Get In With the In Crowd at Ohshima Japanese Cuisine

The way I see it, there are two kinds of sushi-eaters in this world: those who abhor rolls and those who adore them. By the same token, there are two kinds of sushi bars. On one end, you have Sushi Wasabi and its kin, bars fronted by ardent...

Have you tried battera sushi? You really should. It’s a brick-shaped thing, vinegared sushi rice pressed into a mold over lightly pickled mackerel and a transparent slip of seaweed, and it’s usually served sliced like bread. The oil of the saba,...

In Full RetreatChef Cody Requejo shreds with both sushi knives and Stratocasters   A few weeks ago, in a review for Sea Smoke in San Clemente, I called owner Takashi Abe a “rock-star sushi chef.” It seemed an apt description for him, especially...

This story begins not at Huntington Ramen, but at a new restaurant I was originally planning to review for this issue. It looked promising at first: The place had a catchy name, well-curated social-media accounts, an eclectic menu and a bar with...

A guy walked into Izakaya Meijiya one quiet Sunday night. “Takeout?” he asked. Since the waitress didn’t show up for work, it was up to the chef, a young man in his thirties with an affable, easy way about himself, to oblige the potential customer...