Sushi Iki

Everything is super fresh! Eddie is the best in making sure his customers get the top quality fishes. It’s quality over quantity!

Sushi Iki is where you want to go if you’re looking to level up your sushi game. You couldn’t tell from Chef Eddie’s boisterous and larger-​than-​life personality; but he’s the kingpin that runs the fish market, and that’s why Sushi Iki is an experience of it’s own. Most sushi chefs goto the fish market and orders what’s fresh, good, and available; but Chef Eddie dictates to the markets specifically what he wants from Japan. He’s got a notorious rep and won’t compromise at all– if it’s not there, he won’t take something else.
The omakase started off on a high note with French foie wrapped with Japanese halibut, caviar from Kazakhstan, and truffles from Italy. When that happens, you know you’re in for a good night. The meal just kept upping the ante. While gushing in how delicious each dish was, my date and I couldn’t stop thinking how this current course is our favorite. Then something else better comes out and you just get floored each time. The uni was as highest grade it could get, bursting with butter sweetness. The live scallop was plump and oh so decadent topped again with foie, truffles, and more caviar. Still thinking about that sauce, and wishing I had some rice or bread to soak all that goodness up! Hard to tell in the picture, but the sweet shrimp plumpest thing ever. I prefer my heads fried and I can usually chomp that down in a bite, but this guy was coming in at three full bites!
Perhaps one of the funnest part of the meal was to taste a traditional red snapper alongside a variant of golden snapper fished at 600 ft below sea level with another golden snapper variant that lives 3000 ft below sea level. It was an amazing experience and one of the most unique things I’ve experienced.
As others have alluded to, most of his customers nowadays are regulars, and that allows him to go after whatever he wants. He’s not bound by any sort of set menu. As a result, it’s the kind of omakase that is casual, intimate, and fun. He’ll serve you up some specials but also give you choice to dictate what direction you want the meal to go. Chef Eddie has said he’s served over 130 different types of seafood, with 29 on that particular day. That kind of statement alone makes it impossible not to come back in a few months to see what’s good during the fall. Definitely looking forward to our next experience!
PS. Follow sushiikieddie on IG, he’s got mad IG game and your mouth will water!

Nothing close for the unique experience. Extraordinary. Better than anything I have ever had in Japan

Sushi Eddie is second to none! Our favorite sushi chef and a hidden GEM in LA for this Michelin star rated ridiculous sushi place. If you have see the documentary of sushi Jiro you need to come here ASAP!

Feels like a huge splurge cus omasake begins at $ 100 per person. The chef was very clear in stating when the omakase ended. Any orders beyond that will be additional in price. We’re always on a hunt for good uni and wow, we had the freshest uni ever here! We’re also amazed by the variety. Chef says he goes to the fish market in DT 4:30 am to pick out the best cuts. No soy sauce for any of the dishes. It’s perfectly paired with his homemade sauces, toppings, and fluffy rice. I love love love the super toro with «ocean bacon» which was dear fatty tuna skin. It was incredibly decadent! My husband was a huge fan of the white fish with foie gras and caviar.

Omg wow is all I can say. I husband had multiple foodgasm’s!!!day two of the iki we had the most amazing meal uni King crab snail I don’t think we had anything bad. Peach saki as a finished was amazing!!!
All I can say is go let Eddie prepare for you and enjoy!

AWESOME!!! This was my first time here, and this place is my new favorite!
Super deliciously & the owners are so charming & friendly!!!
Thanks Sushi Iki!!!

Amazing quality and choices of unique sushi not sold elsewhere is what sets this place apart, aside from the very well (delicately and not overpowering) prepared and generous portions too. Chef Eddie has his most of his fish flown in from Japan.
I have been to quite a few quality sushi restaurants in the U.S., but never before have I been to a place that has such a unique variety of fish that I have never even heard of before along with textures and flavors, which I have never experienced.

This is a cute little sushi restaurant located in a strip mall along Ventura Blvd in Tarzana. There is a teeny-​tiny parking lot out in front, but if you drive through it and turn to the right, you’ll enter a larger parking garage with plenty of free parking.
There weren’t many patrons when we went for dinner on Saturday night at 7 pm, but the restaurant is very small, so make reservations to be on the safe side.
Like the other reviewers wrote, the food here isn’t cheap, but the portions are large and taste very fresh. I ate several types of sushi (nigiri), and everything was delicious.
My dinner for the evening:
— uni (sea urchin)
— amaebi (sweet shrimp) with roe and fried heads
— maguro (tuna)
— hamachi (yellowtail)
— salmon
— albacore tuna
— spicy tuna with avocado on crispy rice
— fatty tuna (toro)
— unagi (eel)
— house made sorbet — coconut, yuzu, raspberry
This was my first time ever trying uni, and it was creamy, salty, and slightly sweet with a slightly briny aftertaste. Actually a lot better than I expected, so now I’m not scared to eat it any more. ;)
The amaebi came with itty bitty roe on top, and although I typically don’t like the bigger fish eggs, these were a soft and salty addition to the sweet, raw shrimp. I’ve never had fried shrimp heads before and was surprised that you can eat the whole thing, shell and all. It tasted like a yummy shrimp chip. but with real succulent shrimp meat inside. And I devoured the eyeballs without even realizing it! If fried chicken was shrimp, then it would be this fried shrimp head. (Did that make any sense??)
I think this was my first time trying toro, too. It looked kinda like marbled red meat and melted in my mouth like butter. Oo la la!
Everything was really yummy, and the lady that served us was very nice and attentive. The only thing that detracted a bit from the dinner was that the sushi rice was packed a bit loose, so it kept falling apart every time I tried to pick up a sushi with my chopsticks. But the sushi rice was still soft and flavorful, and everything still went into my tummy just fine. :)

Everyone that comes here is somebody. Whether they are business owners, gorgeous girls, ceo’s… You name it, they all have great taste to be dining with Eddie from Sushi iki. His energy is off the charts & his food is amazing. His style of sushi is what I like to call refined.
He’s closed on Mondays, because the fish market is closed on Mondays. So you always know the fish is fresh.
Sit at the bar for an ultimate sushi experience. Order off the specials on the board, and eat something you’ve never tried before.
Kawahagi, scallop with foie gras & truffle, & lobster sashimi are popular here
Really really amazing food and quality.

Amazing sushi! So delicious. The owner Eddie is so sweet and nice and really cares and checks if your having a good time. He is so funny and made us laugh. He even gave us free peach sake shots (soooo good!) the sushi is so big you can barely fit in in your mouth, and it’s very filling. I have been craving it everyday since! Cannot wait to go back. Thank you Eddie!

If you walk into this place expecting a typical California roll then walk the other way. Eddie is not your typical sushi chef. I have traveled around the world looking for THE sushi restaurant that would take my sushi addiction to another level. When I found Sushi Ike I knew I had found THE one. The flavors infused in every piece are carefully crafted by Eddie’s creative artistry. He makes his wasabi from scratch, he uses real truffles to make some of the sauces and what blew my mind is that it leaves up to the name of his restaurant «Sushi Iki» means «Live Sushi» in Japanese. He has tanks of live fish in his back kitchen. It can’t get any fresher than that. So if you are up for an ultimate sushi experience order Omakase menu because every dish that comes your way is a piece of savory art.
Also noticed a person that wrote a one star review complaining about being charged a lot and brought 6 kids to the reservation of 15. Heads up, this is not a restaurant were you bring your kids and expect to see a kid’s menu. This place is so small there’s only about 15 seats. It’s only high-​end sushi and expect to see a high price for amazing «Iki» fish.

Hands down the best sushi I have ever had, even the the most basic blue fin is absolutely phenomenal.

BF took me here on one of our first dates together. We sat by the corner of the bar.
Ambiance: Small and intimate. Lots of regulars as the Chef seems to know most of them. He’s pretty friendly. He showed me pics of his family and events that occurred in his life from his cell.
Food: We tried everything the server suggested. Everything was amazingly fresh, however, I have a small mouth so I do like my fish cut delicately. Even a plate of O-​toro was sliced really thick and it reminded me of eating slices of lard LOL.
Overall: I recommend those in the Valley to try this place at least once. Pay attn to names on the whiteboard as they are high roller regulars who get served as VIP.

Having just read most of the reviews here I had to shake my head and laugh. The complaints are for the most part pretty bewildering.
Expensive? If you bothered to look at the «$$$$» rating in plain sight on Unilocal you are already forewarned that this is not run of the mill cheap all-​you-​can-​eat sushi place you may be used to. Those dollar signs tell you well in advance that this restaurant is expensive… The prices on the menu tell you clearly that this restaurant is expensive… This restaurant IS expensive. You get what you pay for. Yet for some ungodly reason knowing all of this you still complain that «This restaurant is expensive? «You’re kidding right?
You bring small children to a highly specialized sushi restaurant? Why? They can’t appreciate the food, you can’t appreciate the experience, your fellow diners are mostly annoyed by your sense of entitlement, and you force the chef into a position where he has to cater to a large party and yet still babysit your kids’ food preferences. I say this as a parent. You should know better. If there are too many diners a good chef in a tiny restaurant will shut down the restaurant in order to give your large party the attention that will be necessary to serve so many people at the exact same time. You made reservations to be sure you got that attention. Next time take your kids to iHop.
Forgetting the weird bad reviews… The sushi here is fresh. Crazy fresh. Crisp even. Tasting of the sea. You are paying for the difference, and there IS a difference. I HATE uni. Eddie convinced me to try his uni. «Grade A» he said. I was reluctant. He was right. It was delicious. Briny and sweet all at the same time, with a smooth buttery texture that melted the minute it went into your mouth.
If you want a Philadelphia roll *shudders*, or a California roll…(really?)… you can pick those up at Ralphs in the deli section. If you crave rolls of 16 different types of fish and avocado layered and sauced with spicy mayo, stuffed with tempura fried something? Go somewhere else. In fact, I would suggest that you go somewhere else if you want the same old same old. There are sushi chains, hipster hangouts, mom and pop shops galore just to your tastes right around the corner. Sushi Iki is not like any of what you may be familiar with. Trust me, that’s a good thing.
If you want to experience some of the best sushi in L.A.? Eddie and Iki really do serve sushi that is a cut above. Delicious, original, always entertaining. You come here for the food, the uniqueness of the ingredients and the skill of the chef. Which is why you went out to dinner at someplace special and different in the first place.

Eddie is a great entertainer and the experience is fantastic. The food is fresh and prepared with love, style, and skill. But…
…even when ordering omakase, I feel like the chef should listen to you a little bit. He asked what we didn’t like, so we told him (it was just two things out of the entire ocean!) and he went ahead and served them to us anyway. They were not to our liking and we didn’t even finish them — but we still had to pay the top market price for something we didn’t want and didn’t eat. Put a damper on the entire evening.
Overall, the price was not equal to the food.
I’ve ordered omakase other places and was more satisfied with the quality, experience, and price.
All in all it was fine. We look at it as «it was a great one time experience».
Ready to try the next sushi spot…

FINANCIAL WARNING: This. Place. Is. Prohibitively. Expensive. BE VERY CAUTIOUS. Your delicious, incredible, unique meal can accidentally cost you hundreds of dollars!!!
How can this happen? When we walked in, we were told that the omakase tasting menu would cost $ 100/​person. Or so we thought. What we were NOT explicitly told was that Sushi Iki’s tasting menu actually STARTED at that price — WITH NO UPPER LIMIT. We ended up with a truly nasty surprise: a bill more than twice what we expected.
I blame the misunderstanding directly on the hostess. She DEFINITELY did NOT tell us that the restaurant ran its omakase differently than most places. (A set number of chef’s choice dishes for a set price.) We had no idea the cost was NOT the $ 100 we thought it was.
A simple sign, posted anywhere, would have ensured a diner would not accidentally order Sushi Iki’s ruinously expensive tasting menu. But there is nothing anywhere in the restaurant warning that you could easily eat $ 1,000 of food if you let them. Once we sat at the sushi bar, the menus vanished, and the chef served dish after delicious dish, making us think «hey, this is a terrific value for a hundred bucks a person.»
The actual food is truly a FIVE STAR experience. Prepared by the ebulliently friendly Chef Eddie, the food is sublime. I have never tasted such high-​quality, expertly prepared, luxurious ingredients. It was like eating in a place run by an old time original «Iron Chef,» complete with a pantry stocked with crazy expensive stuff like foie gras, truffle salt, and something Eddie called «Japanese marijuana.» He made us an unforgettably delicious meal, including the best uni I’ve ever eaten, the best toro, sea snail, etc. Chef Eddie is a wonderful host and top chef.
In retrospect, the bill was appropriate for the food we were served. But we very much wish just one of the five people working there had made ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that we, the customers, were fully aware of what we were getting into with their tasting menu.
Despite the exquisite food, Sushi Iki gets a low rating for allowing a simple dinner turn into a financial disaster for the customer (but a pure windfall for them).

This is a whole different sushi experience. This is definitely for advanced sushi eaters. Ive had the best quality sushi, but never have I tried the fishes that I did here and never have I had it my sushi prepared the way I did here. Definitely unique. The dishes reminded me of eating at a French restaurant. Everything was very rich and packed with flavor. I really enjoyed everything but it’s not something I could eat everyday. I’m really glad I experienced it.

Small place, seen it before but never came in until now.
I had a little gold digger with me and she prompted us to go here. Definitely a good idea (not her the food). Eddie is a great chef and the fish is exceptionally fresh. Definitely a more traditional Japanese sushi, not the American version with sauces and all. Not a high end date place like Sushi Roku for example, but definitely a great tasting place to go with friends or family. Make a reservation as it’s not too big and generally fairly busy. Try their sushi with the black caviar, it is exceptional.

Set inside a strip mall that is chockful of stores, crowded & busy in detail, Sushi Iki with narrow frontage is almost lost in the jumble of this clautrophobic mini mall. The interior is small yet serene w/​tables in front & a stylish sushi bar in back that reflects details from Nordic/​Japanese design elements that date back to the 1980’s.
The «action» is at the bar which has only 10 seats where you have a ring side seat with Chef Eddie doing his culinary legerdemain. There is a lot of pride of showmanship & mastery of his craft. Chef Eddie is not afraid to let you know in a nice way.
Two Japanese words come to mind describing the Omakase (oh mah kah seh) at Sushi Iki: Go-​ka, luxurious, gorgeous, sumptuous; Yu-​ga, exquisite, carefree. The highend ingredients & fish used are not for the parsimonious, frugal, & penurious at heart.
To eat the kind of Sushi/​Sashimi that is presented, one must be able to let go & go whole hog without hesitation nor thoughts of timidity. Chef Eddie gives you the «sky diving» version of his updated, totally & uniquely decadent style. Emperor Caligula, Nero, members of the Ottoman court would be eating at Sushi Iki if they were alive today.
1) I was started off with Hirame (halibut) Sashimi w/​a dollop of Osetra caviar that was rolled around a paté that includes Uni (sea urchin) & white truffles swimming in a light Ponzu (pone zoo) sauce.
The most interesting flavour sensation was the paté which simulated the taste & texture of Ricotta cheese w/​a slight acidic humus/​mushroominess & Ko-​ji (Sake lees) fermented Umami undertones. Two dainty pieces for $ 49 so latch on the seatbelt cuz it’s gonna be a wild ride.
2) Two pieces of Hon Maguro tuna Sushi were meaty, full of the taste of blood w/​faint hemato-​minerality & a faint gaminess from a curing process like eating a well aged prime steak. Unsophisticated Sushi eaters should avoid this dish.
3) Engawa of Hirame Sushi is the chewy meat found around the base of the dorsal & ventral fins of flat fish. The flesh was seared to give it a cooked char & rougher texture than just raw. Artfully the Engawa is split down the middle to expose a fresh emerald green Shiso leaf underneath. The green & the brown/​white of the Engawa complement each other visually. This an exercise in discerning subtle textures & meaty flavours as well as the richness of the natural fattiness in the Engawa.
4) Live Hotate Gai (scallops) Sushi is topped with Osetra Caviar resting on bright green Shiso leaves. The scallop is gigantic, velvety but densely packed w/​sea sweetness & whisper of ocean minerality.
This can not be eaten in one bite. I ate ½ of the Hotate as Sashimi using the Ponzu sauce in the dish so the other ½ could be put in my mouth as Sushi. A small cooked side dish of Himo or internal organs with sweet pickled seaweed was eaten as the concluding act.
5) Visually the pièce de résistance of this Omakase was the live Uni presentation. The spikey, purplish/​black half shell of the Uni was the vase garnished w/​snow white finely julienned Japanese Daikon creating a cushy bed for the Shiso & the 5 orange/​darktan leaves of the gonads of the Uni.
Who could dream that sex organs could taste so good? Well, maybe that is why there was a commercial from years back that said, «Eat out more often.» Obviously the freshness was there, The Uni was plump, large, generous, & tasted of an elegant sea custard that melts in the mouth like Ambrosia of the Gods. Truly orgasmic in taste & appearance. This was a tour de force by Chef Eddie.
6) Back to reality with the Kuro Dai or black snapper Sushi slathered w/​Yuzu Kosho-​. The texture is denser, slipperier, smoother, cleaner tasting than the red. Yuzu Kosho– citrus/​chile paste enlivened the light flavours.
7) Mutsu Sushi is from a fish that lives down 1000m near the bottom of the seabed. It was seared to create a meatier texure & tasted like cod.
8) O-​toro Sushi with Toro «bacon»: The O-​toro was ever so slightly seared, blessed w/​sea salt. Simple flavouring to emphasize the fatty richness. The skin near the belly is salted down like bacon & baked to a bacon-​like finish.
9) Seeing a group order the Wagyu– (wah ghee yu) Sushi, I ordered just the 2 slices of Ko-​be (koh beh) style ribeye from the Miyagi region. The beefy taste absent in many American beef was there, but the texture of this Ko-​be was out of this world. Soft yet chewy, marbled with tasty beefy fat, melt in your mouth goodness. Next time I will order this Shio Yaki (salt roasted) instead of the sweetened Sho-​yu (soy sauce) which may have hidden more of the nuanced flavours in the beef.
All the above was perfectly paired with Harushika Cho-​karakuchi Sake (sah keh) which was super dry w/​light hinoki wood, white florals, astringency to clear the palate, sweetness in the final attack.
10) A dessert of coconut granita dressed w/​fruit syrup put the final curtain to this Epicurean debauch.