Neptune’s Lounge
601 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90005
What’s hot: When eating raw fish just isn’t enough, and you want to try something completely outside of your everyday comfort zone (as in, still moving and writhing) for a relatively inexpensive price. Service is fabulous.
What’s not: The décor is all over the place in terms of what they are aiming for. The rest of the food selection is mundane and generally overpriced. PETA members need not apply.
Typical menu items: Steaks ($16 – $22), Mozzarella Sticks ($7), Sashimi Sampler ($20), Sushi Rolls ($6 to $11), Sashimi Package ($30 to $70 per person).
Style: Japanese-Korean fusion, Standard American.
The crowd: Sparse (at the moment), Korea town natives and Wilshire residents venturing a bit outside their normal comfort zone.
Rating: 8/10 (Skip the standard fare, go straight to the live sashimi)
On the corner of Western and 6th, a block or so from Wilshire, is a non-descript corner seafood and “lounge” punctuated on the drab outside walls by a blazingly bright neon blue sign entitled “Neptune’s Lounge”. Inside, the contradiction in ambience continues—on one side is a vividly decorated sushi bar, with soft blue ambient lighting emanating from underneath the bar, with massive aquariums housing sea creatures the likes of which you probably wouldn’t see at an aquarium (let alone think of eating), while the other side looks like it could fit in a college food court, albeit with soft blue and red lighting emanating from within the top of the walls. On the adjacent wall is an incredibly huge projection screen. Luckily, as I ventured inside, the Celtics were on the verge of losing to the Hawks in game 6 of round 1, which made me incredibly happy, but others might not agree.
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