18 Best Sushi Restaurants in Los Angeles

Table Of Content

• Oatmilk dessert, hot honey seasoning, gluten-free items: Walmart launches branded food line
• Romantic Restaurants In The San Francisco Bay Area
• Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles
• The best sushi restaurants in Los Angeles
• Hotel Ziggy Los Angeles
• places in L.A. to find the best sushi, omakase, chirashi and more

In a similar style as Nobu (and the chain’s original restaurant, Matsuhisa), Asanebo offers a selection of fusion-style seafood dishes, as well as traditional nigiri—but the right order here always leans towards the former. Where else can you find a deep-fried tempura “seafood stick” served in a martini glass, a flaming conch filled with bubbling hot broth and pieces of tender A5 Wagyu and juicy red onion in sweet soy? Plenty of other cheaper places around town might riff on the legacy of Matsuhisa’s signature yellowtail jalapeño sashimi, but none of them execute new-school sushi as well as this gloriously no-frills L.A. Native who enjoyed my first set of tekka maki at Hide Sushi on Sawtelle (which is still around, by the way) and cycled through love affairs with unagi (freshwater eel), saba (mackerel) and SushiStop’s famous dynamite rolls in adolescence and college.

Oatmilk dessert, hot honey seasoning, gluten-free items: Walmart launches branded food line

Despite its greenhorn status, I would already rank Son’s menu among my top five omakases in L.A. If that’s the case, just imagine the heights Sushi Sonagi could reach in a year or two. This iconic sushi restaurant in Little Tokyo is consistently packed at the bar and in the dining room. Most come for the unbelievably priced lunch sashimi special, but order directly from the menu or at the bar for an even better experience. The expansive selection of nigiri sushi and sashimi never fails to please.

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Romantic Restaurants In The San Francisco Bay Area

Best of all is the option, once Onodera finishes making the last nigiri, to repeat as many sushi courses as you like—but personally, I left here full enough after the twenty-odd courses. If I had to pick just one place to spend $300 or more on sushi, I honestly still prefer Kaneyoshi, though Morihiro does offer a less expensive table omakase ($250) prepared by assistant chefs. Still, Onodera’s 40 years of experience and detail-oriented approach translate to one of the city’s finest omakase experiences, albeit not my absolute favorite.

Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles

The toro here is some of the best I’ve ever tasted, but the appetizers and rotating specials, such as dry-aged salmon flown in from New Zealand, are worth consideration as well. By contrast, the omakase offers a mostly cooked, Asanebo-like omakase experience without the time-tested flavors and hot dishes of the Studio City original. Like most other omakase restaurants, there’s no need to pour your own soy sauce—each glistening slice of fish is already lightly brushed by the chef. Los Angeles has a plethora of culinary strong suits, like regional Chinese and tacos of all stripes, but the city’s variety and quality of sushi are nearly as impressive. Nearly every corner of the city — the Valley, the Westside, the San Gabriel Valley, and the South Bay — lays claim to an incredible sushi counter with a veritable master at the helm. There are also casual experiences like hand rolls and old-school takeout spots that reflect the breadth of LA’s sushi culture.

Springtime also invites us to seize the sunlight with midday meals. Weekday lunch is a great way to shake up your work routine and to try a popular restaurant that’s typically booked for dinner — don’t miss our staff guide with some of our favorite lunch menus ranging from prix-fixe power picks to casual taco spots. Thankfully, we have Addison to guide us toward the best of the best. In possibly a first for LA, an Austin-based Japanese restaurant splashes on the West Coast as a notable sushi opening. Inspired by LA’s own Nobu and Katsuya, among others, chef Tyson Cole opens a suave and already bustling lounge in the heart of West Hollywood serving a tightly edited array of Japanese dishes. Sushi remains an important part of Uchi, and the preparations offer a thoughtful departure from classic Edo-style sushi that still preserves the restaurant’s high-quality fish.

Think strawberry XO-sauce and basil-bud olive oil over namahotate (day boat scallop) over rice. Longtime West LA chef Shunji Nakao moved his upscale omakase restaurant to Ocean Park Boulevard in Santa Monica, with an intimate counter starting at $280 per person to sit in front of Shunji, and $250 to get one of seven seats in front of chef Takahiro Miki. Expect near-perfect quality nigiri and Nakao’s careful construction and proper balance between fish and rice at these prices.

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Note that this sushi list is numbered, but consider the ranking relative; it mixes everyday and special-occasion restaurants. When it comes to ultra-premium sushi, however, know that any one of these places will deliver an experience worthy of special occasions. Shin Sushi brings a refined omakase experience from chef Taketoshi Azumi, whom patrons refer to as Take-san. The Michelin-starred omakase includes an appetizer, miso soup, and 14 pieces of sushi. Head to Michelin-starred counter Inaba for chef Yasuhiro Hirano’s impeccable array of sushi served at a six-seat counter within I-naba.

Running $140 per head, the Whole Note at Kiminobu Saito’s Valley sushi bar is an above-average sushi experience on its own, but it’s the superb wine pairings, date night ambience and attentive service that make it stand out in the city’s crowded omakase landscape. A slightly more elevated menu can also be found at the restaurant’s second location, which exclusively offers omakase from a little bleached wood hutch inside a Beverly Hills parking garage. This more minimalist offering includes miso soup, edamame, goma tofu, sashimi, a palate-cleansing sorbet, 12 pieces of nigiri and a yuzu gelato. If you’d rather order the usual spicy tuna crispy rice and a few hand rolls, the Valley location also prepares crowd-pleasing appetizers, sashimi, temaki and nigiri à la carte, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not trying the Whole (or much lighter Half) Note at least once.

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The Joint Seafood founder Liwei Liao opened this casual handroll counter modeled after Kazunori serving high-grade fish in a parade of seaweed-wrapped creations. Liao’s market in Sherman Oaks specializes in dry-aged fish, though the offerings at Uoichiba aren’t necessarily of that style. Instead, cuts like tuna, kanpachi, steelhead trout, and blue crab salad are served with seasoned rice either a la carte or as lunch-sized omakase meals. If money is truly no object, the legendary craftwork at Morihiro Onodera’s eponymous Atwater restaurant is a gourmand’s delight. Book the bar-only omakase ($350 to $400), and you’ll enjoy a mix of kaiseki-style appetizers presented on ceramics made by the veteran chef himself and a diverse array of dry-aged and fresh fish (including a few I’ve had nowhere else).

But I have been eating a lot of sushi lately, so I have many fresh opinions. The current generation of omakase chefs in Los Angeles are returning to the essence of the cuisine. A trip to Tokyo confirms what’s been driving their pursuit for excellence.

Run by Katsu Sando’s Daniel Son, the omakase ($200) at Sushi Sonagi dazzles with Korean influences, California seasonality and thoughtful, warm service that justifies setting a reminder for the sought-after Tock reservation and paying the steep cost of entry. Bites like rainbow trout garnished with delicate, nutty-tasting sesame seeds and miso butter-topped tamago will leave you on cloud nine. The Korean American chef sources most of his fish from the same supplier used by the veterans at Morihiro and Shunji, yet Son fuses traditional technique with hints of bold Korean flavors and farmers’ market produce in a way that feels fresh and memorable.