The last time I went to North Hollywood’s Tokyo Delve’s was eons ago (when I was just crack-free “Caroline”) and in all honesty I hated it. It was frat-boy obnoxious and the servers made me stand up on my chair and do the chicken dance when all I really wanted to do was eat my spicy tuna roll in peace. And, no, I didn’t know that’s their thing until it was too late and I was committed to sake bombs and 40s of Sapporo.

So when my new bff Julie invited me to come with her to TD’s, I was willing to give it another chance. Maybe I’ve come out of my shell more since then.

Apparently our party was set for 6pm. The restaurant has three different seating times so you have to get there on time or you’ll miss the show and be forced out before you’re ready to leave.

All four of us girls decided to take separate cars and each left for NoHo from Santa Monica at different times. I left at 5:15 since I wanted the girls to already be there by the time I arrived. But as luck would have it, I was the first to arrive.

The host kindly sat me at our table for four and let me order my first cocktail. I picked some melon soju cocktail. And when the waiter came back to deliver it, he slammed a small cocktail shaker on my table and made a “stand back and give me some room” gesture with his arms and started yelling “SHAKE! SHAKE! SHAKE!” saying it faster and faster trying to whip up my table of one and the nearby table of 10 into a frenzy. When he was done I asked him, “Was I supposed to do something?” He just replied, “No, just drink it.”

It made me not want to order a cocktail next round. But when I ordered Coke, the waiter yelled, “COKE!” while setting it down in front of me.

Needless to say the 6 o’clock seating was fairly empty and it was kinda weird that the TD workers still put on a loud display/show despite that. I felt really awkward sitting at this table by myself in a restaurant that was obviously made for large groups, and kept staring at the front door hoping that at least one of the girls would show up NOW.

After furious text messaging to Julie I found out that she got lost on the way somehow and would actually be kinda late. The other girls were stuck in traffic or something. Fine, I thought, I’ll just order some sushi now since I have nothing else to do but reread the menu for the 20th time.

But when my food arrived and I was about to dig in, the MC came back on the mic and told the whole room that we had to line up in the center aisle cuz we were going to do a little dance. WTF?

And they wouldn’t let me bow out of this one even though I was obviously by myself and didn’t know anyone else in the room. Fortunately as soon as we lined up, my friends walked in. I grabbed them without letting them put their purses down first. “You’re doing this dance with me!”

The dance was a stupid little…ugh! Won’t even go into it. I think I’d have to be 10 years younger with three beers in me before I’d consider it fun. Anyway, we did the dance that everyone else, except my party of bewildered girls, seemed to enjoy.

Many sake bombs and chicken dances later, it was 7:30 and the restaurant crew had to kick us out to clean up in time for the 8pm seating which was already lined up outside in a block-long queue.

My bill came out to $50! I remember the last time I was here it, too, was an outrageous amount for only one person and that was one of the reasons I had vowed to never come back. Oh well. Now for serious, I’m really never coming back here.

So, yeah, Tokyo Delve’s, although many rowdy Angelenos consider it a good time, is probably best for a large group of drunk college students. However, mind the really expensive mediocre food.

5239 Lankershim Boulevard
North Hollywood, California 91601
(818) 766-3868
Cross Street: Magnolia Boulevard