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Archive for Japanese

Kato

Oct23

Restaurant: Kato

Location: 11925 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (424) 535-3041

Date: September 15, 2017

Cuisine: Omakase Asian

Rating: Really interesting and different

_

It’s hard to describe Kato. Located in one of the ubiquitous Santa Monica Blvd mini-malls it serves a sort of modern Asian omakase/kaiseki.

Fit in there with the Mexican places, the cheap sushi, the massage joints.

The decor is minimalist but attractive. The crowd is young and predominantly Asian.

There are only 2 choices, $55 and $80 tasting menus. We went for the larger of course which includes beef and the foie gras and an extra dessert.

Cheap, minimalist, but attractive wares.

There is NO LIQUOR LICENSE, not even a 41 (beer/wine) so it’s tea only.

Stuffed shisito peppers. There was something sweet and savory inside. It was delicious actually, with just the right amount of salt.

Hamachi, cucumber, scallion, black squid sauce. Bright flavors, mixture of textures, some crunch. Very interesting — and attractive.

I love to make abstract squid ink art.

Cold Noodle. Apparently vaguely inspired by a Korean dish. Very thin white cold noodles in an almost clear vinegar sugar broth with bits of clam and greens. Bright and light. Quite lovely actually and very different.

Octopus, Doubanjiang. Crispy fried octopus with spicy sauce and some greens.Quite “crispy” and more than a little kick.

Ocean trout, ikura. Very soft, nearly rare ocean trout (aka salmon) with a light ponzu/dashi like sauce and a crispy bit of skin (or was it skin)? Regardless a nice fish dish.

Wagyu beef, ramp, seaweed. The seaweed was crispy fried. There was some ginger-like stuff on the meat. Also tasty and interesting.

Foie, strawberry, milk bread.

Basically a foie / strawberry uncrustable “peanut-butter” sandwich. Delicious and the light fluffy quality of the milk bread balanced nicely with the sweet/rich innards.

Buttermilk & yuzu. Very fresh and light citrus crumble.

Strawberry semifreddo and cream. Absolutely delicious. Great cold texture and intense strawberry flavor on the pink part, nice sweet cream on the rest.

Wasabi, matcha, lime. Interesting. Wasabi ice cream! And it tasted like it. A sort of tangy caramel below. Very different.

Corn & Hojicha. Fluffy bun of corn with corn filling. Tasted like corn bun.

Ginger gels.

Overall, a very interesting and different meal. Very light, bright flavors and the whole thing tasted great but left one feeling not in the least “bombed out” which is actually kinda nice. Extremely modern too and straight up ready for instagram!

Service was good. I’d like to see them get a liquor license and allow corkage. The manager told us they were working on it but there were zoning issues. I know all about those!

For more New York dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Kiriko Days – a la Carte
  2. Zengo 2 – part deux
  3. Takao Top Omakase
  4. Finding the One at One Pico
  5. Quick Eats – Bru’s Wiffle
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Japanese, Kato, Omakase, Santa Monica, Taiwanese Cuisine

Food as Art – Shiki Sushi

Aug13

Restaurant: Shiki Beverly Hills [1, 2]

Location: 410 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. 310-888-0036

Date: August 6, 2014

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Some of the best sushi I’ve had in a while!

_

Shiki Beverly Hills recently replaced Enoteco Drago in the primo Canon Dr space right in the heart of Beverly Hills. It features extremely Japanese seasonal ingredient focused kaiseki and sushi. The space is elegant and modern, really not that different than it was as Drago.


Chef Shigenori Fujimoto was at Matsuhisa from 94-04 and brings with him both a traditionalist and “new style” sushi vibe. My friend Liz, who has impeccable taste, arranged a very traditional menu for us and organized.


1988 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. 92 points. Like many older Cristal bottles, there was a bit of oxidation going on. But a very nice underlying champagne. Its always great to drink 88, and Cristal, even better when its 88 and Cristal!


Seasonal Pike Eel on a “mousse” of tofu, avocado, dashi and the like. This is one of those fabulous dishes that is intensely Japanese, with subtle dashi flavor.


Seared red snapper with various peppers. A little bit of heat to this, but deliciously bright.


Seared scallop and fresh white peach salad. Extremely fresh and tasty.


Check out the peach underneath, the fruit had been scooped out and made into the above balls.


1985 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année. 95 points. Golden colour, yeasty nose. Bead almost gone, but still some fizz. Beautiful fully developed fruit, long finish. A great vintage champagne still drinking at its peak. Outstanding wine. Fresher than the 88.


Octopus and Uni — really two dishes plated together.


Grilled octopus with chili. As tender and good as octopus gets.


Uni pasta with wasabi and nori. The paste wasn’t just straight uni but had been brined. The nori was a special Japanese variety. Really, spread on the seaweed with a little wasabi this was stunningly delightful. I could have eaten 10x as much.


From my cellar: 2001 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 95. Incredibly beautiful and elegant aromas of white flower and citrus softly introduce steely, gorgeously pure and delineated medium full flavors that seem as though they’re chiseled directly from solid rock. This is much more mineral driven than the typical Bâtard, and blind I would have mistaken it for a classically styled Chevalier. There is plenty of punch and racy supporting acidity plus simply knockout length. Of all these impressive attributes though, it’s the stunning purity and overall harmony of expression that make this one of the wines of the vintage. Interestingly, this is not a dramatic wine in terms of sheer size and weight but the focus and sneaky length make this a wine that is impossible not to be struck by its intensity. In short, this is one of the best examples of young Bâtard that I have ever had and one that will age for at least a decade. Don’t miss it!


Halibut sashimi with black truffle and motomara tomato. I usually don’t like truffle on my sushi, but this was fabulous. Even the tomato was good (it was marinated, which makes them palatable to my taste).


1996 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. Burghound 98. As with the 750 ml, the purity, elegance and sheer beauty of this wine is frankly difficult to adequately describe as words just don’t seem up to the task. There is nuance after nuance among the brilliantly delineated aromas of white flowers, citrus, wet stone and rose blossoms that perfectly complement the focused and laser-precise medium full flavors that are like rolling liquid rocks around in the mouth. There is a barely contained intensity and one can sense the slow build from the mid-palate to the explosive finish that goes on and on. While no where near ready, this is so good that it’s still a wonderful experience to drink and it’s comforting to know for those that own it that it’s still on its way up. In short, this is a brilliant wine, indeed a text book example and quite simply the finest Jadot Demoiselles I have ever had the pleasure to drink and one that will last for decades in this format.


Conch steamed in its own shell. I’ve had this dish in Japan, and here, but this was probably one of the best versions. The conch was very tender. You drink the juices/soup afterward.


Pike eel soup. One of those lovely mild Japanese soups.


2004 Morey-Blanc Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 93. A reserved, indeed backward spicy green apple and white pear nose complements delineated but very rich flavors that display moderate wood on the big and weighty if not necessarily super dense finish that packs a serious punch and intensity. The length here is really impressive and the balance is such that this should age for 15 to possibly 20 years.


Maguro. Lovely big eye tuna.


o’o-toro. Absolutely perfect piece of premium tuna belly.


Shinko. Young gizzard shad.


Golden eye snapper.


Anago. Conger eel. Served without the eel sauce, instead with yuzu and salt. Fabulous.


Ebi. Shrimp.


Engawa. Seared Flounder fin, with yuzu and salt. Awesome.


Santa Barbara Uni. Yum!


Aji. Japanese jack mackerel.


Hotate. Japanese scallop.


Ama-ebi. Sweet shrimp.


The heads return, this time grilled. Sucking out the guts was a treat.


Seared halibut?


Ikura. Salmon eggs. Sweet.


Yellowtail belly. With a bit of stronger sauce.


Saba. Chub mackerel.


Awabi. Abalone. Very tender.


A chef with an albacore!


1995 Louis Jadot Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. IWC 94. Red-ruby color. Knockout nose combines rose petal, raspberry, mulberry, iodine, cardamom, tobacco and iris. Great sweetness on the palate; offers as much volume as the mouth can hold. Builds and builds. Really exhilarating delineation and depth of flavor. Tannins are substantial but ripe. A superb example of this great grand cru.


Wagyu beef with mushrooms and asparagus. Melts in the mouth.


Plum and shiso handroll. Incredibly traditional and with a sour “minty” taste. Very refreshing.


Ice cream with starch “mochi” on the side and fresh figs and other fruit.

Wow. LA has lots of great Japanese, and I have good sushi all the time, but this was particularly awesome. Really the sushi itself was as good as it gets. Very traditional style too, which is my favorite. I love the acid washed Nozawa style too, but hand sauced traditional like this is my favorite. We had fabulous — and correctly paired — wines too, not to mention just three of us at the sushi bar and great company. All and all worth the hangover.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  2. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  3. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  4. Kiriko Sushi
  5. Sushi Sushi Sushi
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Japanese-English Lexicon, octopus, Omakase, Sage Society, Shigenori Fujimoto, Shiki Sushi, Sushi

Keeping Paiche

Nov18

Japanese Peruvian hotspot Paiche is so good, I’ve just had to go again (and again) to photo nearly all their dishes…

Related posts:

  1. Paiche – Fusion Panache
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Japanese, Japanese Peruvian, Paiche

N/Naka Birthday

Sep28

Restaurant: N/Naka [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 3455 S. Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034. 310.836.6252

Date: September 14, 2012

Cuisine: Modern Kaiseki

Rating: Awesome

ANY CHARACTER HERE

I first went to the amazing Omakase only N/Naka last summer. After a bit of a hiatus the Foodie Club returns. Now bear in mind that this lovely restaurant has only a set menu (they offer it in two sizes, plus vegetarian) but the talented young chef Ms. Niki Nakayama has whipped up an entirely different meal (with similar structure) every time we’ve gone!


The setting is elegant, minimalist, and very Japanese.

This time around we went with wine pairings. Sommelier Jeffery Stivers just a fantastic job with these and even more so given the difficulties in pairing Japanese flavors with wine. Very little red wine works (good Burgundy with some dishes) and with a small number of people so many courses are hard to pair by bringing bottles.

Our first pairing: French Sparkling Wine, Domaine Rosier ‘Cuvee Jean-Philippe”, Blanquette de Limoux, France  2010.


Saki Zuke (A pairing of something common and something unique) – Fanny Bay Oysters that have been butter poached and are wrapped in a bird’s nest of crispy Maui Onions and is topped with fresh Uni from Santa Barbara, a leaf of baby Red-veined Sorrel and a Flower of Pansy both of which are from Niki’s garden, a dusting of onion powder and sits in on a sauce of spicey Russet Potato and Dashi and a gelee of Sanbaizu (a combination of mirin and dashi).


This is a vegetarian or fish substitute. I’ll indicate these with VS:

On a Bed of Julienned Crispy Bull’s Blood Beets sits Norwegian Smoked Salmon along side of Junsai (water shield), topped with a shochu Crème Fraiche, Chives, a Flower of Pansy, Gold Leaf and a Puree of Roasted Nasu (Baby Japanese Eggplant).


Verdejo, Martinsancho, Rueda, Spain  2010.

Zensai (Main seasonal ingredient presented as an appetizer)


Seared scallop, a Sauce of Yuzu Pepper, Roasted Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes,a chip of Bull’s Blood Beet, Micro-mache.


Maine Lobster on top of Flower and Herb-infused Rice Paper, Sauce of Tamal (head of Amaebi).


Olive Oil Poached Ono from Fiji on a sweep of White Corn Coulis.

A Cucumber roll that is stuffed with Canadian Snow Crab and Unagi (Freshwater eel), Onion Sprouts and topped with a gelee of Sanbaizu. This was amazing, with a light smoky flavor.


Goma Dofu – Sesame and Green Tea Tofu topped with a tie of Green Asparagug and Konbu Dashi.


The no shellfish variant.


Olive Oil Poached Ono from Fiji on a sweep of White Corn Coulis, a Sauce of Yuzu Pepper, Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes, a chip of Bull’s Blood Beet, Micro-mache.


A Daikon Roll of with Hirame (Halibut) and Ponzu.


Tasmanian Sea Trout that is pan-seared along with fresh Lemon.


Pinot Blanc, Dopff and Irion, Alsace, France  2008.


Modern Zakuri (A modern interpretation of sashimi) – Tartare of O-toro of Big Eyed Tuna, White Scallions, topped with Caviar of American White Sturgeon, Uni Butter, Soy Reduction, Chives and Konbu Dashi.


VS: no uni butter.


Roero Arneis, Giovanni Almondo “Bricco del Ciliegie”, Piedmont, Italy  2011.


Lobster Shinjo – A Mousselin of Maine Lobster in a Broth of Momotaro Tomato, Fennel Root and Dashi topped with Fennel Root and Chive.


Once the soup has been added.


VS: Kurodai Suimono – Pan-seared Kurodai (Black Snapper) that is stuffed with Mitsuba and is in a Yuzu Dashi Broth.


My favorite sake: Sake Junmai Ginjo, “Shichida” Tenzen Brewery, Saga, Japan.


In the glass. It tastes like licorice.

Otsukuri (Sashimi) –  Toro of Big Eyed Tuna, Kumomoto Oyster with Ponzu, Live Hirame (Halibut) from Jeju, Korea, Kanpachi (Amberjack Tuna), Tai (Japanese Snapper), fresh sweet shrimp from Santa Barbara, all served with Freshly Grated Wasabi, Ponzu and Niki’s Special Soy Sauce.


Toro of Big Eyed Tuna, Live Hirame (Halibut) from Jeju, Korea, Kanpachi (Amberjack Tuna), Tai (Japanese Snapper), freshly Grated Wasabi and Niki’s Special Soy Sauce.


Muller Thurgau, Kurtatsch Cortaccia, Alto Adige, Italy  2009.

Agemono (Fried dish) – Tempura Pompano along with the Crispy Bones with Multi-colored Peppers, Scallions and a Sauce of Sweet and Sour Dashi, Butter Lettuce Leaves.


The fish is cooked table-side and then wrapped in this lettuce.


To taco-like effect.


Picpoul de Pinet, Domaine de Laurier, Languedoc, France 2010.

Yakimono (Grilled dish) – Hotate Yaki – Live Diver Scallops from Boston grilled in their own Shell with the Roasted Liver, Shiso Leaf, Shiitake Mushroom, Yuzu Zest and Dashi.


VS: On a hot rock sits roasted Nasu (Japanese Eggplant) that has been cored out and filled with Maguro of Big Eyed Tuna, Shiso Leaf and Miso.


Greco di Tufo, Villa Mathilde, Campania, Italy  2010. This is a volcanic white wine (DOCG) from near Mount Vesuvius.


Shiizakana (Not bound by tradition, the Chef’s choice dish) – Spaghettini with Black Abalone from Monterey, Pickled Cod Roe, Shaved Italian Summer Truffles, Garlic, Soy and topped with Daikon Radish Sprouts. An unusual, but truly unworldly pasta.


Someone doesn’t like abalone.


VS: Spaghettini with Mentaiko (Pickled Cod Roe), shaved Italian Summer Truffles, Garlic, Soy and topped with Daikon Radish Sprouts.


Pinot Noir, Ampelos Cellars “Fiddlestix Vineyard”, Santa Rita Hills, CA  2008.


Niku (Meat Course) – American Wagyu from Washington State Rib-cap Steak with a Canele of Russet Potato Mashed, Nanohana (Broccoli Rabe), Roasted Carrot with a Ponzu Demi-jus American Wagyu from Washington State Rib-cap Steak with a Canele of Russet Potato Mashed, Nanohana (Broccoli Rabe), Roasted Carrot with a Ponzu Demi-jus.


VS: Pan-seared Ono from Fiji that sits on a sauce of Yuzu Cream and topped with a fresh Yuzu Foam and paired with Micro Mache, a Chip of Bull’s Blood Beet and fresh Lemon.

Sunomono (Salad)  – On thinly sliced Baby Cucumbers from Nki’s Garden along with a Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato is marinated Hirame (Halibut) with Ponzu.

On the side is: Yuzu Sake, Yuzu Omoi, Yamamoto, Japan.


Sake Suijin, Asabiraki Brewery, Iwate, Japan.


Fresh ginger.


Shokuji One & Two (Rice dish – Sushi) – Tai (Japanese Snapper); O-toro of Big-eyed Tuna.


Wild Aji (Spanish Mackrel); Amaebi (Sweet Raw Shrimp).


VS: for the shrimp, halibut I think.


VS: Yellowtail or similar.


Seared Toro and Fresh Uni (Sea Urchin).


So good it deserves a close up of the Uni.


And the seared toro.

It’s worth noting that this time around, IMHO, the sushi had really improved. The above flight, while small, was sublime.

Soba Noodles served with Freshly Grated Wasabi and Konbu Dashi.


Closeup of the sauce.


Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, Delas, Rhone Valley, France  2010.


Dessert – A creme brûlée on the left and a passionfruit hollowed out with added cream and those asian gelatinous dessert cubes.


Close up of the brûlée.


And the passionfruit. This was stunning. I love passionfruit and creamy desserts and this was so good I sucked the desiccated husk.


Artisan Hojita tea.


A special bit of red Italian passito.


And Ice Cream of Dark Chocolate with freshly whipped Cream and Organic Fresh Raspberries (for my father’s birthday).

N/Naka really is a very special place. All the meals I had here were spectacular (here for the first, here for the second, third here, fois gras). The place keeps getting better and better. This is thrice wonderful because often one finds a slight bloom to come off a place on repeat meals. I’ve recently eaten at two Jose Andres set menu restaurants where the menu barely changed in eight months, but at N/Naka everything is seasonal and constantly rotating.

Try it!

Click here to other LA Japanese restaurants.

Jeffery Stivers

Related posts:

  1. N/Naka Reprise
  2. Knocked out by N/Naka
  3. Food as Art – N/Naka
  4. N/Naka – Farewell to Foie
  5. Food as Art – Takao
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dessert, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Kaiseki, Los Angeles, N/Naka, Niki Nakayama, Sushi, Wine

Kiriko Days – a la Carte

Sep03

Restaurant: Kiriko Sushi [1, 2]

Location: 11301 Olympic Blvd #102, West Los Angeles, CA 90064. TELL (310) 478-7769

Date: August 21, 2012

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: Very nice!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

It was Tuesday, and I’d just gotten back from a month of entirely Croatian meals, so I felt the burning need for sushi.

Kiriko filled the bill with its unassuming storefront on the corner of Olympic and Sawtelle, right next to the Yakatori place.


I’ve been here three times before, but always ordered the Omakase. This time I decided to get some of the more interesting dishes off the menu.


“Miso soup with fresh Nori seaweed.” This wasn’t interesting, but it was good.


“Soy marinated fresh salmon egg with grated daikon radish.” I love Ikura and this was a slightly different take on it. Really quite delectable with a nice soy/brine flavor.


“Shrimp and vegetable pot stickers.” Both temperature and spicy hot, they had that yummy pan fried thing going.


“Halibut tempura wrapped with shiso leaf and ume plum, served with sea salt.” Really yummy, like Japanese fish and chips. The fish was tender and soft without being mushy but it was the sisho that really sold it.


The salt as advertised.


“Homade smoked wild salmon sashimi plate (sockeye and king).” The one on the left tasted like lox, the right more just like fantastic salmon. Pretty darn awesome.


“Fresh albacore from oregon sashimi.” With a ponzu and garlic chips. Also pretty melt in your mouth amazing.


“Sea urchin and sea salt ice cream with salsa fresco gazpacho.” Now this is different, but good. The soup is a fairly straight up gazpacho flavor and the “ice cream” really WAS ice cream, made from Uni! Interesting combo and very refreshing.


“Seared kinki snapper with shiso pesto sauce.” The fish was incredibly tender and not fishy at all. Very interesting and delectable flavor/texture thing going on.


“Seared blue fin tuna with truffle butter flavor.” Wow! This was like Wagyu beef, but it was tuna. Pretty awesome.


“Anago seared sea eel sashimi with ume sauce.” The eel is blow torched and has a nice char to it, and the sauce is sweet and sour. Very interesting. Still, I might prefer the traditional BBQ eel, but this was very good.


“Seared scallop sushi.” Yummy, yummy. Also I like my scallop totally raw best.

This was my best meal at Kiriko (and all were good). Ordering off the menu allowed us to try some unusual things (like Uni Ice Cream!) and it really worked out. Inventive stuff. Good stuff. It’s really nice to see a chef being creative with sushi/sashimi and not following exactly in the Matsuhisa mould.

I wrote up a couple other meals at Kiriko or

Click here to see more LA Sushi posts.

Related posts:

  1. Kiriko Sushi
  2. Sushi Sushi Sushi
  3. Mori Sushi – A Top Contender
  4. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  5. Sushi Zo
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian, California, Ikura, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Kiriko, Kiriko Sushi, Nori, Omakase, Sashimi, Sushi, Uni, Uni Ice Cream, West Los Angeles

Sushi Zo – This Time With Pictures

Apr10

Restaurant: Sushi Zo

Location: 9824 National BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90034. (310) 842-3977

Date: March 29, 2012

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: Top warm rice style sushi.

_

LA is a sushi town. I eat a lot of sushi (just take a look at my LA Sushi review page!). People say Zo is the best in town. I’d been once before for lunch and they denied me the use of my camera (at the sushi bar) but this time, at a table for dinner, they didn’t hassle me.

Zo is omakase only. You sit down. They bring you stuff. They charge you by the piece but don’t really tell you how much. They keep bringing you sushi. Eventually you get full (not me, but normal people would) and they hand you a (stiff) bill. It’s closest in style and format to Sasabune (my detailed reviews of that, with photos, HERE and HERE).

This is Osaka-style “warm rice” sushi, like Sasabune, and presumably descended from the same Chef Nozawa source. The individual pieces are made one at a time, no precutting, and given to you in a hurry. The fish is superlative, although each piece seems to have been placed in a miniaturization machine set to 70%. I’ve never seen sushi this small. This was particularly humorous when it came to the “battleship” style ones like Uni (sea urchin). They just looked so cute and diminutive (maybe 50-60% size for these). But I’m not sure this size issue resulted directly in less value. At the end I was still just as full as at Sasabune, although it cost perhaps 10-20% more. I perhaps had more pieces numerically. But each was certainly smaller.

The fish was a bit better than Sasabune, and certainly better than Echigo. The preps are very similar, with 90% being “no soy sauce” — a fact of which we were emphatically reminded each and every time. There was a lot of use of vinegar, yuzu and other brightening flavors. I do like these, but I think it did tend to distract slightly from the fish — which was stellar.


There is no menu here. It’s just omakase. They start with miso soup in a very small bowl.


It’s worth noting here that this is my first meal out with the Canon 5D Mark iii (for more on Foodie Photography, see here). I was shooting with the 50mm compact macro handheld in low light. Usually, with the Mark ii, this would’ve made me fight to get decent focus and enough depth of field even at the slightly noisy ISO 6400. Plus, the focus sucked on the mark ii/50mm CM combo. With the Mark iii focus was effortless and I was able to stop down to 7.1 and still get 1/50 and relatively low noise. Pretty incredible.


Kumamoto Kaki/Oyster with a bit of ponzu, scallion, and the like. A very nice sweet oyster.


The sake menu is short. This $90 Kimura though is fantastic with exactly the kind of anise flavor that I like in my sake. A really really good sake.


Maguro/Tuna Sashimi. The fish was excellent, although I felt the homemade real wasabi was a little weak. Compared to what is to come, this is nothing.


Ika/Squid Noodle with Uni/Sea Urchin. Yum. This combo is similar to a favorite at Sushi Sushi.


Hirame/Halibut. One thing to note about Zo is that each normal sushi piece is ludicrously small. I guess in the end, this allows for more variety, but each does feel like a tease. On the plus side, they are uniformly excellent and this bit of halibut was no exception. It was drizzled with a touch of yuzu that brought out lovely soft texture.


Fresh marinated ginger. I ate like 6 containers of this stuff.


Binnaga/Albacore. Melts in the mouth good.


Aji/Spanish Mackerel. This fish can be somewhat fishy, but not here. This is some superlative Mackerel.


Hotate/Scallop. I love raw scallop – as long as it’s fresh – and this one was spectacular.


Hamachi/Yellowtail. An overused fish in the novice sushi world. Still, when I first started eating sushi in 1978 and through the early 80s this was one of my favorites. This particular piece reminded me why.


Butterfish with a sweet miso paste. This is a bit cooked I believe and is very approachable and warm.


Chu-Toro/Medium Fatty Tuna. These were certainly some great pieces of toro. Like butter. Sometimes I prefer the chu-toro to the really fatty o-toro too because while less rich it often has a more consistent texture.


Pompano.


Kinmedai/Golden Eye Snapper.


Amaebi/Sweet Shrimp. Soft and sweet, with a bit of chew.


Shima Aji/Striped Jack.


Ankimo/Monkfish Liver. Certainly monkfish liver doesn’t get much better than this, not even a hint of fishiness.


Giant clam. Chewy, with a nice bit of yuzu. Not my favorite sushi, but this was a great example of type.


Kanpachi/Amberjack.


A snapper of some sort.


One of the light white fishes with a bit of yuzu.


Madai/Red Snapper.


Kurodai/Black Snapper.


Ha-Gatsuo/Skipjack Tuna. Also melt in your mouth good.


Another light white fish with salt.


Sake/Salmon with kelp. Nice sweet salmon, although this is one fish where I think Sushi Sushi is a little better.


Meji Maguro/Baby Tuna. Real bang of flavor here.


Uni/Sea Urchin & Ikura/Salmon Eggs. While tiny, both were excellent examples of the type.


Anago/Sea Eel. A wonderful smoky flavor, and without the sweet sauce. One of the best pieces of sea eel I’ve had.


Toro handroll. A really great toro roll.


Crab handroll. Again, pretty spectacular (if a little small). I could have eaten about 8 of these.


Yuzu Juice. This strange bit of Japanese lemonade is served as dessert. Nothing wrong with it, and it clears the palette, but it isn’t exactly creme brulee.

Overall, I was much more impressed with Zo on this second outing. Yes, the pieces are tiny, but the quality of the fish and the preparation is truly first class. One could really use two of each (or just bigger though) as each flavor is so quick as to become ephemeral. In the end you do get to try a large number of fish. It’s expensive but on par with what you get, not like Sushi Mori which feels extremely overpriced. A definite contender in LA’s long list of really great sushi only joints.

For more sushi reviews, check out my LA Sushi page.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  2. Sushi Zo
  3. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  4. Sushi Sushi = Yummy Yummy
  5. Kiriko Sushi
By: agavin
Comments (13)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, Miso soup, Omakase, Osaka, Soy sauce, Sushi, Sushi Zo, warm rice

Kiriko Sushi

Aug05

Restaurant: Kiriko Sushi [1, 2]

Location: 11301 Olympic Blvd #102, West Los Angeles, CA 90064. TELL (310) 478-7769

Date: July 8 & 21, Sept 21, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: Very nice!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

At our giant Go Sushi love-fest one of my Foodie Club members suggested I check out this Sawtelle sushi joint. He said it was great. Twist my arm! So I finagled a business lunch there (didn’t have to twist the other arms very hard either).

The unassuming storefront on the corner of Olympic and Sawtelle, right next to the Yakatori place.

This first time we ordered a light Omakase, almost all sashimi with a little sushi.

Omakase 1


The classic Japanese salad with the yummy textured dressing. I forgot either of my real cameras and had to make due with the iPhone 4 (sorry). It really doesn’t do too bad a job if you have adequate light and turn off the flash. That little LED has a range of about 12 inches and isn’t good for much.


Miso soup, the usual sort. They had about four kinds on the menu though.


Amberjack on the left, and halibut on the right with a gelatinous but yummy “sauce.”


From left to right: albacore with garlic chips, baby red snapper, and mackerel with onion and similar. All very good and excellent preparation.


On the left, kanpachi (young yellowtail), taco (octopus), and on the right Japanese scallops with pesto. I hate eating octopus because it’s such a smart animal, but these were some of the most tender and succulent bits of cephalopod I’ve yet had. THe scallop was also fantastic, with the light pesto adding a unique flavor without marring the subtle sea taste.


Left to right: Sock-eye salmon (light sauce), seared albacore, and golden eye snapper. The snapper almost tasted like lobster or something.


On the left: Big eye tuna and yellowtail, in the middle sea bream with salt and on the right homemade smoked salmon. All were great, but the bream and the salmon really stood out.


Sushi, left to right: Tuna, yellowtail, sea bream (with salt), and homemade salmon. This plate was served at the same time as the similar sashimi plate above.


Blue crab handroll. Overstuffed and on par with the Sasabune ones.

I went back two weeks later and ordered a more elaborate sashimi omakase, which is mixed in here with a simpler sushi/sashimi one. This time I had the medium camera so the pictures are better.

Omakase 2


Some couple million year-old sea salt rocks on the counter.


The chef at work.

The salad.


Regular miso.


Red miso, which is saltier and richer.


Octopus, salmon wrapped mango with caviar, and on the right boiled eel with plum sauce. The eel was interesting. It didn’t have much flavor (being boiled) but the sauce was very tart, tasting intensely of sour Japanese plum (which it was).


The same thing but with an oyster instead of the octopus.


A sashimi plate, left to right. Wild kanpachi (young yellowtail) with pesto, gel, and jalepeno. Albacore with garlic chips, abalone sea salt. Halibut with ponzu gel. These gels (slightly sweet, interesting texture) are something unique to Kirko (in my experience).


A sushi plate. Crab handroll, BBQ eel, salmon, yellowtail and halibut.


A sashimi plate that I forgot to photo until after I had eaten several items. We have starting in the lower left and heading clockwise. Tai (Red snapper) with sea salt. Chu-toro. Santa Barbara spot prawn, live head and raw body (eaten). Japanese scallop with pesto.


The head was so alive it was still moving. Click this image for a video.


Then he came back fried. Most certainly dead this time.


A sashimi plate of four kinds of salmon. Left to right: Sock eye smoked. Sock eye fresh. King salmon smoked. King salmon fresh. All good.


Japanese scallop sushi, with a bit of salt and yuzu.


More sashimi. Squid with spicy cod roe. Seared Japanese Mackerel. Seam bream with yuzu.

Omakase 3

This is another “sushi and sashimi” lunch omakase.


Soup and salad.

Seared snapper, monk fish liver with jelly, and halibut.


Albacore, seared and raw. Amberjack, wild yellowtail with jelly in front and sea bream in back right.


Salmon sashimi.

Bluefin tuna, wild yellowtail, sea bream, and salmon sushis.


Scallop and Uni (sea urchin) sushi.


A top grade blue crab hand-roll.

Overall, I was very impressed with Kiriko. Not only was the fish fantastic but they had very nice modern presentation and were doing some interesting stuff with the fish without going all weird and California. I’d put it in that grade of 9/10 LA sushi, which is saying a lot as our sushi is so fantastic.

Click here to see more LA Sushi posts.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  2. Sushi Sushi Sushi
  3. Sushi Sushi = Yummy Yummy
  4. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  5. Sushi Zo
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Amberjack, Asian, Cooking, Fish and Seafood, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Kiriko Sushi, Los Angeles, Omakase, raw fish, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Sashimi, Sushi

Food as Art – Nobu

Feb19

Restaurant: Nobu Malibu [1, 2, 3]

Location: 3835 Cross Creek Road # 18, Malibu, CA 90265 (310) 317-9140

Date: February 16, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese Fusion

Rating: Maintains it’s very high standards, and price.

 

In my continuing quest to eat the oceans of the earth clean in the form of sushi I returned to one of my “old” haunts, Nobu Malibu. The various Nobus represent the corporate version of the Japanese-Peruvian fusion begun by Nobu Matsuhisa at his eponymous Matsuhisa (REVIEW HERE). While not quite as inventive as the original, the Xerox job is pretty darn good. Food quality is extremely high and highly consistant. The atmosphere is fun. The only deficit is the price, which is perhaps 40-50% higher than most similar restaurants, like say Takao (REVIEW HERE). And it’s not like these are cheap either!

From my cellar, parker gives this Rhone white 94 points. “The 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc (80% Roussanne and the rest Marsanne, Picpoul, and Bourboulenc) possesses classic notes of orange marmalade, honeysuckle, and rose petals, a full-bodied, unctuous texture, gorgeous purity and richness, and a stunningly long finish. It can compete with the finest full-throttle, dry whites of France as well as the world. It is difficult to find a better white Chateauneuf du Pape than Beaucastel. Much like their reds, their whites are made in a style that is atypical for the appellation. It is put through full malolactic, and one-third is barrel fermented, then blended with the two-thirds that is aged in tank. Extraordinarily rich and honeyed, it is ideal for drinking with intensely flavored culinary dishes.”

In the glass, this has a nice yellow/amber color not seen in duller (read generic Chardonnay) wines.

“Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno.” The total Nobu classic, but it still holds it’s own. This version is as good as any i’ve had.

“Sashimi Salad.” Another Nobu classic. The dressing has this nice flavor and texture I’ve always liked, and the mildly seared tuna is succulent. The overall salad is a bit salty, but Japanese cuisine usually is.

“New Style Sashimi.” Classic again. Apparently this is very Peruvian, although I wouldn’t know directly as my closest contact to that country was an hour spent in Lima airport. However, the halibut is supremely tender, and the warm olive oil, ponzu and sesame thing gives it a toasty richness.

“Shrimp Tempura with Ponzu Sauce.” More classics. I’ve always loved these little fellows. Basically the normal Shrimp Tempura, but pre sauced, and in smaller bite sized chunks. Addictive, but eat quickly before it sogs up.

“Rosemary crusted Scallops in sweet and sour crust with cilantro sauce.” This was my first new dish of the night, and it was pretty incredible. The pseudo fried crisp on the scallops was a bit sweet, and the cilantro sauce mild, but it all went together perfectly, and inspired marriage of textures and flavors.

“Lobster Sweet and Sour.” Another new dish, and pretty delectable. Tender lobster on a spinach bed, with a subdued sweet and sour sauce and then the whatever-it-was on top adding a bit of texture.

“Austrialian Wagyu Beef, butter truffle sauce and crispy onions.” Yum. The beef was almost like candy, sweet and rich. The onion-ring-like crisps were good for soaking up the sauce.

Marbling!

“Miso Soup.” Classic, and as expected.

A bit of sushi.

In the front, Tai (red snapper) with shiso, toro (tuna belly). The white thing with frisy stuff on top I can’t remember.

In the middle, Kani (king crab leg) sushi.

In the back, Unagi (Fresh Water eel).

The white stuff in the middle. Ika (squid) with shiso leaf and a bit of ginger.

The yellow chunks Tamago (sweet omelet).

On the left Ikura (salmon roe) and on the right Uni (sea urchin).

Completely stuffed, we rolled out of here well satisfied. My only complaint is that Nobu is so expensive. For example the “Toro Tartar w/ Caviar” is $36 compared to $25 at Takao — identical too.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art – Takao
  2. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  3. Food as Art: Pearl Dragon
  4. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  5. Food as Art: R.I.P. The Hump
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beaucastel, Château de Beaucastel, Chateauneuf du Pape, Cooking, Food, Fusion cuisine, Home, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Japanese Food, Malibu, Malibu California, Nobu, Nobu Malibu, Nobu Matsuhisa, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Sushi

Food as Art – Takao

Feb14

Restaurant: Takao [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 11656 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 207-8636

Date: March 9, 2010 and February 12, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: 9/10 creative “new style” sushi

_

Takao is my local outlet for high-end “new style sushi.” While my last sushi review, Sushi Sushi, is an example of a fairly traditional sushi bar Takao is more based on the model created by pioneer Nobu Matsuhisa at his eponymous restaurant (REVIEW HERE). In fact, Takao himself worked with Nubu at said restaurant in the early 90s. But he spun out in 1995 and started his own place, Takao. This however is no total “neo new style” joint like Sushi House Unico, but instead, like the late Hump (REVIEW HERE), marries Nobu-style sushi with a more traditional Japanese restaurant format. In fact, in homage to that tradition, Takao looks more like an old-school Japanese restaurant, and its menu includes the various set dinners like chicken teriyaki etc.  Nevertheless, this is some really good stuff if you take advantage of what they have to offer. One of the nice things about this place is that you can take people who just aren’t that into sushi. Takao is also the biggest beneficiary (in our family) of the Hump’s death, as we used to split our family Japanese outings between Takao and the Hump — now Takao gets them all.

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Storefront in Brentwood, conveniently located for us westsiders.

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Big Menu! Click parts to embiggen.

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I’m going to review a bunch of different takes on eating here, derived from two actual meals and several people. One option, for the more timid, but also an excellent deal, is to get the “set dinners.” They come with soup, salad, appetizer, entree, and dessert. This is the salad. If you ask you can get sunomono or possibly some other optons instead.

If you are an advanced eater you might find these next 8 or so pics boring, keep going, the good stuff is below!

Miso soup. I think if you ask they have a couple different types. This is the basic scallion and tofu.

Vegetable tempura. Again, there are some typical options in the set meal.

This is a basic “sushi dinner” plate. There are lots of other options like miso glazed cod or terriyaki salmon. You can ask for more or less whatever sushi you want (but perhaps not a whole plate of Uni and Toro). In the center, Ikura (salmon egg), cut tuna roll.

In the front, left to right. Halibut, albacore belly, Tamago (sweet egg omelet).

In the back, left to right. Maguro (Tuna), salmon.

In the back after the salmon, hamachi (yellowtail) and regular albacore.

Vanilla and mango mochi is one of the many dessert options.

This next “meal” is a custom high end meal with a sashimi/sushi focus.

House cold sake. Masumi “Okuden-Kanzukuri” Nagano prefecture.

Tai (red snapper), with garlic, salt, red peppercorn, onions, olive oil. A very bright flavor, and the peppercorns, not spicy at all, add a nice textural component.

Toro tartar and caviar. Chopped tuna Toro, onions and wasabi mixed with light soy sauce topped with caviar. The classic found at Matsuhisa (you can even see it in my last meal there). It’s still good, a big blog of succulent Toro!

Kampachi (young yellowtail), jalepeno, cilantro, and ponzu. Another Nubu classic, but for a reason.

Main lobster tempura (1/2). Takao has a lot of interesting tempuras. Uni (my second favorite), sardine, crab, unusual seafood pancake with shiso, and more. This is a decadent favorite of mine, and in a half portion is pretty reasonable.

Japanese scallop sushi. With yuzu and salt on the left, and with shiso on the right. I LOVE good scallop. I couldn’t decide which was was better. The yuzu/salt has a gorgeous tang, bringing out the delicate flavor and texture of the scallop. The shiso also pairs wonderfully, although it’s flavor dominates to a larger degree.

Aji, Spanish mackerel. Very solid mackerel in the traditional preparation. Soft, with only a hint of fishiness.

Blue fin tuna, special soy sauce. Straight up tuna at its best.

Taco (octopus) with shiso on the left, and sweet soy and wasabi on the right. Again, tough to choose, but I think perhaps I prefer the shiso by a small margin.

Chu-toro with sweet sauce. Pretty melt in your mouth.

Sweet shrimp, as sushi and with the head fried. The shrimp itself is sweet and soft, sort of the essence of fresh crustacean. The head (you do eat it, the whole thing), is crunchy, fried, sweet. Very tasty too, but watch out not to get stabbed by the legs as you munch it down.

Uni (sea urchin) with sweet sauce on the left, and yuzu on the right. Some top Santa Barbara Uni. The sweet one is good, but I think I prefer the yuzu as it shows off the uni itself to perfection.

Unagi (fresh water eel). Typical version of the BBQ eel, and good. Not quite as good as the eel at Sushi Sushi (HERE).

Tamago. Solid, with a nice sweetness, but the texture is just a tiny bit heavy, and feels less “handmade” than the superlative Sushi Sushi version.

This next meal represents the $90 Omakase, allowing the chefs to put together a full meal. They do an excellent job of this, and you can customize it fully. It’s actually considerably cheaper to do an Omakase then to assemble a big custom sushi meal like above.

IMG_9783

White burgundy is always a good choice with sushi.

91-92 points. “Similar to prior notes, though this time the oak is joined by a noticeably sweet perfume on both nose and palate, particularly immediately on opening. A hint of nuttiness comes as the wine evolves the glass. I really enjoy this style, and most of the wines I’ve had from Girardin.”

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Wine in the glass.

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Halibut carpaccio. Thinly sliced halibut sashimi with salt, black pepper, chives, garlic, and pink peppercorn topped with yuzu and olive oil. Very nice and light, emphasizing the flavors of the condiments and the texture of the fish.

IMG_9803

Toro sashimi, black truffles, sweet sauce, wasabi. How can you go wrong with this?

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Tai (red snapper), sea salt. The lemon and salt dominate, but I find myself very much enjoying that as they don’t overwhelm the very subtle fish.

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New style salmon sashimi with truffle. Thinly sliced sashimi with truffles, chives and ginger topped with hot olive oil. This is much richer, and the pairing of the warm oil always throws me a bit, but it does taste good.

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Santa barbara prawn, ponzu. Emphasizes the sweet meatiness of the prawn, as the sauce is fairly light and citrusy.

IMG_9809

Miso glazed snapper. Scallop dynamite. The fish is pretty close to the Nobu classic cod. It’s fine, but not really my thing, and the cod might be better. The dynamite, with it’s mix of flying fish roe, scallops, and whatever eggy rich thing dynamite actually is — is quite wonderful. I love to suck on the marinated ginger shoot at the end too.

IMG_9810

Fish tempura. One of the above mentioned “interesting” tempuras. Not unlike something one might get in Spain. They fry a lot of small fish there. I guess the Portugese did too, as they brought Tempura to Japan.

IMG_9814

The Omakase comes with some sushi. If I’m at the bar I will steer it more interesting, but I wasn’t. Left to right.  Blue fin toro, yellow tail, Spanish mackerel, ika (squid), sardines (?). All are good examples of type.

The Omakase also includes miso soup (of your choice — there are mushroom and clam versions) and desert. I didn’t picture them however.

The chefs at work. Takao himself on the left.

Overall, Takao is a great place. It’s perhaps 90-95% as good as Matsuhisa or the late Hump which it resembles. And it’s cheaper and much more approachable. We go here more often. There is/was a “mise au point” (sharp) quality to the above places that isn’t totally honed here — but it’s still fantastic — and bear in mind that I’m a pretty damn snobby and experienced sushi eater. Been doing so (a lot) since 1978 plus over 20 trips to Japan and many Japanese friends. There is certainly better straight sushi in LA, but I still go here more often because there is an enormous variety of very well made food, and they are extraordinarily friendly and welcoming. Our two year-old has even eaten here!

For a second Takao review, click here.

For my LA Sushi index, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Pearl Dragon
  2. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  3. Food as Art: R.I.P. The Hump
  4. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  5. Matsuhisa – Where it all started
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Albacore, Asian, Caviar, Cooking, Dessert, Food, Hamachi, Ikura, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, Nobu Matsuhisa, Omakase, Ponzu, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, reviews, Salmon, side dishes, Sushi, Takao, Tuna, vegetarian, Yellowfin tuna

Food as Art – Sushi Sushi

Feb13

Restaurant: Sushi Sushi [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 326 1/2 Beverly Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 277-1165

Date: February 11, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Old school sushi – fantastic fish and presentation!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Last week I ate at this new (to me) sushi place in Beverly Hills, the redundantly named, “Sushi Sushi.” It was great but I didn’t have my camera. So with a bit of arm twisting — not — I convinced my brother to head back for a repeat.

The storefront, on Beverly Dr just south of Wilshire.

A small subset of the sushi bar. “Sushi sushi” is a pretty old-school looking Japanese place inside. Small room, small tables, and a sushi bar of about 12-15 seats. We decided to get the middle Omakase and let the chef work his magic.

He started out with this sashimi plate!

Ankimo (monkfish liver), with scallions and pickles in a ponzu. Perfectly fresh, with that rich creamy texture that it’s supposed to have, a hint of grainy, a hint of fishy,  but very mild (no such thing as monkfish liver with NO taste of the sea — what would be the point of that?)

Perfect Santa Barbara Uni (sea urchin) on a bed of soft Ika (squid). A bit of wasabi mixed with something, and some sauce (had a little citrus in it I think). Both fishes are sweet, with the uni being delectably so. The squid was very soft with that slightly pasty texture squid is supposed to have. While this is not a dish for the land-lubber, it was awesome!

Fresh raw Hama oysters, with a bit of soy vinaigrette. Yum too.

My brother isn’t so into the Uni, so he got sweet shrimp instead.

Blue fin tuna. The chef here “pre-sauces” the fish, so no soy sauce is needed. In this case it’s already been put on. I had this done a number of times in Japan, and at high end places here like Urwasawa (HERE FOR REVIEW). The tuna melted in the mouth. Sushi Sushi uses big pieces of fish and a small ball of rice too. The rice is traditional, not the warm rice favored by Sasabune (HERE FOR REVIEW).

Tai (Red Snapper), with a slightly citrusy sauce. This is a lighter fish, but I’m very partial to it.

After this we had another course pairing a piece of Chu-toro (medium grade fatty tuna belly) and a piece of Kampachi (young yellowtail). Tragically, somehow I forgot to photograph it. /cry /cry

The toro was soft and delicious, the kampachi firmer, but also very tasty, just not nearly as rich.

The chu-toro was just a warmup for this o-toro, the even more fatty toro. It melted in the mouse like butter. Always one of my (and everyone else’s) favorites.

Then there was a piece of scottish salmon which I also missed a photo of. Maybe I’m going crazy, maybe it was just the hangover from Saam the night before, I don’t know. In any case it was one of the best pieces of salmon I’ve ever had.

And another missed one, aji (Spanish Mackerel), with only the very slightest bit of fishy. Again, a great mackerel.

And a fourth miss. Kohada (Japanese Herring) I swear I photoed these, but they’re not on my camera. This was great herring, but is certainly a bit fishy — herring always is.

Saba mackerel, not as good as the Spanish one, but nothing to mock either.

Another sashimi course. Sweet shrimp, Japanese scallop, giant clam, and taco (octopus). Are were prefect examples of the breed, and doused with a little bit of yuzu (just the fruit, not with the pepper) to test them up.


My brother got albacore.

Kampachi cheek. This was marinated in one of those sweet broths I would frequently get in Japan. There was a bit of bone but the meat was incredibly soft (consistency like tuna fish?) and delectable. I really enjoyed the heavily marinated root vegetable. I don’t remember what these are, but I’d get them in Japan all the time.

Asari miso (clam broth miso soup). This is a very light miso, with a clam brothy quality. Not too salty, very nice.

They say you should judge a sushi chef by his tamago (sweet omelet). By those standards Sushi Sushi rules.

Ikura (salmon roe). Perfectly fresh, with just the slightest hint of brine (good). Wonderfully taught, they explode in the mouth like little brine balls.

Uni (sea urchin) sushi. I can’t get enough of this. It amazes me to think that even just a couple years ago (bear in mind that I have been eating sushi since 1978) I didn’t like the stuff.

Seared Japanese scallop.

Diced Toro handroll. This had yellow pickles and shiso leaf inside, which added texture and the exotic and wonderful flavor of the leaf.

Unagi (Fresh water eel). BBQ, with the sweet eel sauce. This was some damn fine eel, as good a piece as I’ve had.

Our chef. I think he’s been working the knives for a while.

The omakase included dessert, this concoction of fruit, green tea ice cream, green tea panna cotta, sweet bean sauce, and whipped cream. Oh yes, and with a “mens pocky” as garnish and corn flakes underneath. Pretty good, and all Japanese.

Sushi sushi is a new favorite place of mine. This place is GOOD! Not only because the fish is totally delectable, but because it offers that relative rarity now in LA, the “traditional sushi bar.” I like the warm rice Nozawa/Sasabune school and the modern Nobu school, but there is something satisfying about the original.

A second and third  Sushi Sushi meal review can be found HERE and HERE.

Or for the LA sushi index, HERE.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  2. Food as Art: Sasabune
  3. Food as Art: Pearl Dragon
  4. Sasabune – Dueling Omakases
  5. Food as Art: R.I.P. The Hump
By: agavin
Comments (10)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian, Beverly Hills California, Cooking, Dessert, fish, Food, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Monkfish, Omakase, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Sashimi, Sushi, Sushi Sushi

Food as Art: Pearl Dragon

Jan25

Restaurant: Pearl Dragon

Location: 15229 West Sunset Boulevard Westside CA 90272.  (310) 459-9790

Date: Jan 16, 2011

Cuisine: Pan Asian / Sushi

Summary: Great “new style” sushi.

 

Pearl Dragon is one of the few dinner restaurants in Pacific Palisades, and the only one with a full bar. For most people it has a palatable but slightly uninspired menu of pan asian goodies and an extensive repertoire of tasty but slightly overdone sushi rolls. But one of the dirty little secrets is how fun the sushi bar can be — and how talented lead sushi chef Ryo is when he strikes off the beaten path. He takes the style pioneered by Nobu Matsuhisa (REVIEW HERE) into even more radically over the top territory.

First of all, the sushi bar is unusually friendly. This is a place where half the people know each other, and the chef, and where most aren’t afraid to chat with the other half. If I have to go out to dinner locally alone I’ll pretty much always go here — as it sure beats sitting alone at a table.

I also apologize for the lame photos. I forgot my cameras and only had the iPhone 4. Considering it was nearly pitch black in here, it did a credible job.

“Miso soup.” Pretty much what you’d expect.

This cold sake was very tasty. My brother and I drank a lot of it. On occasion Ryo has “made” me do 5-7 double shots of Patron. Good thing I live so nearby.

“Sunomono,” cucumbers pickled in a sweat vinegar/miso sauce.

Ryo is blow torching a “Surf and Turf” role. When I eat here I don’t like to order, but get him to just make stuff. This particular Sunday he was very busy and so he didn’t have time for his most inspired creations — still, the “quicker” fare sure was tasty.

“Halibut in ponzu, with jalepeno.” Slight varient on the Peruvian classic introduced by Nobu.

“Albacore sushi,” with at least two sauces. Sure all this saucing isn’t traditional Japanese, but it does taste pretty good.

“Seared tuna sushi,” with raw onion and what basically amounts to Italian dressing. This too works, not so far off from the classic Dutch dish of raw herring served with raw chopped onion.

“Crispy rice with spicy tuna.” These were really tasty, and the interplay of textures is fun.

“Seafood patty, nori, vinegar, other sauces.” A kind of tempura omelet ++ sauce.

“SURF & TURF. shrimp & asparagus tempura with avocado wrapped in searedrare filet mignon, topped with garlic & chopped white onion.” Decadent, crazy, but really good.

“Yellowtail, with truffle, and yuzu.” This is a more rarefied dish, and bordered on the sublime. The interplay of the fish, Unami flavors of the truffle, and the bright tang of the yuzu (Japanese lime-like citrus) was really sensational.

“Lobster roll.” This isn’t a variant that’s on the menu. Really it tasted like a lobster risotto roll. Ryo sauteed up the lobster in a lobster/Norfolk type sauce first. Pretty darn good too.

In any case, this was a very fine meal to end the weekend on, and I need to go back sometime on a less busy night, with my good camera, an empty stomach, and let Ryo really cook up some interesting stuff (he has before).

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  2. Food as Art: R.I.P. The Hump
  3. Matsuhisa – Where it all started
  4. Food as Art: Sasabune
  5. Food as Art: Urwasawa
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian, Cooking, Food, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Maki, Miso, pearl dragon, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, reviews, Rolls, side dishes, Soy sauce, Sushi, vegetarian

Swish Swish – Mizu 212

Dec18

Restaurant: Mizu 212

Location: 2000 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310)478-8979

Date: December 17, 2010

Cuisine: Japanese Shabu Shabu

Rating: Best Shabu Shabu in town

 

Shabu Shabu is a form of Japanese cuisine where various meats and vegetables are cooked table side in boiling broth. Literally the name means “swish swish” for the sound the food makes as it is swished in the boiling water. In Japan one might get the impression that Shabu Shabu, like all Japanese culinary specialties, has been an inherited tradition since neolithic times, but in fact it entered the vocabulary only during World War II. Japanese soldiers in China encountered the ubiquitous Mongolian Hot Pot. But the Japanese are nothing if not masters at the art of culinary assimilation. They have a special ability to take the dishes of others and make them uniquely their own.

Mizu 212 is one of many excellent Japanese restaurants on Sawtelle. They do only Shabu Shabu and it’s all organic.

Each seat has a little hot plate.

On which is installed the pot of broth.

Hot green tea.

Part of the allure of shabu shabu are the sauces. The sesame sauce on the left and the ponzu on the right. The sesame sauce — like the cuisine itself — is borrowed from China. Loosely the sesame is for meat, and the ponzu is for veggies. But the unmodified sauces are just the beginning.

These are the basic condiments. From left to right: Chili oil, scallions, daikon radish, chili powder, and in front garlic!

The sesame gets a huge dose of garlic, as does the ponzu. But the ponzu also gets scallions and radish — and garlic.

There are also the advanced condiments, available on request. Both really help the ponzu shine. The yuzu on the left (juice from a Japanese lime) adds zest, and the chili is HOT! In a perfect kind of green hot. I find that red chili hot doesn’t go so well with shabu shabu — but green does.

 

The finished sauces.

And the actual food arrives. The vegetable plate. All sorts of organic goodness, plus some tofu and udon noodles.

The beef. This is a large plate of vintage aged beef. Mizu actually has about half a dozen meat options, including two different types of Kobe beef, plus chicken, lamb, and numerous types of fish. But beef is traditional.

The pot after a few rounds of veggies are added. Part of the key here is to cook each thing for just the appropriate length of time..

The beef cooks very quickly.

Swish, swish and voila!

Finished. Slather in the garlicky mizu and enjoy.

After all the cooking the meat fats are about all that’s left. Not so appealing.

The remains. There is a endless rice too. After you remove meat or vegetables from the broth, and dip it in one or the other sauces you can rest it to cool on the rice. That way, by the end the rice has become nicely saturated with sauce and fat.

As loyal (and repeat customers) we were treated to a round of homemade blood orange sorbet at the end. Yum!

Rows of other customers enjoying their private feasts. Not only is this meal good, and reasonably healthy, but it entertains too.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Urwasawa
  2. Food as Art: R.I.P. The Hump
  3. Food as Art: Little Saigon
  4. Food as Art: Ortolan
  5. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
By: agavin
Comments (8)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, Dessert, Food, hot pot, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Japanese Food, Los Angeles, Meat, Restaurant, Restaurants and Bars, reviews, Sauce, Shabu-shabu, side dishes, vegetarian

Food as Art: R.I.P. The Hump

Nov17

Restaurant: The Hump

Location: Santa Monica Airport — Now closed!

Date: Dec 5, 2009

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

_

For twelve years the Hump was one of my absolute favorite LA restaurants. It combined cutting edge LA Japanese, unparalleled ingredients, a cool location and great decor. Last year they got shot themselves in the head and served whale meat to some journalists disguised as high rollers and got themselves closed. Personally, I found this very sad. I myself, despite having eaten there 40-50 times and having numerous omakases ever ate anything illegal — as far as I knew. Nor for the record would I ever eat a primate or cetacean.

That being said, I wanted to post the only complete omakase from the Hump that I have photos of. Unfortunately, they aren’t great photos either, some being from my cel phone, but we shall get no more. Typhoon, BTW, which is owned by the same people and located below is still open and is a very good place as well, it’s just a different think, as a bit less elegant than the Hump was.

Uni (Sea Urchin) over Ikura (Salmon Eggs).

Tai (red snapper) and some other sashimi. I loved the sashimi at the hump. One of these has Yuzu, the other radish, and they are dusted with million year old salt.

Soem various cuts of tuna/yellowtail. Ponzu and jalapeno.

Traditional Japanese egg custard. I don’t remember what was in this particular one, often shrimp or mushrooms.

A whole main lobster, converted into various tempura and sashimi. There is also some vegetable tempura, and some endive with some lobster something on it. Oftentimes at the Hump the lobster was so fresh the head squirmed on the plate.

A close up of one of the endive things. Gold foil. I think it was roe.

Various bits of fish, all yummy i’m sure.

The lobster head returns for lobster miso soup.

Sauteed mushrooms.

Kobe beef, cooked at the table.

Some sushi. I was notorious at the Hump when not getting the Omakase for having these Mega large plates of sushi come to the table. The Hump had 3 custom porcelain slabs, about 18 inches by four feet. I’d often have one totally full.

The remains of custom homemade sorbets.

Oh Hump. Why did you have to go over to the dark side. I miss thee.

For more LA area sushi, see here.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  2. Food as Art: Urwasawa
  3. Food as Art: Sasabune
  4. Food as Art: Ludobites 6.0
  5. Food as Art: Melisse
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian, custard, Dessert, Food, Hump, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Lobster, Los Angeles, Restaurant, reviews, Sashimi, Sea urchin, sorbet, Sushi, The Hump, Yuzu

Food as Art: Sushi House Unico

Nov13

Restaurant: Sushi House Unico (SHU)

Location: 2932 1/2 Beverly Glen Circle – Bel Air, Ca 90077 (310) 474-2740

Date: Nov 12, 2010

Cuisine: New Style Sushi

Rating: A great “Nobu” clone with some dishes of its own.

 

Nearly 15 years ago now when I first ate at Matsuhisa I was blown away. I was already a veteran Sushi eater, having started going to Washington D.C.s one (then two) places in the late 70’s, and having been to Japan 2 or 3 times at that point (now it’s around 20). At the time it seemed like a culinary breakthrough. Classic sushi was great, but here was a whole new cuisine based on “modernizing” and combining Japanese elements with some other sensibility. Fundamentally it seemed intensely creative. But nowadays half the restaurants in LA have Miso Cod or Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno. In Food just as in any other art, creativity is surprisingly rare. SHU is very much derivative of this tradition, but unlike many of the places (Sushi Ryoku & Katsuya you know who you are!) does add a dash of its own style. Now we had read that SHU combined Japanese flavors with Italian. As a lover of both cuisines I didn’t really see this. It was more like a 95%/5% split in the Japanese favor. A few dishes had an occasional ingredient pulled from the Italian palette (like Olive Oil), but that was about it.

 

The menu, left half.

And right.  There is also a separate Sushi menu and a specials of the day menu.

“Edamame,” the usual. They just put it on the table, which some places do.

This is unfiltered Sake, served cold. It looks like the Japanese soda Pocari Milk. I liked it, smoother than many filtered Sakes, with a nice “rice” flavor.

“Miso Soup w/ Tofu & Green Onion,” the classic. Certainly well done, but I object to the presence of the spoon.

“Tuna Carpaccio. Thinly sliced Tuna w/ arugola, extra virgin Olive Oil, Yuzu & bottarga,” was very tasty, bright, soft, with a pronounced citrus zing and a good dose of black pepper. While it did have Olive Oil, I’d hardly call it Italian — but I liked it!

“Wild Yellowtail: Tomato Sashimi,” was nice. The sauce had a LOT of zing to it, very vinegary in a good way, with a little hint of spice afterwards.

“Heirloom tomato salad with Jalapenos, onion, cilantro and Jalapeno dressing.” I only tried the dressing, as I detest raw tomatoes (one of 2 foods I don’t like). My wife liked it, although it was a chopstick challenge. The dressing was on the side and I used it on some other dishes as it had a great, very bright citrus, vinegar, jalapeno tang.

“Salmon Carpaccio, thinly sliced Salmon, w/ capers, arugolo, extra virgin Olive oil, sea salt & lemon,” I didn’t try. In fact, I didn’t order, but it was so pretty I photoed it from the next table over.

“Crispy Risotto w/ Spicy Tuna Tartar & Sliced Jalapeno” was a very nice dish, but the Risotto name was a total misnomer. It’s the standard “friend crispy rice cake,” topped with spicy tuna. But it was very good, even though I’m not a spicy tuna fan. Spicy tuna is to Sushi as Spaghetti and Meatballs is to Italian.

“Broiled Miso Marinated Black Cod,” the Nobu classic and one of my wife’s favorites.

“Roch Shrimp Tempura w/ spicy creamy mayo” is another Nobu classic, but it was done just as well here.

Click the pic for a zoom. Starting left to right across the top:  Toro, Salmon, Albacore, Uni, Japanese Scallop, Eki (squid), Fresh Water Eel, and Tamago (Egg Omelet). The sushi was excellent. It was just a notch below what you get at Nobu, the late Hump (sob), or other extremely top LA places. So extremely yummy, but not totally sublime. Bear in mind that I am an extreme sushi snob with over 30 years of practice.

The unasked, but welcome fruit plate. I was too slow with the camera.

The trendy interior.

And exterior, right next to Vibrato Jazz Grill.

Overall, SHU was a very good place. It did the “classic” Nobu dishes well, and added enough originality to give it some flavor of its own.

Related posts:

  1. Food as Art: Sasabune
  2. Food as Art: Urwasawa
  3. Food as Art: Ludobites 6.0
  4. Food as Art: Calima
  5. Food as Art: Melisse
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asian, Dessert, fish, Food, Japan, Japanese, Japanese cuisine, Miso soup, Nobu, Nobu Matsuhisa, Olive oil, Restaurant, reviews, sake, Sushi, Tokyo, World Cuisines
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