Eggplant

I love this place!
The prices aren’t astronomical, but don’t expect to stock up on rolls here and not pay a good amount of money. The rolls are so delicious though, it doesn’t matter how much you order, you’ll love them no matter what!
Don’t expect a menu with 50 different kinds of sushi rolls. Don’t expect the speed of service to be similar to that of a fast food joint either.
Do expect a simple menu, incredible food, and the sweetest staff. Oh and maybe some cool music! I’m sure the music isn’t always the same, but during my visit every song that came on was by the Beatles! Extra points? I think so!

Eggplant is a lovely little place situated next to a noisy über-​trendy micro pub. Husband and I were instantly charmed by the cozy, quiet ambience. Our two favorite dishes were the agadashi tofu appetizer and pumpkin crispy rice (however, do not get the pumpkin sushi). Strangely, we did not order an eggplant dish! We also had a couple standard sushi rolls, which weren’t too impressive. I really appreciated the restraint used in the dishes. The tofu especially was delicate and perfectly wonderful. Not everything has to hit you over the head with flavor. Unfortunately, that might be why their sushi is underwhelming. Anyway, we are definitely going back. And we are definitely ordering at least one eggplant dish!

Not a big selection, not a mind blowing restaurant, not mind blowing sushi. I wish them the best, but I will not go back.

Food was OK. The salmon thingy I ordered was dry, steer clear of that. The sushi was OK. Didn’t try the sashimi… Maybe I should have.
Don’t come here to pig out. Small portions and thus pricey. The service was great though!

Eggplant, so much to say about this wonderful place. I don’t even know where to begin as my mouth waters just of the thought of all the deliciousness they have to offer. The first time I came to this place I knew it would not be the last. I fell in love. This place offers fresh, quality sushi. It’s also cozy and really clean. They always have nice relaxing music playing.
I highly recommend their spicy tuna crispy rice avocado, garlic albacore sashimi, yellowtail sashimi and the Henry roll, just to mention a few. I read a couple reviews about their wait time. Yes, it does take a little while but it’s worth every single minute of it. If you look at the last page in the menu, it clearly tells you that their food is made fresh to order and nothing is pre made. This is QUALITY fish that just melts in your mouth.
The service there is at another level. The staff is extremely friendly and make you feel welcomed. The owner is so sweet and even knows his regular customers by name. If you want cheap and mediocre sushi then go to a fast food type of sushi spot. For good quality sushi, Eggplant is the place. Hands down the best sushi! I was never a fan of sushi and now I’m addicted :)

Be careful when you walk in, there are 2 doors and one of them has a step down immediately as you walk in and you may fall if you’re wearing heels or elderly or not careful.
The place was completely dead when I walked in. Usually that’s a red flag but the place is very, very cutely decorated, inside and out so that kind of made up for no people being there.
The lady server was very nice and I sat up at the «bar» which is kind of like a counter and was told they don’t have an actual sushi bar (I guess they make all of their sushi items in the kitchen). I let her know I was in a hurry and ordered quickly. I ordered 2 hand rolls for there and a California roll and spicy tuna roll to go. She told me if I «like» their restaurant on Facebook that I get a free sample. I said ok and did it there.
The free treats came out before my hand rolls. One was a pumpkin thing on crispy fried rice and the other I think was a spicy tuna on crispy rice. The crispy rice part was good and the pumpkin mush was bland. I don’t remember about the spicy tuna one. Both my hand rolls were so-​so but again, bland. Maybe they don’t flavor their food cause they think people will pour lots of soy sauce on it or something. I don’t know.
I haven’t eaten the 2 to go rolls that I ordered yet but I’m guessing they may be bland too.
My bill came and it was over $ 32.00. I was a little surprised since I had a small hot sake for $ 4.50, and two hand rolls which were about $ 6 each if I remember correctly. That means about $ 15 was for the spicy tuna and California rolls which is surprising to me cause usually they are not so expensive. If I wasn’t in a hurry I would’ve taken time to check the menu prices again.
Overall I would go back since the place was very cute. But I would make sure to use soy sauce and maybe come on a weekend night when there might actually be people there!

First time here and loved it! The employees were very friendly, food was delicious, and the best green tea Mochi
ever. Try the pumpkin veg roll… Amazing

Oh eggplant. There isn’t enough praise that I can give this amazing little nook which holds a special place in my heart… And stomach.
I am not a spicy fan, and thankfully, they cater to the mild tongued like me. You must try the honey hand roll and the Milky Way. And definitely treat yourself to the goodness that is their crispy rice. I discovered Japanese pumpkin thanks to Eggplant and now I am a life long fan.
To the people who complain about service. Please re-​read the last page of the menu «all our food is made fresh to order. NOTHING IS PRE-​MADE. So please allow a little extra time for us to deliver this goodness to you.» They take extra care in creating this, have a little patience. (No I didn’t memorize this, I’m sitting here at the moment enjoying a pumpkin miso soup and the mouthwatering albacore while listening to Pink Floyd, Beatles, and Bob Marley… C’mooonnn now!)
Kato-​San, his wife, and the staff always make me feel right at home here and my guests and I leave happy and looking forward to our next visit.
Keep up the good work, and I encourage all the eyes checking out this review to open their heart and tummy’s to this studio city gem! You’ll thank me later ;)
Arigato, eggplant!

This place was so excellent for dinner.
It has a very romantic ambiance and is great for a date.
We had «The pumpkin», «Crispy rice tuna avocado» and «Mushroom miso soup» for appetizers. Omg, I really love Crispy rice here!!!
After that, we also ordered «Honey soy paper cut roll», «Milky Way seaweed cut roll»
and «Ebi Sinjo» which is new menu as a waitress told me. Everything was absolutely yummy!
What a gem of a place in sutudio city!
We will definitely be back to try more!

This place is such a secret gem! I loved the food we ordered. Try the Honey Roll for sure! Also got the Milky Way and the Miso Eggplant, both of which were equally delicious.
I’ll be back for sure, especially because the couple that owns the place are so sweet and attentive!

Hands down my favorite sushi spot in the Valley. The ambience is fantastic. Always great music and of course the friendly Kato-​San and his staff.
Some of my favorite dishes are the Honey Hand Roll, Honey Pumpkin, mushroom miso soup, garlic ponzu albacore and crispy rice.

I was totally disappointed by this place after wanting to try it for so long!
To be honest, the food was decent. Not great, but decent. Based on that alone, I would have given 3 – 4 stars.
But the service was… strange. I came in with my 8 year old son, and they stood there for a moment staring at us like we had two heads. Ok, so obviously they aren’t used to children, but my son is relatively well behaved and accustomed to eating at sushi restaurants.
Their menu was really limited, which surprised me. Because there was little that was not «spicy» my son opted for yakitori chicken, and I got miso chicken. We also got one roll, tuna on crispy rice, and «the pumpkin.»
The pumpkin was great. The roll was ok. The rest was adequate. I originally thought «this place is ok.» But as I said, the service was weird. Each time we were finishing something off a plate, the waitress came to take the plate away immediately, once before I even got the last bite into my mouth fully. And when she wasn’t taking our plates, she stood behind the register staring at us. Sort of awkward.
Then we got our bill. Now, the food had been pretty good, but it was NOT $ 72 good. What??? How had essentially two orders of teriyaki chicken and two (not giant or expensive) rolls with a veggie appetizer come out to $ 72? Ok fine, I paid it. Whatever.
Bottom line: This place is not horrible, but with so many other great sushi places on the Boulevard, why bother? I will not be going back.

Well we were spoiled to be the only ones there on a Friday evening around 7. I don’t know how we lucked out but I will be giving a high rating because our experience was worth a definite go back!
The place is so cute and comfortable, with good music.
The service was great and friendly.
The albacore sushi was a hit, the black tiger shrimp tempura with shiitake mushroom, zucchini, and green beans was done to perfection. We loved their mushroom miso soup as well and it was actually worth the $ 4.50. Their blue crab roll and tuna roll were also tasty and fresh. We had a garlic chicken dish that we asked for no pepper on that somehow got on it, but they had no problem taking it back and we ordered more albacore sushi instead.
The kids liked it, we liked it. A bit pricey for a regular family dinner spot but we will be back and it’ll be a great place to go with other adults.
It’s a great date spot!

The slowest service I have ever in my life experienced. 45 mins for food to go.
Food is pathetic. There is no sushi «bar» and everything is made in the back.
They are cheap and rolls are nasty. With the 30 other places to get sushi from, this place needs to go out of business ASAP !
Btw I posted a pic of my takeaway order. So judge for yourself. It wasn’t worth $ 40 and my tuna and tempura shrimp crunchy roll was missing tuna.

I loved the food. The fish was really fresh, I loved the Pumpkin Crispy Rice and the Baked Salmon Avo Soy Paper Handroll.
I loved the décor and home-​y feeling of this place too, tiny, dark with tapestries hanging from the dark wood pier ceiling.
BUT… The service was so slow. It took 15 minutes just to get our drinks (a water and a beer). There were two servers, they definitely need a third and I guess another chef too. We ordered about 5 small rolls. Really small, not special rolls, just basic rolls. We got the soy paper handrolls first and the pumpkin crispy rice, probably after 30 minutes. That would be fine but we had to wait another 45 minutes for the two basic rolls (Eel & Avocado and Spicy Yellowtail).
Then we got charged for regular price on the 3 Happy Hour items we ordered so we had to wait longer for them to correct that. They were really sweet about it and apologized.
I really thought the food was delicious but I’m not willing to wait an hour and a half for simple rolls when there are a ton of other spots on Ventura Blvd. I also think they’re overpriced, paying $ 70 for a meal I could get for $ 40 within reasonable time, I don’t like that. Obviously.
While we were leaving I regretted not going to get ramen instead. I still want ramen now. Actually, I want Western Bagel. Yum. I’m offffff!

Ugh I tried to like this place, but I just don’t think its worth the 2 hour wait time.
The first time I came here I thought the slow service was just a one time deal, nope its ALWAYS like that!
Came here last night for dinner, and even though the food tastes and looks great, it doesnt really take 45+ minutes to bring out shishito peppers. We werent even given menus for about 15 minutes. 20 minutes for water and hot tea.
Its absolutely ridiculous. I think if they were to hire a few more people for the kitchen this place would be a hit! I don’t think we will be returning here!

Ehhhh.
That’s really all I have to say about this place. The rolls are kind of small, which was not what I was expecting with the prices. I came on a Saturday night and it was pretty much empty. The rolls didn’t taste bad, but they weren’t amazing either. Probably won’t go here again. I can find better sushi places with the same prices. I would give it 2 stars but I’ll put 3 because the servers were really nice, despite being REALLY slow.

What’a good food and atmosphere! I don’t want to tell everybody about this place but, people need to know what’s a good restaurant.
It;s not «Eggplant». Its «EGG Plant» some reason? Fresh seafood and very creative Japanese dishes. Serving time was longer as other people mentioned but, depend on timing I guess. I went week night and no problem to order.
Pro: Good hiding place for intimate dinner or lunch.
Con: Hard to find this restaurant by address. Just look for Office Depot (In front of Office Depot)

Came in for lunch. The place was scorchingly hot. We said we’d stay if they crank up the AC. The lady said, «Of course», except she «cranked» it up from 76 all the way to 75. By the time I figured it out, the food was already ordered.
The lunch bento box for $ 10.50, I believe, was below average. The piece of salmon that came in the box was very small and very dry. Spicy tuna roll was just OK. Left hungry and hot, but not hot in a good way…
Oh yes, a tiny cup of tea (at lunch!) was $ 3.00!

Muther effer, I hate Wikipedia. I spent 4 hours on Wiki last night because of this place, which I think is technically called Egg Plant Japanese Kitchen. Actually, they put the Japanese Kitchen part before the Egg Plant on the sign and on the menu, but it really doesn’t make sense that way. Also, not sure why «Egg Plant» is two words. SEE!!! This is why I spent 4 hours on Wiki! I could’ve used a dictionary, but eff that, I decided to use Wiki to determine whether the word eggplant was supposed to be two words or one. Cut to: 4 HOURS LATER, thanks to those damn blue links, I have thoroughly researched Sri Lanka, the Japanese Empire, Theodore Roosevelt, tone deafness, color blindness, the X chromosome, sex linkage, Tsarevich Alexei, and Anastasia. Funny enough, the last Wikipedia binge I had ended with Anastasia too. She’s the freakin’ Kevin Bacon of history.
So anyway, yeah, eggplant is one word.
As for this very obscure restaurant (as in obscured by the very noticeable weed joint next door), it’s been open for about 5 months. It’s a quaint little place, cozy, bright, sunny, nicely decorated, and a pretty good variety of soul food and sushi. Moderately priced place (at least the lunch menu) and they have lunch specials listed on their marker board outside. The service is amazingly sweet and very accommodating. They’re new so they’re testing a lot of things out right now. Not better than Daichan down the street, but good. I’ll definitely be back for lunch again.
I ended up trying one of their permanent entrée dishes on the lunch menu – Spicy Miso Chicken. Very simple dish, very simply presented, and offered with a bowl of rice. It was spicy, tender, pretty good – not amazing, but good for lunch… and satisfying enough.
My coworker ordered one of the lunch specials for about $ 8 – the Spicy Miso Ramen Noodle Soup with chicken and veggies. That one was probably the best deal because it was HUGE and apparently tasty. They use curly ramen too and apparently it’s nose-​snifflingly spicy.
The other coworker took the recommendation of the waitress and ordered the crispy rice sushi thing, which he liked, but it didn’t even dent his stomach. So he ended up getting the ramen as well, which he also enjoyed. The waitress was very apologetic for not informing him that the crispy rice might not be enough food. But really, his stomach is to blame. No, really. It’s a monster.
I have to try out more dishes here, but so far, the ramen seems to be the glory. Since they don’t have ramen at Daichan down the street, this place has cornered the entire market (of this block that is). I’ll have to try the tempura dishes of course and obviously some of the sushi. I love startups and I’m willing to try keeping this one open, especially given it’s disadvantaged, obscure location.
Take note that there’s zilch parking, so find it on the street. The parking they do have seems difficult to get out of because you’re backing onto Ventura at a decently busy intersection on a curve. Wow, who thought of that one?
Also, teapots (for hot green tea, etc.) are served on an individual basis in individual pots – not the usual shared pot. Just letting you know because I got thoroughly confused when she asked «how many green teas?».
They serve alcohol too, I think. I think that was sake I saw…