For my last dinner in LA possibly ever (just joking...probably) I went to a traditional Japanese sushi restaurant. It's not the easiest place to find. Like their website says, It "is nestled below a Chevrolet truck billboard, and next to a larger building. There is no name on the restaurant, just a sign with the outline of a black fish." I'm not sure how my parents originally found this place but I'm happy they did. There's only 8 tables in the entire restaurant and the sushi bar also only seats 8. It's called Mori, the name of the sushi chef. He favors traditional Japanese style sushi instead of the Americanized spicy tuna rolls and orgasm roles. I didn't want to offend his palate so I went with a traditional Omakasa sushi and sashimi dinner. I have no clue what the literal translation is, so don't ask. What I do know is that the sushi chef gets to choose what he considers a culinary adventure and just brings keeps stuff coming to the table.
The meal started with monk fish lips. I'm not going to lie, i was a little skeptical. It's a pretty scary (and gnarly) way to start a dinner. It was raw and slightly brown colored but hearty and surprisingly tasty. I'm not recommending that you run out and try it immediately but if it somehow falls in your lap (bizarre way to put it) i would definitely try it. In case you were wondering because I know i was, here's a picture of the lovely and very friendly looking monk fish. I had no idea it looked like this. It makes me feel a little manlier knowing that i devoured this sea beast.
The rest of the meal was much tamer. It covered most of the traditional Japanese sushi stops. There was the hamachi and Toro. Some squid and giant clams. Some halibut and wild salmon. All of it tasted like it came fresh from the ocean which was wonderful. The meal ended with the bizarre Japanese tradition of a jiggly sweet desert dish that's almost always disgusting. This didn't disappoint. This was a blood orange custard in a blood orange peal. I would have preferred a real blood orange...
doug are you the little one on the left?
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