Sushi Zo

Sushi Zo

9824 National Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90034

sushizo.us

Yelp

Boy have I been wanting to try out Sushi Zo for a long time.  It has been on my radar ever since I started to appreciate really high quality sushi, and when I became willing to drop a couple hundies on one meal.  Sushi Zo ain't cheap, and so it was a bit jarring to arrive and find it situated in a ghetto strip mall.  I mean, it's not like it was a surprise.  I always do my research, but reading about it and seeing it for myself are two very different things.  For a Saturday night, the place was pretty empty for a 7:30 reservation.  Slowly, parties began to trickle in, but it was by no means crowded.  Overlord and Carnivorous Lush joined BHD and I for a parade of sushi.  I'll keep the editorial brief since sushi is but a simple food.

Miso Soup
Standard fare.

Kumamoto Oyster homemade ponzu
This was our first taste of Zo's homemade ponzu which I liked at first.  BHD was a big fan of it, but after a while I found it a tad too sweet for my liking.  The oyster was lovely.

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Totoraku

Totoraku
10610 Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Yelp

I previously blogged about Totoraku, or what I referred to as the "secret beef restaurant."  Well if you look on Yelp, Totoraku isn't much of a secret to the 209 Yelpers who posted the mostly 5 star reviews.  But the policy still remains. You cannot eat here unless you are one of Oyama-san's "regular customers."  I've been here now 4 times, so I think that qualifies me as "regular" enough.  Honestly, each time hasn't always been worth the $$$$.  Smooth Obturator, who was my original "in" to Totoraku, says Oyama-san just "phones it in" sometimes.  So I was pleased to bring Fishing Zebra Man here, and have one of my best experiences.  I must say that this time was just as good as the first time, if not better.  

While every meal at Totoraku is reliably unchanging, the same cannot be said for the appetizers which have been different every time.  They are usually stunning on a presentation level, but can be a little lackluster or weird compared with the main course of meat upon meat.  This time, however, I was delighted by the presentation of little bites.

Shrimp with Caviar - simple with a zing of ocean salinity from the caviar

Black Sesame Tofu - smooth and nutty

Japanese Sea Bass - really clean and fresh

Okra squid, flying fish eggs - slimy okra paired with the firm texture of squid

Candy Stripped Fig prosciutto di parma, goat cheese - This was probably my favorite bite of the lot.  The sweet figs, the salty prosciutto, and the bit of stinky goat cheese made for a sophisticated and standout bite.

Egg mashed yams, crispy anchovy - I definitely liked the crispy fishy dried anchovy, which was a nice contrast to the soft sweet mashed yams.

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A-Frame

After Roy Choi's big success with Kogi and Chego, A-Frame was his next attempt at bringing his style of Korean meets LA, street, soul, all the while keeping it real, to Angelenos.  I was supremely impressed at his offering during my first visit in 2010.  I had been back maybe 2 more times since then with each visit impressing me just a little bit less.  I've accepted that maybe I cannot be impressed by the same trick pony?  Maybe other Angelenos have been feeling similarly about A-Frame, possibly driving Roy Choi to change things up.  A-Frame made the recent change from "modern picnic" to "modern Hawaiian picnic."  The menu feels like they took some of the old menu items and reinvented it with a Hawaiian twist.  So of course I had to call up my Hawaiian buddy, Luau Bear, to get the low down on A-Frame's Hawaiian authenticity.  The other bears joined in of course, Panda Bear, Mani Bear, Buff Bear, and Farm Bear.

Big John Chili Rice Cakes beef chili, crispy korean rice cakes, white cheddar, sour cream, chive, pineapple

I don't remember there being chili on the previous menu, but this looked interesting enough.  It was pretty heavy between the hearty chili and the chewy rice cakes.  The cheese and sour cream didn't help offset the big load here.  It was tasty, but maybe had too much going on.

Poke Sampler
Shrimp, citrus, blood orange
Tuna, wasabi mayo, cucumbers, edamame
The tuna with wasabi mayo was also heavy and needed some restraint.  I'm not a fan of overly mayo-ed foods.  We all preferred the citrusy and lighter shrimp poke.

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The Tasting Kitchen

I was doing SO well and totally getting caught up on my blogging and THEN...I moved into a black frickin' hole for a solid 2 weeks.  Some people say it's totally refreshing to be off the grid for a while.  Those people are not just crazy, they are CUR-RAZY!  I burned through my month's data plan in 4 days because all I had was my phone tethering me to the REAL world.  But not to worry dear readers, just because I lived in an internet dead zone doesn't mean I my appetite died off too.  I have the food baby to prove it!

Dinner with the Bear crew is turning out to be great fun these days.  We're all slowing making that transition from overworked and underfed to underworked and overfed.  Buff Bear, Panda Bear, and Luau Bear are soon approaching the end to their terms of indentured servitude.  They will soon join the ranks of Farm Bear, Little Bear, and myself as gainfully employed citizens who get raped in taxes every year by good old Uncle Sam.  Welcome to adulthood!  I recommend easing the sting of reality with a tall glass of wine and new and delicious foods.

Gnocco Fritto salumi, burrata

I recently had a version of fried dough + cheese + cured meats at The Factory Kitchen.  I guess this was a do-it-yourself version.  I liked that the dough wasn't sweet, like it was at The Factory Kitchen.  It was fun to have the meat and cheese this way, but honestly some crusty chewy bread is always a great option too.

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Sushi Tsujita

It's so awesome how Little Osaka, or the area on the Westside I'm used to referring to as "Sawtelle," has totally exploded into this mecca of delicious Japanese-centric dining destinations.  I'm actually envious and wish I could turn back the clock to be a UCLA student now.  Back in the day, the only thing I really went there for was Hurry Curry.  Volcano House was also a popular hang out for their ultra milky milk teas.  There was Sawtelle Kitchen, which has since closed.  Asahi Ramen, which has been able to stay open all these years to my shock, served a totally mediocre bowl of ramen.  Everything else was either too pricey for the poor college student that I was back then, or just meh.  Now there's all these new and hot places like Tsujita Ramen, and its new high end sister sushi restaurant Sushi Tsujita.  The place is omakase only with a choice between $120, $150, and $180 menus.  Triple T, Smooth Obturator, Quadruple T, and I went for the mid range option.  Obviously, this place ain't cheap.  

Agedashi Tofu sesame tofue, bonito, ginger

While usually a huge fan of agedashi tofu, I found their take on this with a heavy hand on sesame to be a bit odd.  I guess I'm a traditionalist here.

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Sushi Sushi

The birthday festivities continued with my birthday at Sushi Sushi.  Originally, Smooth Obturator wanted to go to Maude or Trois Mec, but was unable to snag a rezzie.  No worries because Smooth Obturator fell back on his trusty Sushi Sushi.  Let's be honest, LA is riddled with expensive sushi places.  Smooth Obturator and Triple T have been to many of them, but Sushi Sushi is the stand out spot for them.  It might be hard to take a place called Sushi Sushi seriously, but the sushi here is SERIOUS.  For omakase, I was supremely stuffed.  I'm not sure if it was because it was towards the end of the night and the chef was trying to clean house or all the beers he was drinking was causing him to be excessively generous.

Squid
I never had raw baby squid like this before.  I guess squid has some innards and guts that area usually removed when you buy them in the store?  I'm actually not totally sure, but something was different tasting about it and it felt like I was eating squid guts but it was so delicious!  Not off or fishy tasting. It was also lightly dressed in some ponzu.  Wow, I couldn't believe squid could taste this way.

Tuna okra, quail egg

Okra is really slimy and this preparation of it reminded me of why people dislike it (I'm looking at you, Tom Colicchio).  I actually don't mind the slime, which was actually magnified by the added raw egg.  

Geoduck roe

The fresh salty sweetness of the geoduck was well matched with the pile of roe.  Maybe too much roe, though I'm actually begin to appreciate it.

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Tar & Roses

Welcome to the first post of 2014.  Granted this meal happened many weeks back in 2013, but better late than never.

I'll admit that ever since Eleven Madison Park, I've been unenthusiastic about trying new restaurants in LA, expecting disappointment at every corner.  How could anything ever top EMP?  But Tar & Roses showed me that food doesn't have to be all fancy and fine dining to knock my socks off.  I went to Tar & Roses before and after EMP, and both times I was thoroughly impressed.  The first time I went with Miss Rheeeeee and Me So Hairy, but I forgot my camera.  What a crime to miss out documenting this excellent meal, so I came back with Smooth Obturator and Triple T.  I had to call 4 weeks in advance to get a Friday night reservation!

Bruschetta & Charcuterie

Heirloom Cherry Tomato burrata, basil

Woodroasted Eggplant feta, pickled tomato, mint

Duck Liver Pate frisee, pickled radish

If you know me, you know I love places that serve up an awesome charcuterie board.  I can't actually say the charcuterie was that memorable since the meats selection wasn't all that exciting, salumi, american prosciutto, and american ham.  We chose a few bruchettas which were delicious, my favorite was probably the tomato one.  Smooth Obturator also picked a cheese, which I think was probably a gorgonzola, stinky, salty, well balanced by the nuts, pickled veggies, and dried apricots.  

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Fundamental LA

If you know me, you probably know I'm not a huge fan of Dine LA.  First of all, I haven't had very good experiences.  Second of all, I'd rather spend more money to get what I want than to be restricted to a prix fixe menu for less money.  What can I say?  I'm particular about my food and I don't mind paying for it.  That being said, I made reservations for Fundamental LA not knowing it was Dine LA week, but we decided to partake in the offering anyways because it pretty much included most of the things we would have ordered anyways.  Since there were 3 of us, we were able to order 1 of everything off the Dine LA menu.

Requisite open kitchen shot

Summer Salad mesclun greens, hazelnut, white nectarine, celery, champagne vin
I could have made this at home!  Really not much special going on here, and I would have expected the nectarines to be sweeter.  Fun fact, Oregon produces 99% of the U.S. hazelnut crops!

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Picca

Oh Picca, why did you have to disappoint me so?  I had such high hopes for this place.  Blogger after blogger extoled the culinary accomplishments of the modern Peruvian fare here.  It was top on my list of "to-try" LA restaurants.  I even recommended this restaurant to my Triple F and Running Man during their visit down here, solely based on the reviews of all the bloggers.  Running Man was sorely unimpressed.  Triple F being more sunshine than dark cloud, was slightly more positive, but wasn't really crazy about the place.

Finally, I managed to get a group together for a visit.  Teety, Soprano Man, The Face Puncher, Quack Man T, and myself gathered for fun filled dinner.  We didn't really know what to order and in what quantity.  So out of our laziness, we opted for the omakase.  Maybe that wasn't the best decision.

Causa Sushi scallops, mentaiko
I would say this was probably one of the best dishes of the night.  I loved the take on "sushi."  Instead of rice, the proteins were sitting on top of little well seasoned potato cakes.  The scallops were fresh with just a bit of deliciousness fishiness from the roe.

Toro Ceviche leche de tigre
This was just the start of the leche de tigre overload in the omakase.  That stuff is incredibly tart.  A little bit goes a long way but some dishes were overwhelmed with them.  I can't even recall if the toro had that signature butteriness since there was just so much sauce.

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Nanbankan

I meet up with Big Willie for the first time in a long time.  It's amazing how you can live just minutes away from someone and still never see them.  We go way back, back to the days when were wild and free.  Now were just a pair of old tame retired senior citizens, retreating to our respective niches in life.  Me? Obviously it's with food.  For him, its anything that involves a paddle and water. 

Big Willie suggested Nanbankan, which used to be a very frequent haunt of his.  It was nice to not have to think about or look up places to eat.  Sometimes it's just a more relaxing experience when you're just told when and where to be.  It's even better when the place is supposed to be good, so you don't expect disappointment from wasted stomach real estate.

Nanbankan serves up your standard yakitori fare.  I'm slowly expanding my horizons when it comes to this genre of Japanese food and find that Nanbankan is far superior to Honda-Ya in Downtown.  The vibe is certainly different, being a little more posh, modern, and quiet.  Honda-Ya is better for big groups of friends and late night eating and drinking.

Veggies
These were great to munch on before the real food came.  It was also nice as a palate cleanser in between dishes.

Miso sauce
Of course I was dipping the veggies in this wonderful miso sauce.  It was sharply salty, but soothingly sweet at the same time.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
The asparagus had the right amount of crunch and tenderness.  The bacon added some good smokey salt.
Beef Tongue
It was tender and juicy and charred well.

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Hiko Sushi

So I actually came to Hiko for a birthday treat from Smooth Obturator and Triple T.  Hiko had been on my radar for some time after some really rave reviews from Ghetto Booty Talks A Lot.  This was many years ago, when he said Hiko was some of the BEST sushi he has ever eaten.  So finally I had an opportunity to try this place, which oddly enough is closed on the weekends.  To me, it seems strange to close on the weekends (the busiest dining time), but maybe that means the sushi is super fresh since fisherman aren't working on the weekends supposedly.

Tuna
I've never been a huge fan of tuna since its pretty tasteless.  To help offset the bland nature of this fish, it is often bathed in a sea of ponzu, topped with finely chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds.  I thought this preparation was pretty standard, but I still think Sugarfish edges this one out.  There is just something so tasty about their ponzu sauce.


Yellowtail
Luscious and delicious.

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Lukshon

LA seems to be infected with "yellow fever" for Asian food, or some interpretation of it.  With WP24, A-Frame, Red Medicine, Aburiya Torinako, Spice Table, and now Lukshon, the LA scene is blowing up with all that is deliciously eastern in flavors and foods.



The restaurant is wonderfully sleek and modern.  The menu is not meant for vegetarians.  It's full of meat and seafood starting off with a selection of raw and hot small plates.  Since Soprano Man is adverse to anything uncooked, we stuck with mostly cooked appetizers.  Our waiter suggested 2-3 selections from the "big" or entree sized category and then we supplemented with some rice, noodles, and vegetable sides.  I think we, or rather I, did a good job at ordering for our group of 5.  We found our meal quite balanced and everyone was full, but not ripping at the seams, at the end of the night.

Shrimp Toast rock shrimp, cilantro, chilies, tiny croutons
I would say our table is full of critics as tough, if not tougher, than the judges of Top Chef.  Unfortunately, we are definitely lacking anyone as hot as Padma in a bikini.  As soon as these lovely fried balls arrived to our table, some declared that these were not in fact toasts.  Ball or toast, nothing would prevent any of us from shoving these into our hungry pie holes.  The Attending (aka Tofu) did not appreciate much shrimp-iness.  This is true, the balls did feel like loosely composed shrimp plus extra fillers.  I still enjoyed the crispiness, overall flavor, and spicy tangy dipping sauce and would still order them again.


Beef Tartare pickled cucumbers, chiles, onions, herbs, aromatic rice powder
This reminded of the flavors found in larb, which is a dish of ground chicken, herbs, lime, chili, fish sauce, and rice powder.  The seasoning was much more subtle and refined.  Each bite was perfectly composed.  Soprano Man really missed out on this one.

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Fraiche

There's been a lot of buzz about Fraiche and its new chef Ben Bailey.  Despite the 3 star ratings on Yelp, I had it on my list of to-try places even before Ben Bailey arrived because I really enjoyed their offering at Taste of Beverly Hills.  Plus, Wontuan gave it his seal of approval.  So with their new chef acquisition and all the blogger buzz, I just had to give it a try.  Smooth Obturator and Triple T didn't have much expectations going in, so were pleasantly surprised by the solid eats.

Brussel Sprouts chorizo, manchego, dates, almonds, piquillo
Although brussel sprouts can do no wrong these days, I was underwhelmed by this salad.  Smooth Obturator kept insisting the salad was good if you ate all the components together.  Try as I may, I just didn't see the harmony in all the ingredients.  I craved a bit more dressing to just bring it all together.  I'll give the dish props for using an ingredient not usual thought of in salads!


Baby Beets house made ricotta, orange, pistachio
Triple T seemed to like her dish of beets.  I'm always a bit put off when beets are not red, but yellow or orange.  They're just not as "wow" because sometimes, like in this case, they look like sad apricots or orange slices.  They tasted fine, slight sweet with meaty texture.  Eaten with the ricotta and arrugula made for some flavorful bites.

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Waterloo & City

Dine LA used to be an event that inspired excitement.  What delicious new foods would I discover?  What great deals would I get?  After many a Dine LA has come and gone, I have just become very tired of the prix fixe snooze fests.  I'd rather just pay the extra money to have the more interesting dishes of my choosing.  Nonetheless, Dine LA still gets Angelenos all a buzz.  I tried to go with a restaurant I've been meaning to try, but one that also had a little bit more of an interesting menu.  I'm so tired of seeing some roasted chicken, braised short ribs, and broiled salmon as the 3 main entrees to choose from.  Waterloo & City didn't have any of that.  Grumpy Bear, Panda Bear and Little Bear all gathered to see what Waterloo & City had to offer.

Pan Fried Blood Cake fried organic egg, toasted pain poilane
Totally sounds unappetizing huh?  Grumpy Bear and Panda Bear ordered this at the reassurance from our waitress that it would be delicious.  It was in fact pretty tasty.  It was very rich, meaty, and only had the slightest hint of an offal taste.  It seems like slapping a sunny side up egg on anything makes it that much more fancy.  I'm not quite sure it always adds flavor, like in this dish.


Potted Pork & Truffle Parfait toasted brioche, cornichons
I never thought I'd say it, but I think I might be getting tired of pate, terrine, galantines, etc.  Despite that, this was still pretty good.  It was perfectly smooth with more than just a salty livery flavor.  I think the truffle part added something different, something slightly sweet.  I didn't like the thin layer of solidified white fat on the top, and neither did Grumpy Bear who ate a big hunk of it.

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Shamshiri Grill

The decision to eat at Shamshiri Grill was riddled with bickering and mudslinging.  Between myself, WonTuan, Tofu, The Face Puncher, and The Communist, we spent a whole afternoon wavering between Indonesian (suggested by The Communist) vs. Persian food (craved by WonTuan and me) for the evening's dinner.  Soprano Man was lucky enough to be ignorant of the whole ordeal.   Under severe pressure and threats of violence against her life, The Communist bowed out and Persian food it was!

I'm not quite sure why Shamshiri Grill only has 3.5 stars on Yelp.  I do rather enjoy the food as have most other people I've brought here.  I may even like its neighbor up the street a bit more, Flame.   In any case, we came, we ate, we conquered!

Shirazi Salad diced cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, parsley, lemon dressing
The Face Puncher and I took over the reigns when it came to order.  Men are extremely useless sometimes.  I think we did a good job with regard to balance and portions.  I never had this exact salad before, but recognized the flavors.  It reminded me of tabouleh, but with cucumbers.  I really found it refreshing.


Basmati Rice
Soprano Man exclaimed "Oh look, there's cheese on the rice!"  I said no, Soprano Man, that is Saffron infused rice.  The Face Puncher did not believe me, but WonTuan helped me convince the culinary savages that it was not in fact cheese, but saffron infused rice.  There was plenty of basmatic rice to go around.

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A-Frame

I'm not usually into to trying brand new restaurants.  I like to allow the reviews and word of mouth to build up before I go jump in.  My stomach space is precious real estate these days!  I can't be wasting it on some bad caloric investments.  But when it came to Roy Choi (Chef/owner of Kogi and Chego) and his newest venture, A-frame, which just opened a few days ago, I thought "This is a risk I'm willing to take!"  After reading Grubstreet's review outloud for Smooth Obturator and Triple T to hear, we decided it would be a good choice for a Sunday night.  Smooth Obturator is really particular about eating certain foods on certain days of the week after reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential.  I've learned to be wary of ordering mussels at less than reputable establishments because there is a good chance they are sitting in their own urine, and not to eat the "fish special" on Mondays.

We could smell delicious Asian aromas wafting from the restaurant as we approached, a mix of grilled/fried deliciousness with notes of tangy, sweet, savory, and spicy.  The hostess was super friendly and introduced me to Roy himself, at the nudging of my brother.  I got the whole "I'm a foodblogger" introduction.  Somehow that seems to change things a bit to chefs.  I think they understand the power of foodblogs.  We can make you or break you.  I probably can't because I only have 5 readers.  In any case, he seemed to relate to the name of my blog!!

I could regurgitate the concept summary from A-Frame's menu, but in short, A-Frame = MAN FOOD.  A-Frame = GRUBBIN'.

Kitchen Fries purple okinawan sweet potatoes, yam, korean sweet potato, kimchi sour cream, sea salt
Before I even got my introduction, Roy served us these, on the house!  It was pretty dark, and they honestly looked like ugly black logs.  Of course, they tasted just fine.  A mix of sweet potatoes but I really couldn't tell them all apart.  They lacked that additional battering on the exterior but still had a light crunch.  The kimchi sour cream was a nice departure from you're regular ketchup or mayo based dip.  The kimchi flavor was quite subtle.


Moooooo Kimchee cubed white radishes, pickled
We went pretty heavy on the proteins and only had these pickled radishes as our side dish/palate cleansers.  They were refreshing and perfectly pickled.  Smooth Obturator kept insisting there was some sort of herb or spice that added a different flavor.  Cinnamon?  Cloves?  Nutmeg?  I don't know.  I would have appreciated bigger pieces.  They were hard to fork or even scoop, so I was forced to use my fingers to pop them in my mouth.

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