Asanebo

cityscape, joining stalwarts that have stood the test of time. These are our picks for classics that have become essential to L.A. dining. Asanebo Asanebo’s easy versatility is the key to its 28 years of success among the competitive klatch of Studio City

tofu with snow crab may precede plates of nigiri and, at the higher end, Hokkaido scallops gilded with shaved truffles. — B.A. 11941 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 760-3348, asanebo-restaurant.com (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Attari

Asanebo    Attari Sandwich Shop    Cielito Lindo    Coni'Seafood    Dal Rae    Ham Ji Park    Musso & Frank Grill    Newport Seafood Restaurant    Sapp Coffee Shop    Spago   

Matsuhisa in the late 1980s. The brothers opened their own venture, Asanebo in Studio City, in the early 1990s. Nakao left Asanebo in 2000, working at other restaurants around the metro area and running his own place in Tokyo before returning to L.A. to

." 13826 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 698-1009, pizzana.com THE BROTHERS SUSHI "They are not far from our house. I love sushi and I’ve known Mark [Okuda] for a long time, even before when he was at Asanebo. He opened this beautiful restaurant. If you

If you want to understand Asanebo, the sleek Japanese restaurant at the heart of Studio City’s sushi bar strip, you could do worse than to look at the tiny dish of chawanmushi there, the inevitable beginning to one of the long, multi-coursed omakase

and microseconds of timing that have come together in these few grams of food set in front of you at your table. And you are not meant to reflect — I don’t think. Asanebo first became famous in the 1990s as the No Sushi bar, a raw-fish palace that

and uni. (If you’re avoiding bluefin tuna, be sure to let the restaurant know.) Okuda, a longtime chef at Studio City’s Asanebo, took over this Woodland Hills sushi staple in 2018. He kept the name but made the menu entirely his own. He’s forged ahead

. He’s a head-down kind of chef who runs a tiny operation; his strengths lie more in scouring downtown fish markets for seasonal finds than in building his brand on Instagram. His résumé includes three big local names — Asanebo, Mori and the now-closed

Shin Sushi   

, Coni’Seafood and Asanebo among this year’s classic entrants. (We also repeated Musso and Frank Grill from last year’s roster, to honor the restaurant’s centennial.) Because of the mid-September cutoff, we didn’t consider some restaurants we’ve since reviewed

Spoon & Pork    Pasjoli    Ama·cita    Shin Sushi    Baroo Canteen   

communion between chef and diner over a polished bar. Ordering from Yume in Studio City can help quell the yen. Shige Fujimoto is a veteran of three local sushi luminaries: Asanebo, Matsuhisa and Shiki. His takeout options at Yume are uncomplicated in the

included. Pickup only. 1050 Flower St., Los Angeles, (213) 749-1460,brokenspanish.com Nigiri and a cut roll from the Brothers Sushi in Woodland Hills. (Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times) The Brothers Sushi Mark Okuda, a longtime chef at Studio City’s Asanebo

Auburn    Bavel    Bestia    Bon Temps    Broken Spanish    The Brothers Sushi    Cassia    Crustacean    Dialogue    Pasjoli    Felix    n/naka    Shunji    Vaca    Vespertine   

care? Because while the crab may look like a Japanese movie monster on a bad hair day, it is sweet, with an elegant texture. More to the point, it is an excellent excuse to visit Asanebo, a Studio City sushi bar that prepares them about as well as they

. Times Test Kitchen. —Jonathan Gold Omakase in the SFV Jonathan considers Asanebo, the longtime omakase specialist in Studio City, where, for a not-inconsiderable amount of money and some well-spent time, chef Tetsuya Nakao will engineer things like raw