Tofu Villa

In the Sawtelle "New Tokyo" area, there is a nice Tofu Villa addition on the first floor of the busy Nijiya Market complex. Tofu Villa is a nice casual Korean/Asian cafe which offers everything from Bibimbab, an assortment of sliced mushrooms, bean sprouts, spinach or greens, bamboo shoots, a hard boiled egg, (served with or without your choice of meat) served with either rice or noodles, hot or cold, to soon tofu, a hot bowl of tofu soup served with either seafood or meat, and the classic kalbi short ribs (a bit tough but tasty). Like all Korean restaurants, every dish is served with several side dishes (I counted five) ranging from hot kimchi to mild tofu skins. Everything was nice but not memorable from the service (obviously young and inexperienced) to the food (better than fast food but not great restaurant quality). They have only been open a year and they may work out some of the kinks with time (like clearing tables so waiting patrons can sit down). I prefer the friendliness of the staff to some better quality meals with rude servers and they do try to please with a nice free dessert taste of frozen yogurt at the end of the meal, so this is a pleasant stop on Sawtelle.

The proximity to Beard Papa makes it tempting to get another dessert of hot pastry cream puffs after you finish the bite of frozen yogurt, but if you are watching your weight/sugar/fat intake, just walk on by.