la.foodblogging

A few days ago, I went to celebrate a friend’s birthday. He is an avid fan of Sushi Nozawa. In fact, he was the one who took me there for my birthday last year. For his birthday, he said he wanted to try a new place, sugarFISH… by Sushi Nozawa. This two-month old restaurant is owned by the Nozawa family. In fact, Chef Nozawa personally picks out the seafood every morning, so the quality of the food at sugarFISH is equal to that of Sushi Nozawa’s. I believe the restaurant is managed by Chef Nozawa’s son. For anyone who has ever eaten at Sushi Nozawa, you might smile when you see the menu. The menu will change, but basically, you can order individual items ($3-8) or set combos, which are named Trust Me One ($22.50), Two ($29.50), and Three ($36.50), tax and tip already included in the price. I believe if you order the Trust Me sets during lunch, the prices are a little cheaper. And this, my friends, is where the similarities between sugarFISH and Sushi Nozawa ends.

A friend and I arrived before the rest of our party. Seating is a bit scarce at sugarFISH. Even though there were a few tables available (mostly for two), the staff asked if they could seat us after the rest of our party arrives. (Note: they asked if we would mind waiting, not tell us we had to wait.)

I had had a very long, difficult day prior to meeting up at the restaurant. I asked if we could just sit at the bar first, which wasn’t a problem. The bar is not a sushi bar. No one makes sushi here in front of you. All the sashimi and sushi are sliced and arranged in the kitchen. As soon as I sat down, I ordered some sake. First up was tomaju, a sweet sake ($39). I wasn’t sure if I should get this one, but one of the patrons who was sitting next to me was quick to recommend it. He and the other 2 people with him each had a bottle. It really was extremely lovely and the perfect remedy to my bad day. As I snacked on the complimentary edamame and whined about my day to my friend, the server came by several times to refill my glass to make sure it was never less than half full. Before our bottle was finished, the rest of our friends arrived, and we moved to a table.

We all quickly decided on Trust Me Two. You don’t all have to order the same set, but it just so happened that we all wanted the same thing. Shortly after we placed our order, a plate of tuna sashimi arrived at our table. I remember when I went to Sushi Nozawa, that’s how my meal started, too. I truly enjoyed the tuna sashimi there, and I enjoyed it at sugarFISH just as much. It had that melt in your mouth feeling.

Next up was another bottle of sake ($18). Unlike the tomaju, this one isn’t sweet, but it was still pleasant. As for sushi, the albacore and salmon sushi came next. These are your standard sushi, but they taste much better. I think it’s the combination of quality fish and wasabi. I didn’t need to mix any soy sauce with the fresh wasabi at sugarFISH . The sushi was great with just the wasabi alone. One of my friends ordered an additional item, yellowtail, which arrived at this time. After that, next up were the crab and toro cut rolls. It is really hard to say which one of these were better. The toro was so rich and also had the melt in your mouth texture. Even though I was already fairly full at this point, I wished that I had more. The blue crab tasted fresh, but that’s not what appealed to me the most about this cut roll. The texture was fairly coarse, as crab rolls typically are, but there was a contradictory fineness to it as well, which caught me off guard.

The last plate of our set was the Nozawa shrimp and halibut sushi. The shrimp is way better than typical shrimp sushi. I really think that most sushi restaurants use frozen shrimp for this, but I doubt that’s the case at sugarFISH . There was a slight sweetness to the shrimp, something I usually only find with fresh shrimp. The toasted sesame seeds on top added a nice flavor to this one, too. Also a minor note: I like the fact that the tail shell was removed. It’s not a big deal that other places leave it on, but I always wonder what’s the point in leaving that bit of shell on? (If anyone has a theory to this, feel free to let me know by leaving a comment.) The halibut was very good, but I can’t say it was my favorite item out of the evening. It was a light sushi, so it was probably meant as a way to conclude the meal.

I don’t know if sugarFISH offers any type of dessert, but the staff was great to allow us to bring our own in. As we were celebrating a birthday, we brought in a fruit pie from Susina’s Bakery. The amiable staff at sugarFISH stored the dessert for us and brought it out as we all bellowed the “Happy Birthday” song at the top of our lungs. Then they took it back to the kitchen and sliced it for us and brought plates and forks for us. I can’t imagine us getting away with this type of stuff at Sushi Nozawa.

Miscellaneous:

Again, I reiterate that tax and tip is already included in your bill. I would have loved to leave an additional tip to the staff for their outstanding service.

sugarFISH is located in a plaza, the same one as Ralphs, Pinkberry, CPK, White House Black Market, etc., so there is tons of parking.

sugarFISH
4722 1/4 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Phone: (310) 306-6300

Mon - Sat: 11:30am - 10pm
Sun: 12pm - 9pm

By Pauline (see more of her posts).