly memorable moment was when the staff poured ikura over the katsu while calling out together. It felt very special and truly reflected the Japanese spirit of hospitality, making each guest feel personally welcomed.
Since the restaurant has only recently opened, there is currently a long wait, but you can register on the waitlist using the terminal at the front, which allows you to use your waiting time efficiently.
Next time, I’d love to try the wagyu katsu.
1) My A5 did not taste or look like A5 wagyu. Lack of marbling, not melt in your mouth, and an unfresh taste that left me questioning if I was eating quality meat or not. It didn’t make any sense. Watching their frying process, its possible that my wagyu may have just been American wagyu. Because they fry the pieces from the left fryer and move them over 1 by 1 to the Fryer to the right (I don’t know the purpose of this), the meats can be mixed up. After frying, the only way to really tell the difference is by shape so it’s easy to distinguish the pork loins and pork tenderloin but a bit more difficult with the beef. There were multiple times where the fry chef second guessed which bin to put the fried piece of meat they just picked up.
2) The 2nd part that threw off the meal was the extremely poor quality of the breading. The breading was mushy (see video), fell off so easily, and provided little to no crunch. Fried food is hard to mess up but somehow it happened here. I was bothered by this so much that I had to look at other Yelp reviews to see what others have said and they all have had this same problem so this is not an isolated case. I hope the team here fixes this issue because the crispy breading is such a key component to this dish.
3) Surprisingly, the pork loin was more enjoyable than the A5 wagyu but only because the piece we received was actually crispy. The downside was it was dry. No juices retained, just dry meat surrounded by crispy breading. The feel was equivalent to placing a piece of pork loin in the oven for too long and it drying out. I think a juicy piece of pork loin is bare minimum base line. I was surprised this was not met.
For the pros, I enjoyed the free refills on daikon, rice, miso soup, etc. The scalloped cutlet with ikura was good. I definitely enjoyed that. Sauces and condiments are good. Those were the things that truly saved this meal.
To quote from their website: “Delight in a soul-stirring indulgence — “Ten no Meshi” – where every dish is top-tier”. But my experience was the exact opposite; I did not indulge in any buttery melt in your mouth goodness of A5 wagyu that I was promised. Nor was every dish “top-tier” but more so “we kinda tried tier”. And I got all of this for the price of $111.
I had high hopes for this place and truly believed that my experience was an anomaly but with how many other people have had the same exact issues as me, I don’t think it is. Definitely go try this place and hope for the best but if the issues are not fixed, I would not recommend this place.
We had the A5 wagyu meal set and pork loin and tenderloin set and they were both perfectly fried, crispy and tender.