LA Sushi Blog

Rokuan – Chino Hills, CA

14230B Chino Hills Pkwy

Chino Hills, CA 91709

(909) 590-1233

Rating:

Overall rating: Just OK

Pricing – Moderate

Finding good sushi in other areas of California other than the usual coastal joints is hard to come by.  When a friend told me of this spot in Chino Hills, I had to check it out.  Mind you, that day I will admit, I was not in the mood for sushi – BUT, my taste buds were there so I checked it out.  Rokuan is situated in the grocery shopping center of Stater Brothers, marked by a sign called ‘Sushi’.  After reading a few reviews and blogs, I decided to give it a go but could never find the appropriate time!  The restaurant opens at 5pm on the weekends and I am only ever in the area during the day.  I went with the family on an impromptu request by my sister for sushi.

I ordered the sushi and sashimi combination platter – figured it’d give me a variety to choose from and taste.  Overall, it wasn’t that bad.  The cuts of fish are on the thick side so I did have a hard time biting through it all.  Reviews I had read raved about their proportional value and good taste.  I’d have to agree on the portions, they were on the greater side.  I simply wished that they had cut them thinner.  That way, you get more and don’t have the feeling of biting through a big piece of meat.  I wanted to appreciate the taste and feel of good sushi.

I’m not sure if it was worth the drive for someone from Pasadena (as I read in one review).  The sushi was good, just not great.  I would go back though – only next time, I’ll be sure to order more on the side of wanting sushi.

Chino Hills take:  It’s one of the better sushi restaurants in the area.  Definitely a must if you like sushi.  The tempura is fantastic too – not on the batter-y side – more simple and crisp.

Hide 

2040 Sawtelle Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90025-6230

Phone: (310) 477-7242

Cash ONLY (ATM Inside)

Rating:

Overall rating: Good

Pricing - Moderately Low

Hide is where one of our loves of sushi began. It is where Ben took his 1st leap of faith and ventured outside of the California roll. They have one of the best reputations for good sushi on the Westside. Hide has a very diverse and large following of long time, loyal customers who keep coming back. On any given night at Hide you will find family’s with their young children, couples on date’s, and older Japanese men chatting it up with the chef’s at the sushi bar. Hide is always crowded so it’s best to arrive early. They do not take reservations. Simply walk in, write your name down on the board and wait to hear your name. Valet parking is free with validation. Perfect for lunch or dinner. Also for tempura lovers, Hide has some of the best tempura in town! 

Vegetable Salad - Amazing

This is a must order. A very simple salad with micro greens, cucumber, lemon juice and grated daikon; it’s clean, refreshing and a great way to start.  It has a slight kick and a hint of natural sweetness. 

Fatty Tuna - Just OK

The cuts of fish we received were huge, however the cut seemed to be sliced differently which made the fish very tough as we had pieces of tendon fibers. The taste was overshadowed by the toughness. 

Albacore - Just OK

Another very generous portion of fish that was served seared, or possibly boiled. Garnished with ginger, scallions and ponzu, it was slightly bland and had the texture of chicken. 

Sweet Raw Shrimp - Awesome

Served with wasabi, very sweet, light, great texture. No choice of how you want the head’s prepared, they were served fried!

Yellowtail - Good

A very fresh, simple and great tasting piece of yellowtail. 

Spanish Mackerel - Just OK

The cut of the mackerel also seemed like it was cut funky.   Although garnished with ginger and scallions, ponzu is a must; the fish was a tad tasteless without it. 

Monkfish Liver – Awesome

A nice hefty portion served with a garnish of ginger and scallions – this is a must if you love ankimo.

The Run Down:  Hide is a great spot for good sushi and first timers in to the realm of sushi appreciation.  Just remember that it’s cash only!

Luckyfish Sushi

338 N Canon Drive

Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Phone: (310) 274 9800

http://www.luckyfishsushi.com/

Rating:

Overall rating: Good

Pricing - Moderately Low

Luckyfish is a modern kaiten-zushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant located deep inside the heart of 90210, and is run by the same folks that head up LA’s super trendy Sushi-Roku and Katana. The restaurant is charming & comfortable, perfect for a date. The staff and management are very friendly, and eager to offer specials and advice on popular dishes. Luckyfish offers some pretty interesting and original dishes that you won’t find in most sushi restaurants. It is obvious that a lot of time and thought was put into the menu and food.

Tako Roll - Good

Spicy Tuna on top of a roll filled with octopus, yuzu pepper & a hint of mayo; a great combination of flavors and texture with a hint of lemon and a subtle kick. Very peppery, maybe a little over peppered. 

Salmon Carpaccio - Good

Slices of salmon topped with capers, sesame, ponzu and onions; a Japanese bagels & lox if you will, minus the bagel. Sauce is light and tasty and the salmon is of good quality. 

Tuna Truffle Carpaccio - Good

Slices of tuna, arugula, balsamic reduction and Parmesan cheese garnished with truffle oil. Beautiful presentation. This felt like a dish we’d already had at any of the great Italian or new American restaurants in LA. It was a pleasant and unexpected dish at a sushi restaurant. 

Wasabi Toro - Awesome

Minced Toro, mixed with green onion served on top of seaweed wrapped rice. This was good, quite tasty and fresh. We missed any wasabi, either it was light or forgotten. Regardless, we recommend it! 

Baked crab roll - Good

Finally, a restaurant that serves only real crabs in a roll! Served warm, wrapped in a thin sheet of tofu/soy paper…Tasty. 

Albacore special (off menu) - Awesome

Another beautifully presented and well thought out dish. A healthy portion of good quality albacore presented on top of potato crisps and topped with Maui sweet onions, and served with an asparagus and tomato salad with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette. Highly recommended. 

Yellowtail served Sushi Roku Style - Awesome

Yellowtail served with 3 types of ponzu, diced chilli’s and scallions, and drizzled with hot olive oil. A great, natural citrus taste and very light perfect starter, almost like a salad. 

The Run Down: The restaurant has a great selection of both hot and cold dishes in addition to its eclectic sushi selection.  Depending on what you order, you may be surprised at your total bill; we found this place pretty decent price wise considering the area (and partially because we didn’t order any sake).  If you’re looking for something fun & different, this is the place to go….

Blowfish, San Francisco 

2170 Bryant St

San Francisco, CA 94110

Phone: (415) 285-3848 

http://www.blowfishsushi.com/

Rating:

Overall rating: Just OK

Pricing - Moderately high

In LA, Blowfish was once a celeb hot spot before shutting down. We were fairly disappointed with the LA Blowfish, so we decided to give the San Francisco location a try. The restaurant itself is fun and young, good vibe, great music and a cool crowd. The menu is colorful and has a great Japanese anime theme. They offer plenty of interesting and exotic options for sushi, entrees, desserts, beer, sake and mixed drinks. 

White Tuna - Just OK

This was a very creamy piece of fish that had a slightly fishy, but pleasant taste. Great with soy…

Hawaiian Walu - Good

A very beautiful and colorful looking fish garnished with garlic, ginger and a shizo leaf. Very smokey tasting, which was surprising. We didn’t see the wasabi buried within the rice, and it was enough to make our face’s scrunch up - be careful!

Engawa - Awesome

A moist, buttery and flakey piece of halibut. No garnish; was great served as is. Best dish of the night, highly recommended! 

Blowfish Maki Roll - Good

Yellowtail, masago & scallions topped with salmon. Clean & light, nothing special, but not bad at all. 

Smoked Salmon - Just OK

This pretty much tasted like a piece of Lox with rice. If you like lox, you’ll enjoy this. 

Pyramid Of Tar Tar - Just OK

Just like it read’s, this was an actual pyramid constructed of maguro, sake, honey tar tar, sweet garlic ginger soy and served with chips. The salmon wasn’t the greatest quality, and the presentation was a little cheesy.

Albacore - Don’t order it

This definitely tasted like it had been defrosted.  It was tough and had no flavor. 

The SF Take: If you are in town looking for a decent bite with some people, it’s great. If you are looking for top quality fish you may want to explore other options.

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman

Travel Channel

10:00 pm

December 25, 2008

Japan

As I was perusing the channels for the typical Christmas day programming, I came across the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman”.  Usually reserved for weekend marathon viewings with my dad, I couldn’t help but watch as it was ten minutes in and covering Japan.  The segment I happened to cross was a trip to the sushi market.  As I watched, I thought to myself – how adventurous do we think we can go?

Along with his guide (an assuming Japanese American foodie specialist) Andrew proceeded to select special items to take ‘home’ and prepare for dinner.  They tried a variety of things (the typical tuna, etc…) of which Stonefish and Sea Squirts were selected and covered.  The stonefish has a poisonous spine, requiring a particular method to detach the spine from the fish before it can poison itself. It is filleted and served with its liver – a delectable treat.  The Sea Squirt was one of the items Andrew brought back to a restaurant for preparation.  It was served with a vinegar sauce and cucumbers and according to he and his Japanese guide, it had a very iodine-y taste to it…my guess is that it was gross.  Naturally, you can’t go wrong with grilled eel – it looked like it tasted amazing.  The bonus dish of the evening was a braised miso Tuna Eye.  For me, that was hard to imagine eating.  I don’t care if they said it tasted good and had a nice fatty quality to it…it was a humongous eye!  I think in the realm of adventurism, I’d have to draw a line at tuna eyes.

Another segment featured was coverage on Nobu Matsuhisa, a well-known sushi restaurateur.  Some eclectic items covered were Octopus Eggs simmered and cooked in to a creamy and grainy texture; Sea Cucumbers in which their eggs and ovaries were combined in to some sort of jerky; and drained turtle blood mixed with sake.  Quite the eclectic and bizarre menu items, but I guess in the realm of sushi and Japanese cuisine, nothing is considered taboo.

Sushi Sasabune

12400 Wilshire Blvd Ste 150

LA, CA, 90025

310 820-3596

Rating:

Overall rating: Amazing

Pricing - Moderately high

Sasabune is a must, and is a staple Westside Los Angeles sushi restaurant. Sasabune was previously located in a tiny unsuspecting location in west LA before graduating to it’s current, larger Brentwood location. The first time we went to the current location we were served the “American Style” omakase and were very disappointed.  We had no idea they also served a “Japanese Style” omakase. We learned that it was an option when a friend inquired why one table was getting more eclectic items.  This time around we made sure to ask about the type of omakase that were offered and chose the “Japanese Style”.  We were completely blown away.

Sasabune’s Japanese style Omakase gives the best value, best tasting, most exotic and biggest variety of sushi we have had thus far. The hot sake was also very very good. Note, that when you are full you must tell them! If not you will keep getting served. We were served a total of 21 different items before the omakase was complete, resulting in a larger than expected bill and us needing a break from sushi for 2 weeks!

Razor Scallop, Abalone and Tuna Sashimi - Awesome

We started with a trio of attractive dishes right off the bat.  The scallop was awesome, served with Hawaiian sea salt.  The Abalone had a slight crunch to it and was a bit chewy – it was good (not really our cup of tea) and was served with a jalapeño pepper paste.  The tuna sashimi was amazingly refreshing, served with a dressing of ponzu and garnish of ginger and scallions.

Duo of Toro – Canada vs. Local - Amazing

This was probably one of the best sushi dishes we have ever had. Amazing fish, great colors, light, buttery & fluffy.   The Canadian version was rich in taste and darker in color – it was Amazing.

Halibut - Awesome

Served with ponzu and garnished with grated daikon and scallions, the halibut had a great texture and slight sweetness with a nice vinegar aftertaste.

Red Snapper - Awesome

Good portion of fish with a shiso leaf and dab of jalapeño pepper paste in between the fish and rice. It was very natural in taste, slightly spicy and quite refreshing.

Salmon - Amazing

One of the better salmon dishes we’ve had. Comes with pickled cucumber, smooth, beautiful.

Yellowtail - Awesome

Clean & smooth with an amazing aftertaste. It came as simple as simple gets – so it was even better with a little bit of soy sauce.

Butterfish - Awesome

The only cooked dish we were served. The fish was flakey, topped with sesame seeds and a drizzle of either eel sauce or some sort of miso reduction.

Fresh Shrimp - Good

This was a very interesting dish.  It had a very creamy texture.  Maybe a bit slimy – it’s an acquired taste for sure.  A tad chewy, topped with a squirt of lime.

Fresh Shrimp Head with Shrimp Roe – Awesome (but acquired)

It was definitely an exotic addition to our meal.  It was clean, served with ponzu sauce and in a way, refreshing.

Dueling Mackerel – Regular vs. Spanish – Awesome

Probably the best way to have mackerel and taste the difference between the two.  The Spanish mackerel was served with a scallion garnish and had a great texture and finish.  The regular mackerel was served with pickled sea cucumber, sesame seeds and a shiso leaf.  It had a light fishy taste and slight tanginess to it.

We were served so many more dishes during the meal which included Scallop served with jalapeno paste; Uni that was delectable; Salmon Roe; Japanese Bonito; East Coast Jumbo Clam; Clam served with shiso leaves; an amazing oyster on the half shell; Sea Eel from Japan; Seared Ankimo; and finally, a crab roll.  You can imagine how full we were when all was said and done.  Remember – you have to tell them to stop if you find yourself full!

Total Tally:  Sasabune re-awakened our love for sushi in reminding us how unique and exotic it can be.  Here, it’s all about what the sea has to offer, it’s not just about the fish!  You’re taken around the world and have the opportunity to taste interesting and fresh quality options.  With good sake, fresh grated wasabi, and the amount of food we were served for the price we paid – Sasabune was simply – AMAZING.

Katsu-ya Studio City

11680 Ventura Blvd

Studio City, CA

818 - 985 - 6976 - Reservations strongly recommended!!

http://sushikatsu-ya.com/

Rating:

Overall rating: Just OK

Pricing - Moderately high

Katsu-ya is probably one of the most popular sushi chains in LA. Katsu-ya’s Studio City and Encino locations are small and humble. All of their locations are always busy, and constantly booked up. We made 8pm reservations and weren’t seated until 8:30 pm.  They did give us complementary edamame while we waited.  The Katsu-ya Studio City location is known for their unique specials, which are imaginative, and very eye appealing. Our server was very friendly and informative about the specials. The sushi at Katsu-ya is not bad, but we were slightly disappointed overall.

Baked Crab Roll - Good

Overall a good roll, good taste. Served with real crab as well as imitation crab - which we will admit, was a bummer.

Red Snapper - Good

Good light taste and not overly fishy, had a hint of lime and a nice strong kick of wasabi and yuzu pepper paste.

Albacore Belly - Good

Good portions of albacore served with ponzu, chives and chili paste. The fish was a bit chewy & somewhat bland. It was over garnished with ponzu, leaving the rice soaked in sauce.

Super Toro - Awesome

Served with 1 piece only. This was a great piece of toro with a creamy texture, subtle taste and amazing finish. Best dish of the night.

Salmon Tasting- Awesome

This was a fun and interesting presentation with 4 different types of salmon. Highlights were the red king, and the salmon served with caviar.

Herb Crusted Tuna With Special Mustard Sauce - Don’t order it

We had high hopes for this dish because it reads amazing. This was basically slices of tuna topped with some type of salad dressing. No herbs, no crust, no special sauce.

Japanese Mackerel – Good

We can’t really rate this one, as this was the first time one of us didn’t like it.  It was served with pickled cucumber and was very fishy in taste.  If you don’t like fishy – don’t order it.

Overall Impression:  Katsu-ya was good but don’t go there if what you want is nice and simple sushi.  They’re known for their eclectic menu items and fusion inspired menu (we tried the fois gras and seared scallops).  They use a bit more rice than we’re used to in their sushi and we noticed that they sliced their fish on the thin side.  Enjoy Katsu-ya for what it is – guaranteed good and interesting food.

Hiko Sushi

11275 National Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90064

(310) 473-7688

Rating:

Overall rating: Awesome -

Pricing - Moderately high

This tiny, unsuspecting sushi spot is sandwiched tightly inside of a mini-mall on the corner of National & Sawtelle in West LA. Parking in the back, entrance on Sawtelle and its free. When you go to Hiko, you must walk in expecting 1 thing and 1 thing only: good sushi. Hiko is a no fuss type restaurant without any fancy interior, elaborate presentations or special soaps in the bathroom. You can choose to sit at the sushi bar, or table. When sitting at the sushi bar you are required to have the chef’s choice, and there is absolutely no ordering off menu. However you can sit at a table and do both. Hiko only has 8 tables, most of them 2 tops so you may need to wait on a weekend. We have been there twice on weekdays and never had to wait. Hiko also has a strict no cell phone policy, if you want to yak you need to go outside (not referring to the food of course)! As intimidating as it all may sound the people at Hiko are wonderful and the chef is far from being a “sushi nazi”. We strongly recommend the chef’s choice; it is Hiko’s staple and is always good. This time around, they seemed understaffed and there was a longer than usual amount of wait time between our dishes, but hey, more Sake for us! The sushi at Hiko is always served with a small, proportionate amount of rice, not overly gobbed on like a lot of the places we encounter and no soy sauce advice based on what’s being served

Baby Tuna - Awesome

Served in a bowl and served with a concoction of ponzu, scallion and crushed sesame seeds. Good portion, great taste, great starter.

Yellowtail - Amazing

The yellowtail at Hiko is some of the better yellowtail we’ve had. If for some reason it is not included in your chef’s choice, be sure to order off menu! It’s mouthwatering goodness with a hint of fattiness that is not to be missed.

Red Snapper - Awesome

This was very interesting and just simply good. Comes garnished with limejuice, a pinch of chili paste and a hint of wasabi underneath.

Sea Bass with Pickled Seaweed - Amazing

It was probably the best dish of the night. Great texture, amazing taste and melt in your mouth yumminess.

Halibut - Awesome

Served with scallion, grated daikon and ponzu, it had a slightly chewy texture, but in a good way, as there was a feeling of fluffiness on the tongue

Toro Roll - Awesome

This roll is simply warm rice, seaweed, scallion and toro and is perfect as is. This is another dish that you should probably order off menu if it doesn’t come with your chef’s choice.

Note that when you order the chef’s choice, apparently things keep coming until you tell them to stop.  It started to get confusing at the end, as we weren’t quite sure if it was done.  We were served one more item (to our surprising dislike).  This completes the chef’s choice, but we were still hungry and continued to order off menu. The final dish of the chef’s choice was a fried wonton topped with minced albacore, ponzu, scallion and sesame. Definitely gets the “awesome” rating in our book.It was a great way to end the meal.

All in:  This is the place to be to appreciate really good sushi and yes, fresh ginger and grated wasabi.  It’s all about the fish and simple preparation that makes this place a ‘diamond in the rough’.

Sugarfish

4722 1/4 Admiralty Way

Marina del Rey, CA 90293

(310) 306-6300

http://sugarfishsushi.com/

Rating:

Overall rating: Good

Pricing - Moderately high

Sugarfish is the self-proclaimed “hip kid brother” to Sushi Nozawa in Studio City. The restaurant has a good vibe, cool modern decorations, and a young friendly staff.  It offers an interesting fast food approach to great sushi and three pre-fixed chef’s choice’s called “Trust Me 1, 2, or 3″. There is also a 4^th ‘Trust Me’ that is not listed but offered as ‘Surprise Me’.  For sake drinkers, Sugarfish only offers 4 types of COLD sake, which was a bit of a bummer to us. We went with “Surprise Me”.   Tax and gratuity are included in the pricing.  For down right good sushi at a reasonable rate, Sugarfish is the way to go.

Tuna Sashimi - Good

A common starter for chef’s choice meals, this is up to par for sure.  Good portions of fish in ponzu and scallions, making it a refreshing start to the meal.

Albacore & Salmon - Awesome/Good

The Albacore comes with a light ponzu and minced green onion and ginger garnish, simply just a great piece of fish.

The Salmon is topped with sesame seeds, not overly chewy or fishy like most sushi restaurants and very tasty.  However, it did leave an indescribable taste on the roof of our mouths.   Must have been the sesame seeds.

Crab Roll & Toro Roll (cut) - Awesome

These rolls are served together, each with 4 pieces. Both are served with warm rice and are incredibly soft, melting in your mouth. The crab roll wasn’t overly filled with mayo, which is a big plus for us, and the crab didn’t have little bits of shells, which we encounter from time to time.

Oyster in ponzu - Don’t order it (if you can manage the request)

For us, this was a tough one. The oyster had much more of a fishy & metallic taste than either of us are used to which left a very strong and lingering aftertaste. The portion is generous, but for some reason we just weren’t into it.

Nozawa Style Shrimp - Good

Very tasty piece of shrimp topped with sesame seeds. We were trying to figure out what the Nozawa style was.  Our deduction was that the shrimp was blanched in a certain way so as to retain its texture and flavor.

Final Dish: Assortment of Kanpachi, Salmon Egg, Ankimo with Miso reduction and Halibut Fin.

Everything on this plate was delectable.  Okay, not everything – we both don’t like Salmon Eggs, especially when they’re salty.  The Ankimo was awesome.

Our take:  For the amount of sushi we had, the great service and the price we paid, this was definitely a decent ‘bang for the buck’ (minus the sake).  We noticed that the rice to sushi proportion was a bit on the heavy side and slightly vinegar-y with no wasabi base like most sushi preparations.   Overall, we enjoyed the dishes and the sushi was simply good.  It’s all about the fish here and enjoying its simplicity.