I don’t know about the States but Amar, Akbar, Anthony is one of the most iconic of Bombay films (some would say it’s the quintessential masala film). And, in case you’re wondering, that song is meant to be silly.
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What he said.
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I wonder if this is a new rend for shari at upscale sushi-yas. Shunji is now also serving its sushi atop a red vinegar treated rice. However, I thought it was well-balanced at Shunji and did not adversely affect the neta. By the way, Shunji was offering female snow crab as well–excellent.
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Thanks for the tip on the snow crab. Wife is having Ladies Night Out at Shunji this week. She would sell our children for great crab.
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JL - I agree with your sentiments pretty much exactly. The rice was strongly vinegared and salted, a bit more on the sour side. The kawahagi with its liver sauce and the red wine braised ankimo were the real standouts. Their ankimo is some of the best around! (In Honolulu it was simmered with dashi and had some yuzu zest at the end - delicious and every bit as good as the LA’s cabernet sauvignon version). But we did not get the shirako tempura, kobako-gani, karasumi, or awabi! We actually only got 7 otsumami, with yaki kamasu and aji namerou as substitutions for 2 of those delicacies, and 2 were omitted.
Pacing was good after the first 20 minutes or so, when we were seated in front of the sinks at the end of the bar (there was a little bit of musical chairs, as we weren’t the only party moved during the meal). Dinner picked up after that and was quite nice. We had a trainee sushi chef, and her knifework was less polished, but her nigiri formations were spot on. My meals at Hawaii were a bit more technical in execution and personalized in my opinion (also Honolulu is a bit more intimate and streamlined - only 6 seats at the bar vs. 16…does not feel like a chain), but 1) the sushi chefs by whom I was served in Honolulu seem more experienced, and 2) the restaurant there has been established for a few years and has really hit their groove. The menu was also a bit different. I do think that SGO LA will continue to grow and improve, and regardless, I’m always looking forward to returning.
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That’s correct. What can I say? I was a bit disappointed in not having the abalone, because their abalone is a mainstay at the Honolulu location, and it’s fantastic. But I also know that sometimes diners get hooked up with extra items, maybe I just wasn’t.
EDIT - DAMN i’m looking at Yelp pics and someone posted pics of the abalone and crab appetizers yesterday! Ugh. I wonder if we got lost in the seating shuffle, because we showed up after one party but then were on the same course as them not much later. It’s not like we were late or there were set seatings. FWIW the Honolulu menu ($250) had 7 otsumami. But yes the LA menu is $300 and there’s only 1 menu, no choices were offered. Maybe everybody else is getting hooked up, or…I dunno.
I’ve been hooked up at other sushi bars with extra items when other diners weren’t, so maybe it evens out; that’s the best way I can look at this.
Hi @BradFord,
Ouch. That just seems… disappointing. 
For you dropping $300+ per person for dinner, you’d think they’d be on the ball about this stuff. And it wasn’t a “minor” omission, those are some major delicacies they didn’t serve you.
Thanks for reporting back!
First off, I feel that for a $300pp omakase, diners shouldn’t have to be subjected to “musical chairs” of any sorts. Sorry you didn’t get two additional otsumami - I think it would be worth it to provide feedback to SGO management on this one. High-end sushi-yas should know that the dining-out populace at large here in L.A. aren’t always sheep, and that it’s not always everyone’s first rodeo at the omakase bar. You are very kind in attributing these gaffs to opening-month jitters. And yeah, that rice…
On a different restaurant’s note: Glad you like the chateaubriand as much as I did at Yazawa.
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This. Regardless of the type of cuisine, this seems like an unforgiveable gaffe to me, for the price.
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Easily forgiven with a few comp bonus rounds. Not easily forgiven otherwise.
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Thanks J_L for the details on the rice!
BradFord/J_L, the salt/sour forwardness of the rice, I believe that to be intentional. In the end it is somewhat a matter of personal preference (for the record, I do not like that high suppai ratio myself). Part of my theory is supported by my weird experience at Sushi Arai (Tokyo) in late November and talking to others about the experience. Excellent otsumami, but when it came time for the nigiri, it was remarkably not so good as a result of the shari seasoning. At Arai, the shari was actually a komezu/akasu blend (with akasu around the 2/3 mark or a touch higher, as the rice was not as dark as a Sushi Sho style place). Though the salt and sour components of the shari at Arai were so off putting (and I haven’t gotten to the texture and somewhat inconsistent temperature and the way they did batch control) that it threw the nigiri off balance to the point where it was difficult to appreciate any delicate neta like white fish, and heavier flavored neta (even the Aomori bluefin [not Oma]) did little to bring the balance back (as it should)…except anago and uni which were excellent to the point where it overwhelmed the shari a bit that you couldn’t taste it as much. The place was packed with locals, and yet they earned a star the next day. And then I see a report about Harutaka’s rice being very salt and sour forward (they do not use akazu). Then there are places that use akazu and master it for whatever neta they need to serve, with the right balance.
Hopefully SGO LA’s rice will improve over time, as I am interested in eventually checking them out when I’m in town again. Then again it cannot be as bad as what I had if this higher salt/sour profile is considered Ginza style, recent or not.
Thanks for your thoughts, beefnoguy.
FWIW, I experienced the rice at their Hawaii branch to be more to my taste. Not as aggressively vinegared or salted. Exhibit A, a ball of rice in the glory bath that is abalone liver creme sauce
I do agree that the rice seasoning here is intentional. It’s the finish, not the forwardness of the seasoning that I noticed. Perhaps it is meant to be clean and reset the palate. Again, it’s a personal preference and stylistic thing, depends on the diner’s palate. A bit aggressive for me, but anyway I found the toothsomeness to be fine. Perhaps request to sit in front of Yohei-san and you can experience the best foot forward.
In regards to akasu, also of note is Shiki in Beverly Hills, particularly if you sit with Hiro-san at the sushi bar (not their separate omakase bar which only Shige-san does for $250+pp). Hiro started blending two types of akasu and the rice is quite good, and if you let them know in advance, the neta is especially good (seki aji, et al.)
I only have a picture of the sashimi plate, though. Not sure this is the best thread to put it in, but then again not sure where else it’ll go, so
As you know, at Sushi Sho Honolulu varies the rice seasoning depending on the type of neta being served. Since a new edobitsu is summoned on request several times throughout the meal, temperature and batch control is excellent. Their rice is actually a blend of Japanese and Californian, like their wasabi, too. I found the rice to be excellent - especially on the 10-day aged senaka cut honmaguro akami from Oma…you could really taste and feel the marriage of the ingredients in great balance
Anyway, I don’t mean to hijack this thread too much. It’s a sushi Ginza Onodera Thread, so here is my Honolulu menu for comparison:
Ohitashi with shimeji mushroom
Madai no konbujime sashimi
Kanburi zuke sashimi w/ karashi (mustard)
Ankimo simmered w/ yuzu
Nodoguro aburi w/ ponzu, wakame, momiji oroshi
Kamasu no yuan yaki in shuto (grilled barracuda)
Kegani (horse hair crab) chawanmushi
Kinmedai no konbujime
Mirugai
Sumi ika w/ takesumi shio (rice rolled in chiffonade shiso)
Seki Aji with shiso paste
Modorigatsuo
Kona Abalone w/ liver + risotto
Oma akamizuke
Oma Chutoro
Oma Jabara otoro
Kohada
Sujiko shoyu marinated over rice
Bafununi gunkamnaki
Anago x 2 - shirayaki, nitsume
Nodoguro no aburi (encore)
Torotaku maki
aka miso soup
Hojicha with kuromitsu ice cream
A comparison of barracuda:
SGO Honolulu
Grilled and marinated in bonito innards
SGO LA
Seared, served like sashimi
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Bump. Any updates?