If you are interested in learning about the top-tier, most delicious sushi restaurants located all across Los Angeles, this article is for you. We visited the most popular restaurants, ordering their most famous and fan favorite dishes in order to give you the best review on taste, presentation, and cost. Sugarfish, Kazu Nori, and Katsuya are some of the most premier sushi restaurants in not only all of the West Coast, but also throughout the United States. We hope you enjoy our review!
Sugarfish 8.5/10
Sushi Nowaza, created in 1978 by Chef Kazunori Nowaza in Los Angeles, laid the foundation for two Californian favorites: Sugarfish and Kazunori. After four decades of trial and error, Chef Nowaza partnered with longtime fan and friend Jerry Greenberg. Together, they co-founded KazuNori and Sugarfish with Tom Nowaza, Lele Massammi, Cameron Broumand, and Clement Mok. They created a Los Angeles staple focused on simple, but traditional style Japanese Sushi. Sugarfish offers a more of a relaxed, sit-down experience than KazuNori. This sashimi-style approach is designed for the savoring of each bite.
We decided to revisit long-time favorites, review them based on price, taste, and what items are best to order. Their most popular dish is the Trust Me, which retails for $32. Composed of edamame, tuna and chutoro sashimi, albacore and salmon sushi, toro hand roll, Japanese yellowtail, Hirame sushi, and blue and Dungeness crab hand roll. This is an original and favorite because it has different courses that cater to everyone’s different palates.We recommend either the Trust Me or Trust Me Lite, as they provide a perfectly-sized meal for lunch or dinner.
Overall, we rate Sugarfish an 8.5/10 for its immaculate taste, well- sized portions, and reasonable pricing. We concluded that Sugarfish is worth the price and lives up to the hype.
Kazu Nori 9/10
KazuNori was founded in 2014, also by Chef Kazunori Nozawa. Although KazuNori and Sugarfish are restaurant chains owned by the same person, they differ greatly. When you walk into any of the nine LA KazuNori locations, you will immediately notice dark, minimal lighting that highlights their 24-seat sushi bar. Inside, many chefs work continuously, using rice cookers to serve their fan-favorite warm rice, and preparing their high-class fish shipped from all over the world. KazuNori imports their seaweed and hamachi from Japan, salmon from Europe, sea bream (snapper) from New Zealand, tuna from a variety of oceans, and their creamy sea urchin (Uni) from the southern California coast.
After visiting once, we have all found ourselves craving KazuNori and consistently coming back for more. The best time to come in is around 5:30-6:00 pm if you want to beat the line. Since the restaurant is built around a sushi a bar, people tend to come in large groups, which makes it harder for seats to open up. For this reason, we recommend coming in pairs to have a higher chance or being seated quickly.
One thing that makes KazuNori stand out from any other sushi restaurant is its relaxing ambience. There is nothing better than enjoying appetizing food in a peaceful setting. The best items to order are handrolls, which typically range from five to six dollars each. Our top recommendations are the yellowtail and toro handrolls. They also have sets ranging from three to six handrolls, as well as their famous “Trust Me” handroll set featuring whatever fish the chef chooses. All in all, after careful consideration, we rate KazuNori a 9/10 because of their mouthwatering handrolls, the calm atmosphere, and the ready-to-eat bar set up, which sometimes has a long line, but it is always worth the wait.
Katsuya 8/10
Katsuya was founded in 1997 by Chef Katsu-ya Uechi in Studio City, Los Angeles. Chef Katsu-ya began his career by apprenticing in sushi bars located in Osaka, Tokyo, and Okinawa before venturing to the busy city of Los Angeles in 1984. Eventually, after working as a chef in multiple different restaurants, he set off to create Sushi Katsu-ya. Over the years, he skillfully combined Japanese sushi classics with his own original ideas to create some of the most delicious pieces.
When dining at Katsuya, we recommended their yellowtail nigiri, their signature spicy tuna crispy rice, and, for dessert, their tasty mochi donuts. The atmosphere is very calm, and it puts sushi connoisseurs at ease. If you plan on visiting, Katsuya is adaptable to small and large groups. It is the perfect place to come with your friends for a simple Friday night dinner, or even a family birthday celebration. After a thorough review, we decided to rate Katsuya an 8/10 for its serene mood and excellent service with high-tier sushi.
All of these places offer different experiences, so whether you want something more laid back or more immersive, there is a restaurant for everyone!