Sodam Boba & Poke Cafe - Torrance

Love poke but hate people? Say no more! Place your iPad order at Sodam and simply sit in silence until they call your name. The staff are a lovely family and happy to help, but the menu features clear photos, rendering interactions minimally necessary for any insistent introverts. 

The poke bowls are huge and shockingly affordable. $12.99 buys a hefty helping of some of the South Bay's freshest fish. Cubes of Spicy Tuna and Salmon gleam red with a sweetly spicy sauce much like Asian chili sauce with a perfect umami of sesame oil. A whole scoop of imitation crab and seaweed salad sit side by side with a generous helping of ripe avocado. All lay on a half n' half bed of salad covered in creamy sesame dressing and a pile of sushi rice. All is seasoned, all is good, but there's just too much sauce for me. 

A simple hack is to get the regular Tuna and Salmon bowl with salad dressing on the side. The poke has a simple sauce; I think I taste a bit of vinegar with sesame and ginger topped with a dash of sesame seeds and seaweed. The bowl is still too big for a single sitting, but the salad and rice can be stretched another day, and without the dressing there's no sauce overload.  

They also have these Okinawa style onigiri, a sandwich-musubi thing for those looking for a surefire hangover cure. I love the idea of the spam and egg, but the nori wrap here is very fishy, which is a bit off-putting with a bit too much spicy mayo in the middle. It's a fun idea, but maybe get the sauce on the side.

Stick to the poke, I think it's the best value here. They have bentos if you want more variety and sushi rolls if you want your poke bowl rolled together for you, but I'd skip the noise and just grab the bowl. 

Ali’i Hawaiian Grill - El Segundo

I ordered from the Torrance location two years ago and let’s just say I wasn’t running back for more. Yet this place holds its spot on an Eater LA list year after year, and when the El Segundo location showed up on my Doordash, I had to try again to see what the fuss is (still) about. 

I’m not one for gambling because I never win, but this was a chance worth taking. It wasn’t a cheap venture, but you get what you pay for, namely the South Bay’s best poke, now tied with my personal fave Jus Poke in Redondo Beach. 

The tuna here is red and dense, lean and meaty, flavor immense. The Hawaiian is simple, mostly limu to sprinkle the sea into these ruby red chunks. You can’t hide behind a sauce this simple, and the tuna is undoubtedly fresh-off-the-boat. Spicy Ahi has a fantastic sauce, a spicy mayo that kicks with little pearls of roe to make it rich.

The Garlic Shrimp poke is not to be ignored - the shrimp are plump and the palest pink, just barely cooked so the texture is incredibly tender. 

Just skip the side of potato salad - it’s bland.

The Kalua Pork is a curiosity - can they cook as well as they can procure? Not really, no. The pork is very juicy but it’s heavily salted and that’s all there is. As for the sides, the smoked potatoes are alright. OTOH, I never have and never will understand Salmon Lomi, and this one is no exception. I can kinda taste the influence of fish if I imagine really hard, but I can’t see any actual fish and it seems to be just a pico and not a very good one.

Go for the poke, go often. Skip all the other stuff, eat all the tuna end don’t skimp on the shrimp. 

Ali'i Fish Company - Torrance

They showed some promise, but our Doordash order came with an entire bowl missing. 

What did come was a small bowl of poke with a pretty Ponzu Salmon and a rather unsafe-looking Sweet & Spicy Ahi. Both tasted okay, but neither was extremely fresh. The bowl itself was enough of a meal for one, but it's not a lot of fish for a whopping $17. 

Chips and Smoked Ahi Dip, a plate with some potential. The dip does have a nice cream and smoke, but it's a little light on the tuna. Still better than your typical chips n' dip so I would nibble again.

I wanted to like it, and I thought I'd love it, but the experience was disappointing. That said, some companies just don't do delivery well so next time I'll visit in person to determine whether the problem is in the delivery or if they just don't deliver. 

Sugarfish - Manhattan Beach

 

Man, I really want to love Sugarfish. LA loves it to the point of madness, and the South Bay has followed suit, but I truly do not understand.

The Don’t Think Just Eat is a deluxe combo for only $50, and for the quality of fish it’s supposed to be quite a deal. 

It is and it isn’t. It’s packed up real pretty and the fish tastes good, but I’ve just had so much better for less or the same. The standard salmons and snappers are good, and the Amebi was great. The rolls are fine, and I'm a sucker for mayo with blue crab, and the sashimi is a nice little extra. But the Toro was fishy; slick and fatty, but the flavor had more fish than fat, and I would have rather had Mitsuwa (their toro is very good, btw). 

What really bothers me is the way the rice fell apart. On Every. Single. Piece. I get that travel time affects the quality, but I've never had chunks of rice just fall out of a nigiri when I pick it up.

I’m guessing Sugarfish was something to write home about before they became a sellout. Even the highest end chains don’t deliver like a local mom and pop, and I'm guessing Sugarfish is Ruth’s Chris to The Arthur J. So choose Sugarfish if you want. You’ll get good quality at a fair price, and it will be pretty enjoyable, but it will never blow your mind.  . Do think and don't just eat because you might eat better from a local place instead.

Bluesalt Fish Grill - Torrance

I loved them when they first opened, but I'm afraid the takeout has gone a big downhill. 

I always get a fish from the grill, but this time my go-to Idaho Rainbow Trout with cajun garlic butter is uncharacteristically dry. It's only half a mile from their door to mine, so I'm guessing it sat on the grill for a moment too long. The sides still work, though. Liking the corn, though if you're charging an extra dollar for broccolini, maybe include an extra stalk or two. 

My first time getting the Fisherman's Basket, aka "all the fried sh*t" of varying quality. The scallops are okay, the calamari is good enough. They do a nice job with cod - the breading is fluffy and the fish underneath is flaky butter. The crab cake tastes like celery dough, and the both it and the shrimp are in a rock-hard shell. Methinks the cook let everything cook a little longer today. Except the hush puppies which are pleasantly spicy but rather doughy and undercooked-tasting in the middle.

It's unfortunate that this happened because I loved every other thing every other time. The barramundi is so buttery, the sea bass is sometimes a worthy splurge, and the scallops are surprisingly affordable. I hope today was a fluke because I've always loved Bluesalt. An affordable, fresh filet is so hard to find, and I can only hope my favorite fish isn't drowning.

Sushi Sumo - Gardena

Sushi Sumo. *shrug* 

Sushi Sumo? Sure, why not. 

Try some standard-mid-range-sushi-place rolls like the Pearl Roll, a generous stuffing of scallops under salmon stripes. If you’re looking for either the tuna or the tuna, the Red Dragon has it both fiery and fresh.

The Chirashi bowl is okay, fresh enough fish, not-bad cuts on sushi rice. It comes with from-a-mix miso soup and salad so you get a whole meal though it’s a bit pricey for the quality. 

Mid-range casual, conveyer-belt cuisine, fun for a eat-in, good enough for takeout on a whatever kind of night. You won’t remember what you ate and it won’t linger on your palate, but it’ll hit the spot when you want it, and as a moderate meal, you probably won’t regret it much.

Hana Sushi - Temecula, CA

You only get one birthday, but every other day is your un-birthday. On this rare occasion the Mad Hatter makes sense. I've never really cared about my one birthday - it's the 364 un-birthdays that add up to so much more.

It's the same with adventures. I loved that 4-day safari, and I'm gearing up for a skydive, but for my one birthday, I wanted a day of unadventures, and that was so much better. 

Hana Sushi was a food un-adventure and I loved every bite. The Garlic Shrimp are super jumbo, an appetizer of fun. What's not to love about garlic and butter?

The Chirashi bowl is the most generous I've ever seen, a thin layer of rice laced with a hint of vinegar, cushioning thick cuts of very fresh fish. There's so much of it, and it's all arrayed in lovely filets. Salmon, snapper, tuna and albacore. The octopus is pretty soft, the whitefish is really tender, and the cooked shrimp is an exceptional surprise. Finish with a couple spears of tamago, but you might need a little help. 

I love adventures, but sometimes I love un-adventures more. I enjoy exploring and trying new things, but sometimes I just want the things I love most, tried and true. Hana Sushi was new for me, and I loved their sushi. I have many adventures left in Temecula, but I'd still revisit Hana Sushi when the craving hits. 

Koloa Fish Market - Koloa, HI

It's a short hike to and from the hole We've had a lot of raw fish on the island, and this fish market is the only one that comes close to Foodland. 

The Tako Poke is tender and juicy, Soft and simple with a touch of sweet onion. Wasabi Ahi Poke is a slow green burn, and I love the green masago for texture. 

More Tako because a single serving is never enough. This bowl has the Korean Ahi Poke is bright and spicy with a sprinkle of sesame to savor-out the gochujang. 

It's a sweet and simple little market, and it's kind of tucked into a corner in a complex, but do take the time to find it. The tako poke is the best one I've had on this island, and it's worth stopping for!

The Hibachi - Kailua, HI

When in Hawaii, go grocery! A mini-mart stocked with all kinds of poke and and things on sticks. Poke is scooped to order, and all sorts of meat refrigerates in marinade, ready to go on the grill.

We stuck with the poke today, but I would like revisit the skewers. The variety was impressive, and they all looked irresistible. 

Today is a day for Tako. There's a reason they always run out of the tako first - it's an island special, and these tender, juicy slices are draped in sharp sweet onion and savory limu. The other half is Spicy Tobiko, fresh tuna chunks in roe-laced mayo.

They get pretty creative too. This one is Spicy Oyster Sauce, same fresh ahi with a salty burn that builds. The oyster sauce is sticky, and and it coats your tongue with all that pepper.

Beware the wrath of the Thai Basil. It's flavorful, and it glows red-hot and angry. It'll leave your mouth raw, but those chilies pack the most pleasant heat! 

Wash it all down with an Island Cola. Tastes like regular cola except my can (and maybe my imagination) can tastes a little a more cane. 

A mini-mart with a tiny parking lot and an inconspicuous storefront. That seems to be the MO for great restaurants in O'ahu. So far so good; keep the groceries coming!

Poke Bar - Torrance

I... I don't understand. Somewhere between Torrance and El Segundo, something changed for the much MUCH better. I don't know why and I don't know how, but I've gone from boycotting PokeBar to becoming a legitimate fan.

So far, I've only been to El Segundo and Torrance, and in Torrance they do the poke right. The salmon is fresh, and the tuna is light and lean. The spicy tuna is dense with a dash of sriracha-spice, and even the octopus is in more manageable in edible little niblets. Anything goes with spicy mayo, but the mayo here enhances rather than masks. It's just the right amount of small-burn, and they mix a precise proportion. There are plenty of toppings and veggies to make the poke pop, but I'm a minimalist so just the masago will do. The side of crab salad is fine, the seaweed salad is good, and I haven't tried the pickled cucumbers yet but they look pretty tempting. 

Customized poke with fresh fish in generous scoops, just 2 miles away. Sounds too good to be true, but PokeBar Torrance just made that dream real.

Pisces Sushi - Manhattan Beach

Back from Reno and embracing the dredges of daily life. Unpack, unwind, and forage for the next meal. There's nothing in the fridge that isn't molding, rotting, or just no thanks, and if I eat one more meal after the excess in Reno, I would just dieee...wait I can have sashimi!

I can have an entire Chirashi Bowl at one of the two tiny counters at Pisces. Fresh fish, generous slabs, expertly-sliced. Sweet, plushy salmon makes me melt, meaty yellowtail spirits away the jet lag, and a smooth red snapper whips me back into shape. We get leaner and meaner with the tuna, and scallop nubbins are a spicy-mayo wake-up call. The fish is truly fantastic, but it's actually the rice that stands out. It's vinegared so rightly and sugared just so slightly, and it keeps you eating long after the sashimi is gone.

The same rice sits in the Unagi Bowl, a steaming warmth of comfort-food eel in tender, over-rice slices. Sweet and saucy and you just can't go wrong.

Look elsewhere if you want a romantic, ritzy dinner, but lunch is adorably intimate with someone you know well. Otherwise, opt for the take-out as so many in Manhattan do. Everyone wants a piece of the Pi-sces; your loss if you don't.