Summer Dinner Omakase at Shunji Japanese Cuisine: A Pictorial Essay

Time after time, Shunji-san consistently and reliably serves one of the great meals in L.A.

Points I took away from this meal:

  • Shunji cares for his fruits and vegetables just as much as he cares for his neta.
  • His signature sake is getting better year after year.
  • The summer signature dish is his sweet corn, truffle & uni chawanmushi.
  • Lime ice cream is crazy good.

Old school (150+ year-old) Japanese apothecary cabinet holds lots of dinnerware…

House sake…

Sharkskin grater…

Myoga, junsai, tai…

Kitschy wasabi grater: The Japanese word for ‘wasabi’ (わさび) forms the repeating pattern on the block…

Summer vegetable medley…

Sweet corn, uni & truffle chawanmushi is summer in a bowl…

Marinated momotaro tomato, stuffed with kegani & kani miso… The gold foil forms a map of Japan - Sugoi.

Crab inside…

Starting material: Ripe tomato…

Otsumami platter: Squash puree, quail egg with caviar, fried sawagani crab, cucumber. sazae with kimo…

Sashimi platter…

Preparing the next dish…

Ayu (freshwater sweetfish, from Lake Biwa) has a very short season…

Marinated katsuo…

Botan ebi with murasaki uni, served with a small ball of rice to sop up the bowl…

Baby corn with tempura corn husk and yakitoro (skewered fatty tuna)… Mottainai: Using all the parts of the corn. Great combo.

Shabu shabu, under way…

Now it’s time for an instructional video on how to properly eat grilled ayu… Very educational!

Classic grilled ayu, with grilled bell pepper… The ayu roe and delicate flesh was a joy to experience. The video really did help in optimizing the dish for us.

Wagyu shabu shabu is being prepared…

Wagyu shabu shabu with scallions… Lightly “swished” in the hot broth, this Miyazaki beef was outstanding.

Vegetable cornucopia…

Gari… About to start our nigiri courses!

Birru, please!

Hoji cha…

Dessert time!!!

Seasonality, focus on all ingredients, and expertise on a variety of washoku styles - Shunji’s omakases are as close to hitting a culinary bulls eye as one can get on every single visit. Gochisosama deshita!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Shunji Japanese Cuisine
12244 Pico Bl.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310.826.4737

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Shunji’s lime ice cream is my perfect end to a meal there.

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Meal looks lovely! What’s the damage excluding wine and before t&t?

Is that the method where you press on both sides of the fillet with your chopsticks, cut off either its head or its tail before pulling out the entire spine/bones in one go at the other end?

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Beautiful pictures. Lots of vicarious delight in viewing them. Thank you!

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Thanks! On this particular visit, I was the guest of some business associates, so I did not pay this time. But I’d hazard a guess that the meal was in the $195-$225pp range.

Yes, the spine was pulled out, Mortal Kombat style.

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God I love that place, it’s never a question of where to go on my wife’s birthday. It’s always Shunji’s

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OMG LEGENDARY!!! Killer photos too, thanks for this!

So long overdue for a return visit when I am in town again!! That is some serious game, particularly on the cooked dishes and appetizers. His kappo ryori skills with blending modern and traditional seamlessly, yet retaining so much Japanese sensibilities are insane. Can immediately tell it’s going to be wicked with those aged white burgundies, some good dry Champagne, maybe a Riesling here and there, and some serious sake. And yes I need to re-try the Ichigo again!

I sooooo want to do a partial DIY sake pairing there, and will have to seriously think about what to bring…

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Serious photo game here! That’s some beautiful looking food.

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We went Saturday night as well, and though we only did the sushi omakase, Shunji never fails. My absolute favorite.

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Wow @J_L! It all looks smashing. The ice cream & fruit look like juicy, creamy art.