Taiko!

If you ask my nearly 4-year-old daughter where she wants to go for dinner, the invariable answer is "Taiko!" Located on the third floor of the Brentwood Gardens shopping complex on San Vicente, Taiko can be a bit tricky to find, but it's worth the effort. The place is a real winner: family friendly (they even have special plastic place settings with character motifs such as Hello Kitty and "doctored" chopsticks) the service couldn't be more friendly (say "hi" to Matsuki, the ever-present manager and uber host), the setting is perfectly lovely (there's even a "quiet" room for adults -- see above), and the food is delicious! (Zagat's gives the place a 21 for food, a 16 for setting, a 18 for service and a $24 price tag.)

The menu can be a bit overwhelming, with page upon page of tasty options, but the place is best known for its traditional noodle dishes such as soba and udon. Personal favorites include the nasumiso (yummy fried eggplant with sweet miso sauce), wild salmon sushi with a slice of lemon and rock salt, fresh pumpkin tempura, and their duck soba. The kids love the edamame, miso soup with extra tofu mixed with white rice, rock shrimp tempura salad, and any sort of noodles.

Another plus, Taiko has two other locations: one in Santa Barbara, and the other in El Segundo (near Manhattan Beach).