11/12/09

Best Sushi in LA - Hands Down

by rkw219

I used to be a regular at Sassabone back at its old location. When we discovered a place that also did a "Trust the Chef" about 30 minutes closer to our home, my family decided to try Nozawa. Over the course of the past 2 years, Nozawa has easily surpassed Sassabone in food quality, service, decor & general vibe.

The fish is always perfect - fresh, melt in your mouth, not the least bit "fishy" or tough, as most sushi is when prepared in a mediocre way aka most everywhere else. The fish itself it so fresh and delicious that Nozawa doesn't need to drench it in spicy mayos or add crazy ingredients. If that's what you're looking for, go somewhere else.

Nozawa is about the fish, the homemade wasabi, and the ponsu sauce. Once you go Nozawa, you never go back. I can't eat other sushi now. I've been spoiled!

• Pros: Freshest fish, quiet, calm, simple, clean flavor, quick
• Cons: expensive (but worth it)

05/24/09

These Reviews are Hysterical

by DecentPallette

If one takes the time to notice, all Japanese fine art is essentially minimalistic. Be it poetry, music, calligraphy or food, the Japanese aesthetic involves a minimal structure, rigidly defined, where the subtlest deviation from the norm speaks tomes.The Art of Sushi is to approach impossibly high standards which can never be realized; a meal can be evaluated only by how close it comes to the theoretical perfection. Sushi is pickled rice, just sticky enough to barely hold itself together (if you are one to dip the rice in soy sauce, stop reading and buy at Von's), and sushi (rice) must be served immediately (yes, warm). As for rolls, the only rolls served traditionally at a BAR are tekka and kappa, unless the chef decides to serve you something to sample in a hand roll. That being said, Sushi Nozawa is church for eating raw fish. LA is a huge market for sashimi grade fish, tons of GREAT fish to choose from every day, but Nozawa-san gets to pick first. So if what you want is a roll filled with three kinds of seafood with five different pieces of fish wrapped around the outside, covered in sauce, DON'T EAT HERE. On the other hand, if you want to eat mindblowing fish in an environment designed not to distract your senses, this is the place to go. Jay Patterson

• Pros: Nozawa-san knows how to pick a fish.....
• Cons: Occasionally a customer who is looking for something else.

03/11/09

To my surprise, Nozawa was a failure in my book

by JIstrin

As to the citysearch review, my girlfriend and I went to Sushi Nozawa last night and were completely surprised when we walked in. First off, the second you walk in you witness a packed house that was DEAD silent. Everyone was whispering and it was extremely uncomfortable. We sat down at a table and ordered (minimum of 4 dishes per person). After about 3-5 minutes the waiter came back with a large dish with all of our sushi looking anything but interesting. So QUIETELY we ate, and the fish was fresh, maybe even the freshest I've had. But, it was nothing special, nothing to enhance the taste of the fish. I ordered the house cold sake and when we got the bill it was $90, I realized their house sake is $25 a bit much and that they forgot to give us something we ordered. We were still very hungry and headed over to iWata for more. Check out iWata if you want a great experience for a great price.

• Pros: Fresh fish
• Cons: Atmosphere, Price, Service