Shunji's Lunch Special

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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Tried to go a few weeks ago but they were on winter vacation. Heard about the $40 lunch special here from Noon-1400. And I figure it would be a good intro to Shunji, one of the best top tier/high end sushi restaurants in LA. At $40 this is one of the best lunch deals around FOR a restaurant of this caliber. I get that $40 is ALOT for lunch for anyone.

Okay on to the report!

Less than a 10 minute walk from the Expo/Bundy station. If you are early you can browse the Marukai across the street or the shady “adult” store next to Shunji, make sure to wash your hands before handling sushi!

The restaurant looks like Frodo’s house. Interior is simple but gives off a warmth. No one at noon except for me. One waiter and waitress and 3 chefs. I got seated in front of Chef Hiro. And I am so glad I did! More on that later. No need for a menu I came here for the 12 piece omakase lunch special. The special came with a miso soup and that was nice on this cloudy day. A few sips of green tea and a few pieces of ginger to clear the taste buds and here we go…!!!


Red Snapper. Light in taste and texture.


Halibut. A little more firmer and a light sprinkle of salt.

I would come to find that at Shunji, they do top off with things like salt, ginger, or citrus peel besides the soy or yuzu.


Black Snapper. Nice bite with the citrus.


Sea Bass. This was nice!


Belt. Ehh not sooo much! My least favorite. Did not like the taste.


Young Yellowtail. Yes! Delightful! Loved the taste and texture.


Jack Black?? LOL. I should have asked for clarification, maybe Amberjack? I swear Chef Hiro said Jack Black.


Flying Fish. Never had this before. Got a little torch love. This was nice.


Medium Toro. Come on you know. Great umami flavor with a litle fath.


Salmon. Wow this was great!


Bluefin. Same great umami flavor!


Forgot the name. Help! Not sure what was on top.

Uploading the Ikura is giving me problems. Unlike others the ikura here is perfect and not overly salty like most places!

Continue***

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Ikura, see above.


Crab Handroll. I like.

The end of the 12 and now we go into Overtime! In OT it’s your choice or the Chefs.


Golden Eye Snapper. This was good.


Scallop.


Uni. She was sweet today.

Thoughts:

Nicely paced. I didn’t feel rushed. Hiro-san gave me plenty of time in between bites to enjoy.
He has the perfect touch for wasabi.
Let’s talk about the rice, well seasoned, I mean look at the hue!

Here is what Hiro-san does with his 40 year experience…

The rice is so light and airy, the way he packs it is incredible and masterful.

The rice and fish melt together and become one in your mouth.

And that my friends is when you know…we are dealing with a man who has nearly perfected his craft.

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This was $40??

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Looks like albacore belly with daikon

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Everything up to the Crab Handroll was $40.

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I’ve done this lunch special about 5 times and have always left hungry. One time, the $40 tab became $100+ cause I went into OT. It’s really good but just not enough food for an average adult imho.

And I never would think to describe bluefin as umami. Maybe we have different definitions of what umami is.

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Are there any places where you can get full on $40 worth of sushi besides AYCE places or kazunori?

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Nozomi in Torrance. But my main point was that this $40 lunch special at Shunji isn’t such a “great deal” if you leave hungry and need another lunch after your meal, regardless of how high quality the ingredients are.

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There is a fish called black jack.

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Tuna to me has always had a mix of umami and fat to me.

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I get what you are saying but this is omakase. Omakase almost never fills any adult up and considering most omakase are north of a Benjamin in price…it’s a deal for what it is

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I haven’t been there but their menu says $38 for 10 pieces of nigiri and a roll, not sure how that’s a better deal.

If there’s a better omakase deal out there i would love to hear it.

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maybe not an apples to apples comparison, they they do awesome chirashi bowls during lunch. You can order two different bowls for $38 and leave completely stuffed.

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Aren’t we full of cheer.

Very nice @JeetKuneBao. Thanks for sharing. The lunch special seems like a sweet deal for that grade of sushi.

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its deal for 12 pieces that are good and exotic for 40.

yes, it don’t fill you up.

closeer to 125 to do that.

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I’m positive that’s not Albacore belly. The muscle grain, texture, color, are all wrong for Albacore belly.

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More like yellowtail perhaps, but hey half of all our fishies are mislabeled anyways… Let’s just call it misuteri.

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Took me a second . . .

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My favorite japanese name for anything was told to me by a Japanese coworker.

chee-ken maku-nah-geh-tah

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There is no “s” at the end of anyway.