Sushi Sushi

Probably the most authentic Sushi restaurant in LA

by Bingatron at Citysearch

I can see why people would be upset about the "bad" service. Foodwise this is the closest thing to AUTHENTIC high end sushi in LA that I have experienced. I have been living in Tokyo for 20 plus years.

I visit LA several times a year for business and was very surprised when I was taken here. Kind of on the expensive side and they are NOT very friendly but that is no different from many snooty places in Japan.

Sushi Sushi would fall into the snobby Sushi category in Tokyo where they are not very friendly and the customer is expected to rely upon Itamae san's (Sushi chef's) expertise.

I have been to Sasabune, Sushi Roku, Matsuhisa, Katsuya, etc. since my clients use me as a barometer for Japanese food. Those places are fun and have decent food but are more glitzy and Western. Nothing wrong with that since they do great business.

If you go into Sushi Sushi with those expectations, this is not the place for you. They definitely have a preference for Japanese (speaking) clientele which shows in the change of attitude when they realized we were from Japan.

Concerning wasabi and shoyu, this is consistent with high end places here in Japan as well. Firstly, it's not common to ask for more/extra wasabi. You can ask for no wasabi but it is uncommon for Japanese to ask for extra wasabi when eating sushi.

Some of the more delicate cuts have a ponzu sauce or rock salt so as to NOT overwhelm the flavor of the fish meat.

If you ordered Kobe/marbled beef at a restaurant and asked for A1 steak sauce or ketchup, you would get a disapproving look. They would feel you are killing the flavor of the meat.

Putting so much shoyu on your sushi that the rice breaks apart or having nearly green with wasabi is considered how non Japanese eat Sushi. So the people at Sushi Sushi were probably offended if you ask for either or both.

Anyway, food here is very good but expensive but probably not for everyone since they are definitely not warm and fuzzy which is who they want to present themselves, as a place for only "serious" sushi eaters.

Worth trying but if you don't enjoy it, there are plenty of other places to spend your hard earned cash in LA.

P.S. I find Matsuhisa very mediocre for the prices which is also why there are NO Japanese menus or Japanese customers.

That's my two yen!

WORST SUSHI EXPERIENCE EVER!

by bach1116 at Citysearch

.My girlfriend and I are sushi fanatics. We are "regulars" (servers and chefs recognize/greet us by our first names) at Matsuhisa, Sushi Zo, Mori Sushi and Sasabune. We happily spend $300-400 per visit on excellent sushi not including drinks at least once a week.

I was skeptical about this place, first because of its name and location (on a street full of cheap franchise restaurants), but I've decided to give it a try after reading some of the good reviews here. But after my visit last night, I honestly doubt if any of these people with good review even know what sushi is! I have never written reviews of any kind before, but my experience was so horrible, I even created an ID today to write this.

When I entered the restaurant, servers were very pleasant and polite, and they were great all throughout the evening, but it was the food and the chef that hugely disappointed both of us.

First, when we sat on the bar, the chef did not greet us or even look at us, not to mention asking what we wanted. After wondering about what to do (whether to keep waiting or get his attention) for 5 minutes, I said "excuse me chef, we're ready", but his reaction was none. He didn't even look at us and just said to himself "Go ahead, I'm listening". He wasn't even making anything for anybody. The whole restaurant had only 5 customers including ourselves - clearly not busy. So I was a little ticked-off from the beginning by his attitude.

Second, I've never been to a sushi restaurant where they tell us NOT to use soy sauce and don't even serve wasabi. (clearly, they don't know the importance of a good-quality wasabi to a high-level sushi experience). On their "instruction sheet", it says that they're trying to keep the "traditional Japanese style" sushi, so they put "adequate amount" of wasabi and soy sauce before serving them to the customers. I lived in Tokyo for 5 years, and I know that it's not the traditional Japanese style NOT to serve soy sauce and wasabi. But when I first read this "instruction sheet", I was like "oh, okay, this could be something different". Then I saw the chef dipping the sashimi onto the little "jar" of soy sauce!! The amount of rice was extremely ill-proportioned (too little) and was also seasoned with soy sauce!! Are you kidding me?? When I finally tasted it, all I could taste was soy sauce!!

To be fair, the freshness of the sashimi was OKAY at best. You could get this kind of sashimi at the sushi section at your local grocery store. It's definitely NOT the quality you'd pay 65, 90, 125 for your omakase.

Third, the chef forgot our order of particular menu two times and when I asked him about it (after sitting around literally for 10 minutes without being served), instead of saying "sorry", he said "it gets busy around here" as if I am the one who's at fault for asking about it. What a terrible attitude!!! Once again, the restaurant was NOT busy. Only 5 people in there!! I just could not believe my ears and the kind of attitude coming from a Japanese sushi chef.

Even though we ordered the $125 omakase, we asked for the check and left after tasting only 4 sushi. They were just too salty and soaked in soy sauce for us to handle any more.

It was a TOTAL waste of our money and time. We will NEVER, EVER go there again.

• Pros: Friendly Servers
• Cons: Everything Else

Authentic Japanese Sushi!

by LAWestsideFoodie at Citysearch

For consistently great sushi (so great they named it twice), I can wholeheartedly recommend Sushi Sushi on South Beverly Drive near Olympic Boulevard. However, this place is not for everyone. If you like creative California-style sushi rolls (think "rainbow rolls" or "dynamite rolls") you won't find any of that here.

This is a Tokyo-style no-nonsense sushi establishment that caters to customers who want an authentic Japanese experience. Perhaps that is why typically a third to a half of the customers appear to be Japanese.

The owner/operator is another reason this place is not for everyone. His expertise is to buy some of the freshest fish, many of which are flied in from Japan, and present the fish beautifully. He is a person who takes a lot pride in what he is doing, and wants to provide an authentic experience. I give him kudos to stick to his beliefs despite the market pull to cater to a sometimes non-traditional customer base.

However, be warned....he is not a "warm and fuzzy" guy who will make any effort to make your visit more pleasant. If you ask him what he recommends, he'll point to the sign behind him showing the day's specials. I have been told that if you ask for extra wasabi, and he'll explain that they put the appropriate amount on the sushi, so you shouldn't need any more.

But the reason to come here is the food..and did I mention the beer? If you like beer, I recommend you start your culinary experience with an ice-cold draft beer. I have actually seen floating ice in some of the beers I have ordered, which are always served in frozen mugs...very refreshing!

If you are an adventurous eater, you can start your meal with an appetizer featuring a Japanese pasta dish. Don't worry, this is not your LA fusion dish. This

is a dish featuring squid sushi cut in spaghetti-like strips covered with globs of sweet and salty uni(sea urchin)...delicious.

Another unique dish to check out is the seared O-Toro, where a nice-sized slab of very fatty tuna is seared with a blowtorch to sizzling perfection...Japan's answer to seared fois gras!

All the sashimi and sushi are very fresh and the sashimi is particularly beautifully presented, but since I like to try different kinds of dish, I usually stay away from the sashimi, which gives you a lot of one kind of fish. Some of my favorite sushi include Zuke(marinated tuna), Hamachi(Japanese Amberjack), Uni and Albacore.

The owner likes to control what happens in this small space as much as he can. If you sit at the sushi bar in front of the other sushi chef (I have never seen more than 2 chefs including the owner at a time), and order one of the more expensive fish, the owner personally cuts the sushi and then hands it to the other chef to give to you.

His desire to control the experience is seen in the "corrections" made by the waitress staff (one of whom is his wife) correct any "inappropriate" behavior such as leaving your chopsticks on a sushi plate rather than on the small dish set out for your soy sauce.

But come here for the consistently great sushi! While it is not cheap, it is a lot less expensive than the trendier sushi joints in LA. You can eat well with 1-2 beers per guest and get out of there for about $50 per person.

• Pros: Consistently Excellent and Authentic
• Cons: Service can be unfriendly

One of the WORST Sushi Restaurants in LA

by Foodie12345 at Citysearch

I consider myself fairly experienced when it comes to sushi. I had probably the worst experience I’ve ever had at a sushi restaurant at Sushi Sushi on Beverly Dr in BH. I went in with high hopes for a relaxing sushi dinner and was more than prepared to pay for high quality in food, presentation and service. Well…Unfortunately, the head sushi chef (perhaps owner) was our chef as we sat behind the counter. He had a scowl the never left his etched and weathered face. The attitude and simply bad energy from this guy was unnerving. The sushi was mediocre at best and portions very small and only one piece at a time. Yet, be prepared to pay premium prices beyond that of any other quality sushi restaurant in the area the provides two pieces and a healthy servings be it sushi or sashimi.

Really, save your money – Sushi sushi on Beverly Dr. in Beverly Hills is at the top of my don’t go back list and certainly one that I will tell all my friends to avoid.

• Pros: Nice Setting
• Cons: Overpriced, small portions - HORRIBLE ATTITUDE

Possible head sushi chef needs an attitude adjustment

by houdins at Citysearch

After a stressful day, my boyfriend and I wanted to have a nice and relaxing dinner at Sushi Sushi, a place I've visited once before.

Well, after sitting at the sushi bar for a while we experienced the worst service. The rudness of the sushi chef was unacceptable. Talk about the "sushi natzi". This man makes Attila The Hun seem like a boyscot.

I one point, I thought my boyfriend was about to jump over the counter and adjust his nose.!

There are far too many sushi restaurants around town to have to waste your time here.

• Pros: Great Uni, if you can get it.
• Cons: Terrible attitude by chef