For an extravagant wagyu beef feast in an incredible Downtown LA dining room: Niku X
Venture into the belly of the Wilshire Grand Center in Downtown and take the escalator up to one of the most luxurious and over-the-top dinners in Los Angeles right now, thanks to the mind of chef Shin Thompson. While one could classify this as a yakiniku-style steakhouse, the tasting menus and arresting ambiance give it a worldly vibe, like something hidden inside a Singapore or Bangkok high-rise. Inside, well-heeled diners nibble on fresh sashimi or crunchy sea greens, while servers bring out mist-spraying trays with pristine cuts of wagyu from around the world. Servers grill fresh, marinated, and dry-aged meats omakase-style, with a variety of sauces and pickled things to help add savoriness or cut through the richness. In other parts of the room, whole tomahawk steaks are getting flash-grilled with fresh herbs, adding a tremendous sense of theatrics. While the wine list is on the thin side, a bottle of Barolo only adds to the opulence (the sommelier promises a deeper list in the coming months). The Michelin guide recently added Niku X without awarding any stars, but it’s not hard to see that the restaurant is heading toward a star in the next year, so might as well get in before the hype builds.