Thanks @beefnoguy!
I’ve had the Dewazakura Daiginjo “Mountain Cherry” (loved it) and the Wakatake Onikoroshi Junmai “Demon Slayer” (can’t remember profile, pretty mild?). We’ll try one of the new recs and also get a bottle of the Kuro Kabuto “Samurai Warrior’s Black Armor Helmet” Junmai Daiginjo (what a name). TBC…
Hi @skramzlife -
Premium sushi on a budget, go to lunch.
Also, look at it this way, you went to Japan. If I keep this up I’ll never make it to Japan!
Had another great meal with yasu-san. word must have gotten out, he did two full seatings the night i was there.
Temperature, seasoning, and NSR were all “on point”, just wish there were more hikarimono (kohada, aji, iwashi, sayori), kanpyo and tamago.
Highlights
noresore - undeveloped baby seawater eel
the eyes have it
kazunoko - herring roe
kanimiso (crab brain) tofu, snow crab
love this, like a crab flan.
shako (hokkaido) - mantis shrimp
wish there was more shako in la. this was meaty and sweet, very good.
hotaru ika - firefly squid, sumiso
shirako - cod sperm
tis the season for sperm, come and get it.
tsubugai - simmered japanese sea snail
delicious. sweet with a nice bite. nice contrast between the crunchy meat and the soft liver.
braised turnip, ground chicken
warm and comforting
21 day aged akami zuke (marinated lean tuna)
excellent
15 day aged chutoro (boston)
soft, fatty and full of umami. outstanding.
isaki - striped grunt
ishidai - japanese knifejar
kamasu - barracuda, lemon zest, seaweed salt
yamaimo - marinated japanese mountain yam
kinmedai kobujime - golden eye snapper cured in kombu
ankimo - monkfish liver
fucking delicious. this was served warm and sliced off a huge lobe and had a texture of custard. i prefer this over the cold, pate prep. if chef’s replaced foie gras with this i would be okay with that.
reminded me of a certain emoji
hirame (chiba prefecture) - halibut
santa barbara uni (red sea urchin), hokkaido bafun uni (purple sea urchin)
Doesn’t get any better than this, incredible.
kan-buri shabu - kan-buri (winter wild yellowtail), mejina (large scale black fish), maitake mushroom
i’m not a big fan of shabu shabu and unfortunately this didn’t change my mind, i mostly just tasted the ponzu dipping sauce. i would have preferred just eating the sashimi straight up with wasabi and soy sauce.
kami-nabe - paper pot
i’m always amazed by the physics of cooking broth in paper over an open flame. freaking japan.
gindara - seared black cod, yuzu salt
hotate no isobeyaki - scallop
sawara - spanish mackerel, green onion and ginger
loved the freshly ground green onion and ginger on top.
28 day aged otoro (spain) - fatty tuna belly
instead of placing the neta on top of saran wrap over hot water before serving, yasu-san changed it up and used a plate warmed with hot water.
otoro uni
shime saba - marinated mackerel
mejina shiso - large scale black fish
yukimasu - snow trout, dehydrate soy sauce powder
madai - wild seabream
clam, kama soup
anago two ways, sauced and salted
battera x3
vinegar-y hikarimono goodness
santa barbara uni temaki
great sweet cold ending
mochi
Nice report @PorkyBelly. Looks delicious! 
I need to visit soon. The Ankimo sounds amazing.
Gee I wonder WHO could have possibly helped “out” this place?!
That’s a great looking dinner!
Sushi I-NABA
This first visit was about hangin’ with friends, sipping sake, meeting Yasu-san and eating his fine nigiri. Photos? Not so much.
Omakase Nigiri / Lunch Special + a few extras
Akitabare Koshiki Junzukuri “Northern Sky”Junmai
Our bad, we called, they had it, but not chilled. Too late to wait so off to John & Pete’s, again. Either sushi-ya employees are extremely complimentary or beefnoguy is once again a sake mind reader. I think Yasu-san said it is his favorite and he asked how we heard about it. 
We shared a glass, of course. It is unobtrusive, but not muted, balanced, slightly dry, a light grassiness, but not earthy, citrus peel, tintsy lemon or wine grapes. Decent value. Very nice compliment to the nigiri and perfect for lunch - like the sake equivalent of cool background music.
Anago Two-Ways
Scottish Salmon w/Roasted Onion Sauce
Asari No Sumashijiru (clear clam broth)
Fishing With Dynamite for dessert! 
Great Day!
Sushi I-NABA (second visit)
Just me, my sweetheart, a quiet lunch and a nice chat with Yasu-san…and photos!
Ishidai (knife jaw)
so I stole @PorkyBelly’s. Looks are deceiving - it has a light, slightly sweet flavor, slightly firm texture and the surprise of a lush fattiness.
24 Day Aged Akami Zuke
Hirame Kobujime (wild halibut cured in konbu (kelp))
Barracuda w/Lemon & Seaweed Salt
14 Day Aged Chutoro (fatty tuna) - Boston
Shime Saba (mackerel cured in vinegar)
Snow Trout w/Soy Sauce Powder
Asari No Sumashijiru (clear clam broth)
Toro Temaki (fatty tuna, scallion hand roll)
…This
Aside from the mackerel, we weren’t served any of the seasonal fishy, oilys either @PorkyBelly. 
We had more stops on our itinerary so refrained from ordering supplements or exploring more unusual (to us) offerings, but decided we’re going to ask Yasu-san to take the gloves off a bit next time.
After the meal Yasu-san talked to us about aging, what edo means linguistically and in relation to sushi, he talked about regions, styles, what exactly is umami, what he likes about seafood from Japan. He brought out some tools and ingredients (kombu, whole katsuobushi, grating box, bags of flakes) to inform what we were eating, tasting, how & why it was made. He drew a rough diagram of Japan, the ocean currents and mountain snow that combined make the perfect fish habitat. He talked about his journey as an itamae, his first jobs in the U.S. and why young chefs in Japan are gravitating toward Italian cooking. It was a really enjoyable conversation and a helpful education.
The soundtrack playing was nice, soft jazz and was totally on point.
It was hard to break away. But with the glow of this wonderful lunch we hopped, skipped and banged it over to Fishing With Dynamite for the last day of dine/LA. More fresh seafood and nice, buzzy cocktails…
#WillTravelForSuperbSeafood
Glad you liked the Akitabare Junzukuri Junmai! To be honest I still have not yet tasted it but I can probably guess what it might be like. It’s aged at least two years in low temperature and from the description sounds like it still came out with a good profile that’s not too funky. You can actually enjoy this also at three temperatures (including warmed).
Ginga Shizuku you definitely want it chilled. Perfectly ok to skip this and save it for when you dine with a novice drinker.
When you are ready, get a bottle of Taka Tokubetsu Junmai from K&L, keep it lightly chilled (a wine bag that can be put in the freezer supplemented with ice packs from target), then go to town with the sushi here. And one more pairing tip I’ll make public, bring TWO. One for here, and one for Fishing With Dynamite…willing to bet it will be pretty darn good with the Peruvian scallops, raw oysters, lobster and whatever other shellfish on offer. Treat it like your Chablis or Alsace Grand Cru, but it’s sake and probably will work better.
Keep up these reports!
Hi @beefnoguy -
At your recommendation we bought a bottle of the Taka “Noble Arrow” Tokubetsu Junmai a while back. I might have posted about it. But if I remember correctly you talked about it being a modern sake, the type the younger generation of sake drinkers like because of its resemblance to wines like chablis. I think we had it with a lemon or light vegetable pasta. It was mellow, but crisp, with a light herby, lemony flavor and less pronounced alcohol. We’ll get it again and see if my memory holds. 
Thanks!
I really wanna try this place, but it’s 30 miles away with heavy traffic while Hayato’s only 6. 
Great reports @TheCookie, really glad you liked it. i see you like to live dangerously by posting multiple pictures of your sake and clam soup, scroll-fingers have been sprained and wars have been started for that kind of transgression.
p.s. well done on your bang-bang-ing.
Hah! 
The clam soup photo is a real no, no. It’s the same photo posted twice!
Thanks for the recs and guidance @PorkyBelly. Yasu-san says “Hi”. He also said he’s tempted to ask permission to use some of your photos, because he likes them better than his own. I told him I steal your photos all the time. 
What can I say? FTC is a target-rich environment for food writers.
Can I just drop in for dinner or do I have to make reservations in advance? & Not difficult to secure reservations?
Reservations only.
I’ll check it’s status on Resy here and there. For the most part it’s not difficult as long as it’s not on Fri-Sat.
Enjoy, this place is on my to-do list in the coming months
Hi @Sgee -
They do take walk-ins. But probably wouldn’t chance it for dinner since it’s a 6-8 seater. We’ve only been in the afternoon and both times our resy wasn’t necessary even on a weekend.
I’d be totally curious about your impressions. Pretty please report back!
