West Los Angeles sits between the 405 freeway and Santa Monica, south of Westwood and the UCLA campus. It is one of those LA neighbourhoods that most visitors drive through without realising it is a destination in its own right. That is a mistake.
The main draw is Sawtelle Japantown, a stretch of Sawtelle Boulevard between Olympic and Santa Monica Boulevards lined with Japanese restaurants, ramen shops, mochi stores, and Asian grocery markets. It is less polished than Little Tokyo downtown and better for it -- the food is excellent and the crowds are mostly local. On any given evening you will find lines outside Tsujita for their tsukemen or Kiriko for omakase sushi.
The neighbourhood is otherwise residential and low-key. The massive Los Angeles National Cemetery and the VA campus occupy a large chunk of land along Wilshire, giving the area an unexpected openness. Westfield Century City mall is just to the east in Century City, and the Expo Line runs through the southern end, making it easy to reach downtown or Santa Monica without a car.
West LA is not a place you would plan a whole day around, but Sawtelle alone is worth a detour for anyone who cares about food. Combine it with a visit to the nearby Getty Center or an afternoon at UCLA’s campus and you have a solid half-day on the Westside.