So-So at Shunji's

 
When it comes to Japanese food, the Cute Gardener and I tend to overindulge. Maybe it’s because the food is served in such small portions served over a large amount of time that causes us to eat more than normal. Maybe it’s because the food is usually raw fish and veggies, articulated so light and fresh that the caloric intake remains low in comparison to our typical meals. Whatever it is, we turn into gluttons when in the presence of sushi and sashimi and that was certainly our intent last Friday.

We’d been wanting to try Shunji's knowing that Chef Shunji Nakao had been a part of opening his brother’s restaurant Asanebo in Studio City, which remains our hands down favorite with its consistent exquisite and creative concoctions. Unfortunately, although we definitely saw creativity in the dishes at Shunji, it failed to live up to its sibling’s elan. So we tried the basics and the stuff that caught our eye as being out of the ordinary but abstained from our usual blow out feast.

My first time trying jellyfish provided a fun adventure as the translucent cartilage-like creature crunched in my mouth and oozed through my teeth but it was rather flavorless.

 

The monk fish liver was more like a chicken mousse, the muddy salt of the brine remaining as a bottom note on the palate rather than on the top note which would have expressed more of its funky character had it been served less processed.

The veggies were interesting but bland and unseasoned, tasting more watery and homogenous that individually shining.

The sushi was the hit of the evening. Beautiful small portions, elegantly seasoned at the perfect room temperature with soy on a bed of rice in perfect ratio to the fish. Sea Bream, pike and bonito were very good but the stars were the sea robin and the unbelievably mineral-fresh shad that melted on the tongue slowly like butter.

My first bite of this tomato-cube was a total delight, loving the sprightly way the fruit was transformed into a tofu-like consistency. But then on concurrent bites, all I could taste was the cooking oil. The CG pointed out that he was starting to only taste the cooking oil in the rest of the food too. I wondered if, as the restaurant had gotten busier, the cooking had suffered with the increase of busy and less calculated chefs.

I had never tried conch so we ordered this. It was a beautiful presentation of mushroom and conch pieces in a gorgeous shell but otherwise a plain miso broth.

We loved the melt on your tongue shad so much that we ordered more sashimi. Without the rice, the sweet minerality came through even more. It was like the dessert plate of the evening.

Another pretty dish that was ultimately a bit bland were the squash blossoms stuffed with shrimp and asparagus.

The eggplant topped with shrimp, shitake mushroom and miso was also good but the aftertaste remained of cooking oil.

We were still hungry and could have kept going but decided against it as the bill was already rising to shaky heights. Instead, we headed down the street to a gastropub for a few of their bar dishes. Kind of weird to top off delicate Japanese food with fried bar food and meat, but we obviously weren’t feeling that satisfied and that is what we usually expect from a Japanese food place with a reputation such as Shunji’s. Or maybe we are just getting spoiled and more discerning with the frequency of which we eat out and are reaching a tipping point in the overall arc of “a-ha” moments.

$400 (and Worth Every Penny!) Sushi

I am a bonafide sushi snob but I never thought I would eat a sushi meal that cost nearly $400 and was worth every single penny; which is exactly what I did this past Friday night.

The Cute Gardener didn’t tell me a word about Asanebo before I saw its rather plain sign on the top of a small space in Studio City crammed into a strip mall parking lot between other equally non-descript businesses. It has become a custom of late, when I stay at his place, to just assume my role as passenger in his car at the weekend’s onset while he takes me to a new restaurant to try. But this time, he admitted to being to Asanebo over 15 times, which is a virtual non-occurrence in his life as he tends to refuse to eat at a place more than once touting the sheer number of restaurants on the perpetual “to do" list making revisits seem borne of sheer stupidity.

Once inside I was impressed with the beautiful and elegant décor, all in shades of beige and brown with wooden accents and a warm, inviting sense of Zen. Three expert staff members attended to us all evening including a sweet waitress, a knowledgeable bus boy whose recommendations we took to heart, and a man who would deliver specific dishes to us with tips on how we would best enjoy them. The Kardashian mom (absent hubby Bruce Jenner but with a younger actor-in-training type boy), other couples on date night and a continual stream of groups of four continued to keep the restaurant buzzing all evening.

Two bottles of high-quality, iced sake and a stream of eleven custom-crafted and exquisite dishes later, I officially felt spoiled rotten by the best damn sushi experience I have ever had.

I am not sure anything will ever live up to the memory of these fine dishes, each individually worthy of being called a work of stunning, Japanese culinary art.

To start, an elongated tray of homemade pickles, consisting of long, thin carrots, baby round carrots, cucumber, baby beets, Napa cabbage, long thin turnips and a powerfully flavor packed raspberry-hued green onion with miso. Each veggie was pickled in its own unique seasoning blend and brine, creating a myriad of small, exquisite punches of major flavor.

The simple yet sublime spinach and mushroom salad was served room temperature and again, dressed well in something so tongue-tantalizing and original that each bite was savored as its own special experience, again and again.

We ordered the toro sashimi and the waitress lowered her voice and said, “a special for tonight, we have toro collar.” Of course, we nodded emphatically yes and received this sweet pink flesh, fatty and buttery, that melted on impact into the mouth.

Unctuous bits of Uzaku grilled freshwater eel sweetened with vinegar sauce and cucumbers were then spiked nicely with savory grated burdock root.

Sea grunt sushi was sweet and meaty but the surprise sushi of the night was this melon colored orange clam version; rent so smoothly with the teeth and reminiscent of summer peaches.

One of the most beautiful presentations was this dish of steamed zucchini flower stuffed with cake of rock shrimp, white fish alongside tender yellow tomato.

We ordered the shishito peppers, something we both enjoy eating and often say are similar to okra but without the slime. Dressed in just the char of being grilled and a few bonito pepper flakes, it was the perfect mid meal dish while we regrouped, spice cleaned the palette and decided what our last few dishes would entail.

Lovely fat pieces of King salmon sashimi, like most everything on this menu, didn’t need any additional flavoring from soy or wasabi.

Tempura uni wrapped in shiso leaf was the only item that escaped being photographed before we ended it all, somewhat resistant, with a gorgeous fried soft shell crab appetizer. Of course, it became a dessert rather than appetizer, as we knew we didn’t want to mess up the delicate flavors of fresh sashimi with anything fried before hand.

If we hadn’t already went nearly one hundred dollars over our evening’s budget, we probably could have taken a half hour break and continued on eating. The food was that clean and that good.