Q Sushi 521 W 7th St Los Angeles, CA 90014 Dining date: 7/30/14 Q Sushi opened in November of last year, just off downtown’s corner of 7th & Grand, home to other popular spots Bottega Louie, Sugarfish and Mo-Chica. Its opening was right on the heels of the downtown location of Zo, creating a formidable twosome in downtown’s high-end…
n/naka 3455 Overland Ave Los Angeles, CA 90034 Dining date: 7/15/14 n/naka opened three years ago in a quiet corner of Palms on the westside. The restaurant and its modern take on the Japanese kaiseki meal, has focused on creating a very precise multi-course meal with seasonal ingredients. Many of those ingredients are grown by chef Niki…
Sweets Raku 5040 W Spring Mountain Rd Las Vegas, NV 89146 Dining date: 5/8/14 Raku has consistently grown in popularity in recent years, drawing a lot of attention for its off-strip izakaya. Known for a while as a local/insider spot that a lot of chefs visited, it’s really blown onto the scene even having an appearance…
Yusho Monte Carlo Resort and Casino 3770 Las Vegas Blvd S Las Vegas, NV 89109 Dining date: 5/7/14 Yusho is one of the more notable openings in Las Vegas this year at the Monte Carlo. A Chicago transplant, Yusho’s original location became popular for its concept inspired by a Japanese noodle house/yakitori shop. Matthias Merges,…
Yamakase 10422 National Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90034 Dining date: 4/8/14 Yamakase has been on my radar since I first heard about it a couple of years ago. The restaurant is an invitation-only (request one here) “secret” Japanese spot serving high-end Japanese. The meal may be best described as kaiseki, but it’s not really; it’s moreso a progression…
Zo 334 S Main St Los Angeles, CA 90013 Dining date: 3/7/14 I’ve only visited Cheviot Hills’ Sushi Zo a couple of times, but both times I’ve concluded that it was a top-tier sushi place in Los Angeles. So, I was very excited to hear chef Keizo Seki was opening up a downtown location in…
Ohshima 1956 N Tustin St Orange, CA 92865 Dining date: 12/21/13 Ohshima is one of Orange County’s notable and more popular sushi shops. I’ve had very limited forays into the OC sushi scene, but what I’ve found is some high quality sushi at some very reasonable prices. This was my second visit to Ohshima’s unassuming…
Akiko’s Restaurant 431 Bush St San Francisco, CA 94108 Dining date: 12/2/13 I’ve always found San Francisco to have a surprisingly lackluster Japanese food scene, made very noticeable once I moved to Los Angeles. Comparing some of the most oft-eaten Japanese foods like sushi and ramen – SF hasn’t really had any noteworthy standouts. However,…