Restaurant: Sushi Tama
Location: 116 N Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048. (424) 249-3009
Date: May 15, 2023
Cuisine: Sushi
Rating: Solid Beverly Hills Sushi
Kaz (from Totoraku) invited us to try this favorite sushi spot of his.
Right across from The Ivy.
Edamame.
Baby squid with miso sauce.
Super tender and succulent with that “in a good way” taste of the sea.
Clams in “butter broth.” It was a delicious clam broth with a bit of butter and plenty of salt.
Cubes of Seared Toro (tuna belly) with yuzu koshu. The salty/spicy zing of the yuzu koshu offsets the fatty char nicely.
Seared Wagyu. A soft, nice bite, but just a single bite.
Wasabi and ginger as usual.
Halibut fin.
Salmon. Very good salmon actually.
Seared Hokaido scallop with toasted seaweed. Very enjoyable combo.
Saba (Japanese Mackerel).
Chu toro. Totally yummy as always.
Hamachi. The most boring type.
Sweet shrimp. Very nice.
Sardine or some other small fish. I like these and enjoy the oily fish taste.
Ikura (salmon roe). Extremely nice marinated ikura.
Spanish Mackerel.
Charred Sea Eel. Lovely.
Hokaido Uni. Super tender and sweet.
Clam Miso. This is always one of my favorite misos as I feel the clams add a nice equally saline complement to the miso’s inherent salinity.
Fresh crab handroll.
A kind of elevated Futomaki. Tuna, Ikura, Takuan, and chives. Excellent.
Wasn’t cheap — but it is Beverly Hills.
Overall, Tama was a very enjoyable “classic” sushi place. There aren’t a lot of “new style” or ponzu covered dishes, which is nice. This is mostly classic Japanese fare and well executed Tokyo style nigiri. It’s very much in the sushi tradition I grew up with in the 70s and 80s. This is the kind of place like the late lamented sushi sushi that I’d happily go by myself at lunch for a straight up “good sushi” fix.