Thursday, February 22, 2018

Sakana Sushi Lounge (Downtown LA)

by @discovering_LA

I recently visited Sakana Sushi Lounge in DTLA. It is located on 9th street just east of FIDM. Fortunately, Joe owns a lot of parking lots in downtown LA and I was able to find parking a block away from the restaurant. Sakana Sushi Lounge has a hip and modern decor. Effective use of wood, glass and color make for a classy interior. The dining room seating is a combination of comfortable tables and booths. Decorative steel chain curtains give window seat customers some additional privacy.

We started with deviled eggs.

The eggs were soaked in soy sauce and were topped with a nicely whipped mixture containing the egg yolks. The salmon roe on top gave it a nice presentation and boost of flavor.

The tempura cauliflower is the perfect dish for vegetarians. The cauliflower is coated with tempura batter and lightly fried. It is topped with sriracha aioli. The serving size is quite generous and this could almost make a meal for one.

A nice assortment of nigiri followed: hamachi, toro, uni, hotate, sake and kazunoko.


The chef used a minimal amount of rice and used extremely fresh fish. Of these, I enjoyed the hotate the most. The raw scallops were enhanced with a nice citrus sauce (it may have been yuzu). Even the tamago had the right amount of sweetness and had a nice spongy texture.
 
Midway through the meal, we were able to sample Ohishi Whiskey. This craft whiskey is distilled from rice and is matured fully in sherry casks. The was an extremely smooth whiskey with bold notes of sherry, vanilla and raisins. This is the type of whiskey you share with a good friend over great conversation.
  
Unless you are a sake snob, you probably can’t keep up with all of the brands available. Their menu has the sake organized by type: fruity, earthy, crisp and specialty. They feature Japanese craft whisky from 9 different distilleries. Kurayoshi and Ohishi appear to be their favored brands as it covers half of their list.

Ami ebi was perfect. The head of the shrimp was deep fried and the tail was served raw. The taste was sweet and it was crunchy like a soft shell crab. The ankimo was mild and delicate in flavor.

If you remember Laura Branigan’s Hot Night, I think the chef’s vision was spot on with this sushi roll named Hot Night. Made with spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, crab meat and gobo. The cucumber and gobo gave it a nice crunch. The red tempura flakes gave it a “hot” presentation.
For dessert we selected Kasutera. This is a Japanese sponge cake topped with vanilla ice cream. A beautiful lattice sugar decoration topped the Kasutera. The 9th street location is well lit and extremely walkable. Given the interior decor, I was surprised that the prices were reasonable. The servers are friendly and informative. I was happy that what they didn’t know they quickly found out and got back to us. Sakana means “fish” in Japanese and with their dedication towards quality and freshness, I’d have to say that the name is appropriate.

Sakana Sushi Lounge
321 W 9th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
213.683.0008
https://www.sakanadtla.com/
Sakana Sushi Lounge Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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