Sushi-Zo, Culver City

Neither of us was terribly hungry last night, but at the same time no one wanted to cook. We took it as a sign that it was the perfect night to try Sushi-Zo in Culver City without breaking the bank.

Sushi-Zo's gimmick is that they serve only sushi and sashimi. When you walk in the door, the hostess makes a point of telling you there are no California rolls or maki (cut) rolls at the restaurant. In case you didn't get the point, there's also a sign on the wall that says the same. Gimmicks aside, the quality of the fish is some of the best I've had anywhere, including Asia. Even the soy sauce and pickled ginger tasted better than usual. The soy sauce had a light flavor, not just saltiness. And the pickled ginger was very tender and tissue-thin.

Abalone with ground lemongrass. I'm not a fan of either, so I liked this well enough but didn't love it. It has a crunchy texture and quite fishy flavor. J loves it.

Salmon nigiri with a transparent layer of seaweed marinated in sugar. If you've ever had the little snacks that are sticky layers of seaweed pressed together (you peel off each layer as you eat it), you'll recognize the flavor of this seaweed.

Amberjack. The fish here is so good. I don't know how they get fish to just melt into your mouth. The warm (body temperature) rice is also delicious, and so lightly packed together it's very delicate work picking it up with chopsticks or your fingers.

Spanish mackerel. I don't remember the last time I enjoyed aji so much, since it's usually kind of chewy and fishy. This just tasted fresh and oceany.

Orange clam. Neither of us had had this before. I like geoduck better, but J liked this better. I think orange clam is fishier and softer.

Fish liver (ankimo) nigiri. Clearly the evening's winner! I've never had ankimo jiggle as it's set down. Comparing this ankimo to other ankimos is like comparing silken, fresh tofu with hard, stale tofu from the Sizzler's salad bar. Biting into it really was like biting into a seafood version of foie gras. I wanted to chew on it forever.

We ended with four handrolls: yellowtail, (cooked) blue crab, tuna, and toro. Of course, the clear winner was toro. However, props to Sushi-Zo for their amazing hand rolls. They're not big, but everything about them was perfect. The seaweed is thinner and crisper than I've seen anywhere else, and you can taste both the fishy seaweed flavor as well as tiny crisp salt crystals with every bite. The sushi chef admonished me to not take pictures and take the first bite before the seaweed lost its crispiness. I have to say, the man had a point. The first bite was paradigm shiftingly good. If I had a bottomless wallet, I would just have him make handroll after handroll and eat the first bite of them all.

As for the fish in the handroll, J wanted to know how they chopped it to such a texture that it literally just melted in your mouth. Instead of chunks, the fish in all the handrolls was as fine as a pate. I wonder if they food processed it? Knowing Sushi-Zo, they probably arduously chopped all of the fish until it reached pate consistency.

We didn't get there very hungry, but I thought we got a decent amount of food for our $90 total (after tax and tip). For some of the best quality in LA, I'm willing to go back--when I'm not terribly hungry and just want an intensely delicious meal.