I’m in Westchester-Playa del Rey area for a few days and could use a sushi recommendation for lunch. Anywhere from Hermosa to Venice. In particular I’m looking for good nigiri sushi, not rolls, that is fresh and reasonably priced…Thank you, Gary
You’re very close to Gardena area that has a huge Japanese population and a lot of restaurants. Right off the 10 in west la has some of the best in la. If those aren’t too far I can give recs.
Also price range?
Hi Charlie - Both of those areas are not too far. In fact I was trying to get a feel for lunch at Shunji on West Pico. I’m thinking my spouse and I would do ~6 pieces each for lunch. That pretty much puts it in the $50-65 range before sake…Thank you, Gary
i was going to suggest lunch at shunji. just do it.
Here’s a good list of the top places in LA http://la.eater.com/maps/the-best-sushi-restaurants-in-los-angeles-winter-2014 (but out of the price range of $50-60 for a lot of them)
Shunji is a good choice, sushi Tsujita is also another fantastic choice. Those two are some of the best sushi spots in LA right now. Tsujita does a very good lunch deal.
Mori Sushi is also in the area and some consider it #2 behind Urasawa, but it’s not cheap. Sushi Zo is also a classic. Echigo is near santa monica area and is a really good value for omakase as well.
I’ve heard good things about Kiriko Sushi but I’ve yet to go.
If you want to get some ramen, Tsujita Ramen for lunch has the Tsukemen which is a dipping ramen and is fantastic.
In the Gardena/Torrence area, the quality level is a slight step down from West LA but you make up for it in pricing. Kantaro is a fantastic QPR, it’s not mind blowing sushi but pricing wise it’s quite nice (*under $40). Nozomi is a great spot as well. But this area is really well known for their soba/udon/ramen, so if you want to try that there are a lot of really great suggestions as well.
tsujita is pretty sick and madddd expensive though.
omakase at shunji lunch is awesome and all sushi.
tsujita lunch is pretty cheap. Their chirashi bowl is $15 with an excellent selection, since Gary is only looking for 6 pieces each I think a chirashi bowl + 2-3 pieces each is a good compromise . But their lunch omakase is not cheap, I think $65 or so last time. Shunji’s 10 (or is it 12) piece lunch special is $40
Thank you much Charlie & Yaacov. We made it to Shunji for the $23 7 piece nigiri sushi and hand roll lunch special. Eating at the sushi bar was very pleasant. As always the sake tab was more than the sushi but an important enhancement to the meal. Thank you again…Gary
Hey, I drove right by Shunji at 1pm today. I was destined for a 10 minute Subway lunch though.
We were in there John.
One fun fact is that the Shunji building in a previous life was the Chili Bowl. here’s the link … Historic Roadside Los Angeles: Chili Bowl .
In the building next door was the Music Machine one of the best music clubs in the 80s.
Prior to Shunji the old Chili Bowl spot was a bbq called Mr. Cecil’s. They had 5-6 wines, all were about $25 aside from the 86 Lafite that went for $1000. I always wondered whether they ever sold a bottle.
Btw, if you are hanging in the Playa/marina/p.vista area, we tried a decent casual place the other night called Del Rey kitchen on Culver right by 90. Kind of Japanese pub food at reasonable prices. Nothing earth-shattering but good and with a friendly $5 corkage.
Thanks for the recommendation John. I just landed back in the east but will try it the next time I’m out to the area to meet family I will give it a try.