I was pretty excited when we found out we got in given the difficulty in getting a reservation. He specializes in aged fish, aging them several weeks (some of the pieces we got were aged over 4 weeks). You can find out more about Sushi Kimura from the below post on Luxeat: Kouji Kimura: the genius of extreme fish aging - Luxeat
Kimura-san had just returned from a two-week trip to Europe, and I saw after my meal the he served more “fresh” sushi and less jukusei sushi - what he is known for. So to be frank, we might not have gotten the full “Kimura” experience. All I know is that the meal was delicious and one of the best sushi meals I’ve had. Kimura-san himself is friendly and jovial, and his mother, who speaks excellent English and serves drinks, was so warm and sweet! Kimura-san has mastered how to age the fish by adding flavor without any of the side effects.
Let’s get to the food:
Sitting in front of the sushi counter as the anticipation builds:
Recommended sake from Kimura-san:
On to the otsumami:
Hamaguri broth - simple, yet delicious
Oyster butter
Soba with two kinds of uni - this was amazing, and tied with Ifuki for the best soba I’ve ever had
Grilled nameta-garei (slime flounder - had to look this up!)
Decadent Shirako with rice - tasted like risotto
Crab “shiokara” aged over 4 weeks - I loved this, but it had a touch of ammonia, and my dining partner thought it was a bit too pungent
Now on to the nigiri!
Kimura-san’s rice (I thought it used akazu, but now have been corrected and told it’s a mix) is powerful and made to suit the aged fish he serves. The first piece of nigiri is just the rice with nori - still delicious! This was probably my favorite sushi rice of the three places I went on this trip.
Thick-sliced ginger to keep up with the sushi
Sawara - this was so rich it tasted like butter
Isaki
Sayori - I always love needlefish, and this was a particularly lovely version
Katsuo
Kawahagi with kimo (liver) aged 4 days - we had this at every sushi restaurant, and this was my favorite version
Saba
Hokkigai
I thought this was originally just ikura, but you can tell that it’s more red - later found it’s red salmon roe, or “sujiko” aged over 4 weeks
Buri with shallots (you can’t see) - the flavor combination was amazing; this might have been my favorite piece of nigiri on my trip
Iwashi - yeah you know it looks good - check out that color!
Makajiki (blue marlin) - it’s his specialty and aged for a while (forgot to ask)
Tamago
Bonus round - they asked if I wanted any more, and I asked for kanpachi (I really wanted another piece of buri)
Grapes of Wrath 
All in all, Kimura met or exceeded expectations, and if I were fortunate enough to score another reservation, I would gladly return. Setting aside the difficulty in getting a res, the cost, and the fact that everybody was taking pictures of their food :), it really felt like being invited to somebody’s home for an amazing sushi meal.
PSA: Don’t shoot me if this doesn’t come to fruition, but Kimura-san told us that he’ll be in LA next year for the LA Times Food Bowl!
