Sushi Zo

Los Angeles, CA

After much research and debate on picking the best Sushi place in LA (sans Urasawa) we opted to have lunch at Sushi Zo. A couple of apprehensions to selecting Sushi Zo were there; are no menus, everything is omakase, thus you don't the costs, so you don't know how much you're spending,  plus apparently the sushi chef is really mean. No use of phones, not letting the sushi sit for more than ten seconds, he's been depicted as a sushi nazi. In reality, Keizo, who is actually a very cordial man, simply does not want to make any sacrifice to the product he is offering. He simply wants you to respect the skill involved in his profession and enjoy the food exactly the way it's prepared, no extra soy or wasabi.  For Chu-Toro and I, we're totally fine with that mentality because out of respect, he knows best, and there's no reason to argue with that. For a Michelin starred sushi restaurant in LA, there's no glitz or glam to the location of Zo, it's literally in a strip mall. Next to a Starbucks in a Rite Aid shopping center, we almost didn't go inside at noon on a Friday for lunch because it was completely empty. We even made a reservation, but sat alone at the empty sushi bar. We were almost frightened, thinking we were in the wrong place. How did we end up picking this place, we thought? Well, we're glad we did, because the next two hours were like losing our sushi virginity. Unbelievable. 

Kumamoto Oyster

I can't remember the description of ever course, there were almost 30 offerings in total, but can tell you, every bite was the freshest quality product I've ever had. We had never been to any sushi place up to the quality of Zo   and Mori Sushi (also in LA) is the only thing in the same argument. We're saving the $1000 meal to Urasawa when we decide to have our first kid (can't have sushi while you're pregnant). Anyways, we were started with the best Kumamoto oyster i've had in my life, sorry hog island. 

Toro Shashimi

Next up was four luscious pieces each of toro shashimi. Melt in your mouth, amazing. 

Abalone

The abalone was interesting. Simply and beautifully presented, it was crunchy, with a sea water sweetness, but not something I would specifically order. The green, spicy pickled sauce was also interesting.

Uni Ika noodles

Uni ika noodles was next, I dream of this bite all the time. Mixed fresh in front of you, you never want to see a beautiful piece of uni crushed into little bits, unless its for this dish. Great texture, smooth, cool, almost light flavor, perfectly capturing and balancing the uni with the squid and freshly grated wasabi, real wasabi, grated by shark's skin. Wonderful. This is the dish that made me fall in love with uni. 

Halibut

Halibut was the first piece of nigiri. We were instructed to dip a little soy sauce. Nice start.

Albacore

Still the best Albacore, I've ever had, you can see how fatty it is. Hmm...

Spanish Mackerel

I didn't know I like Spanish Mackerel until I had this one. I basically had to throw out all my prior experiences of what I thought I liked, because tasting a high level quality fish can basically make any nigiri taste amazing.

Hotate

A very good, smooth, tender piece of hotate was next continuing the excellence.

Hamachi

Hamachi, a  regular staple for us was good, but not amazing. I guess when you get some better quality from other fishes, you realize how much more there is that hamachi and toro. 

Chu-Toro

Just look at the Chu-toro, it could not be any more beautiful.Really fatty and superb. Still haven't been able to find any toro that comes close to how amazing this was.

I don't recall the next piece of nigiri, but it was topped with the same pickled spicy topping as the abalone.

I also don't recall the next piece of nigiri, but it looks good too.

Ohno - Butterfish

The Ohno was delightful. You can see from the picture, it's exterior had been slightly cooked with a hand torch, but the interior remained cold and fresh like a normal nigiri piece. The large piece of butterfish was melt in your mouth excellent.

Cod Smelt

I don't get excited about the idea of having smelt, but it turned out to be really great. Tying items you would never normally order yourself is part of the eye opening experience here. It really makes you appreciate and like things you thought you never would, like cod smelt.

I don't recall this nigiri, so I can't claim to have liked or disliked it, but I'm sure it was good.

Giant Clam

The giant clam was interesting, lots of bite,almost chewy, not the greatest, but nice to try.

Sake

Salmon was up next, and was very good. It was not as fatty or perfect as the toro, but pretty damn good nonetheless. It was topped by fresh seaweed. 

How could I forget this one? It looks really good, but don't remember what it was.

Ankimo

One of the memorable firsts that I had at Zo was the ankimo, which I look for on the menu at any sushi restaurant now. None of them have been able to meet up to this first taste, which was rich and creamy, but not overly fishy like over servings I've had. Really amazing.

Red Snapper

Apparently this is what red snapper is suppose to look like. It tasted equally awesome.

Uni and Ikura

Ikura's not exactly my fav, just because I don't appreciate it. Zo's offering exposed us to what it's suppose to taste like, sweet, salty, cool, ocean sea water. Although its still not in my top ten, I really liked tasting a good example. The uni, was then, the best uni I've ever had.

I don't recall this one either, but it was really beautiful as well. The items that I don't recall were still excellent, since everything I had was amazing.

Orange clam

The orange clam was lightly covered with sea salt and was a little gummy and chewy. It was nice to try, but wouldn't order it again.

Blue Crab Hand Roll

Hmm...blue crab hand roll. Have you see how small blue crabs are? Imagine how difficult it is to get out any meat. My presumption is there's at least three crabs worth of meat in this little hand roll, which was wonderfully delicious.

Tamego

Tamego is the sign for the end, although we weren't quite done yet. Keizo's preparation was very good.

Halibut fin

One of my favorite bites of the entire meal was the Halibut fin. Gentle, soft, tender small pieces of the fin were quickly cooked with a hand torch and topped with sauce. Just unbelievable. I have yet to have another item like it.

Halibut fin 2

The whole intact nigiri version of the halibut fin was completely different. Topped with sea salt, it was similar to the orange clam, crunchy, chewy needing a strong bite. I preferred the previous preparation, but it was nice to experience the contrast.

Yuzu

Keizo tops off the meal with a small shot of yuzu, which is the perfect balanced pallet cleanser after a stuffing of nigiri. 

Keizo at Sushi Bar

All my sushi experiences are compared to Sushi Zo. The consistency of excellence is there (testament by an equally amazing second visit). The quality is always superb and the preparation perfect. The weakness of this Michelin starred establishment is the variety in the menu. During our second visit, the omakase was nearly the exact same menu, with only 5 different offerings (amaebi, needlefish, baby squid, ika, and toro hand roll). For those who like variety, this would constitute as an extremely repetitive meal. With that being said, I'd still come here at least once a year to drop $300 (for two) for an amazing sushi experience. It may be my sentimental connection that I have with Sushi Zo that makes me prefer to all other sushi bars (since it first exposed me to really amazing sushi) but isn't that what food is about anyways? I can't wait to travel to Japan to have my eyes opened again to what I'm missing, but until then, Zo is my standard for excellence.

Rating 9/10

December 28, 2009

February 27, 2009