The fact that Shibumi is going in that direction is telling…
I will agree that the corn soup was the best thing we ordered on our visit.
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Had one of my better meals at Shibumi the other night.
japanese caviar - karasumi, scallop cured in koji
This was delicious, it had a nice chewy texture and paired well with the sake. However, with only three paper thin slices of karasumi and maybe one scallop it was pricey at 16 bucks.
scallop cured in koji
karasumi
seki sabazushi - kyoto style sushi, cured mackerel topped with kombu on top of vinegared rice
This was an off-menu special and was the highlight of the night. I’ve never seen sabazushi on a menu in LA before so I would order this if it’s offered. The mackerel was soft and fatty and the rice was perfectly seasoned. It was served with aged soy sauce and pickled ginger.
iwagaki oyster, fresh yuzu, shiso flower, mountain caviar
This was yooge, definitely bigger than donald trump’s hand. The oyster was cut up into about six kumamoto sized pieces and tasted super fresh with some nice acid from the yuzu.
broiled sanma skinny mackerel, black vinegar
spines
They threw me a bone and gave me two orders of spines.
dengaku of japanese sweet potato, crusted with yuzu miso
This could have been a dessert
steamed iron pot rice with ikura and dungeness crab
I thought this would be a Kamameshi, crab and ikura mixed with rice, but instead i was served three separate bowls of rice, ikura and crab. This would have been better if the ingredients were actually mixed in the iron pot and then served.
japanese chizu-keki, quince
This japanese cheesecake was light and airy and went great with the sweet quince.
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Thanks for the update.
Really enjoyed the oysters as well. The broiled mackerel + spines didn’t really appeal to my taste buds, so I considered that dish a miss for me, but I gave it a shot. As for the sweet potato, it didn’t feel like a dessert to me, but did remind of Thanksgiving slightly. Japanese cheesecake is better than the black ice cream but not as good is the rice cream to me…a few weeks ago it was being served with pear and was round (yours looks almost like tamago).
I agree, the broiled mackerel was my least favorite. You’re right it does look like a tamago, it tasted similar too only lighter and airier. Did they have the sabazushi when you were there?
Out of the 7-8 times I’ve been, they’ve had it maybe once, but I don’t always ask for specials. Sometimes they will mention specials on their own and sometimes you must ask, so hard to give a batting average.
Nice report @PorkyBelly. 
I’m glad Chef David is really going with seasonality and changing up the menu with new items.
The Sabazushi looks similar to the Mackerel we had in the South Bay a few months ago, but slightly different. Can’t wait to try it if it’s offered next time we’re there.
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Thanks @Chowseeker1999, i saw your post on the saba at fukuno, they do look similar. I’m not sure what the difference is between baterra and sabazushi besides the shape?
Hi @PorkyBelly,
I’m not an expert, but I’ve seen some books reference them interchangeably, but one entry I found mentioned this:
Saba-zushi: The method is the same as Battera and the difference is Sabazushi is wrapped in bamboo leaves instead of putting in a wooden box.
Interesting.
My own dissenting view:
This restaurant is not good. The food looks Japanese but it isn’t. The flavors and overall preparation of dishes would seem foreign to a Japanese palate and obviously is not from a Japanese chef.
Sashimi was the worst. It was totally ruined by over-flavoring and poor cutting. For example, the joy of tai–which very few Westerners appreciate–is in the deep subtlety of the flavor and the toothy texture. But at Shibumi, the fish was cut into small squares that lacked the appropriate texture and was drenched in a tangy sauce that masked any nuance. While sashimi are often served with judicious toppings in high-end Tokyo restaurants, it’s never like this.
There wasn’t a single dish in the omakase meal that I considered acceptable. As a general rule, dishes were over-flavored and indelicate.
I’ve been to hundreds of Michelin-star restaurants in Japan and this restaurant is nowhere close to that quality, or even to the quality of an everyday restaurant. I don’t even really consider it Japanese.
For legitimate Japanese cooking, I would suggest Mori Sushi or even Urasawa. Mori Sushi is totally legit, even though an omakase menu before sushi is very unusual in Japan. Urasawa would be considered an outrageously extravagant meal in Japan, but the dishes are generally consistent with Japanese sensibilities, and there are a couple of restaurants in Tokyo that I can think of that offer similar extravagant experiences. But Shibumi – I think most Japanese would immediately recognize it as gaijin.
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Yes most of the dishes we had were a bit off in some aspect if you’re comparing it to food from Japan, but there is potential if they dial it in a bit more. With that said, I would return for the pork and their drinks; I think it’s a chill spot and perhaps they will continue development. I think of it as a chill California-Japanese lounge of sorts with interesting drinks; though there are overt nods to traditional Japanese foods, the food is American made for sure, but that’s no doubt a reflection of chef Schlosser himself though, no? The cuisine is not kappo food from Japan, but it’s still a chill space in downtown.
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Appreciate the views, I think they are very valid.
I suspect the chef is reacting to early feedback that the dishes were just too subtle. I don’t ever recall the sashimi having this sauce on it…this is something new.
Agree with BradFord, this is a place to drink and have some food while doing that, and not the other way around. But actually, part of the reason I worried about it closing early one night in my post in another thread is that I don’t see the repeat appeal for most customers. Cod and pork are my favorite dishes, but then what…
Agree - During my meal here, the rather sloppy knife work gave this place away.
I think of Shibumi more as a Japan-esque place to have some drinks.
I guess I should post liking this place to that confessions thread huh?
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I’ll probably be burned alive for asking this, but I was just wondering, as a humble ignoramous who doesn’t know much about food other than what tastes good to me and what doesn’t… could anyone that hates this place explain how come this place sucks for being kind of like California Kappo, but N/Naka gets tons of praise for being California Kaiseki? I was rereading the thread on N/Naka, and it seems kind of like people say the same things about N/Naka as about Shibumi, but with one it’s damning, and for the other it’s praiseworthy.
For those of us too stupid to get the difference perhaps one of the more enlightened members can help out?
Many thanks!
Please don’t kill me
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I’m not sure anyone has achieved enlightenment by being on this site, but here’s my take:
Shibumi claims to be straight-up Japanese kappo, but doesn’t deliver. Now, I’d have less problems with this scenario if Chef Schlosser had said from the get-go that his food is California kappo. But he didn’t. It was sold as Japanese kappo - The moment it’s described as Japanese, AND the chef goes on about having pedigree by being Urasawa’s kohai for x amount of time, blahblahblah, then of course expectations go up (especially for those who have eaten kappo-ryori in Japan). And I don’t hate Shibumi - I’d still go for the occasional drink and maybe 1 or 2 dishes. For me, it just didn’t live up to expectations.
On the other hand, n/naka has never proclaimed itself to be Japanese kaiseki de rigeur. We all go into the dining room at n/naka already knowing that Niki-san is gonna infuse her own brand of local sensibilities into the traditional kaiseki format, thereby tweaking it.
Expectations…
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Huh, I never encountered that personally. I read about it in this LA Weekly article that says it’s Kappo-style? I guess I figured that since we’re in California it’s not going to be the exact same as Japan.
OTOH I guess Johnathan Gold said it seems like a Tokyo restaurant? Any idea what he was talking about?
Are there restaurants in LA that are precise replicas of what is served in Japan (presumably all ingredients must be imported then, I guess?)?
All of this is made even more confusing to me personally because the last time I ate at Shibumi I sat next to an elderly Japanese couple who had just moved to LA after spending the first ~50 years of their lives living in Japan, and they were telling me about how they came there to be reminded of home… so I now I really wonder if they were just deeper into the sake than I thought they were?
Well… as a complete idiot ignorant of most things, all I know is it’s mighty fun to drink sake at the place. I think this stuff was my favorite bottle of alcohol I’ve ever had, it tasted like a strawberry milkshake, is there anywhere I can buy it retail?
Also, the snap pea special they have going right now is super pleasant eating, whatever style of food it is, the miso sauce was quite addictive!
The Shibumi pre-opening website/media (this is one of those restaurants which made a trailer before it opened) focused so much on authenticity (and Schlosser’s time at Urasawa) that I was made to believe to bring my passport for stamping upon entry to the place.
Of this part I tend to agree. Japanese whisky too.
Do you happen to have any links to real Kappo meals? Not sure if I just suck with the search function, but I don’t see any in the Asia category.
Kind of interested to know what they are like in Japan.
I am not nearly as well traveled in Japan as others here, but I will say that it superficially like eating in Japan compared to other places. You walk in, the atmosphere is clean and intimate. There is a clean wood bar. The chef is slicing fish and vegetables with Japanese knifewear. The staff has good expertise in sake. The menu does include some Japanese delicacies. There is vibe to it is a mash up of maybe 5 different places I’ve been to in Japan.
My first visit to Shibumi was the next week after returning from Tokyo and it felt like a nice “transition” to being back in LA. But then obviously, there is electronic music playing and a host of other major differences that make it unique and DTLA “hip”.