So, is Shunji lunch a go or not. Everyone’s comments are all over the place. It’s like a Jonathan Gold review; I can’t figure out if you all like it or not.
I had my first meal at Shunji’s for lunch about a week ago. In terms of technical execution it was definitely exceptional, even though I was being served by an assistant chef. As others have noted elsewhere on the board there’s a lot of similarities in flavor profiles with all the whitefish but it’s still all very good, and that just makes the other stuff stand out even more. The ikura was easily the best I’ve ever had, with an amazing pop and excellent marinade. The nigiri was very small though, to the point where to it took concerted effort to draw out the flavor of the fish as I was eating it - not sure if that’s an intended consequence or if the size is for other technical reasons.
The premium lunch special is miso soup + 12 pc + blue crab hand roll, which is not really enough for food me (or, I would think, most people), especially given the nigiri size, so I added on another hand roll (ume-shiso - amazing - they make their own ume paste in house, it seems, and it’s so much better than the store-bought stuff…) and an order of Tamago (which was also very, very good). Base price is $47, seaweed miso soup rather than tofu is a $2 upgrade (iirc), another hand roll + tamago was another $9.50 - all of this sounds reasonable on its face but it adds up pretty fast. After tip and tax it came out to $76. The problem with a straight price comparison is that very few other high-end places even serve lunch; what do we have, Tsujita? They have a variety of chirashi offerings, which is not really comparable, and also their own lunch omakase (15 pc + stuff) for $80 base (pre-tax/tip), which works out to be considerably more per-piece - though maybe the nigiri there is bigger; as I haven’t actually had straight sushi there I can’t say.
All I can say is that if you ignore the price, it’s very unlikely you’ll be unhappy with the actual food.
6 Likes
I thought it was a good deal. I’ll probably go back sometime.
You guys who feel that sushi should fill your belly obviously don’t know that sushi is traditionally not meant to be a meal in Japan but rather a “bishoku”, i.e. little gourmet pieces that you enjoy for their sight and taste, not to become full. So, if you want top class sushi at an authentic place, you should keep that in mind.
if i’m looking for a mcdonalds after having had omakase i would have considered the meal somehow incomplete, but that’s me. to be fair, i’m not talking volume, but rather that i’ve taken a complete journey during the meal, if that makes any sense.
1 Like
I like Shunji because they give you one at a time and the nigiri is small enough to eat in one bite. Many times when I go to two-piece sushi places, I eat one and set the other aside. Otherwise, I would be done after only four orders, and I want much more variety than that.
Which higher tier omakase serves 2 pieces of the same sushi together? I know the original Sushi Nozawa in Studio City used to do that, but I believe that was the exception rather than the norm.
I’m not talking about upper-tier sushi. There’s lots of good sushi in Los Angeles other than the master chef places.
Also, I need better friends. 
Had lunch omakase today. $47 for premium lunch omakase and did 3 bonus rounds of japanese scallop, sweet shrimp, and SB uni. I’ve probably had the lunch omakase a half dozen times and today’s was maybe the best. Seriously brought their A game today. Good variety of fishes, king mackerel being a standout.
5 Likes
Great to know!
SB uni?
I only say because I was there Wednesday this week for lunch and Shunji told me the waters were too cold for SB and he was serving only Hokkaido. To be honest, I am not embarrased to say, I cannot taste much difference between the two anyway.
And the lunch was fantastic.
2 Likes
That’s what he told me. And I’m with you. Unless I’m eating both side by side, I couldn’t tell you the difference. All I know is that they’re both delicious.
1 Like
I often try side-by-side comparisons when available. I prefer SB uni. It’s sweeter and softer, the Hokkaido is smaller and more briny. I like it, but I prefer the local uni.
Aside: Do they ship live Hokkaido uni to the US? Or is it prepped, then shipped?
Prepped then shipped, although a large majority of SB uni is also processed locally then shipped to LA.
Uni-mongers in Japan sort out all the uni (and box them) by grade before expedited shipping to other countries.