Yesterday (before most of the craziness started)…
Finished it off. #CuzThisJewelryBoxWasNotMeantForLeftovers
16 Likes
We ordered this omakase hand roll kit last weekend, and I think it’s been my favorite sushi takeout experience in the COVID era.
When you’re able to dine in at a sushi restaurant, what elevates the meal IMHO is the precision - quality of fish, timing, texture of the rice, temperature, an endless list. Unfortunately, takeout makes all of that really difficult to get right. This box eschews trying to achieve precision and goes for crowd pleasing (e.g., more rich, buttery textures and flavors), and was more satisfying for me as a result.
We ordered the omakase kit and the sashimi plate as an add on. This was more than enough food for us, and I was pretty stuffed. I’d say it would fill 2-3 of you Big-eating FTCers. You know who y 
Never visited Inaba for dine in, but I’m now interested to do so when things eventually settle down!
PS Yoshi-San (of Mori, SGO, and Kiriko fame) is helping out here. He told me his own restaurant, Sushi Kanenobu, is slated for a Sept opening. Of course that is heavily dependent on the COVID situation.
24 Likes
Yoshi-san is killing it at I-naba these days.
3 Likes
yes he is!
1 Like
Thanks @NYCtoLA. It looks nice, but with you having to manually construct your own handrolls, did you think it was worth $300 (+ tax & tip)?
How did the nori hold up? Thanks!
I don’t think Kanenobu will be Yoshi’s own place, but he will be the executive chef. Which should be just as good for us end-users.
2 Likes
Still in the works 
2 Likes
for those interested.
Hi @Chowseeker1999, I completely understand your hesitance and/or skepticism. The $300 is an eye-opening number, but given that the meal realistically does serve 2-4 people (so let’s say 3) - my thinking (rationalization? 
) is that works out to $100 per person. Definitely not cheap by any stretch, but now it’s back to an amount comparable to what some other sushi places have been doing. And from a pure quantity standpoint, I was stuffed!
If we were eating at a sushi bar, [insert your favorite sushi chef here] would make nigiri and maki that’s 1000x better than anything I could put together with my own hands, even with the same ingredients. However, I’ve found takeout puts a limit on how much the chef can control all the factors, even at the best places like Mori. Because the nori was packed separately, it retained its more crisp texture vs a maki that had been made that can get soggy after sitting in its box. And the type of neta that was chosen, I believe, was used because it’ll continue to taste great at home (toro, ikura, crab, a whole container of uni (!!) ) - the most “suble” ingredients were some pretty rich versions of kinmedai and kurodai. Whereas something more subtle like tai no kobujime, or even some kinds of hikarimono (which were not in this box) might not be at peak flavor after sitting for all that time. A quick caveat that, with one or two exceptions, I haven’t really done car dining right at pickup time (vs. waiting to eat at home) so that may make a huge difference.
Also, putting together the rolls with the family was a fun activity in and of itself, and I was able to try all sorts of flavor combos that I would not dare ask the likes of Maru-san to make 
9 Likes
Come on now @NYCtoLA. That guy’s so chilled that he once said he doesn’t mind making some California rolls for me if that’s what I wanted. 
5 Likes
What I want to know is, how was the pairing of the sushi/handrolls with that awesome PYCM 2014 Chassagne 1er Abbaye De Morgeot? I picked up a 2017 but probably won’t be opening that one yet.
1 Like
Speaking from personal experience…, imported fish from Toyosu ain’t cheap… and this meal likely cost less than buying all the variety of fish and etc required to assemble a box of your own.
If it’s any consolation Sushi Noz’s (NYC) box is $525 and Masa’s is a blood curdling $800 (with lots of vegetable fillers, I guess it’s intended to be a more balanced meal 
)
6 Likes
Is Yoshi-san’s new place open this weekend for takeout?
He is saying he has kama toro for this weekend???!?
5 Likes
Looking forward to everyone’s sushi and sake take out photos when he opens (yes please buy sake to support him too!)
1 Like
aaaand IG post deleted
Maybe he’s just opening friends and family. Probably probably didn’t realize he put himself on blast off
1 Like
5 Likes
New location in Torrance! $280pp omakase starts on 2/5/22…
4 Likes
temporary new location is inside inaba at the former tempura nagomi counter
3 Likes