That guy is my go to guy for LA dining TRs. Just excellent food photography. Here is his review of Sushi Zo. Its making my mouth water!

http://www.kevineats.com/2009/01/sus...angeles-ca.htm

Unfortunately I've never been to LA or I would have already. By the way, the prices at Sushi Zo seem super reasonable IMO. I really got to make it out to LA.

It looks amazing, but it is being pricey just to be pricey. I don't give a **** if I eat 24K gold leaf...I am sure it does not add to the flavor of the sushi.

I would much rather go to a dump of a place and eat world class sushi than be waited on like a king.

I treat sushi eating as a place to enjoy food and strictly food. When I want world class service then I will go to a really nice/fancy restaurant.

oh sushi zo was like... i think it was slightly over $200 a head - we got some sake - well worth it i thought

that has sort of been my resistance to urasawa - if you'll notice sushi zo is in a mini-mall - and the service, while the surroundings are minimal frill, is really excellent

but urasawa is supposed to have ridiculously tasty fish

Hamakawa on Central (LA) was the best sushi I've had outside of Japan. But it closed. Dunno why. I eat a few places in the SGV, Moon Cat, Mountainview and Yoshida. I may try LFS's suggestion as I can't stand too formal a sushi place (Hamakawa was way too formal, but worth it) They're all about equal, but I think Yoshida has the best fish.

There isn't sushi I won't eat, but it's not rude to ask what's good if you don't wanna let the chef decide (omakase). I generally say, "omakase, demo sushi dake" which means, roughly, "you chose, but I only want sushi."

Uni: It's a seasonal dish and is better in the late-fall through early-spring months. I was told that it's now being farm raised and the quality is good. Yoshida's had it live when last I was there. It was unreal. The picture someone posted is pretty much spot on. IMO, a firm texture is the best indication of freshness.

yeah I hated uni both times I had it, but it didn't look like that, and I've been waiting for a chance to go to a very nice place to try it again

I was going to mention decor. I almost feel like a place that's TOO nice can't have great sushi. This is kind of my issue with R23. That, and I've never really enjoyed the fish there.

Somebody mentioned Katsuya. I do not like Katsuya even in the relatively normal Valley locations, but the Katsuyas by Starck annoy the crap out of me - the decor, the music, etc. Way too chi-chi. That said, the fish certainly isn't bad, I had some excellent yellowtail at the one at the Americana a couple of weeks ago. Katsuya by Starck is basically the opposite of the kind of sushi place I prefer.

Another place in Calabasis for all you Cali people is called Shibuya. It functions more like a Japanese diner, def not classy or super nice, but they have amazing sushi as well as some traditional Japanese diner type dishes as well.

i still like the katsu-ya in studio city, but the one at americana is HORRIBLE (as you would suspect)

Us folks who live in California are a spoiled when it comes to sushi. IMO, you can get very good quality for the standard fishes at many less expensive restaurants. Even the Japanese super market in San Jose has very decent farm raised salmon that is sushi grade.

If any of you ever get to Tokyo, the Tsukiji fish market is a must go for the sushi. You just have to get there before 1:00pm. There are a bunch of really tiny restaurants but any one of them will have awesomely fresh fish. If you generally are not a fan of the more exotic dishes, such as uni and salmon roe, this is the place to be adventurous. You will not be disappointed.

Do you guys like to order Tempura when you go to a Japanese restaurant?

dude! Of course.

comploetely agree with this when i was living in nyc only the very best (usually most expensive) places had excellent fish - your options open up alot along medium price points in LA / bay area for great quality fish if you are resourceful and do a little digging

It's one of my benchmark dishes for new japanese restaurants.

Any NJ recommendations anyone? There's a good place in highland park who's name escapes me, great appetizer of spicy tuna chunks, mango, and raw quail egg.

wow thats pretty ridiculous prices for nigiri. Pretty much any place in tokyo you can get top end sushi that is much better than any US sushi for at least 2-4x as cheap.

I think that statement is quite the exaggeration but I agree that for about $30 USD you can get very good sushi in Japan.

perhaps not "any" place in Japan, but most places, this is true, I think. more like half that price (4-5 bucks/per) the place we go to in Tokyo is about 5/piece for the aburi toro and the aburi gyu, with the pieces being at least twice as long as the standard nigiri pieces in the US (maybe 4-5 inches long). this is the most expensive nigiri in there. it's not a top end sushi joint, but it's much much better in quality and anything I've eaten in the US. sort of middle of the road place.

Maybe I'm an idiot but I've always had a good meal at sushi roku and it's decorated pretty well. I think I get more excited about the mojitos though.

Well, the link I gave to you was the first trip of 5 that the guy went there. I chose that one because it had more pictures of the actual restaurant than his other trips to give you a better idea of what the entire experience was like. I want to stress that the focus really is on the food and not on the phsyical ambiance THAT much. The ambiance is really simple and there are only a few staff members.

http://www.kevineats.com/2009/08/ura...hills-ca-5.htm

This is his latest trip there (few months old) and very similar to the composition of dishes I had there on my 2nd trip there. (the menu changes constantly) You will see that the gold flakes are quite a bit less evident in the dishes here than in the first one I linked.

But, going along with what you said about enjoying world-class sushi in a dump(it is in a video rental store!), then I would recommend this place:

http://www.kevineats.com/2007/05/gos...ga-park-ca.htm

I haven't been there yet, but the sushi and omakase is definitely up there and within the realm of urasawa/sushi-zo level.

Hey guys,

In Hong Kong there are basically three high-end sushi restaurants. I'm excluding the ones in hotels because they are not good value - around US$200 per person for sushi that is the same quality as you can get at these.

I go to these at lunch because at dinnertime, the meals can get expensive to around US$100/pax. The lunch sushi is slightly worse than the dinner sushi, because it's not as fresh. But screw that, it's still super fresh!

Let me introduce! First is:

Kenjo
This restaurant is located in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST and Causeway Bay are where all the good restaurants are, because these two districts have high concentrations of Japanese people). The itomae is a really strict guy who gets mad whenever his helpers mess things up. Pictures and stuff, I hope the hotlinking works:



This is the lunch set. Eight pieces of sushi, a roll, and a steamed egg/miso soup for US$22 inclusive of tax/tip. Usually I will order a uni, toro, ikura, and the tuna roll, and the other six I will let the waitress recommend.

Every time I've been there the sushi has been super fresh and tastes really good. I usually go here around once a month because it's a few minutes walk from where I work. Here is a picture of a uni for you guys.




Next is Sushi Toku, also in Tsim Sha Tsui

This place has a really value lunch set: 8 pieces of sushi, miso soup/egg/appetizers for $14 inclusive. There is an extra charge for ordering toro or uni, so usually I don't order those. Usually I order two pieces of tuna, two ikura, and then random stuff. Their tuna is super good because even the normal tuna tastes like toro.



I've stopped ordering bluefin tuna because I am a damn hippie and save the bluefins etc. So I'm not sure what I will order in the future. I usually go here once a week, it's a few minutes walk from where I work.

There's not that much to say, the fish is very fresh, it tastes good, and the rice is excellent.

Here is a picture of tamago. This means egg.



If you want to know how good the chef is, order the tamago. This is the most difficult thing for a sushi chef to make, and it is also one of the tastiest.

My favorite things to eat when I am at sushis are:
uni
ikura
tuna (previously)
tamago

I dislike:
squid
octopus
salmon


Finally, Sushi Hiro in Causeway Bay!

Actually this place isn't that good

Also there's Sushi Kuu in Central. Great sushi, meh, this post is long enough

There are also lots of mid-end sushi chains such as Sushi Mi-ne, Itamae, Itacho, which are chain restaurants but also manage to serve very fresh sushi. Prices range from $15-20 for a filling dinner. I go to these for dinner usually.

Anyone who's visiting Hong Kong and wants to try good sushi feel free to send me a message!

Just came home from eating here. Goddam it's good. Yellowtail, salmon, and spicy tuna were all aces.

The last two times I've had sushi I've gotten nothing but mediocre fare only slightly above the level of the grocery store. OP's pictures and garcia's are making me very, very hungry for the real deal.

Sushi >>>>

I love the all you can eat sushi bars around here!

Sagami in Collingswood is worth a trip if you're near that area, super fresh fish.