The best kind of friends are the ones whose food recommendations I can trust. Lord knows I’ve got enough friends who are happy eating at Olive Garden and the like. Lucky for us, the friends we were visiting in Beverly Hills have good taste in food. We were feeling lazy and didn’t want to go out (plus our kids would have made eating out a nightmare for us and other patrons). So, they recommended getting take out from a sushi spot close to their home. From the looks of the place, it’s a cozy neighborhood spot that’s nice enough for a date night, but not too stuffy or expensive to drain the wallet. But, it isn’t cheap either. Food for four adults ran us about $150 or so, but it was worth every penny.
Lotus hand roll ($8.75) – butter sauteed snow crab hand roll wrapped with soy paper. I didn’t try it but my friends raved about it.
Haru’s Cucumber roll ($13.50) – salmon, yellowtail, spicy tuna, and avocado roll wrapped with cucumber. Too big to fit in my mouth all at once (go ahead and laugh, I know you’ve got the maturity of a highschooler) this roll was tightly packed so when I did take a bite it didn’t completely fall apart.
Baked scallop ($13.50) – California roll topped with baked scallop, smelt egg, scallions and mayo sauce. Another one I didn’t try. My friends devoured it pretty quickly.
Red Dragon ($11.80) – baked eel and avocado roll topped with spicy tuna and tiny rice crackers. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Stuffed with meaty chunks of eel, this roll was a delicious explosion of flavors and textures — silky smooth spicy tuna and the crunch of the rice crackers — this was one of my favorite rolls of the night.
Lava stone ($9.50) – deep fried rice balls topped with spicy tuna, black caviar and avocado. They come four to an order and are pretty big. Again, too big for one bite. But you’ll want to savor it because these delicious balls of sticky rice are amazing. You’d think I’d be sick of all the dishes I tried with spicy tuna, but no… this was another home run. Although I think the rice balls and caviar alone would be a great dish. I’m going to be dreaming about that…
Albacore onion roll ($11.80) – spicy tuna roll covered with albacore, topped with lightly fried onion strips. As good as the other items were, this was the best. The sweetness and crunchiness from the onions were a delightful compliment to the fish and the contrast in temperatures with the hot onions and cool fish was outstanding.
Yellowtail carpaccio with jalapeño ($15.25) – thinly slice yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño and homemade ponzu sauce mixed with olive oil. The fish was deliciously light and fresh and the citrusy sauce was a wonderful compliment.
Ono carpaccio with Italian parsley ($15.25) – thinly slice butterfish with citrus mustard dressing topped with tomato, Italian parsley and red radish. Another great dish that shouldn’t be missed.
Even though we got takeout everything held up well on the quick ride back to our friends’ place. That always worries me, especially when you get items with hot components or fish sitting in sauce. But, it was a fabulous meal and I’d gladly go back to try more. It may not be the trendiest spot, but if you’re in the area you shouldn’t miss it.
5 Stars
480 S San Vicente Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-0547
