Mori Sushi

Los Angeles, CA

Chu-Toro and I fell in love with amazing nigiri at Sushi Zo in LA over a year ago and haven't felt the need to venture elsewhere. But just to change it up this past LA visit and to make sure we weren't missing anything in the LA sushi scene besides the ridiculously expensive Urasawa, we made reservations for Mori Sushi. Mori's like Zo has been recognized for a Michelin Star and is a beloved sushi destination amongst Chowhounders. Owner and chief sushi chef Mori Onodera's philosophy is focused on perfect polished rice. He even has his own rice fields in Sacramento to ensure his rice meets his exact specifications. As we entered, we saw the chef working on the far right side of the sushi bar with two other sushi chefs. When we arrived at 7:30 on Friday in the small 30 person restaurant, we were seated at sushi bar and ordered the Omakase.

Homemade tofu and freshly grated wasabi

We started with homemade tofu topped by sharkskin grated wasabi and were instructed to pour the provided soy sauce over it. It was really cool and fresh combined with the saltiness of soy and spiciness of the wasabi. A very nice pallet starter. 

Grilled Japanese Eggplant (white and red miso), Slimy seaweed, yuzu abalone, eel gelee 

Our next course was a unique one, starting with grilled eggplant two ways, with white miso and red miso. The white miso marinated eggplant was sweet and creamy while the red miso eggplant was salty but carried a clear grilled flavor. The small middle bowl was filled slimy seaweed, a first for us. Texturally it was as described, extremely slimly and a little tart, an interesting dish. The highlight of the dish was the tenderly citrus yuzu abalone which was fresh and sweet. The final component was a eel gelee, which started off very light and ended salty and eely, a fun bite.

Red Snapper soup 

The next dish was a red snapper soup, with roasted skinless eggplant, sea beans, tofu skin and a slice of calamansi lime. The ends of the large chunk of snapper were slightly overcooked, but the center was just perfect. Combined with a sweet broth, the tofu skin and saltiness of the sea beans meshed well and the texturally soft eggplant felt like it had been stewed for hours. A very nice soup to have on a cold winter night.

Grilled Spot Prawns with clams

The grilled spot prawn was beautifully split in half presenting hundreds of tiny roe and sat atop a bed of eight clams mixed with tart tomatoes and clam juices. A great dish, but unfortunately the prawn was a bit overcooked.

Fried abalone

The fried abalone was excellently executed and Chu-Toro's favorite dish of the night. Amazingly the lightly battered crunchy abalone remained tender and blended well with the lemon and sea salt provided. 

Red Snapper marinated in kelp

Red Snapper marinated in kelp was sweet, tender, and melted in my mouth. Right off the back, we could tell the difference in the rice and the perfect temperature consistency with the fish with just the right amount of wasabi. Simply amazing.

Wild Kampachi

The wild kampanchi with soy was soft, smooth, and melt in my mouth delicious. Also wonderful.

Spanish Mackerel 

The mackerel with soy was also superb, offering great texture and flavor contrast with the minced ginger and green onion topping.

Stone Snapper with Shiso and Sea Salt

Anytime Shiso is combined with my nigiri, it's a success, mainly because I love the bright mint-like flavor provided by the leaf. The sea salt sprinkled on top was also a great alternative to soy.

Baby Kampachi

The baby Kampachi was up next and buttery soft. Chu-Toro preferred the wild kampachi which had a little more bite, but I enjoyed the melt in my mouth toro texture of the this bite.

Chu Toro

Toro is one of the nigiri pieces that can tell you a lot about a sushi joint, especially because EVERY place offers a version of it. But as you can tell in the photo, the brightness and richness of the color pops and is visibly appealing. The taste was just as great, fatty, luscious and everything you could want from the perfect morsel of tuna. 

Shark

Anytime I get to try a piece of nigiri I've never had before I get very excited. There was no difference when i received the Shark nigiri. Despite my impression it would be rough, it was very tender with a sardine like texture. 

Ika with Shiso

The Ika with Shiso was not too firm but did have a rather gummy texture. Quite strange and unlike other pieces of squid I've had. 

Geoduck with sea salt

The geoduck can also be texturally rugged but a good nigiri cut usually denotes a crunchy composition rather than a rough one. Mori's offering was the former, offering a nice balance of sweetness and bite.

Barracuda 

Another first for us was the baby barracuda which was flaky and fragile. The cut of fish was solid but its body fell part in our mouth without chewing, a very delectable nibblet.

Japan & Santa Barbra uni duo

An exciting duo of uni followed, showcasing the Santa Barbara uni versus its counterpart from Japan. There is a noticeable visual difference between the two, the Santa Barbara version, a large singular piece where as the uni from Japan was 4-5 time smaller. Flavor wise, there was a clear difference. The uni from Japan was much more mild, rich and creamy with tones of ocean flavor. The Santa Barbra piece was stronger in ocean flavor, but not overpowering and an excellent example of the California coast product. 

Fresh Sea Eel

The fresh sea eel was the final omakase dish and was delicate and light, extremely contrasting the typical unagi sold at most places. 


At this point in time, we were allowed to choose any additional dishes we still wanted to try. We opted to go with Hotate, Tako and Sake, three boring classics, but favorites from the generic selection.

Hotate

The hotate was quickly grilled with a squirt of lemon and sea salt. It was good, but truthfully I prefer my scallop nigiri completely raw to grasp the natural sweetness.

Tako

One of Chu-Toro's favs, Tako was next and although sliced pristinely the octopus itself was nothing special or memorable.

Sake

At this point, we we told we practically tried everything except the ol' boring salmon. Funny that amist all the great sushi we had already been served, we totally forgot about this classic. It did not disappoint, as it was oily, fatty and excellent.

Green Tea Ice Cream

The green tea ice cream rounded out a marvelous meal, once again reaffirming my love for LA sushi. Chu-Toro crowned it better than Sushi Zo, which was difficult for me to swallow. Although this meal at Mori was incredible I still have to rate Zo slightly higher purely based off the memorable items (halibut fin, ankimo, uni noodles) I experienced there. Admittedly, Mori's rice is superior and they offer a variety of menu items and selection in comparison to Zo's omakase only. There is no wrong choice between either Michelin starred establishment, both encompassing their own style and ambiance. On this night, 85% of the nigiri I had was flawless, seducing me to fall in love with yet another LA sushi joint.

Our view from the bar

Michelin stars 2008, 2009

Chef and owner Mori Onodera

Rating 8.5/10
August 27, 2010