Lunch omakase at Sushi Kimagure - Review with pics (fixed)

I’ve been a fan of Ike san since his days in Hollywood. His operations now is much more low key and for the most part, reservations only, which is a blessing given that the wait times at his Hollywood location often times ranged in the 1 hour+.

Disclaimer about my lunch today. Sushi Kimagure is omakase only at the bar and they have 3 sets of choices: “Sushi” which consists of appetizer, nigiri, soup, and dessert, “Hana” which adds a salad and sashimi course, and “Matsu” which adds a few extra courses to that. Given that I’ve been a customer of Ike san for close to 10 years now, he knows my likes and dislikes and serves me a pure nigiri omakase meal off the menu that includes items not included in the regular sushi omakase. If you are a first time visitor, you may or may not be able to request the same.

The nigiri cuts here are also approximately twice the size of other notable places like Zo, Shunji, or Mori.

The meal started with an appetizer of monkfish liver. Love the balance of the ponzu and green onions to cut some of the richness of the liver

First nigiri was a yellowtail belly. Super buttery and one of the best cuts I’ve had.

Tai from Japan with shiso leaf and lemon juice. Always love how clean this fish tastes.

O-toro from Spain. Almost could not fit it in one bite…almost.

Halibut was served with salt and lemon juice

Santa Barbara uni

Live Hokki clam was much more tender and sweeter than the Orange clam you often find in sushiyas.

Scallop with shiso leaf

Albacore

Seared halibut muscle (anyone know which part of the fish this is?). Ike san is famous for searing salmon and serving it in the same style. This added the same great smokey flavor to what is probably not a commonly used part of the fish.

Squid

Chu-toro handroll. I could eat 5 of these everyday.

Fruit

Another fantastic meal and Ike san never disappoints. It was rather busy at lunch today and he was working the bar alone so service was a bit slow, but I’m willing to put up with that to enjoy this food.

The meal came out at $55/person + tax and tip. Very reasonable imo. What’s odd is that he never writes down what he’s serving to his bar counter customers and at the end of the meal, goes into his office and prepares the check. It almost seems totally random as I’ve had times where the bill was much higher or lower than I expected. Does he actually remember exactly what he is serving me?

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Aaargh! Sounds great but the pictures aren’t showing up for me. I want to see!

+1

Should work now

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Fabulous report.

Been going to Ike now since he was still in Hollywood.

Nice pictures. That picture of halibut is from the fin part of the fish.

Dinner is not bad as well albeit pricier. They are located in my town at 220 S. Raymond Ave in Pasadena in the Del Mar Station complex adjacent to Le Grande Orange and next door to Stone Brewing.

Great photos.

So I have to ask, just in case you might know:

How would this compare to my current spend $$$ on fish place, Echigo in Stanta Monica.

I love the place, because it’s utter no-bullshit policy. You sit. You eat fish. You get a bill. You pay the bill., It’ll run about $50 + drinks/tax/tip

I love it. This sounds like the right sprice point similar quality. Any idea how it might compare? Pasadena is way closer to my hood.

Having been to Echigo, I would say Kimagure is at least several notches above Echigo in terms of quality. It is pricier than Echigo though. My dinners here are usually in the $80-100pp.

Go check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Okay, we’ve been planning to eat here for some time now; I think it might just have to go on the list for our upcoming trip. Maybe take in the other Pasadena place that was recently described as well.

The o-toro looks dreamy… :slight_smile: