LA Sushi Blog

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’.