Restaurant Koi (Seal Beach)
Annual holiday sushi lunch with friends…the team and Taka-san always take exceptional care of us. It makes it hard to have fine sushi anywhere else.
Today’s specials board. We would end up consuming most of the items on this board.
Omakase
#1 - red snapper, black snapper, Golden Eye snapper, halibut, and kampachi…the black snapper and the kampachi were today’s standouts. Melt in your mouth delicious with subtle tastes of the sea.
Omakase
#2 - bluefin tuna, bluefin toro, maguro zuke, bonito, mackerel, sardine…the toro is always amazing, but I’ll have to say that the mackerel here is just first-rate…the bonito and sardine was really rich and gamey-like. First time having both and I would gladly eat them, again.
Omakase
#3 - Tasmanian Ocean trout with avocado, sweet ebi with Santa Barbara uni, chopped toro with shiso and SB uni, fried ebi head…so much uni! And so delicious! Bright ocean flavors followed by a delicious fried shrimp head.
Koi Christmas Special - Salmon with snow crab and avocado, Bluefin tuna with scallop and Santa Barbara uni…and a lovely Christmas tree-carved cucumber…everything was melt-in-your-mouth/you-don’t-even-need-to-chew good. Taka-san’s knife skills are exceptional. He carefully carved the cucumber into a shape of a Christmas tree and decorated it with masago to give it the lights effect.
Octopus Sakura-style…charred and super meaty and tender, Matsutake mushroom filled with crab and shiso then fried tempura style, Spicy shashimi salad, albacore nigiri…the most surprising thing was the octopus. It was charred, but the texture was like a very tender filet mignon steak. It was delightful.
Today’s sake was all selected by Taka-san, our sushi chef. The blue bottle was dry and I likened it to a champagne. The other two bottles were on the sweet side with the larger bottle being very floral, and the other bottle being very tropical fruit flavored (think pineapple, passion fruit, mango, papaya). They complimented the meal well.
Forgotten from this were the unagi, notto, and a dish of bonito guts marinated with shoyu and garnished with shiso. Dessert was fantastic sliced pineapple, a dish of ice cream (green tea, red bean, chocolate, and vanilla), and a glass of sparkling yuzu sake with jelly.
Restaurant Koi
600 Pacific Coast Hwy
Seal Beach, CA 90740
(562) 431-1186
Reservations are not accepted for the sushi bar with Taka-san and Daigo-san. You need to arrive at opening to assure yourself of a seat and enough time for an omakase experience.
