for me, i only care for ohtoro or the fatty fatty stuff. chutoro or the medium fatty does nothing for me. the meat should be very marbled (like kobe beef), it should be firm in texture and contain no sinew. the flavor should have a buttery richness and melt in your mouth upon eating.

 

Here's the meal from last night. I actually had a great meal on Tuesday, but I forgot the camera. Some of the pics are blurry, sorry.

Ika Salad - Broiled squid with greens, citrus/sesame/soy dressing.



Ika Asparagus Appetizer - Squid, asparagus, cucumber in a creamy miso sauce.



Hamachi Belly Bones - "Japanese Baby Backs" Broiled with a crispy crust yet tender on the inside. Smeared with yuzukosho (citrus, pepper paste) and sprinkled with shichimi togarashi (7 types of pepper).



Hamachi Tataki Sashimi - Seared yellowtail belly served with grated radish, red onion and garlic ponzu.



Stuffed Shitake Tempura - Crab stuffed shitake mushrooms - deep fried. Served with traditional tempura sauce with daikon oroshi (grated radish) and shoga oroshi (grated ginger).



Uni Ikura Nigiri - Sushi cups filled with half sea urchin roe and half salmon roe.

 

Here's Saturday's Dinner. We went to another place that we frequent so the style may seem a bit different. Sorry for the blurry pics again.

Maguro Kawa - Tuna Skin Amuse Bouche



Tako and Hirame Sashimi - Octopus and halibut with fresh yuzu juice and shichimi.



Ika Fry - Deep fried calamari rings served with tonkatsu sauce.



Spicy Seafood and Asparagus - Shrimp, scallops and asparagus with a spicy sesame oil.



Yamakake - Tuna with tororo (grated mountain potato) topped with ao nori.



Broiled Aji - Spanish mackeral broiled until dry - almost like jerky. Marinated with soy and sake.



Shiro Maguro Appetizer - Albacore served with a light ponzu sauce, topped with scallions.



Kohada and Uni Sushi - Gizzard shad and sea urchin roe. The shad is lightly pickled.

 

Keep the goodness coming Mark, yumm!

 

i have another dinner coming up tonight.

 

Kram, I seem to remember you live in West Hills. Where do you go for good sushi in the valley? I like Brother's on Ventura just west of Canoga the best. I tried Kushiyu after hearing all the hype and thought it was decent, but not awesome. There's also Katsuya in Encino, I've only been to their location on the west side though.

 

the first two posts i made were at kabuki in northridge. it's a family style japanese restaurant with about 12-15 seats at the bar. the chefs have been there forever and know what i like to eat. also, since we're there a couple times a week at least, they take note of each meal so as not to serve me the same thing twice in a row. this place is not fancy and typically caters to a more casual sushi eater. also, this kabuki is not associated with the other kabuki restaurants.

this last post i made was at sushi usa. the owner, kenji, was a long time chef at kabuki. he recently opened his place a few months ago. the restaurant is small and the bar holds about 6-7 people. kenji is the only chef on the premises. while his restaurant is not upscale, it is a little more intimate and quiet. he probably caters to a more advanced sushi eater. he has a lot of variety, some of which you would not normally find elsewhere.

if you want a really good, highest quality experience, try go's mart in canoga park. it's in a little strip mall off sherman way and shoup. you can see a review of this place on chuck's blog.

the other place that i used to frequent a lot is uerukamu. this is on ventura right by the corbin bowling alley. it's a sushi bar/izakaya type restaurant and the owner, jun, is a master. he has a lot of traditional things on the menu as well as some interesting fusion dishes (french, italian, mexican). i don't go there as often because it's a little more pricey and somewhat further for me.

i've been to brother's once. it was good, but the chef there was not very creative on his omakase menu. i've been to a lot of places like this where they will only do sashimi or nigiri sushi. maybe if i was there more often they would serve up more tsumami (tapas/appetizer) type dishes.

 

Iroha in Studio City is my local favorite. I go there at least once a week.

Just got back from Tama Sushi for my favorite lunch special. All this plus rice and miso soup for $15!!

 

that's a great looking bento steve. what's in the upper righthand corner - chicken?

 

yeah, teriyaki chicken. it's not incredibly refined food, but for $15 it's impossible to beat.