California, Food & Drink, Local Flavor, Los Angeles

Local Flavor – Asanebo (Los Angeles)

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The Los Angeles food scene is centered around the Downtown area, with some pockets in high-rent neighborhoods like Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Hollywood. There aren’t many “top picks” in the Valley, but Asanebo Sushi breaks the trend.

  • Omakase “light” lunch at Asanebo

Located in a non-description shopping center on Ventura Boulevard, Asanebo look like many other sushi joints: a few tables, seating along the bar, and several sushi chefs working away on rice and fish. But where Asanebo differentiates itself is in the quality of the fish. There is a “standard” menu of crowd favorites, but it’s accompanied by daily specials, which are either locally caught or flown in from Japan on a daily basis.

The restaurant is helmed by Chef Tetsuya Nakao (one of the original chefs at Matsuhisa) and has gotten praise as one of the best sushi spots in the Los Angeles area by no less than the god-father of the LA food scene, Jonathan Gold.

We opted for the “light” version of their Omakase menu: 2 appetizers, a miso of your choice, 12 piece sushi and dessert.

  • Starter: Baby spinach with portabello mushroom & Dungeness crab
  • Starter: Sesame tofu with eggplant in a miso broth
  • Miso: Littleneck clam in a miso broth
  • Sushi #1: Red Clam
  • Sushi #2: Albacore Tuna
  • Sushi #3: Hallibut
  • Sushi #4: Toro
  • Sushi #5: Blue Fin Tuna
  • Sushi #6: Red Snapper
  • Sushi #7: Amberjack
  • Sushi #8: Salmon Eggs
  • Sushi #9: Sardine
  • Sushi #10: Baby Snapper
  • Sushi #11: Uni (Sea Urchin)
  • Sushi #12: Sea Eel
  • Dessert: Green Tea Ice Cream
  • Spinach & Crab
  • Tofu & Eggplant Miso
  • Sushi 1 to 4
  • Clam Miso
  • Sushi 9 to 12
  • Green Tea Ice Cream
  • Masters at work!
  • Great high-end sushi in the Valley!

Recap:

Overall, Asanebo is a place where you get what you pay for. The price point (~$200 for two people) is what you’d expect for high-end Omakase. Unlike many other even higher-end spots, there are many non-Omakase options, making it fairly family friendly. It’s a worthy member of the “Four Star Life 100+ Los Angeles Restaurants“.

  • Asanebo Sushi (11941 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604)
  • Asanebo-Restaurant.com
  • Japanese/Sushi
  • $$$ ($100 – $200 for two) although you could spend more on the Omakase menu, depending on number of items
  • Overall Rating (w/o price): ★★★☆ (Very Good)
  • Four Star Rating (w/ price): ★★★☆ (Good Deal)