Sushi Spot

This was my first sushi experience, and it was amazing. Sit at the sushi bar and have whatever the chef makes you. Taku and Mika were very friendly. I will definitely be back.
P.S.
Don’t order a roll at the sushi bar, thats amateur. This is a very traditional style sushi place, and everything is delicious.

We have been coming to THE SUSHI SPOT for over 15 years and it’s always been a great reliable sushi restaurant to come to in Tarzana. However, and this is sad to say, the last few times we’ve come here the service has declined drastically.
It’s just not even close to what it used to be.
Gone Is the nice greeting when you enter that actually feels legit. Just not a happy vibe you want to enjoy some killer sushi in. Was hoping it was a one time thing but it just feels like they have lost their mojo. The deal breaker was today when we gave it another try and had yet another poor experience. We came at about 1:45 and was informed that we needed to order within the next 15 minutes before they closed. No problem, we get that. 2pm is a pretty standard time for sushi restaurants to close. The thing that pissed us off is they wouldn’t even let us sit at the sushi bar and tried to shuffle us off to a table and was super Pissy about it. There was plenty of space to sit at the bar as well as other people already there. Very lame. We packed up shop and went to Sugar Fish, which was a polar opposite experience. I’m done with THE SUSHI SPOT. Sorry guys. Perhaps if you get it together we’ll be back. A bummer after 15 years of coming here :(

Just visited here for the first time and loved every morsel of what I tasted. This is very unassuming restaurant in a strip center that has been there for 27 years. There was nothing said I didn’t like but the standouts where the spicy tuna roll and the salmon skin roll. The Toro was also superb. Looking forward to returning for another great meal.

Excellent food and service.
I really have to give a big thumbs up to the staff. they were VERY attentive and polite. My boy friend and I were worried we would look a bit «out of place» in this high end restaurant (our fashion sense is a bit «obscure» and we usually get a lot of dirty looks) but everyone there treated us with respect and courtesy; it was very refreshing.
The fish is a fresh as it gets. The rolls are perfect — definitely worth the price. They also gave us both a complimentary cup of hot tea (which all sushi places should do).

I’ve been coming to the Sushi Spot since I was a boy. I have eaten here more times than I can count. It is hands down my favorite meal in all of Los Angeles. Every time I bring a new-​comer to Sushi Spot, they state that it is the best meal (both sushi and non sushi alike) they have ever had.
Taku, Mica, Yuki and the rest of the staff are warm, welcoming and pleasant to be around. The quality of the fish trumps any other sushi. I have been spoiled for a very long time by this place when it comes to sushi. They truly raised the bar higher than any other joint. I can express how much I love this place. Thank you for everything Sushi Spot!

I finally found my local sushi spot. We moved from West Hollywood to Woodland Hills 2 yrs ago and have been looking for a decent sushi joint since then. Sushi Spot is good enough that I would have traveled from West Hollywood to eat there.
Walked in for lunch and said «what have you got?» And the chef surprised me for over an hour with 20 pieces of sushi for under $ 100. I highly recommend it.

This is the best sushi. Very fresh. Five stars all the way. They pace you w your order. This is classy but friendly. They need some Kirin Ichiban. I settled for Asahi Dry. I’m impressed w the expertise and freshness of the sushi. It’s right up there with Katsuya. I whole heartedly recommend this place for sushi. Lychee sorbet is to die for.
Recommendations: red snapper no soy sauce please, blue crab, spicy tuna, salmon, kampachi. Basically, simple fish, outstanding flavor. Delicious. Kampai!!!

Let me start off this review by saying, «I love My Wife»!
For years our weekly cuisine was Sushi. It was her favorite food, which «sorta /​kinda» made it my favorite food! It’s like Jules said in the movie Pulp Fiction, «My girlfriends a vegetarian which kind of makes me a vegetarian». That’s how it was.
Sushi Gen — Downtown, Asenabo — Studio City, Matsuhisa — West Hollywood, all of the Katsuya’s, Sushi Spot — Tarzana, even a stent at Urasawa in BH. All part of our repertoire and weekly ritual.
Then came that fateful day at her holistic doctors office when she was told that her mercury levels were high; the sushi doors came slamming down like a hammer on a nail. Sushi became the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. This is how it was for several years until last night.
Our #3 boy (out of 4) was in town from Chicago for his college winter break. Going back to school in a few days he said to his Mom, «I can’t get good sushi in land locked Chicago and I really want it before I go back». So off we go to Sushi Spot!
Either I really missed sushi (the cuisine) or Sushi Spot is just down right outstanding! This dinner was so damn good it was crazy. Everything we ordered (and we ordered a lot) was EXCELLENT!
I do not remember it being this good. Shame on me. I mean, I remember it being really good, but this night it was astonishing, amazing, astounding; pick an adverb that means wonderful and that’s what this dinner was.
The freshness, textures, tastes, smells, plating, all of my senses got beautifully hit! I was in awe.
The Uni was like velvet and tasted like the ocean, the salmon eggs burst in your mouth like balloons of sweetness, the giant clam crunched like jicama. The raw fish so fresh it must have been swimming that morning. I cannot remember a better sushi dinner in my life and ‘Ive had hundreds.
The service was excellent and the owner glanced over to our table and gave us a smile as he watched us all eat this feast and enjoying the hell out of it.
Now back to the «I love my wife» declaration: I do love her, but with or without her, mercury or no mercury, I’m coming back to Sushi Spot ASAP!

I was staying in town and was in the mood for sushi and Unilocaled my way here. Very glad I did. Sit at the sushi bar when Mika is working. The woman is a sushi goddess. I highly advise to just go with her recommendations. Go for sashimi of whatever specials she has, and do what she says. When she says use ponzu, use ponzu. When she says use soy, use soy. She’s an artist.

This is a no frills sushi joint but it will leave you very happy and fully satisfied. Such a simple menu but beautifully presented. It’s true. It’s in a shoddy mini-​mall next to 7 – 11, but it’s really all about the sushi here. Make sure to look at the menu behind the sushi bar for their picks. It’s always a good bet. Like Arnold says, We will «be back»!

One of the best places for Sushi; hands down!!! Just go.

Nice omakase menu at a terrific price but it’s not very memorable. The stuffed squid is quite good and you end with a blue crab hand roll like many other places. The restaurant is kinda quiet on a week night… So 2 stars for ambience. Not sure it’s more popping in the weekend.

I had seen this place before when I stopped by the Verizon store. First thoughts — sketch sushi restaurant where you’ll get food poisoning and die or at least be forced to eat rolls made with cream cheese/​mayonnaise/​deep fried junk. Fastfoward like 6ish months, I’m looking on Unilocal for a place in the Valley for Asian food for le bf’s birthday dinner. =BOOM= Sushi Spot pops up. I’m like heck yeah. So we google where it is and, lo and behold, it is in the Verizon mini strip mall. Parking is quite tight; we got there just in time, and people were hovering for our spot when we left.
Now onto the food. It was all so good. We decided to go omasake to see what she would prepare. I think my favorite was the Toro with green onion. It was melt in your mouth and your pants good. We had a large variety of nigiri. I saw that they also had some of your more «American» type items as well. I think this place would be quite well suited of you wanted to help transition someone from a California/​spicy tuna only type person to something a little more adventurous.
The service here is also very attentive. I always feel a bit awkward when the majority of the restaurant speaks Japanese, but that’s what le bf is for. They refill your water and take away any unneeded dish quickly. The lady sushi chef was very welcoming. It was a very pleasant dining experience that left me very happy.

Excellent sushi!
Salmon sushi and salmon egg sushi both are to die for!
Absolutely delicious fish. I have been eating at Sushi
Spot for years and have recommended it to many of my friends and family members. Located in the corner of a strip mall = a small parking lot. I park at the meters on Ventura Boulevard. Enjoy!

Ordered Omakase again at my second visit to Sushi Spot. My boyfriend and I enjoyed the 9 dishes of fresh fish, and a bottle of cold sake. The service is quick and friendly, and the ambiance is warm and cozy. Love this place.

Service is horrible! the sushi chef acts like your doing them a favor by eating there!
I will never go back to this place !!!
To spend 100 $ on dinner for 2 and get treated like crap!!!

Solid 4 stars
Another great sushi restaurant on the street of Ventura Blvd.
Sushi Spot delivered a satisfying meal. Chef Taku did an amazing job. Another Chef that pride of what he serves. Chef Taku will let you know if you need to dip your nigiri in shoyu or not. The service was excellent and the chef was very friendly. The restaurant itself is very small. I recommend sitting at the bar, but there is a 4 order minimum per person at the bar.
I usually order from the special or recommendation only. For me salmon, albacore, yellowtail and you basic tuna you can always get.
This is was what we ordered, and I recommend ordering.
Skip Jack
Tai
Scallop with real wasabi root. Amazing!!!
Kohada it’s up there with one of the best I had tried.
Engawa (Halibut Fin). So good and fatty!!!
Bonito
Spanish Mackerel. Delicious!
Uni. So fresh and sweet. The portions was huge!
Spicy Albacore Crunchy Roll. It looks plain, but it was very tasty.
My experience at Sushi Spot was very positive. I will definitely return.

The interior of Sushi Spot is not the fanciest and server warmth can be a little hit or miss, but the chef’s set course ($ 35) is one of the best values around for the quality of sushi served. Very filling and in addition to the standard nigiri options, you also get some interesting twists like scallop and mussel dynamite, spicy tuna on crispy rice, and a blue crab hand roll. The lychee sorbet is a light, palate cleansing supplement if you feel like ending on a sweet note. They definitely go a little outside the traditional box here which is generally fine, but there are some instances where they could ease up a little on the saucing, primarily with the stuffed squid and ankimo sushi. Their sushi rice is also not the best but by no means inedible.
Overall, great place for me to wait out the traffic going into LA proper on a Friday night. I’ll definitely be coming back

In a totally badly designed generic strip mall, Sushi Spot may not look like much. From the outside, it looks like another hootchie strip mall Sushi joint that serves mediocre California rolls, kitschy rainbow & caterpillar rolls that would appeal mostly to the amateur Sushi enthusiast. Even the inside is slightly awry, & the interior design would not win an award from Architectural Digest.
Although the amiable Sushi Chef will honor requests from his customers for the above mediocre items where there is no nuance & flavours that conflict, he is extremely competent & adept at creating his own versions of Edomae (eh doh mah eh) Sushi & Sashimi based more on classic Japanese clean, subtle yet flavourfully fresh flavours.
I asked the Chef for his version of Omakase (oh mah kah seh) or table d’hote where the Chef makes the decision as to what he wants to serve that is the best in terms of ingredients or culinary style. My only request was that he not serve any Saba, which is a very healthful fish to eat, but I’m not enamored to its often heavy oiliness.
1) Trio of Tunas: 3 variations of tuna Nigiri (née ghee ree) Sushi that consisted of a slice of slightly aged, fatty, melt-​in-​your-​mouth O-​toro; Big Eye Tuna from Hawai’i that was firm yet velvety, sea meaty; chopped O-​Toro topped with chopped green onions that added an herbal, funkiness to the aged, naturally oil rich fatty tuna. It was a meaty rich way to enter into an Omakase.
2) To clear the palate, Sushi rice was circumscribed w/​a wide band of black Nori seaweed topped w/​baked Engawa which is the ribbon of white meat found around the fins of halibut & chopped green onions w/​a dab of Momiji Oroshi, grated Japanese Giant White Radish infused w/​red chile paste. The texture is soft yet subtly meaty.
3 The Stuffed Calamaro caught my eye. It was just the body of a small squid stuffed w/​crab flavoured Surimi. I requested a bit of mayonnaise w/​a touch of sriracha for my dipping sauce, but the Chef kindly also added a sweet soy reduction since that was the usual style. Nice way to add more flavour variation to a single dish.
4) Uni Sushi/​Ikura Sushi: Nice pairing of two very sea worthy ingredients. The Uni was light colored yet had nicely nuanced minerality of the sea w/​custard-​like texture. The Ikura or salmon roe was infused w/​Sho-​yu (soy sauce) that was seasoned with Sake (sah keh) & Mirin, a sweetened sake). The excellent quality Nori seaweed ‘paper’ also added a nice Umami that emphasized the gifts from the sea.
5) I requested the Hotate (hoh tah teh) from Hokkaido-​, the northern most big island in a hand roll garnished w/​only cucumber & Shiso (shee soh) leaf. No mayonnaise to cover up the refined sweet, oceanic minerality with moist, velvety texture with again the exemplary Nori that ups the game. This was an exercise in purity w/​the simple ingredients shining out to prove that quality exists in the House of Sushi Spot.
5a) All the above was paired with Abarashiri by Yaegaki (yah eh gah kee) which came out almost totally frozen in the 300ml bottle. It was a unique way to keep the Sake chilled… form followed function.
Abarashiri was high in alcohol (18%-19%) so it was similar to a Tokubetsu Junmai Sake which is fortified by added alcohol beyond the brewing process. This brings about a Sake that is extremely dry which is ideal for Sushi/​Sashimi since a clean palate cleansing characteristic is essential. The flavour is slightly citrusy with a heavier Ko-​ji lees fermented after taste that only lasts a moment.
6) Tamago: Conclusion of the main meal ended on a sweet note w/​a very moist, cushy egg «omelette» stuffed w/​a purée of Neri Ume or salted pickled plum & green Shiso or Japanese «basil» leaf. The Mirin infused sweetness had a slightly Sake inflected dulcet tone which was contrasted by the salty fruitiness of the Ume paste & refreshed herbally by the fresh, green Shiso. It was an elegant way to end the meal w/​a flavour that the Italians would call agrodolce.
For Sushi Novices at Sushi Spot bar: Keep an eye on the Chef to see if he has already applied some kind of sauce to the Sushi. If he has, do NOT dip the Sushi into any more soy sauce since it will kill the flavours that the Sushi Chef is trying to convey.
Also the Sushi rice is kneaded into shape very lightly so that if you dip the Sushi in soy sauce, the rice will crumble into your little dish of soy sauce… which is not too cool in that it shows ignorance of Sushi eating etiquette. Best way to eat Sushi to emphasize the flavour of the fish is to eat it with minimal use of the dreaded soy sauce.
Nice duo of Sushi Chefs, one of whom is of the female persuasion which is still unusual in the male dominated world of Sushi. Since women make up more than ½ of the world population, it would be appropriate to see more in the years to come. Perhaps a more feminine culinary perspective may presage new directions in the glorious art of Sushi.

NOTE: If you only dine at glitzy restaurants, eat spicy tuna, California rolls, and spicy mayo — you probably won’t enjoy this place.
Eat at Sushi Spot if you enjoy quality, traditional sushi made by a sushi master.
I recommend sitting at the bar with the owner, Taku, who worked under Nozawa in the 80’s. Taku has been making sushi longer than many of these newish sushi restaurants along Ventura Boulevard here in the Valley.
Every time I eat here I am blown away by the freshness of each item.
TIP: If you want simple traditional sushi using the freshest ingredients — this is the spot. If you’re not too picky and have an open mind, go with the chef’s tasting menu ($ 35) or their Omakase (a great value) which will both get you really full… and happy.
Eating here is all about the quality of fish and not the ambience so keep this in mind during your first visit.
Pleased to read that Sushi Spot made the list of 2014 LA Best Sushi Deals! The secret is out for my favorite sushi restaurant in Los Angeles –