Mori Sushi - OOE Omakase

Made a last minute reservation for a friday night and may have made a tactical error by accepting the reservation even though maru-san wouldn’t be there. Tatsu-san would be our itamae. The restaurant was completely empty the entire friday night except for the “no rice” guy who came in near the end of our omakase.

Highlights

  • variety
  • tofu
  • uni
  • hikarimono
  • salmon
  • buri
  • ikura
  • kanpyo

Quibbles

  • proportions - a lot of the neta was cut way too long and had a tiny amount of rice (e.g. sayori, aji, shima aji, kinmedai, iwashi), the balance was way off.
  • temperature - starting off the omakase the neta was too cold, it got better towards the end
  • qpr - for the price i would rather go to sushi yoshizuzmi or sushi ginza onodera, or to sushi i-naba for 2/3rd the price or shin sushi for half the price.

Questions
Would it be a faux pas to ask for more rice or to ask for the fish not to be served cold?

housemade tofu, soy sauce

tai - red snapper marinated in kelp

hotate (hokkaido) - scallop

tako - octopus

hobo (nagasaki) - sea robin

sayori - half beak

hata - japanese grouper

aji - spanish mackerel

sake - copper river salmon

shima aji - striped jack

sawara - baby king mackerel

buri - japanese amberjack

mikan madai - orange snapper

maguro zuke (boston) - bluefin tuna marinated in soy sauce

shima saba - mackerel

toro (boston) - fatty tuna

kohada - gizzard shad

kurodai - black seabream

mirugai - geoduck

kamasu - baby barracuda

zuwaigani - snow crab

nodoguro - black throat seaperch

iwashi - sardine

shirako - sperm sack

aori ika - big fin reef squid

uni (santa barbara) - sea urchin

shime-iwashi - marinated sardine

bafun uni (hokkaido) - sea urchin

uchiwa ebi - fan lobster

ikura - salmon roe

kinmedai - splendid alfonsino

masu (tasmania) - ocean trout

anago - sea eel

tamago

shiro ebi - baby white shrimp


Kanpyo

dessert - tofu ice cream, black sesame ice cream, matcha mochi


Previous visit with maru-san

The giant clam was so raw it jumped off the shari and tried to eat my gari

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extended carmakase part vi, BYOG(geta)

Everything was delicious but loved all the hikarimono, kai (shellfish), ocean trout, tuna, nodoguro, and chirashi.

i was a bit disappointed the chirashi didn’t come with nori. maybe you’ll have to request that, or BYON.

tai no kobujime

sayori

hotate

aji

ocean trout

saba

maguro zuke

buri

otoro

kamasu - barracuda

kuruma ebi

nodoguro

kinmedai

bara chirashi

#uniforscale @Ns1

mogumogu - after carmakase bang

deluxe mazeman, curry mazeman

Mori Sushi
11500 W Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 479-3939

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Good point. As almost universally lauded as Mori Sushi can be in our books, at the end of the day it still is a significantly Sergio-dependent establishment.

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It is generally accepted as perfectly fine behavior in a sushiya to ask for more or less shari, and also more or less wasabi. However, asking for the neta to not be served cold might be taken as an insult. Really depends on the itamae. Personally, I wouldn’t do it.

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Hi @PorkyBelly,

Bummer about your visit sans Maru-san. Definitely good to know that without the master there, it is not worth going to (at least if Tatsu-san is your itamae for the evening).

Yah we always make it a point to ask for the specific itamae and seats in front of them when we go. I’m guessing Maru-san was just out for New Year’s break?

Glad to hear that even with the off ratio, the Bafun Uni, Hikarimono, Buru and Kanpyo amongst a few others were still good.

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Here are a few side by side comparison of the sushi by Maru-san on my visit and sushi by Tatsu san on visit by @PorkyBelly

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Is Tatsu from Zo?

Bummer, Maru used to have a deep bench of #2s.

possibly, i didn’t catch where he worked before.

i think i mentioned a couple of years ago that our chef on our second visit was quite a downgrade from yoshi and take (who had both left).

Good old days of Yoshi-san and Take-san working at Mori are long gone :frowning:
In fact, Yoshi was always our favorite itamae, and I hope he opens his own place soon.
In my opinion, these days Mori sushi is only worth going to if you sit in front of Maru-san. We had one of the best ever omakase dinners with him a few months back.
Otherwise it is a waste of time and money. Maru has been training those other guys but they just can’t do it.

extended carmakase part vi, BYOG(geta)
Thanks @NYCtoLA.

Everything was delicious but loved all the hikarimono, kai (shellfish), ocean trout, tuna, nodoguro, and chirashi.
@J_L, @JeetKuneBao, @Omotesando, @A5KOBE, @TheCookie, @attran99, @Sgee

i was a bit disappointed the chirashi didn’t come with nori like @Chowseeker1999. maybe you’ll have to request that, or BYON.

tai no kobujime

sayori

hotate

aji

ocean trout

saba

maguro zuke

buri

otoro

kamasu - barracuda

kuruma ebi

nodoguro

kinmedai

bara chirashi

#uniforscale @Ns1

mogumogu - after carmakase bang

deluxe mazeman, curry mazeman

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Hold on now. How big is that uni?

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hand for scale

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Mori taking reservations on fb
@Chowseeker1999, @Omotesando, @NYCtoLA, @attran99, @TheCookie, @Ns1

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Looks like as soon as it went up, it was taken down. No new post on their FB site.

Is this for sit down? The FB post is so minimalist.

there’s a “book now” button near the top.

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Should be takeout only.

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Yep, I thought about it. Of course, it’s gotta’ be takeout. :crazy_face:

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Ya think?

Does anyone have any information about if/when Mori is reopening?

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