K&L Hollywood.
Or mail order from truesake.com (they have the 1.8 Liter bottle too), and there’s also Sakaya NY.
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this always fascinates me. i promise my intentions are lighthearted and i
am not purposely being an asshole. i’m genuinely curious:
let’s say you had been in europe, or off the grid, or just especially busy or something. a friend
says, “hey, i know a great new place, want to meet me for dinner? shibumi, eight o’clock on thursday.”
you say you’ve never heard of it, and you go, and eat the food.
did you like the food? did you have a good time?
sometimes i think the increased appreciation of food and dining culture comes with an interesting price.
i get if you want a strawberry, and somebody serves you a pork rib, yeah, that’d be disappointing. but i
often wonder if places like this – i have never been to shibumi – were called “fred’s restaurant” and the type of cuisine was
advertised as “the kind the chef likes to cook” if people wouldn’t get their knickers so twisted.
Just speaking for myself:
I, being an unrepentant FTCer, would actually go online to obtain pre-dining intel on that place before the meal. So again, I’d develop expectations about the restaurant before going into even that situation.
Perhaps its’ a malady, but I cannot recall the last time I “cold-called” on a restaurant where I’ve never been before. Heck, even with restaurants I know and love, I STILL consult the online intel on what the latest best dish is there, etc. etc. prior to my next visit.
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oh, i dig it. i do the same thing.
that said, i still think there are rewards – and i’m not saying i’m any better at it than anyone else – in judging
a restaurant on its own merits and not what the ownership or the clientele think it’s “supposed” to be.
a mediocre analogy would be the film, “million dollar baby.” i think a lot of people – and maybe i’m one of
them – went in there, even with some intel, thinking it was a reasonably typical boxing movie.
it turned out to be (SPOILER ALERT), in my mind, something very different. i did my best to gauge
my enjoyment accordingly.
anyways, just an interesting topic to me. don’t mean to hijack things.
Have you seen Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop”?
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i have not, although i think some people recommended it to me.
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(SPOILER ALERT)
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Another movie which takes a totally unexpected turn…
I don’t hate the place at all; I think it’s a chill California-Japanese lounge that’s a great drinking spot in particular, and I like that they’re taking some chances with the food. But N/naka is well-liked because Chef Nakayama is fusing Japanese ingredients with Western preparations, but doing some good justice to balancing the ingredients. Her abalone pasta, for example, is itameshi, but it’s well-balanced between the rich abalone cream sauce and bitter kaiware stems. I actually think her most successful dishes have been the ones which are not traditional washoku. I don’t think her sushi is all that good. From the intention, it’s California-inflected Japanese, a Western Kaiseki of sorts, and the menu reflects that well.
Shibumi, by its name, is invoking a Japanese aesthetic that turns on simple elegance. The concept of “shibumi” is at the heart of washoku, but it’s a tough task to pull off well. It requires really confident cooking that lets the ingredients’ inherence shine. Perhaps in LA, there has to be some middle ground because real washoku can be a bit austere. They have some more traditional preparations - e.g. an old school sauce like irizake, some funky tsukemono like nara-zuke, etc. but at times the food felt a bit busy. Nonetheless, there is potential, because the intention is there. But doing shibumi justice is very tough to do, and billing itself as kappo cuisine and calling itself Shibumi sets expectations quite high.
The Iwakagi Oyster I had, for example, was saline and meaty, but it had too much yuzu juice. Tonburi (“land caviar”) is a nice delicacy, but it was masked by the citrus.
Tai is a fish that’s prized for its delicate, clean deep flavor. Here, it was served with ume irizake, which makes a lot of sense, but there was too much myoga (young ginger) that again resulted in the main ingredient being masked. It was a very nice looking dish, but the fish was obscured by the condiments. The tai flavor was to be fortified by a gel of the fish, but in terms of overall execution, this one missed the mark a bit. If this was a seared, richer fish, this dish would be more successful, but I think the use of a delicate fish like tai was intentional.
Again, Shibumi sets the bar high for itself. They are doing much to mimic Japanese kappo food, but perhaps they’ve had to make some concessions to introduce this kind of cuisine to LA, and that’s where some may be lost in translation.
I think Gold is excited by the novelty of kappo food being tried in LA. I also never got the sense that Gold is all that knowledgable about Japanese food or washoku in particular, even if he’s a good writer.
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Interestingly, their website no longer mentions “kappo-style” cuisine (which i never thought it was) like it did when it first opened and now describes itself as: “an intimate 40 seat Japanese restaurant and bar.”
To be sure I wasn’t misremembering, I jumped into the time machine and they were still describing themselves as “kappo-style” as recently as 5/11/2017… FTC effect?
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I guess it could be an effect of FTC. I think it’s just better design and copy, though.
Interesting. I don’t think it’s an “FTC effect,” but I don’t know. Well, I do think they are in the process of finding their groove; they have the intention and ambition, and here’s to hoping they do well in realizing the potential of this kind of restaurant. I think it could do well in LA, and let’s be honest we’re not in Japan, so expectations have to be realistic. I’m interested to see how they develop.
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Oh wow, I’ve never looked at their website! How strange!
Does this mean it is ok to like this place now?? 
Had my best meal here the other night.
japanese sea bream, ginger bud, pickled plum irizake
5 year old miso
Persimmon, ginko nuts, whipped tofu
Not bad, the persimmon could have been sweeter.
Bonito
Steamed abalone, fresh mochi, ginger miso
Loved the super tender abalone paired with the even softer mochi.
Miyazaki Wagyu, nori, fresh wasabi
When I saw @Chowseeker1999’s pictures of this dish I knew it would be epic and wow it did not disappoint. Meltingly soft wagyu with super crisp nori. Perfect.
Free range chicken, wild mushroom, egg yolk sauce
Sprouted “8” grain rice, house-made miso with mushroom
pork jowl
This was so good with the rice. Fatty, tender, smoky, crispy, porky.
yahata-maki - burdock wrapped with fresh unagi
This was an Omakase special and a Kyoto classic. Fresh unagi was firm yet tender and wrapped around crunchy, chewy burdock, topped with a slightly sweet unagi sauce. So damn good.
Japanese chizu-keki, pluot
Like Uncle Tetsu’s but better
Toto
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Hi @PorkyBelly,
Nice report! 
Looks like you had a great meal. Glad you got to try the 5 year old Aged Miso (it goes pretty well with the Kamameshi rice bowls). 
And it looks like you got to try some new dishes / off-menu stuff as well. The Persimmon is new, the Free Range Chicken, Wild Mushroom and Egg Yolk Sauce looks delicious.
And the Yahata-Maki! That looks and sounds amazing! Glad Chef David / Shibumi are serving some interesting, rarer items.
And glad you liked the A5 Wagyu and the Pork Jowl! 
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I believe the persimmon dish was around last winter, I had it in Dec. 2016. Probably just a seasonal dish. The chicken / mushroom dish also looks familiar, perhaps tweaked slightly (the egg yolk sauce looks different or new).
Regardless, looks like the ship has been righted in terms of execution? The sea bream appears to be less doused in plum sauce than it had become. To be honest, I have not been back here in quite some time after some very bland and uninspired dishes, particularly after coming on multiple weekend nights with Chef David absent.
A year later, the menu looks about the same to me, but I recall that Chef David is very particular about what makes it onto the menu, so that might be part of the reason the menu feels a bit tired at times. Seems you have to get the omakase for new dishes, since those are always rotating.
Thank you for the report!
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Stopped by last night for the special “SHIBUMI X OITA SPECIAL MENU” running from Dec. 1 - 10 for $75. It features bungo wagyu beef from Oita Prefecture, Japan. I also chose the omakase beverage pairing for an additional $40, which featured two sakes from Oita and a few other drinks.
Tataki yellow tail sashimi (ponzu, daikon, green onion, ginger, chrysanthemum flower): As you might expect. The green mashup was very flavorful with bitter, floral, and acidic elements. The sake paired with this course was easy drinking and a slight sweet/floral character.
bongo gyu (grilled beef with yuzu kosh and japanese turnip): The sear they achieved here was wonderful, with a crispiness that reminded me of biting into well prepared chicken skin. Melts in the mouth. The sake paired with this course was much more full bodied than in the prior course.
organic rice with selection of house-fermented pickles (lotus, purple radish, white radish, and pumpkin):
Clean flavors, I ate some of this alone and saved the rest for the broth in the next dish
sukiyaki (simmered bungo beef, satsuma sweet potato, shiitake mushroom): Perfect dish for the winter. The beef and brother were deliciously earthy and savory, the sauce was slightly tangy, and the purple potatoes really soul warming. This is one of my favorite dishes ever at Shibumi and I’d love to have a bigger serving of this. Served with a pear cider.
spiral matcha crepe cake: [rice cream withi persimmon was also available, but I’ve had that many times before] Basically many layers of matcha pancake separated by cream and rolled up. Probably also one of my favorite ever desserts at Shibumi.
Shibumi negroni: as a digestif
Overall, a seemingly simple meal (classic Shibumi style), yet immensely satisfying. Probably could have used slightly more food for the money, but wagyu is expensive and the alcohol pours were more than generous. As noted in my post above, I had not been back to Shibumi in quite some time due to the menu being pretty stagnant and also some execution issues while Chef David was away. But this special menu was worth the visit and I left having tried two of my favorite ever dishes here.
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After my previous meal at Shibumi above renewing my interest in the place, I went again for a relaxed NYE dinner. Omakase only, priced at the usual $90, with omakase beverage pairings available for an additional fee. Nearly as strong meal overall as my last here, which is to say that I enjoyed it.
chinmi, fermented delicacy (japanese caviar - “kara sumi” and japanese scallop in koji rice): this has an earthy, salty, almost cheesy flavor to it. Quite interesting. Since tonight was omakase only with set start times, the kitchen was busy getting the same courses ready for the entire restaurant.
steamed silken tofu (crab, nori paste, fresh wasabi, chrysanthemum flower): Does not supplant the sukiyaki dish as the best I’ve had here, but this was my favorite of the night. Crab deliciously sweet, offset by the creaminess of the tofu, and a nice kick of wasabi to keep it fresh.
sashimi wild yellowtail w/ ponzu: served a bit too cold tonight, but otherwise good and the same as eaten in prior meals. Except that tonight for NYE it was dressed up with some gold flake.
miso in broth with dumpling of mushroom:
[seem to be missing a picture of this]
rice with fermented pickles, uni, and egg custard: I couldn’t resist getting uni as an add on for this meal. It was good and perhaps even a bit light in flavor. Probably could have done without this meal, especially since the custard seemed a bit bland to me, maybe as to not overpower the uni.
montana wagyu beef: Very rich, best eaten slow to savor the flavors. This dish reminded me of a wagyu steak restaurant I ate at in Tokyo. Lotus chips and fresh mochi were a nice touch.
roasted green tea ice cream, black sugar cake, chestnuts:
take home gift of lip balm made by the chef: Haven’t used it yet, but smells of citrus.
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Nothing says “Tis the Season” like lip balm!
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After multiple visits to shibumi, i’m still torn on this place. The fish here is fantastic and I could just eat any of their proteins with a bowl of rice (or 5) and be happy. But their not so japanese (hamster) staff and (lack of) hospitality has stopped me from coming back more often.
karasumi, daikon
Soft and somewhat sticky, like a sweet and briny mullet roe fruit roll-up.
aji
Despite the sloppy knife work (sergio was not in the house) this was outstanding. Firm with a clean and buttery taste, the fresh wasabi and shoyu were excellent too.
iwagaki oyster, yuzu, shiso flower, mountain caviar
The oyster was so firm and sweet it reminded me of a scallop, delicious.
house made silken tofu, ikura
shiitake mushroom and dried persimmon tempura
Not bad, but the batter wasn’t as crispy as inaba’s and surprisingly not much umami.
However, this was delicious, sweet and crispy. Kind of reminded me of sweet potato fries.
pumpkin ‘shira-ae’ whipped tofu, sesame
Okay
lobster miso soup
Good but a bit salty
salmon trout smoked in cherry bark
This has always been excellent since the day they opened. Smoky, moist, and juicy, great with a bowl a rice.
pickles
rockfish nitsuke, gobo, ginger
Wow, highlight of the fucking night and one of the best bites of the year. The fish was vermilion rockfish (anybody know the japanese name?) from santa barbara and was absolutely delicious. The firm, sweet, flesh just slid cleanly off the bone like the melting nazi’s face in raiders of the lost ark and was flakier than a head and shoulders commercial. And the crispy, bitter chrysanthemum greens paired perfectly with the savory sweet sauce. I can’t even imagine what this would taste like with a fattier fish like kinki.
I have my eye on the tai kabutoni at fukuno @JeetKuneBao posted about. Anybody have other leads on sakana no nitsuke (bonus points if they can source kinki) either here in la or sfba (@beefnoguy, @BradFord)? #willdriveforkinki
grilled red koji duck, daikon
this had the appearance of a char siu pork and was a bit chewy. It was good but can’t compete with the fish.
soba ice cream, buckwheat honey
another visit
nodoguro, aged shoyu
excellent
bonito, avocado, nori, negi
okay. too much going on
dengaku - fresh bamboo broiled with shiso miso
way too much sauce, overpowered the bamboo
pork jowl iron pot, pickled vegetable
so porky, an angry bird tried to dive bomb it.
salmon trout smoked in cherry bark
quince and chocolate
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My feelings exactly!
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