Thanks for the warning about the prices. Though, I must say that I hate it when there are no prices, and you have to ask the waiter. It always makes me feel broke :)

^ It shouldn’t. There exists an old adage “If you have to ask [the price], you can’t afford it…” but I simply do not subscribe to it.

Just inquire after a few prices so you don’t get a rude shock when the bill arrives. I say it’s better to be forewarned than to end your lovely meal on a sour note.

This place seems like typical LA egoistic drab with ludicrously priced food. As a chef myself, I find it incredible stupid to pay for food that can otherwise be easily (and much more reliably and safely) be made at home for the fraction of the price.

The best foods in the world, I have experienced, have been at small, cozy, inexpensive places made by chefs who love food…not art. The best French food will be served in the countrysides with countryside prices…

Places like this ruin what good cuisine is supposed to be about.

@Noz - I haven’t been to R23, so I can’t comment on their food. I often compare the price of home cooking vs. eating out. I think one thing that makes eating sushi worth it for me is the variety. I’m not going to go out and buy a single serving of eight different types of fish, which is what I would order when I go out. Same thing with tempura, it’s cheap to make at home, but is time consuming and messy!

@foodette - I’m with you, prices should always be on the menu. Even if I could afford a menu doesn’t mean that I always want to pay steep prices. If a restaurant doesn’t want to put prices on a menu, how about just letting me pay what I think the food was worth?

Chef Noz, I do not pay exorbiant prices for food I can make at home as I am an experienced cook.

The only thing on this menu that I would attempt at home is the simple but dramatic Dungeness salad, and only then because the waitress foolishly told me the four ingredients in the dressing (I am not giving all their secrets away!)

The lobster tempura was sensational, and I am not even remotely a fan of lobster. This dish was excellent enough to win me over.

Their sushi was sublime. I have tried to do my own salmon and yellowtail sashimi at home and it always comes out as a hacked up pile of fish. And, like Jonah mentioned, it’s too expensive and impractical to have a variety of sushi at home.

There’s a reason these sushi chefs train for years and YEARS.

There’s good, simple home-style cooking and then there’s fine cuisine. I pay for the latter, gladly.

I like the food. If you get the famous crab salad, ask for light (the opposite of heavy) dressing.

Lovely review, as always, Max! And yes, the sushi is “sublime.”

I’ve only ever dined at R23 once, but we didn’t even look at the menu. My friends and I went straight for the sushi bar. The prices aren’t any easier on the wallet there. In fact, there were 5 of us at the sushi bar, and the bill came out to over $300. (Fortunately for me, one of the gentlemen decided I shouldn’t have to pay and told me to just chip in for tip.)

I don’t recall everything I ate there (because it’s been a few years), but I do remember thinking at the time how each piece of fish, particularly the albacore and yellowtail, just melted in my mouth. My visit there remains one of my top 5 sushi experiences. The only reason why I haven’t gone back to R23 is simply because of the cost. Still, if you can afford it, I’d recommend a visit to the sushi bar there.

BTW, for those who have not been to the alley there, Max is right - there is valet parking, but it can get a bit harried, especially during peak dining hours. There is quite a bit of metered parking on one end of the alley, and I believe free parking on the other end of the alley, though those coveted spots are hard to come by.

Max…

I’m sorry but I strongly disagree with you. After being a chef for a number of years, I can’t believe the prices people pay for food outside which one would consider “fine cuisine.”

While I am not belittling the sushi chefs there, with some practice and creativity, you can create sushi at home and other dishes with rival and beat whatever you could possibly imagine outside.

I create some really good sushi dishes at home. Yes, some of it can be time consuming and I’m sure I can learn a thing or two from some expert chefs who’ve done ONLY sushi all their lives…but come on…$300 for a sushi bar sitdown? That’s just ridiculous. It’s mostly hype and nothing else. But to each his own.

^Nozferatu - I don’t think that anyone will argue that you don’t pay a premium to eat out at a restaurant when compared to cooking at home. The formula that often gets tossed around is that a restaurant has to mark up the raw ingredients 3X just to break even. Since you were a chef for a number of years, I’m sure that you are aware that eating at any restaurant results in your paying much more than it would cost you to make a dish at home.

So the debate moves to other factors which increase the price. Does atmosphere matter, does service matter, do the quality of ingredients matter, do “trends” matter? I submit that there are all types of diners, some who do want the trappings of a higher end restaurant, and some who think that all of that stuff is just rubbish. I think that there is an even larger group who likes to go to higher end restaurants on special occasions, or once in a while.

Can you get a crappy meal at an expensive restaurant? Yes, without a doubt and without debate. Can you get an amazing meal for under $10? Absolutely!

I’m not sure where you are referencing a $300 sushi sitdown, but let’s look at Urasawa. For $250 you get a pretty amazing dining experience. Read this review:

Urasawa by mmm-yoso!!!

If you can recreate that at home, Bravo! Can I come over?

P.S. I do think that it’s a very interesting discussion to talk about how much is reasonable to pay to eat out.

Most of us who write here at la.foodblogging are also active home cooks, we do recognize the premiums we pay to eat out.

Jonah,

Your points are well taken…there is a cost of overhead and all that obviously. I don’t dispute that. It takes time and effort to create new and interesting dishes…an intangible cost really which is rewarded by the feedback of the people who eat the dishes. It’s almost like R&D departments in an engineering firm. Most of the cost of the product is in that.

There are two categories of eateries (and this is regardless of whether it’s “fine” or “casual”)…the first type is one that creates ambiance and flare to make money. The second is the one that makes food which sets the ambiance and then creates money. R23 and the likes tend to fall into the first.

It’s irrelevant as to which one likes…that’s a personal choice. I just find the places that have no thrills but serve the best foods in the world the ones I tend to remember and try to flatter by reproducing. The food should be the experience…not the restaurant.

I suppose my viewpoint and philosophy in what food and an experience should are simply different.

PS…$8 a bottle for Evian??? Now come on….I rest my case.

Noz, the problem is that your argument (namely the points you make to substantiate your opinion) is not accuately nor coherently conveyed.

No body is talking about a $300 sushi sit down. As Jonah pointed out, not even Urasawa charges that, and each item he serves is a work of art upon a work of art, surrounded by a work of art.

I wholeheartedly agree that when you start to feel you are overpaying for what you get, your enjoyment diminishes.

But you need to choose a different battle to pick!! When you go to an extra fine sushi house, you are paying a premium for a number of reasons, the primary one being due to the pecking order of sushi chefs in this town. Actually, this important point rates a separate post.

Then you have the aforementioned years of training and apprenticeships that sushi chefs go through to master their craft.

Jonah made several salient points regarding ambience, service, decor, scene etc etc — all the things that add up to a memorable experience of dining out.

It’s not just about the food!!

You even acknowledged the R&D that goes into creating new dishes!

The manner in which you refute my review proves you have never dined at R 23, though that shouldn’t matter. You are all up in arms because restaurants charge $8 for bottled water. So? I don’t order stuff like that.

Restaurants also do a severe mark up on their wine, but most fine restaurants have bottles in their cellar *that you can no longer obtain*!

Can’t you see how this exclusivity adds to the premium you pay?

I enjoy a sensible discussion, but you cannot even substantiate your opinion with facts, nor maintain accuracy, therefore I can easily dismiss and knock down many of your ill-researched points.

To conclude my rant, I would dearly love to know at which restaurant you are a chef. I’m serious. Because then I would know a great place that serves simple, unpretentious meals at affordable and non-inflated prices.

I think we all need to know places like this, whether in LA or somewhere worth the journey.

Um… I think I’m to blame for Noz’s $300 sushi sit down comment.

(Pauline runs, ducks, and covers.)

In the comment I made previously, I did note that our final bill was over $300. There were 5 of us though (and I specified that above, too) - so it actually came out to somewhere between $50-60 per person. Still expensive, but no more so than at other high quality sushi places… In fact, I might argue that other sushi places I’ve been to (e.g., Nozawa) charges an even higher premium than R 23.

Sorry for any confusion my previous comment may have caused.

Pauline,

Indeed, that is what I was referring to.

I do know places that will cost someone the good side of $200-250 for a sushi sit down so it’s not made up stuff.