Sushi Zo downtown LA

anyone been recently ???

what are your dope fucking thoughts ???

thanks.

Not recently but very good a year ago. She and I were the only round eyes. Went early and sat at the bar. Interesting mix of customers from young to old, all Asians. The chef created customer specific courses for each palate. The San Francisco family to our left got dishes different from ours and from the USC kids. Pricey but expected.

Peony: We had omakase at Sushi Zo in April. We were greeted by a friendly waiter and chef who seemed to recognized us and welcomed us back. It was such a feast—21 courses if we count by the plates. All the dishes were beautiful flavored. One interesting thing we noticed and liked is that fish in the Spring season are leaner. So the “fishy” flavor is more intense and the texture is firmer compared with fall/winter fishes. I normally find toro a bit too oily for my liking, but toro during this season is just so wonderfully leaner and lighter to me. The atmosphere here was really wonderful too. There seemed to be a good working culture there, as all the chefs were friendly to each other and seem to be genuinely happy. This is quite a contrast to Q Sushi, in which the chefs were more on the serious and intense side.

Warrior: Sushi is difficult to review. I’ve eaten at all but one of the world’s three Michelin starred sushi restaurants, yet I would be hard-pressed to articulate the differences between their sushi and that of Sushi Zo. Maybe my palate lacks refinement, maybe the differences are nuanced, or maybe it is a combination of both. Past a certain quality level, the overall experience matters to me more than the fine distinctions in quality. I like the whole Zo experience, including the relaxed pace, the friendly chef, and the friendly waitress. The standout dishes are the steamed ankimo and the squid pasta with uni and pepper (neither of which is sushi). The sushi itself is remarkable for being unremarkable: a good balance of fish and rice, with the rice prepared to a medium consistency with a medium amount of vinegar. I like their shishito pepper topping. I’m not fond of their searing method for fish like barracuda, because it tastes too gassy.

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