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Sushi with warm rice? On purpose? Two places on the Westside have determined that this is the way to go. Sasabune serves warm rice with their fresh sushi, and Echigo serves warm, very vinegary rice with their tasty fish.

I have heard raves about Echigo for years. Yes, it is on the second floor of a West LA mini mall. No they don’t serve spicy tuna or california rolls, let alone any cut rolls at all. They do serve impossibly fresh fish in a sparcely decorated sushi bar.

If you sit at the sushi bar, you are getting the omakase. If you sit at the tables you are served by the whirlwind of efficient waitresses, bringing out each order one by one. You could get the omakase at the tables, but why bother, sit at the bar and let the expert chefs serve you directly.

We tried Sasabune a couple months ago, so I had experienced the warm rice phenomenon. Echigo’s rice is a little bit different. It seemed warmer, borderline hot for some of the orders. The fish stays cool though and I am guessing that is one of the reasons why you get each order one by one, to make sure that you eat the sushi before the rice begins to cook it. Also, Echigo’s rice has a very noticeably vinegar taste. More than any other sushi rice I have had before.

It works though. Much of Echigo’s fish is sweet and buttery. It offsets the acidity of the rice and provides a nice journey for your taste buds.

On a Saturday night we were able to walk in and get a table for three at around 7:00. Echigo was full but not packed and they do take reservations. If you are heading there with a larger party, I would suggest calling ahead. I’m not the biggest fan of eating sushi with big parties, it tends to get confusing. I might just be a little slow though.

We didn’t opt for the omakase this time. So what did we order?

• Bonito - When this is on the menu, I usually order it. It can have a bit of a fishy taste, but in a good way. This was one of the thicker cut orders.
• Ono - The first time I had Ono sushi was at Sasabune. Ono is one of my favorite cooked fish, now it’s high on my sushi list too.
• Tuna - Deep red, smooth and sweet, we order a few.
• Stuffed Squid - One of the specials. A small squid, stuffed with crab and some other goodies. I think it may have been blanched briefly.
• Yellow Tail - Buttery and delicious
• Halibut - Great, it can be tough when it is not fresh. This was not tough, it was soft and tasty.
• Albacore - Crowd favorite, I’m not sure how many orders we ended up with. The ponzu plus the vinegary rice was a potent punch, but the albacore handled it well.
• Taco (Octopus) - Not something that I usually order, it was very tender and sweet.
• Tuna Roll - A cigar like hand roll served in toasted nori.

With all of this decadence and the absolutely highest quality of fish, I thought that the bill was going to break the bank. I was wrong. Echigo is exteremely reasonable. For three of us to eat and have a beer, it was right around $100. Sure, that’s not a throw away amount, but for a great night of sushi, it’s a steal.

Echigo
12217 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 820-9787

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.