Sugarfish By Sushi Nozawa

Sugarfish By Sushi Nozawa
600 W 7th St
Ste 150
Los Angeles
213-627-3000

Sugarfish is a sushi restaurant that has been on my list of places to try for over a year. I finally decided to try it. Sugarfish is owned by Sushi Nozawa, a very popular Studio City sushi restaurant, that recently closed. I've heard some of the best quality sushi in LA can be found at Sugarfish.

I ordered the "Trust Me," $29, which included organic edamane, tuna sashimi, two pieces of; albacore, salmon, yellowtail, and halibut, a tora roll and blue crab roll.

To save time and typing all the sushi was the best I've ever had!!! The fish were so buttery, so fresh and just melted in your mouth. Maybe for the first time ever, I noticed the difference in quality of sushi. Just amazing!! The other big difference is that the rice they use is hot!! A very unique taste and flavor, that I love. Now, I read reviews that said Sugarfish drowns their sushi in ponzi sauce, but I didn't notice that at all. All I tasted was the freshness of the fish.

Tuna sashimi. I'm not a sashimi fan. I like the texture that sushi offers. But this tuna sashimi was just like the sushi I would have later; fresh, buttery and just melted in your mouth.

Albacore and salmon

Yellowtail and halibut.

Toro hand roll.

Tora is tuna belly, and while there wasn't a lot of tora in there, this was a very good roll. They just need to put more toro.

Blue crab hand roll. Nothing can ruin your crab dining experience than biting down on a shell. That happened to me and I wasn't happy. For a restaurant as good as Sugarfish that shouldn't happen. The roll was good and had a good among of blue crab.

I thought the "Trust Me" combo was well worth the price and I was stuffed!! It was a great meal, minus biting down on the crab shell.

Service: I have never been to a restaurant that charged a 16% service charge for TWO, as in TWO, people!! Then to top it off, they charged tax on the service charge!!! While service was good, it's in bad form to add the tip. This is America, not Europe.

If I go back to Sugarfish, I will since the fish is the best quality fish I have ever had, it will only be to go. Screw this 23% service charge.

Orochon Ramen

Orochon Ramen
123 Onizuka St # 303
Los Angeles
213-617-1766

On January 28, 1986 the Space Shuttle Challenger, exploded 73 seconds into flight. The Challenger crew was the most diverse crew in history. The crew included an African-American; Ronald McNair, two women; Christa McAuliffe, who was also the first civilian in space, and Judith Resnik who Jewish, and an Asian-American; Ellison Onizuka. Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, and Gregory Jarvis were the other members of the Challenger crew. Little Toyko in Los Angeles has honored, Ellison Onizuka with a memorial plaque and a replica of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

President Reagan, who would made one of his best speeches ever that night, called for an investigation, that was headed by the Roger's Commission. The commission was greatly helped by the testimony of Roger Boisjoly, an engineer at Morton Thiokol. Morton Thiokol produced the "o rings" that failed, which lead to the Challenger explosion. Mr. Boisjoly is a hero and Chapman University in Orange, CA, has all his memoirs, that should be on display soon. Why is Mr. Boisjoly a hero, for having the guts to be a whistle blower. He saw something was wrong, said something was wrong, but his bosses, who wanted to keep the NASA money line, coming, did not listen to Mr. Boisjoly.

So why the history lesson about the Space Shuttle Challenger? Orochon Ramen, is located in the building just to the west of the Ellison Onizuka Memorial. Orochon Ramen is well known for it's spicy ramen challenge. Many TV shows have featured this challenge. I wasn't going anywhere near the challenge. But I wanted to try their ramen.



$6.95 soy sauce ramen. At first, I was impressed with the size of the bowl but when I got my ramen, I noticed very quickly the ramen was only filled half way. Not good. I tasted the broth first, and at first, I thought it was a bit salty, but after eating the ramen, I felt it was seasoned just right. The ramen was cook perfectly but there wasn't that much ramen. There were large mushrooms, green onions, and some pieces of thinly cut pork.

Service, at the table was pretty good. But the way they handled seating, was pretty bad. I asked for a table for 12 people. I arrived about 30 minutes before my party was suppose to arrive. A half hour later, 3/4 of my party had arrived. I told them, how about seating us right now, since we have 8 people and the other four were running just a bit late. They seated the eight of us, but did not leave room for the other four people, even though they said they would and there was plenty of room. Luckily the table next to us, which had three people gave up one of their tables for our group.

The address listed is a bit confusing. The actual street is 2nd St., but that portion of 2nd St. is named in honor of Ellison Onizuka. The official street address is Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka St. Orochon Ramen is located in the Weller Court, 3rd floor, at the corner of 2nd St. and San Pedro.

I would not go back to Orochon Ramen. I didn't think the ramen was anything great and I wasn't happy with the small portion.

Ramen California-Closed

Ramen California 24231 Crenshaw Blvd Ste C Torrance 310-530-2749 If you're expecting real ramen at Ramen California, you're going to be disappointed. This is a ramen fusion restaurant. They use organic, whenever they can. I'm not much of a ramen fan, matter of fact, this is the first review of a ramen restaurant on The New Diner. Shrimp wonton, $8.50, regular size, with chicken broth and green onions. Regular size is 20oz, which was more than enough. This was in interesting combination. First the broth; very bland, with not much flavor, needed more time or less water. The shrimp wonton, had baby shrimp and pork inside. I have never seen shrimp wontons filled with pork. Weird. They were ok but when I pay for shrimp, I want bigger shrimp, not shrimp, with pork used as a filler. The wonton wrappers were a bit thick, chewy, and tough. Yes, they need to hold up in the broth but I thought they were a bit too thick. Service was friendly but a bit lacking. The young lady was nice and friendly. But a table that was seated about ten minutes after us, had their order taken before we did. Our drinks were not refilled. Nobody came by and asked how everything was. I would not go back to Ramen California again. The prices are good, the portions are good. But the broth is too bland and there wasn't enough shrimp.

Aoyama Cafe-Closed

Aoyama Cafe 

1569 Fairway Dr 

Walnut 

909-598-3200 

 Aoyama Cafe used to be called UCC Cafe, a very popular Japanese cafe chain. For some reason they changed their name to Aoyama. Anyways, I've wanted to try Aoyama for a long time and finally made it for a Saturday night dinner. I got the pork katsu rice, $9.95 with rice and Japanese side salad. Katsu is just a breaded pork patty, deep fried. This was nice and crispy. The pork was a bit tough. This was ok but nothing outstanding. The rice was sushi rice, very sticky, with a nice texture. The Japanese salad was just regular iceberg lettuce topped with a Japanese style dressing, which is a mild tasting, almost bland dressing. It's kind of like a less tangy Italian dressing. Service was pretty good. But he didn't bother to ask, how our dinners were and when our food arrive, the wrong people got the wrong dinners. That's not that big of a deal, but come on be a little more organized. There is a button to push, if you need the server. But we had to push the button 2-3 times to get the server to come over, when we were ready for the check. Other than that the server was good-refilling drinks, taking our orders, and was friendly. I wouldn't go back to Aoyama Cafe because there was nothing outstanding about the food.

Sushi Gen

Sushi Gen
422 E 2nd St
Los Angeles
213-617-0552

I have heard so many good things about Sushi Gen, I had high expectations. Sadly they were not met. What I found was a very expensive and not very good sushi restaurant.



Shrimp tempura, $6. Not good at all. The outside tempura batter was slightly crispy but the inside was mushy and just a messy. It's like the fryer was set too high and inside of making decreasing the tempurature, they just put out a crappy dish.





I went to Sushi Gen with a friend. Their suhi menu doesn't include prices.

My friend ordered the eel, spicy tuna roll, and salmon and fatty tuna.

I got the yellowtail, tuna, and crab. For those seven items, the bill was about $46, roughly $7 per sushi order. I didn't try any of her sushi.

But the yellowtail wasn't fresh, mushy and just not good.

The tuna was better but not that much better.

The only good sushi was the crab, I believe a king crab, with lots of wasibi and a nice texture.

Service was a bit lacking. We had to call for water, our server never bothered to come around that often.

The host told me the wait would be 20-30 minutes, when in reality it was about 45 minutes. I realize the host can't force people out of their table but come on.

Again Sushi Gen didn't live up to the hype. It is a small place but is living on it's reputation, not the current (lack of) quality of the food.

Kitayama-Closed

Kitayama 101 Bayview Pl. Newport Beach 949-725-0777 I think almost all restaurants in the Orange Curtain are very average and overpriced. Most of the idiots living in the Orange Curtain are so arrogant and full of themselves, they have no clue what good food is. Kitayama fits this tot a T!! The sushi here is very average and overpriced. Halibut, $4.50. Not fresh, mushy texture and lacking flavor. Halibut is a solid fish and shouldn't be mushy. If it is, that means the halibut isn't fresh. Bluefin tuna, $7. My first time having bluefin tuna. I did like this. Fresh, full of color and a rich flavor. I may start ordering bluefin tune instead of regular tuna. Yellowtail, $5. My usual sushi, but again not fresh and lacking. Toro, $13. For $13 I would expect a fresh, great tasting toro. But what I got was mushy, I know it is suppose to be the fatty part of the fish, but mushy and no flavor. Rainbow roll, $16. Rainbow roll had salmon, shrimp, tuna, and yellowtail, all with a spicy tuna inside. The shrimp was nice and big and flavorful. Good stuff. The salmon was fresh, maybe the freshest fish I've had here, and flavorful. The spicy tuna seemed average and bland. Not spicy at all. Service at the sushi bar was very good. The chef was very nice and helfpul. The server was attentive and came by often. Kitayama is nothing but the type of place the arrogant jerk people of the OC, go to be seen. This isn't a good sushi restaurant. I've had better sushi at Chinese buffets. There is no reason for me to go back.

Shabu Shabu Station-Closed

Shabu Shabu Station
2803 S. Diamond Bar Blvd.
Diamond Bar
909-839-2560

Talk about a world of difference. After trying mole at La Casita Mexicana the day before, and getting great service, I tried shabu shabu and had a terrible dining experience.

Since it was raining and cold, I figured having shabu shabu would be a great idea. I got the Shabu Shabu set, $8.88, with six slices of Angus beef, tofu and vegetables, including napa cabbage, seaweed, carrots, enoki mushrooms, green onions, udon noodles, rice noodles, steamed rice and two sauces, ponzu and sesame. I got the hot and spicy soup base.

The idea is to put all the veggies and meats into the soup and enjoy. The tofu and veggies were fresh and plentiful. The angus beef was sliced thin, a bit fatty, but pretty tender. The soup was just too spicy for me. I should have gotten the regular soup.

I thought this was pretty good overall and a good price.

What wasn't good was the service. I was taking picture of the food as usual, and after a couple pictures, they said I couldn't take pictures. I told them, if I'm paying for the food, I'm taking pictures. They didn't say anything to me after. I checked Yelp and there are pictures of the food from Shabu Shabu. Hmmmmmmm. If restaurants have a no picture policy, it should be posted for all to see. Unless I see that sign, I'll take pictures for as long as I want. The servers didn't come around that often and weren't the most friendly.

When the check came, I forgot I had use most of my cash at another store before going to Shabu Shabu Station. So I showed the server my ATM card and told them I would go there, get cash and come back. He actually said no that wouldn't work and wanted ID. Actually, at first he said something like we accept credit cards. But how stupid!!! I would think all restaurant would prefer cash instead of having to pay bank fees on credit cards. I told them, you can watch me get the cash, if you want. So I walked to the the ATM, which was about 3-4 stores down, got the cash and paid them. I can understand asking for ID, if the ATM is a long way away but this ATM is about 3-5 stores down from the restaurant. No need for them to ask for ID. I mean, they can watch me walk to the ATM. I only left a 25 cent tip. They didn't even deserve that.

A terrible dining experience!!! I will never go to this place again. The food was good and fairly priced. But the service was among the worst I've ever had.

Shabu Shabu is a Japanese style dining. The owners are Chinese. But the food is Japanese style.

Bai Plu & Sushi Bar

Bai Plu Restaurant & Sushi Bar
2119 N Bellflower Blvd
Long Beach
562-343-2651

To be honest I was conflicted about going to a Japanese restaurant on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. But then I thought about it and maybe going to a Japanese restaurant on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, can be a tribute to the Japanese-American men who fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Takes a hell of a lot to volunteer to fight for a country, that forced your family into concentration camps.

The 442nd would become one of the most decorated units ever and proved the racist John L. DeWitt, wrong. I have talked with members of the 442nd and the most interesting thing they told me was how well they were treated by the white people of Mississippi, where the 442nd were training, at Camp Shelby. The same people who treated African-Americans like slaves, went the extra mile for the men of the 442nd, who their government considered enemy alien. The irony of race relations in America during the early 1940's.

Bai Plu is owned by the same owners Aki Sushi. If you want to get technical that location is really two restaurants in one location; sushi at Aki Sushi and Thai food at Bai Plu. This Bai Plu location has much better parking and some daily specials.

I started off with the edamame, $3.95. Nice and firm. Good quality edamame.

The specials from Sun-Thrs, until 6pm, include selected sushi for $2.99 and $6 on selected rolls, that change everyday. So I got the tuna and octopus. The sushi rice at the 7th St. location, would fall apart when trying to pick it up and dip it into soy sauce. The sushi rice here didn't fall apart. So they must be using better rice here.

The tuna has a beautiful, deep, rich red color. It was very fresh and tasty.

The octopus was the second time I had octopus. It wasn't as chewy or rubbery as the first one. But this octopus had a weird smell as if it wasn't fresh. One thing I have learned is that seafood shouldn't have a smell. That means it has turned bad.

Then I got the yellowtail, $4.50. This was fresh and tasty.

I then decided to try the rolls that were on special for $6 each.

I got the crunchy roll and the red dragon roll. The crunchy roll is normally $8.99, comes with shrimp tempura, avocado, asparagus, and topped with crunchy flakes and eel sauce. The shrimp tempura part of this crunchy roll was fine. But the avocado and asparagus part of this was mushy, not fresh, and ruined the flavor and texture of this roll.

The red dragon roll had spicy tuna, cucumber topped with tuna, avocado, masago and onions. Again the avocado was mushy and not fresh. But this was better than the crunchy roll.

Service at the sushi bar was very good. The sushi chefs, who are Thai, were nice and helpful and quick. The servers were always there to refill drinks.

Honestly I wasn't that impressed with the Bai Plu. Too many things, like the octopus and avocado, weren't fresh at all. Sure the special prices are great but I'm not giving up freshness for a discount price. Not sure if I would go back.

Sushi Go 55

Sushi Go 55
333 S. Alameda Street Suite 317
Los Angeles
213-687-0777

I have never been to a sushi restaurant in Little Tokyo, so when I had the chance to go to Sushi Go 55, I jumped on it. Sushi Go 55 is owned by the Morishita family who also owns the highly rated Izakaya Haru Ulala and this family has been in the restaurant business for over 60 years.

I got the Nigiri Take Dinner, $12.95. This included eight pieces of nigiri sushi, three pieces of tuna rolls and 3 pieces of cucumber roll.

The eight pieces of sushi included:

Salmon: A very fresh tasting sushi. No fish smell at all. Nice flavor and good sized piece of fish.

Tuna: A bit mushy and not that fresh. I have had better tuna.

Halibut: Nice and fresh and tasty.

Shrimp: Not fresh, a bit chewy and had a smell to it.

Albacore: Very fresh, nice flavor and texture.

Yellowtail: Maybe one of the better yellowtails I have had. fresh, nice texture and flavor.

Octopus: This one was new for me. The octopus was very chewy and rubbery. Almost like a very tough calamari. I wouldn't order octopus again.

Egg Omelette: Again the first time I ever had this. Interesting, a cold egg omelette on top of sushi rice. I don't like eggs cold, so I wasn't impressed. The omelette was overcooked.

The tuna roll was nice and fresh. Better than the tuna sushi. The cucumber roll was fresh, crunchy and tasty. Though both rolls were a bit small, they were the right size for the amount of sushi.

I got the spider roll, $11.50. Nice soft shell crab with imitation crab. This was pretty good. The soft shell crab was a bit small but had a nice crunch and flavor.

Shrimp tempura roll, $5.50. A good sized hand roll, with a big piece of shrimp tempura and imitation crab. The shrimp was nice and flavor, much better than the shrimp sushi, everything was fresh and tasty.

Service was good, the servers were nice friendly people, though at times a bit slow on refilling drinks.

I would go back to Sushi Go 55 but I didn't realize that Honda Ya was next door. I went to the Honda Ya in Tustin and loved it. If I go back to this shopping center, I'm going to Honda Ya.

Sushi Central-Closed

Sushi Central
3500 Overland Ave
#100
Los Angeles
310-202-6866

I first heard of Sushi Central after the owner beat that douchebag, Bobby Flay, in a sushi contest on a Food Network show. To be honest, I wasn't impressed he beat the douchebag, Bobby Flay, since that last thing that douchebag would know is how to make sushi. The douchebag is one of the most overrated celebrity chefs ever. His food and style of cooking sucks. And really, when it comes to sushi, it takes a long time to become a good sushi chef, I mean come on, almost any sushi chef worth a damn can beat that douchebag, Bobby Flay.

But I found some very good reviews of Sushi Central, so I decide to try it. The one thing about Sushi Central is that there is already sauce on the sushi. Don't make the mistake of dipping it into soy sauce or wasbi, there is enough of both. I got the:

Tuna sushi, $5.50. This was so fresh and so good. They use very good quality sushi here. The tuna had a wonderful color, flavor and texture. I could tell right away it was the best quality sushi I have had.

Jumbo Scallop, $7.00. I was impressed with the presentation. Again top quality sushi that was very fresh. This had a sweet sauce that just added to the flavor. A much better texture than any other scallop I've ever had.

Yellowtail, $6.50. Very fresh, great texture and great flavor. WOW. Just wow.

Bluecrab handroll, $10. WOW am I back in Maryland? There was at least a pound of bluecrab in here, the crab was filled all the way down the roll and packed high. The bluecrab was amazingly fresh and tasty. A steal at $10.

The sushi portions may seem a bit small but the quality is well worth the price. There is no question that top quality sushi is pricey but when done right, like at Sushi Central, it is worth it.

Service at the sushi bar was very good. The owner was serving us and was helpful and very nice and friendly.

I would go back to Sushi Central anytime. What a great dining experience.

Itacho

Itacho
7311 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles
323-938-9009

Overpriced, small portioned sushi- that describes Itacho to a T. I know it is in the Mid-City area and more restaurants in that area are overpriced but come on now.

I got the California roll with real crab meat, $8, and yellowtail sushi, $6. Then a filet migon sushi, $7. The California roll might have been 6oz, it was so small. They crab meat was fresh, the rice was good but come on, $8 for such a small portion? The yellowtail sushi was fresh but again, very small and thin. I mean almost paper thin.

The filet mignon sushi was something that sounded interested so I decided to try it. The filet was seared for about a minute each side so it was very rare. It was a bit chewy, not tender as filet should be. But an interesting mix of flavors and texture. I'm not sure if I would order this again.

One thing I'm sure of, the service was very slow. I couldn't believe how long we had to wait to order food and how long it took for the food to arrive. I understand the restaurant had to serve 40-50 people, but it's can't be that tough and slow.

I would not go back to Itacho again. While the food is pretty good, the portions are so small and the service is terrible. Why is there any need to go back?

Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant

Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant
811 Wilshire Blvd
Ste 2100
Los Angeles
213-236-9600

Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant is on the 21st floor of a downtown LA office building. An awesome view to the east awaits you after you get off the elevator and damn good food awaits you when you are seated. If you're like me and didn't know what robata is, the server said robata is grilled meats Japanese style. I was really impressed with the quality of the food at Takami.



I got the Takami edamame, $6, sauteed soy beans in garlic, butter, and soy sauce. WOW was this awesome. Worth the extra $2 from the regular edamame. A wonderful sweet, robust sauce to go with the soy beans. I would come back here just for the Takami edamame.



Yellowtail sushi, $6. Very fresh yellowtail, nice flavor and texture. The yellowtail is sliced very thin and long. A bit pricey but I still enjoyed it.



Japanese tacos, $15. Gyoka skin filled with spicy tuna, crab, shrimp, avocado and in a spicy mango sauce. I didn't find the mango sauce to be spicy but the tacos were filled with tons of spicy tuna, crab, a huge piece of shrimp and fresh avocado. A crispy skin made this a nice mixture of flavors and textures.



Baked king crab roll, $10, king crab with dynamite sauce in a soy paper. Very fresh king crab with lots of sweet flavorful king crab. The dynamite sauce was a mildly sweet flavor.

Service was very good. From the server to the bartender, I met my friend at the bar, to the host/hostess, very professional friendly service.

I would go back to Takami anytime. Part of Takami is an open air restaurant on the 21st floor. If you are scared of heights, not the place to go. But very good service, great food, and a wonderful view. You can't beat that.