I came here because I met a Japanese-American gentlemen late at night at Suehiro who loves this place. A little more research and turns out this place is well liked by the Japanese locals. Heck the guy next to me tonight also came because his Japanese friend loves coming here. And this guy is also a fan:
It is on the top floor at Weller Court in Little Tokyo. A perfect night would be dinner here and then live jazz at Blue Whale. Or if you are like me, Kinokuniya Bookstore before dinner and jazz.
The restaurant itself is very small and intimate. Besides the sushi bar, there is maybe 4 tables and a small private room. Some traditional decoration and a TV on NHK showing Sumo wrestling and later a travel show in Shanghai. All of the waitresses are wearing traditional outfits, one of them catches my eye as very cute and attractive but I digress.
I opted for the 12 piece omakase without the sashimi.
Out came some small dishes:
Slimy but tasty but very slimy. Did I say it was slimy?
Refreshing!
That pickled smelt and onion was great. I wanted more. Maybe in a sushi roll?
Under those veggies is seared scallops!
Chawanmushi.
Miso Soup.
Honestly I was little disappointed it was served all at once.
Maybe I am wrong but the body heat from forming the sushi in the palms gives it a perfect temperature, the later pieces the rice got cold. The fish were good though. The sweet shrimp was one of the best I had. I regret not getting an extra. At Mako, they make their own soy sauce and it went well with the tunas. Also speaking of sauces, the yuzu here is great, not overly tart.
Thanks to the Sushi School thread I ordered some off the menu items:
Torotaku. This was great. Ordered another as a matter of fact. And it’s just pretty to look at. A small drop of that homemade soy, awesome.
Too lazy to add this before the torotaku, but this oyster shot was nice.
Some part of a clam sushi. LOL I dunno
Kanpyo. I like this, slightly sweet and salty.
Toro Hamachi. Wow! Thanks again Sushi School thread. This is stunning!
Spanish Mack. Mako-san insisted. Very good.
Dessert.
Like I said in the other thread come here with some knowledge of sushi and Japanese food/ingredients and you will be awarded. Mako-san is very friendly but even more if you speak Japanese, he was hamming it up with the guy next to me . I should have bought him a beer! He has regulars and I am sure he makes them off menu items.
My dining neighbor got a plate of pickles, couldn’t keep my eyes off the blue colored pickles, they were beautiful.