Perhaps equally important are the drinks, a boisterous mix of draft beers like Asahi, Sapporo, and Orion, plus sakes and lighter non-booze cocktails using shochu, sake, and aperitifs. Budonoki will also serve traditional Japanese pressed sushi (oshizushi) with kanpachi, salmon, and a rotation of other fish. Silver Lake, Virgil Village, and East Hollywood locals will soon be able to snack across nearly the entire compact izakaya menu, with options like chicken skewers, a naem crispy rice and Thai pork sausage dish, Peads & Barnetts pork jowl char siu, seafood pancake, and shrimp and scallop katsu with a heat-delivering habanero chili sauce. The opening makes for yet another dinnertime option on what must be one of the busiest three-block restaurant stretches anywhere outside of Koreatown. Budonoki, the longtime pop-up run by a trio of industry veterans, opens Thursday, September 28 at the ground floor of the Cha Cha Cha condominium development on the corner of Melrose and Virgil Avenue. A new star has arrived in Virgil Village, promising a blend of Japanese food, Thai flavors, and French technique paired with a modern LA sensibility.