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I have said before that I don’t like to call favorites or designate something as the “best”, so I will just say that Hamakawa has made other sushi bars look inferior. It’s not just the incredible quality of the fish, the variety of the menu or the reasonable prices, it’s the total experience of going into a place and getting more than I expect for less than I expect to pay.

A couple weeks ago we went with some friends, who were trying Hamakawa for the first time. It was great because we have our favorites and they have things they like to order at sushi bars and we all choose a couple new things to try.

Here’s a quick run down of what we ordered.

Miso With Mushrooms - Hamakawa has a number of miso options, including plain with tofu, mushroom and mussel or clam miso soup, maybe some others, but I can’t remember. I highly recommend the mushroom miso soup, but I’m a bit of a mushroom fiend, so you may not be as impressed as I am.

Shisito - Mild Japanese green peppers, roasted over a fire and sprinkled with some salt. A great palatte cleanser actually and not spicy at all. My first time trying them, would definitely order them again.

Albacore Tataki - A house specialty with thinly sliced albacore placed on some mild onions and topped off with a citrus sauce. One of our favorites and a table pleaser.

Miso Black Cod - The first time we went to Hamakawa was a couple weeks after we tried Mori on the Westside. Mori’s black cod was divine, but cost about three times as much as Hamakawa. Hamakawa’s black cod is at least as good as Mori, with a similar miso glaze. The cod is rich though and one order is a nice amount for four people and a little much for two. DO NOT discard the skin, it is amazingly flavorful and not at all like other strong tasting fish skin.

Spicy Tuna Hand Rolls W/Soy Paper - We opted for soy paper over nori and Hamakawa does a nice job with not-too-chopped-up tuna and the paper is lightly rolled in sesame seeds.

Spicy Albacore Hand Rolls - Similar to the spicy tuna rolls, but with albacore obviously. Also, served with ponzu sauce instead of soy sauce.

Tuna Avocado Roll - Large cross sections of tuna combined with perfectly ripe avocados. High quality tuns, even in the rolls.

Tuna - My wife likes to point out that when you order tuna at Hamakawa you almost always get bluefin. The tuna is noticeably fresh and delicious.

Halibut W/Salt and Lemon - I like halibut when it is good, but when it’s not good it can be a bit chewy and not too tasty. I know that I can always get great halibut at Hamakawa (when it is in season, otherwise they don’t offer it).

Engawa - This was a new order for me. One of our dining companions asked the waitress if they had it and after she checked with the chefs, she confirmed that they did. Engawa is halibut, cut from just below the dorsal fin. It is a bit tougher than normal halibut, so it is prepared by being sliced very thin and scored, then sprinkled with lemon juice and salt. I liked it, but wasn’t blown away and since it comes at a premium, probably would opt for something else in the future.

Yellow Tail Nigiri/Sashimi - Our first order started with some yellow tail nigiri. It was so good that we followed it up with an order of sashimi. The fish was so buttery and soft that it felt like a sushi marshmellow melting in my mouth. The sashimi was cut extremely generously and almost proved to be too much for our table to finish, but we powered through.

We ordered a lot of sushi, all of it was top quality and enough that we were absolutely full when we left and took a spin around the bar at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel. For the four of us to enjoy this feast with a couple beers and tea was under $50/person including tip. Delicious and worth the drive to Little Tokyo.

Hamakawa shouldn’t just be seen as a sushi bar. Even though their fish is absolutely the star, their menu has a large variety of traditional Japanese dishes that I haven’t seen on too many menus. Go for the sushi, but be sure to order a dish or two from the other menu. The waitresses are incredibly friendly and have made some great suggestions for me ni the past.

Hamakawa
209 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012-4208
(213) 625-8125
Cross Street: Second Street
Easy parking in the structure one block east of Hamakawa

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.