Day Two calls for some Japanese food.

Second stop? Sakura on Woodman Avenue in Panorama City.

Sakura is a Japanese restaurant that is conveniently located just a couple of blocks away from my house- at most, a five minute walk. I took my friend, Randy, along with me (as you can see in the above picture). We were seated towards the back of the restaurant next to the fish aquarium, and handed both the regular menus and combo menus by a nice Japanese woman. They offered a variety of sushi rolls, and combination plates that had shrimp tempura, gyoza, chicken terriyaki, and a size salad; prices for the sushi rolls ranged from $4.95 to $8.95, and the combination plates cost anywhere from $8.75 to $12.50. Randy and I went the traditional route and just got a chicken terriyaki with shrimp tempura combo that cost a good $10.50 and the Woodman Roll which was priced at $7.50- the Woodman Roll, appropriately named after the street Sakura is located on, is a sushi roll of spicy tuna and avocado, then topped with a sweet and spicy sauce. The chicken terriyaki was delicious! The meat was perfectly cooked, and it was not over-sauced so I felt like I could eat more of it without worrying about the extra baggage of excess sauce. I enjoyed the Woodman Roll as well, although I will say it was on the spicy side. However, I was disappointed with the shrimp tempura- mine were limp, greasy, and flavorless. I even had to press my napkin against the shrimp's batter in order to pick up the unnecessary oil. On a lighter note, the combo plate also came with a side salad, which I will say I appreciated because it provided the much-needed veggies to the meal. Sure, there was avocado in the roll but avocados are so rich.

Price- 7.5

Health- 7

Flavor- 8.5

Here's a shrimp tempura recipe from my mother! 

Ingredients-

• 1 lb of large shrimp
• 1 cup of corn starch
• 1 cup of seltzer water (cold)
• 1 egg
• 2 cups of panko bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vegetable oil

Directions-

Devein the shrimp and clean properly.

In a large mixing bowl, add the corn starch, seltzer water, egg, and salt & pepper to taste.

On a large plate, pour the panko bread crumbs.

Pour shrimp into the tempura batter, and then coat them in panko bread crumbs.

Deep fry in vegetable oil about 3 minutes or so.

My mom uses a combination of corn starch and panko bread crumbs to achieve that CRUNCH instead of the usual flour. By omitting the flour, the shrimp tempura does not absorb as much oil. Panko bread crumbs are known to stay light and crispy, which is what shrimp tempura should be as well! Also, panko adds great flavor and texture. (Panko Bread Crumbs)