Wow! First Santouka outside of a Mitsuwa! Good for them.
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How many pieces did you have at Mori?
I’ve been to the location on Main and only got the “famous” chilaquiles rojos, which I honestly thought were quite underwhelming (tasted like red Doritos soaked in chili oil topped with egg and nacho toppings). I’m thinking about a return trip now, however, because I really like octopus and those pulpo-huitlacoche tacos look absolutely fire.
Yikes. Can he compete in that stratosphere? ie. all-in experience QPR?
Seems like the curse of the McChelin effect. Always inevitable of the price increase as a result, but good quality fish is not getting cheaper either. Restaurants are within their right to raise their prices when they get awarded stars, so not to diminish their value (and landlords usually jack up rents for overseas establishments once they learn of the news as well).
A friend went recently and said the premium omakase was around $300 but unclear what this included. I still remember the $180 ish price tag but that was 4 years ago.
24 pieces of nigiri + 1 extra pickled iwashi and 1 kanpyo roll. I recognize that’s a lot of pieces, but a year ago, this same meal at Mori would have been 20-25% less.
At this price, I personally feel I’m getting better quality (fewer, though bigger, pieces of nigiri) at SGO. Also, the setting is more luxurious, whereas Mori is more minimalist. Service-wise, I get along pretty well with Maru-san but also got along well with Yohei-san the one time I went. Mori’s sake list does blow SGO’s out of the water (and I hate using that phrase in general).
$306 before that bottle of sake 
Even last year it was in the low $200s, and sometimes would dip below $200. Sushi pricing inflation is worse than college tuition!
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I think I stopped at about 16 to 18 pieces during my last visit and still came out under $250 per person minus a $250 bottle of sake.
Chotokusen Daiginjo, is that $200 now? It’s very pricey for a 500 mL :-(.
$306 is pretty pricey, but putting quality aside, each additional piece is generally $8 - $16 at SGO. You had 11 more “pieces” at Mori which translates to at least $88 - $121 easily at SGO.
Personally, I prefer the service at Mori since Maru-san doesn’t rush you. Yohei-san, on the other hand, tried to get me out as quickly as possible and especially so for the additional pieces…
Pretty sure that closed and a new location is opening in Rowland Heights. But yes, a lot of nice openings, including Tokyo Central as well.
Good point - was in the first seating at SGO, and they kicked us out after a certain point (though comped me a piece at the end as apologies).
I think it was $175. Not great QPR, but since I was solo this time, the 500ml worked for me. It tasted very… hmm… fermented and rustic. Was curious what you thought of it.
To everybody else - sorry for derailing a casual weekend food thread to discuss stratospherically priced omakase. Back to our original programming! 
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I haven’t had a bottle of Cho Tokusen in almost 3 years, at $90 retail special order from True Sake it was already pretty bad QPR. I may have gone through upwards of 3 bottles at one point when I was a rabid fan of Koshi No Kanbai. I only recall that I enjoyed the first two bottles I had, very impressionable and quite masculine (very dry). I would have wanted to try it warmed or room temperature and in a wine glass, but I didn’t know much then. I think Mori’s lower cost option: Tatsuriki Kome No Sasayaki Daiginjo YK50 which he has 300 mL bottles of, is better QPR.
I think both Kome No Sasayaki and Cho Tokusen are better with kaiseki / a variety of cooked dishes than sushi, unless there’s a lot of umami driven shellfish (for the Kome No Sasayaki) or you need something that requires a bit of an alcoholic edge to cut with a little.
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This is the main reason Mori sushi is my favorite baller sushi meal spot. When i am spending more than $300 per person on sushi (with alcohol), i do not want to be kicked out in two hours.
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have you tried Elite or Sea Harbor? Even king Hua is better than Capital - which is OK, maybe a B to B-
Ha, yes 
I’ve been to a few of those. Went to Sea Harbour a month ago, and it’s our stalwart when going to the SGV. I just feel like Sea Harbour itself isn’t better than a B these days - I haven’t been super impressed with the cooking/steaming execution or the flavors. Went to King Hua once a couple years ago, and didn’t think it was as good as Sea Harbour. Longo’s was good the first time for dim sum but went downhill quickly after that so stopped going (though a recent dinner I was a part of impressed me). Went to Elite 4-5 years ago and didn’t think it was memorable. I think Lunasia in SGV actually has been more impressive than the others recently.
Too bad. I wonder why the food at these stalwarts is declining.
Capital to me had very bad wrappers on their Har Gow. They did have good tofu skin wrapped around shrimp, excellent steamed pork ribs, average rice noodle/shrimp, Soso char shu buns, and excellent crispy noodles with chicken and excellent Shrimp with Scrambled eggs.
Wow, that looks great. Some sort of Thursday special? Lunch menu?
It’s the pub/carvery side of the restaurant; M-F lunch time I think.
2 sides + protein = $17
Roast beef, roast pork, brisket, and turkey. Prime rib available for $25/$30
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Went to Colapasta today in Santa Monica. It’s the real deal. Very Italian, the food is excellent, and it’s cheap. This bigoli aglio e olio was only $11, was a good portion, handmade and chewy, and fucking delicious. My initial reaction was that this is a level above pasta sisters and uovo, but i need to try more.
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I may or may not have waited 45 minutes in line for this. The popeyes’ breasts are real and they’re spectacular. Best fast food chicken sandwich by far and blows cfa away. The breasts were large, moist and flavorful, with an audible crunch when you bite into it. The bread was nice and soft and wasn’t a grease sponge like cfa. And the pickles were thick and crunchy. nice qpr at $3.99. Once the hype dies down this will be my go-to fast food chicken sandwich.
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