easytraveler

Hi, filmwill!

I'm desperately in need of a good sushi restaurant in Los Angeles - or several.

I remember sitting next to your partner and one other Fodorite during the LA GTG at Yamashiro's and they both kindly offered to recommend some sushi places in LA.

Belatedly I'm asking for that help.

Muchly appreciate any recommendations - especially around the Westwood/Santa Monica area but am willing to travel for good sushi!

TIA!

Gpanda

We went to a great Sushi restaurant when we were at the LA GTG. Sushi Central at 3500 Overland #100. It's in a strip mall and nothing to look at, but the sushi was great. It was on Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food network. The owner is really gregarious. The sushi was great.

filmwill

Hi et!

My absolute favorite place is called The Izaka-ya...it's not in the areas you described (it's actually on 3rd St., close to the Beverly Center.) It's a new-ish place by the folks who started Katsuya (which has become a horrific chain and lost all its' originality.) Happy to say that Izaka-ya has all of the hallmarks that made the original Katsuya such a hit. Keep in mind that, although they take reservations, at night and especially on weekend nights it can get pretty busy in there. It's absolutely worth a visit--best sushi I've had in LA so far.

For the Westside, everyone I know always recommends The Hump (at Santa Monica Airport)--I haven't been there myself but I have a few sushi snob friends who go a lot and wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't spectacular. Plus, I have to imagine the setting is quite spectacular...watching planes fly in and out and such. It's VERY pricey, but I would assume worth it. They have some pretty elaborate dishes.

Sushi Masu in Westwood is pretty damn good too...not big on ambience, but if you just want really good, fresh fish--it's the place to go.

Let me talk to David and get his suggestions too--he knows of a few of the smaller, off-the-beaten, more omakase kind of places.

easytraveler

gpanda: that's a great recommendation! Will jot it down and google it before departure.

omigosh! filmwill! You already have my mouth watering! I can see we're going to be eating nothing but sushi for several days!

Thanks so much for your response! Izaka-ya sounds like a real winner!

Am looking forward to David's and your further recommendations!

Thanks again!

Gpanda

Exactly how mant sushi meals are you going to have? I could eat sushi every day. Unfortunately, it's not a large part of the new England scene.

rhkkmk

easy---we had such a fantastic lunch at gpanda's place....go and try it....there are four counter seats up front....take one of those and talk to the men who work there....the women are nice but the men are really interesting...

filmwill

et,

David says some other good Westside haunts to check out would be Sushi Sasbune on Wilshire in West LA and also Echigo on Santa Monica Blvd. (also in West LA.) Both are omakase-style and both are very good.

Even my mouth is watering writing this--I need to head out to Izaka-ya soon! As with Andy, I could eat sushi every day, if given the opportunity. Luckily, there's an overabundance of fantastic sushi places here in La-La Land.

Please report back on your experience...when are you coming out here?

filmwill

*correction: that's Sushi Sasabune

mflickermd

Try Hamasaku on Santa Monica Blvd in W.L.A. The fish is absolutely fresh . Another one is Torafuku on Pico Blvd.

easytraveler

gpanda: How many? As many as we can fit in!

We did have a favorite Persian restaurant in Westwood area, but its quality went down the last time we went, so we're going to give up on some of our old favorites and start foraging for new grazing grounds.

rhkkmk: Sushi Central is definitely on our list! BTW, you have email on the GTG.

filmwill: Please extend a million thanks to David for his recommendations! You two sound like you're devoted sushi lovers!

Do you know that old song: "If you love Suzie..."? In our family we've changed it to "If you love sushi, like I love sushi, oh! oh!..."

mflickermd: Thank you for those additional two recommendations!

I'm going to get to work and map out each restaurant on Google!

Thank you all again!

rhkkmk

easy---i did not see any mail from you??

bob

easytraveler

oh, oh!

Let me try again.

I thought I was following your directions on the other thread and that you didn't respond because you were out on travel.

crosscheck

I'm a Santa Monica resident and long-time sushi addict. Here are our favorites:

Special occasion places -
- Katsuya (Brentwood)- I respectfully disagree with filmwill -maybe the one in the valley now feels like a chain, but the westside one is still cool and a guaranteed crowd pleaser for my out-of-town guests. And the spicy tuna w/crispy rice is still one of LA's best offerings
- Nobu (Malibu) - laid back but a fortune in Malibu Country Mart, top quality, worth the trip
- Mori Sushi (extremely authentic in W LA, more minimal and fewer star sighting than the two above, but many think it's the best sushi on the westside)
- The Hump - SM Airport (haven't been there recently, but i imagine it's still great. As filmwill said - fun location...you can watch planes land)

Less expensive, but still pricey:
- Bar Hayama - owned by famous sushi master (formerly of Hama sushi/sushi academy)- on Sawtelle (W. LA Japanese strip) - wonderful firepit, great sushi and small plates, amazing sake selection. Not cheap but worth it.
- Wabi Sabi - Venice...Really fun place, perfect California experience

Popular neighborhood places, way less atmosphere, but better prices and good sushi:
- Nagao (Brentwood Country Mart next to Santa Monica) - tiny hole in the wall, famous riceless rolls
- U-Zen - W. LA
- Echigo - W. LA

I would avoid Sasabune...I think it's gone downhill since it's switched locations. And I'm sure someone will tell you to go to Sushi Roku on Ocean Ave in Santa Monica, but I think it's too loud.

And...not on the westside, but the top place in little Tokyo is Sushi Gen. My husband works downtown and is addicted to the albacore there.

crosscheck

Just realized I left out one of our favorite places - Musha on Wilshire in SM near the promenade - not sushi per se (although there is sashimi, a tasty spicy tuna appetizer and a few creative rolls) but every foodie's top izakaya place on the westside. Definitely worth a visit.

easytraveler

crosscheck!

That's it!

For the life of me, I was trying so hard to remember your sign on name! You're the one who was talking with David so animatedly about sushi!

Thank you for all those additional recommendations!

Now we'll have to make more than one trip to LA just for sushi!

Thanks again, everyone!

easytraveler

filmwill: you asked for a report back, so here's a few places that we visited. All were very good!

We weren't able to get to any sushi places in late June, but this last trip in July, we were able to go to three sushi places from the lists above.

<b>Sushi Central</b>: We really enjoyed this small sushi place. Since they don't have a liquor license we walked in with our own bottles of beer and they very obligingly chilled the lot in their freezer for us. The sushi was super fresh, although the rice was a bit soggy. Maybe it was just that batch. We also tried their mirugai (giant clam) and ama ebi (sweet shrimp). The shrimp came cooked three ways: first the raw shrimp with its own special sauce, then the shell cooked in miso soup, and finally the head deep fried in tempura batter. I was the only one who enjoyed the crunchy shrimp feet and shrimp snort, although the eyes were a bit tough as were the antennae. Both the clam and the shrimp were live before serving which made them super fresh.

<b>U Zen</b>: this turned out to be our favorite sushi bar on this trip. One of our foursome fell in love with the JJ Roll which came with a ring of jalapeno pepper on top and other various spicy hot ingredients. He immediately declared this his favorite sushi restaurant. We also had a large sampling of their various other rolls - this was our "roll" day. We also had the Koji roll and the Big Eye roll and one of the guys COULD stuff the whole slice in his mouth! Unbelievable! It took about three bits for me to down one slice! Beer selection wasn't too extensive, just adequate. Sapporo was good with the sushi.

<b>Echigo</b>: This was a a higher end sushi bar and the cuts of fish showed their quality. Super fresh and great cuts. Each order came with just two pieces of sushi, so we had to double up on orders. This place had by far the best fish and it showed in the price. Sushi served on warmish rice didn't send any of us. They had a local beer from the Echigo region and it is made from rice. That was a very good beer and went excellently with the sushi.

So, here's the report for this trip:

Sushi Central: Most fun

U Zen: Best value

Echigo: Best quality

Thanks to you, David, mflickermd and Crosscheck for the recommendations! They were really spot on! With so many sushi bars in Los Angeles (more sushi bars than McDonald's!), it's very hard for an out-of-towner to pick a good one.

I'm saving the list for the next trip to LA!

PS This trip was to see the "Pompeii and the Roman Villa" exhibit at LACMA. I highly recommend seeing this exhibit first and then heading out to the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades. They really go hand-in-hand. You'll see the original at LACMA (from the actual dig sites) and then the replicas at the Getty Villa situated as the originals might have been situated long ago in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibpompeii.aspx

Sushi and classical Rome - they do go together!

Thanks a million again! We had a really great time in LA!