27 Comments

1. BigFire:

Gee. Thanks. Now I can expand the horizon of my lunch menu a bit (haven’t found a good sushi place in Glendale yet. Todai don’t count).

Feb 7, 2005 - 8:15 am 2. Dirty Dingus:

East of Okinawa? Umm Okinawa is WEST of the rest of Japan so if it really is the best EAST of OkINAWA then you’ve just slighted all Sushi areas in Japan. PLaces like Tsukiji in Tokyo might be just a trifle upset…

Feb 7, 2005 - 8:43 am 3. Catherine:

This is the weirdest synchronicity.

I’ve had one genuine religious experience in my life–’genuine religious experience’ meaning that I felt myself to be in the direct presence of God, and called to be in the direct presence of God–and it happened in a sushi restaurant in Studio City on Ventura Boulevard. (I know: weird.)

Just a couple of days ago I was trying to remember the name of the restaurant, and now here is Roger, posting the names of Studio City sushi restaurants.

Unfortunately, I still don’t know the name, since I don’t recognize anything on this list.

It was the one with the koi fish pond out front.

When I got home that day I told my secular, agnostic, Jewish husband that I had had a religious experience. I was curious to see how he’d react.

He said he thought it was cool. Then he said the only kind of religious experience he would rather I not have would be if I started seeing Jesus in the paint on the front door and we got zillions of people making pilgrimages to our house.

Nothing that might earn coverage in the NATIONAL ENQUIRER, in other words.

Well, God may or may not exist, but moments like this one make me inclined to think that ESP does.

Either that or Great Minds Think Alike!

Feb 7, 2005 - 9:13 am 4. mongai:

Roger,

“Is this a Jewish or a Japanese family?” — No need to choose. You obviously have not come across the vast amount of scholarship detailing the lost tribes of Israel’s journey finally ending in Sakyoku, Kyoto. Check the Simon lineage again.

“…but in honor of frequent commenter Mongai — who generously has offered to buy sushi for readers of this blog visiting… Kyoto.” –Until the money runs out [wasn't that yesterday?-- I don't have an editor, but if I could afford one, this is what he would write].

I am curious. So many sushi restaurants. Controversy able to bring down servers. Is this a recent phenomena?

Mongai

P.S. Your Zen master isn’t talking– vow of silence and other promises.

Feb 7, 2005 - 9:14 am 5. GhostOfAtwater:

Roger,

How do your selections compare to the Sushi restaurant adjacent to Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood? I am uncertain of the name.

I may be in town soon and though I have always enjoyed that Sushi restaurant I am always on the look out for a new experience.

Feb 7, 2005 - 9:23 am 6. mongai:

Catherine,

Perhaps the Zen master is up to his old tricks.

Feb 7, 2005 - 9:24 am 7. Roger:

Re: Dirty Dingus… Oops. My apologies. And my favorite sushi bar anywhere is in Tsukiji. Appropriate change made.

Feb 7, 2005 - 9:25 am 8. Charlie (Colorado):

Mongai, if you’re not careful I’ll take you up on that; I’ve been promising myself a trip to Japan for pleasure, including visiting Daitokuji and Ryoanji.

You have to promise me no lobster sashimi, though. It’s just too much for my Buddhist sensibilities to eat something that is still looking at me.

Feb 7, 2005 - 9:39 am 9. Catherine:

mongal (mongal, right? can’t read the last letter on my screen)

Perhaps the Zen master is up to his old tricks.

Well that’s the funny thing.

I’m a Christian by upbringing and custom, and I know essentially nothing about other religions (and not as much as I should about my own). Roger used a great phrase the other day: something about ‘plain old Christian deists.’

That gave me a moment of recognition. I’m probably a ‘plain old Christian deist.’

So as I say, I was, one day, called to this nameless sushi restaurant with the koi pond just a few blocks away (we lived in Studio City) where I was led by the hostess to a small garden out back, and seated in front of, yes, a statue of the Buddha.

Until that moment I had no idea there was a garden out back, and I certainly had no idea there was a statue of the Buddha.

So you’re probably right.

Feb 7, 2005 - 10:04 am 10. mongai:

Charlie,

You are most welcome. And yes the eyes and when the thing is still wiggling can be bothersome. But I must make this very clear. Roger has taken it upon himself to give a most liberal reading (you see he still is a liberal now and then) of my so-called “promise.” Go ahead and check the record. But even if I did promise to buy sushi for Roger’s readers when in Kyoto, no matter how much I want to, there is a problem. In true Japanese fashion the wife controls all the money. To wit, Mongai’s promises are cheap. When you come, if you want to eat for free, above all else charm the wife.

Feb 7, 2005 - 10:14 am 11. Cybrludite:

Mmmmmmn, sushi!

Feb 7, 2005 - 10:21 am 12. mongai:

Catherine,

You should come to Kyoto during the Gion Festival. Besides stories and scenes from Shinto and Buddhist texts there are also scenes from The Iliad and the New and Old Testaments and the Koran paraded through the streets. A plain old Christian deist like yourself would have a jolly good time.

Mongrel is acceptable, as is Mongai (pronounce mon-guy), but I must draw the line at Mongal.

Feb 7, 2005 - 10:27 am 13. Paul Snively:

For my Christian deist fellow travelers, particularly those who have had religious experiences in gardens with Buddha statues at sushi restaurants, let me highly recommend Living Buddha, Living Christ.

For my Jewish fellow travelers, particularly those who travel often to the Far East, let me highly recommend The Jew in the Lotus.

For my Christian and Jewish fellow travelers, let me highly recommend Jesus, the Jewish Theologian.

Roger, thanks for the sushi recommendations in Studio City: this wanna-be Christian Kabbalist San-Fernando-Valley-based Hoosier expat (Hi, Terrye!) and his Jewish wife will have to check them out.

Feb 7, 2005 - 11:56 am 14. Sean the INFDL:

Here in the City of Salt, surprisingly, one of the finest land-locked sushi joints to be found opened up this year. It is called Takashi(also the name of the owner). He has an angle on fresh stuff from around the globe and he presents everything in subtle and colorful ways. The grill menu also rivals the best in town. If one finds himself marooned in Salt Lake, it is a must. My overall favorite nation-wide has to be Yoshi’s in Oakland (Jack London Square). Cool place with a creative menu and the best jazz line-up in the nation (IMHO).

Feb 7, 2005 - 12:04 pm 15. someone:

Roger, did you ever try Masa’s place before he moved out to NYC?

Feb 7, 2005 - 1:19 pm 16. charlotte:

Now it’s Mongai’s turn to correct grammar and spelling for a chance at venison and beer in Georgia. My sushi-fiend kid says: “Sushi wa oi-shii desu!! Taco to anaga kara ni Toykyo ga suki. Go chi so sama. And thanks, for the names of the best places in LA, Roger. I’m going there in a few days and will try one of your recommendations.”

Feb 7, 2005 - 1:28 pm 17. charlotte:

I misstyped “Tokyo”, so do I get a beer?

Feb 7, 2005 - 1:29 pm 18. Kieran Lyons:

Even here in the wilds of Northern California we have heard of, and visited, Kazu Sushi. Absolutely a fantastic place, and suprisingly affordable.

Here’s a small jolt of “small world” eeriness: Sitting here on my desk is a business card for that very restaurant, as I have to make a business trip down there soon and wanted their address handy.

Very creepy, that. You reading minds, Roger?

Feb 7, 2005 - 1:33 pm 19. truepeers:

If you’re ever in Vancouver, Tojo’s on West Broadway is damn good. Some claim it the best this side of Tokyo.

Feb 7, 2005 - 1:37 pm 20. Callimachus:

This still amazes me. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where I now live, there are six sushi bars — four of them excellent ones I’d recommend to anyone from anywhere. Here, in a city of 50,000 apple-dumpling-eating Dutchmen and “Witness” extras, we support six full-time Japanese- (or Taiwanese-) staffed unagi dispenseries. Here, where the local cuisine doesn’t just cook vegetables, it dissolves them in water. Here, where a local delicacy is what my wife calls “Fried fried,” we have become sushified. America, what a country!

Feb 7, 2005 - 2:51 pm 21. MeTooThen:

Roger,

For me, sushi in LA means Katana, on Sunset. Yes, it’s expensive and “beautiful”, but the food there is, I believe, the best in town.

As far Kyoto goes, I was there last April, at the tail end of the cherry blossom festival.

It is a strange and beautiful place.

I had the good fortune of staying in a traditional inn, complete with tatami mats, Japanese baths, and every conceivable way to prepare fish and tofu.

Of all my experiences in Japan, the most powerful was sitting quietly, listening to the wind, bamboo leaves, and rain, in the temple gardens of Konchi-in.

It is in a place like that (and there are many like it in Kyoto) that I began to understand how the Japanese came to be so connected to Japan, it’s land, sea, sky, trees, everything.

Remarkable.

Feb 7, 2005 - 3:55 pm 22. augolden:

One day you shouldl try SUSHI SASABUNE in West LA on the corner of Sawtell and Nebraska.

Expensive, Yes. The best, Yes. Still its mellow and unassuming. The owner is the chef. It is only open on weekdays. Weekends are for playing golf.

Trust ME!

Feb 7, 2005 - 5:06 pm 23. texasviolinist:

Just a nit but the correct way to spell chef’s choice is o-makase. It comes from the verb makaseru which means to defer or yield.

Feb 7, 2005 - 7:25 pm 24. mongai:

Not to nitpit further, but one does not spell Japanese. Kanji and kana.

Feb 8, 2005 - 4:13 am 25. Taeyoung:

And Romaji! I was wondering about Omikase myself — was pretty sure it was makase.

Feb 8, 2005 - 9:54 am 26. mongai:

Not romaji. And certainly not romaji! Romanji. In other words roman script. In other words not Japanese.

Feb 8, 2005 - 1:13 pm 27. mongai:

Sorry to all for being petty but I have been trying to drag my Nemesis out into the blogosphere. However, he does not seem to want to come out and play. In any case if you are reading this I’ve lost your e-mail and therefore can’t invite you over for a beer. Next time you’re heading for Nanzenji or thereabouts, drop me an E.

Feb 8, 2005 - 10:31 pm

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