The Brothers Sushi - Santa Monica

Counter service by chef Mark is a zen-like pleasure. It is almost a meditation, watching him deftly slice shining cuts of premium fish amidst friendly chatter across a sparkling counter. The decor here is as elegant as his knife work; clean, quietly warm; a welcoming space.

There's a series of starters; a fresh salad with tangy dressing, a steaming bowl of miso soup. 

Dry-aged Ceviche features colorful chunks of lime-laden fish. Something about the acid opens the palate and whets the appetite for what’s to come.

First is a slice of Baby Sea Bream, cool with shiso and lime. 

The Orange Clam hails from Boston, a delicately meaty chunk tenderly scored into soft stripes. 

Chutoro is a familiar favorite, as fat melts amongst the meat. 

Hokkaido Scallop is sweet and soft, dotted with zested lime. 

The crispy covering of the Beltfish Tempura melts away from buttery bits of such soft flesh. 

Ora King Salmon has serious smoke, and 3 weeks of aging gives it a firmer finish. 

Marinated Bluefin Tuna comes alive with a spike of mustard. 

Jack Mackerel is gooey and smooth with just thr slightest fishy sting. 

Sweet Sea Perch is silky and slick. 

And just when I think I’ve seen it all, a bit of fresh Ikura graces my plate. This is so different from any other I’ve had, not so fishy, a firm and satisfying pop from every single bubble bursting with flavor, full of liquid much thinner and far less ooey-gooey.

Tamago concludes the lunch set, but there always more a la carte. 

I pay extra for the Uni as the price point makes it prohibitive at lunch, and it's worth every cent. This stuff is so fresh and so impossibly sweet, and chef cuts thick stacks to set into the gunkan. 

Any way you slice it, $100 for premium sushi is a steal, especially on the swanky streets of Santa Monica. And the quality they’re able to provide is astounding; spectacular slices of fish, some spiked with touches of creativity from one of LA’s sweetest chefs. 

Taira Sushi & Sake - Garden Grove, CA

Imagine walking into a room where you immediately feel at ease. The decor is simple, just a few tables around a lively bar. The chef is an animated man who banters and carries on with his customers, all of whom are clearly friends. They down their sake with rowdy joy, and he toasts them from time to time, all the while skillfully cranking out some of the most beautiful sushi I've ever seen. 

He may be the most creative sushi chef I've seen to date, giving us what is easily the best omakase experience I've ever had. 

I was already worried after the black throat Sea Perch because I couldn't imagine anything better. That plushy, pillow-soft flesh possesses the perfect blow-torch sear, and I've never tasted anything more supple and sweet. 

A meaty Amberjack is seasoned with rock salt and dosed with a dash of yuzu. Citrus cradles the milder meat and salt brings out the butter. 

Halibut is silky smooth, slick with olive oil, heavenly with a sprinkle of truffle salt. Swallow and sit still as the truffle flavor doubles back to engulf your senses. 

Hokkaido Scallop, meaty and mighty, a dab of yuzu pepper adds some zing. 

The Striped Jack is another meatier slice, this one firm but just a little bit gooey. 

The best of both worlds come together in the Chutoro, with robust flavors of lean tuna tempered by globules of fat.

The Raw Octopus is a new one - I've yet to have it prepared this way. Fine butterfly cuts turn a chewy slice of rubber into a soft squeegee, and fragrant basil yuzu makes a mild flavor much more interesting. 

Less mild is the sweet and sensitive Goldeneye Snapper, another incredibly tender cut. 

Salmon can only go so far so let this Ocean Trout take you the rest of the way. Never have I tasted anything so seductively tender and sweet.

Buttery Black Cod flakes under a surface sear, and a topping of onion jelly makes the flavors pop. 

A creamy Hokkaido Uni speaks for itself.

The grand finale is a slice of seared Toro, a light char on the surface that gives way to bursting bubbles of tuna fat, topped with truffle that adds its aroma just when you think it can't get any better than this. 

I have never eaten a 12-piece omakase and wanted to just do it all over again. The flavors are so varied and each piece is so creative that every bite is a new adventure. The novelty keeps you hungry for more, although we only repeated four favorites, I can honestly say there wasn't a single bite that didn't blow my mind. 

I love everything about Taira Sushi; the intimacy, the purity, the amazing talent and creativity of a chef who still has the freedom to serve whatever to whomever he would wish. There's plenty of fish in the sea and lots of sushi in LA and the South Bay, but I would make the drive to Garden Grove in any kind of traffic just to eat this again.

Shunji - Santa Monica

An unmarked store front, windows blacked out. A server emerges from a suspicious-looking front door that looks like a side door right before your seating time and leads you to a different world. The decor is sleek, the floor is shiny and spotless, and a sliding divider separates two sushi bars. Eight seats each, only four occupied, with the chef centered. We get Shunji himself and his extraordinary omakase of sushi and kaiseki. 

The first round is a smorgasbord of seasonal vegetables, prepared perfectly to highlight their natural flavors. Viscous cauliflower sweetens bitter brussels and cradles English peas. Logs of white asparagus support a spoon of caviar.

Squares of Scallop and Shrimp are meaty and succulent, contrasting textures tender and firm. 

Fiddlehead Ferns are a forager's find - they're snappy and sharp, a real gasp of grass. Mountain yam's sweetness offsets the briny bellies of fire-braised squid. 

A steaming cup of Onion Soup sips smoothly and tastes like time: the time it takes to boil every last drop of meaty savor out of a bunch of bones, the time it takes to thicken meat-water into a hearty broth, the time it takes to transform a throwaway into a treasure. I've never had a soup taste so richly of time.

A Sashimi of smooth kanpachi, melty marbled toro, and slick strands of squid. The sharp stab of real wasabi and salt of aged shoyu are noted.

Bonito is bold with smoke and soy sauce, a balance to the last tender ramps of spring. They look and taste like green onion crossed with leek, but there's a smoother, softer, subtler quality that makes them truly memorable.

A braised Black Cod is flaky butter balanced by a bitter broad bean and scallion broth.

A fried Oyster ball is a puree of perfect granules that harmonize butter, bile, and brine. 

It's straight sushi from here, and there's a gleaming Red Snapper to start. 

It jumps to a slick Seasonal Trout that has the softest, smoothest flesh, silkier and more plush than any salmon.

Squid is expertly scored; those little cuts turn rubbery stiffness smooth and tender. 

King Mackerel is meaty and robust. 

Lean Tuna is the other red meat.

And Toro is perfection.

Ikura tastes like bubbles of a barely-briny sea.

This piece is the Sea Perch, a fish that is unforgettable. It has a mouth-feel of buttery plush and an enveloping sweetness with a slight sear sends up some smoke.

Abalone slices are a sea-steak, on a bed of uni rice. The liver sauce is understated yet bold and bitter, and it makes the subtle sweetness pop. 

A mighty Sardine is oil and salt. The fillet-work is gorgeous, and each little cut releases more pockets of savor. 

Ankimo is a bonus piece by special request, a Shunji preparation of all cream and fat. He eliminates all the bitter notes from the bile, fabricating foie gras from the sea. 

An assertive nori makes crunches in a Hand Roll full of gooey tuna. 

A sweet-flesh Anago tastes as pure as its bright white flesh. 

A brick of Tamago signals the end. 

The final dessert is a Poached Pear, clear and pure, punctuated with Ginger Ice Cream. 

It's an amazing meal, but to say that does it no justice. What you get here isn't merely food. There's an entire journey in all these courses, a life lived, a story told. Shunji is a master of all trades; he even brews his own sake, and when he cooks, he sweeps you away, and you forget there is a world beyond this table. Each element requires thought and precision, and there is no detail spared, down to the stunning dishware for every delight. Some would say it's just a meal, but what Shunji makes is so much more than that.