Compared with similar restaurants in Tokyo, Thousand Cranes is cheaper. However, with average set dinners at $85, I would expect better for the price in Los Angeles. As recommended by others in their reviews here and elsewhere, half of our party went with the premium sushi/sashimi dinner ($85) and half went with the Kaiseki dinner ($85). The premium sushi/sashimi dinner started with couple of raw oysters (yum), a plate of pickled veggie, 8 pieces of sashimi, 6 piece sushi plate, and small tempura plate (two shrimps and sweet potato). The sashimi was good, sushi was only decent. The toro was too grainy and did not melt in the mouth. The Kaiseki dinner was better in my opinion in terms of presentation and taste. The drawback was lack of description for each course. In Japan, the restaurant typically furnishes the diners with a description of each course.
We had good service since I did approach the host and told him about the recent reviews about poor service. He informed me that he had seen it as well and the restaurant is addressing the problem by hiring and training experienced servers. We did enjoy our meal in tatami room; it was a delight to spend time with our closest friends.
Pros: Ambience
Cons: Price and food taste
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