NEW Shit Lister Added! June 2, 2007
Posted by foodies in Cheap, Japanese, Shit List, Stay Away, Sushi, Trendy / Hipster.add a comment
Break on through to the other side…
Midori-Ventura Blvd.’s Best Bet-UPDATE December 10, 2006
Posted by foodies in All-You-Can-Eat, Expensive, Japanese, Sushi, Trendy / Hipster.2 comments
Yet another reason why Midori Sushi isn’t like the rest: It’s got a freakin’ mouthwash dispenser in the bathroom!
For those of you who aren’t from Cali or Los Angeles for that matter Ventura Blvd. from end to end (And that is a REALLY vast end to end) boasts countless restaurants, boutiques and Starbucks. If you miss a restaurant, there’s one within 2 ft. of another, but ever since last year when Renee’s sister Ivy told us about a really good sushi restaurant with a bomb ass all-you-can-eat sushi meal, we’ve been going there ever since at least one every other month.
Restaurant: Midori Sushi
Location: 11622 Ventura Blvd. Studio City, CA (818) 623-7888 In the daytime you can park on the street and pay a toll and at night there is Valet for $2. Ventura is always busy at night so it’s best to valet at dinnertime. However, a walk after you eat is also a good idea.
Type of food: Japanese, Sushi, All-You-Can-Eat
Essential Orders: Far too many to list. Pretty much everything that they make is great. You don’t have to get All-You-Can-Eat, but it’s best to since most to all of the time that’s what you spend anyway. My addiction is their Calamari Tempura. Tiny crisy, light ringlets of calamari on top of slawed cabbage with a soy vinagrette. You don’t have to eat the cabbage. I usually use that to hide the discarded pieces of sushi that I can’t eat.
Renee and others can witness and atest, it’s the first thing I order, hell–I order it 2 times at once and certainly it’s not the last thing. I also always get the baked mussels–Broiled mussels with a spicy mayonaise, and my favorite sushi there is their ono (Hawaiian mackerel).
Things to Know: When going to Midori, it’s more than just a meal–it’s a game. And with a game there are rules:
- You only have an hour.
- You can only order after you’ve finished everything on your plate.
- Anything you don’t finish, you will be charged full price for the cost of the roll.
Renee is out for the count
Usually when Renee are going there we’re already going in with a game plan of what we want and what we can eat and if we can’t eat it, it has to be something that the other person will eat so that he/she can pick up the slack for the other. Also, keep an eye out–you never know who’s dining there. Last time Renee and I saw the El Pollo Loco Guy.
Renee’s Take: My favorite sushi place on this planet is Midori. The mere mention of going to Midori lights up my eyes and puts any crappy feeling I have about the day go away. While Jamie starts the meal off with calamari tempura ringlets, my usual first round order has to be a negi-hama handroll: 
This handroll filled with yellowtail and scallions never fails me. I feel like you get more “meat” out of a handroll than ordering a roll or nigiri. They also have a really tasty salmon skin handroll here too. My roll of the moment has been any roll with deep-fried soft shell crab- so I usually order a Spider Roll anywhere I go. My second round consisted of a Spider Roll (right) and a roll with spicy and deep fried crawfish (left): 
The crawfish roll was a bit too heavy for me, and there was too much rice in there. But the spider roll was proper with big cuts of the crab in between each bite. This next round had some of my order and my brother’s: 
The roll on the left with avocado and eel on the top is the dragon roll- if you’re a fan of unagi that’s a great roll to get because the sauce that’s drizzeled over the whole roll is sweet and complements the eel. I believe the pieces of sushi that surround the plate are salmon, yellowtail, ono, and albacore. It’s not pictured here- but I highly, HIGHLY, suggest that you order the albacore belly and yellowtail belly as soon as you start your orders. You can only order them once each, and if you’re there at night they can run out fast. By the end of the night, as you can see my picture above, I was stuffed up to **here** (I’m gesturing my right hand directly above my head). As Jamie said above, if you don’t eat everything you order- you pay extra. I didn’t want to risk that even though I had the hardest time trying to scarf down these two last pieces: 
These two pieces from the crawfish roll were my Everest! With enough water and breathing, I was able to eventually eat them. The price of dinner is very reasonable, considering all the food you can order here. The all-you-can-eat lunch is $19.95, and dinner varies from $23.95 on weeknight and *I think* $26.95 on weekends.
Don’t judge a restaurant by its pretty menu September 11, 2006
Posted by starbright31 in Japanese, Sushi.2 comments
Maki Yaki (#102)
Location: 8205 Woodman Avenue #109, Panorama City, CA 91402
I used to be really picky about what type of Japanese restaurants I’d go to, but the older and wiser foodie in me has let go of all that and nowadays that I’m really willing to try anything. So I’m even willing to try this hole in the wall Japanese restaurant across from Kaiser and next to Good-Ha!!, Maki Yaki. I was definitely swayed by the excellent presentation of their menu that we received in the mail a few days ago:
My sister, brother, and I all didn’t feel like going to eat there, so we checked if they did pick-up orders. They had a phone number that said, “Save time! Call ahead!” so from there we started looking through the menu to decide what looked tasty. We chose:
Appetizer: Heart attack – jalapeno with cream cheese and spicy tuna
Rolls: Green Dragon Roll – inside: shrimp tempura, crab meat, cucumber, avocado. outside: avocado, eel
Fire Crakcer Roll – inside: spicy scallop, crab meat, avocado, cucumber. outisde: spicy tuna
Tiger Roll – inside: shrimp tempura, crab meat, cucmber, avocado. outside: shrimp
Salmon & Scallop Roll – inside: spicy scallop, cucumber. outside:fresh salmon, avocado
The staff member I spoke to told me they’d have it done by 10 minutes. We left after 15 minutes, just to be on the safeside. When we got there, everything was ready. I was happy how fast the service was. And the restaurant itself is generally clean. It seems like they’re trying to go for a very fast-food type of look inside.
The top picture is the Green Dragon Roll and Salmon and Scallop Roll, the second is a green salad w/miso dressing with Heart Attack pieces on top of it (which I removed while eating the salad). The last picture has the Firecracker Roll and Tiger Roll.
I was really hoping to love this place, but I was underwhelmed by it. It’s very average sushi. It was a step above your generic sushi you’d find in a supermarket, but there’s nothing special about it. I’m not impressed by rolls that are basically California rolls inside with a bunch of extras like unagi, tuna, avocado, etc. on top. And charging $7-$9 for these types of rolls just isn’t worth it.
What I’d order from this place, if I decided to go back there again, would be the Heart Attack. It was surprisingly a lot spicier than I thought it would be. It’s not the spicy tuna that’s hot- it’s the jalapeno. And the cheese is the perfect complement to it.
If I want to stay local for Japanese food, I’m better off sticking with good-old reliable Fuji.
Service: 8 out of 10. Since we ordered for pick-up, I can’t give the most accurate score here. But the bill process went by smoothly, as they take ATM, which is always a plus in my opinion.
Tips:
- If you spend at least $20 you can get free gyoza and free salad.
- Parking may be tight.
Sushi in Panorama?! June 7, 2006
Posted by foodies in Japanese, Sushi.add a comment
Fuji Sushi Restaurant
Location
9012 1/2 Woodman Ave.
(818) 894-0964
Oh yes, you heard me right.
Not on Ventura Blvd.
Not in Downtown or Hollywood.
Woodman and Nordhoff next to the Save-On that was on fire last year!
Type of Food:
Japanese, sushi
Renee and I have been coming here since I moved back to Cali a year or so ago and it has never failed us once. Honestly, this should have been the first entry, because it’s pretty much the first place we went to when I moved back. You can almost say that we come here if we can’t decide on anything which is about 75% of the time.
So even though Renee was at a concert, I had dinner last Saturday with her older sister Ivy and older brother Don and of course we couldn’t decide on anything. (Even with the Zagat guide)
Located between a pet store and a nail shop it is not the most trendiest chic Japanese restaurant and shit, it’s really not the cleanest and safe neighborhood, but damnit it’s small and everyone knows your name there. Their customers are faithful, the lighting is bright and welcoming, and the sushi chefs and 2 waitresses are there to help.
Pictured: From L to R: Pork Chasu with Tempura and Baked Mussels with Baby Calamari Tempura with sashimi and salad.
Pictured from L to R: Baked Shrimp with Baked Mussels and Spicy Tuna Sashimi
Service
7 out of 10. They’re on it only most of the time depending if it’s busy or not. Only 2 waitresses on the floor so you almost have to expect that most of the time. We do get refills and anything else in a timely manner.
Price
The combo that I get which also includes soup and tea runs about 13.75. On average Renee and I spend about $15-$20 each.
Essentials
Pictured: Don loved it so much he had 2 rolls!
The Sunset Roll. Word
A California Roll with tempura shrimp in the middle and wrapped in raw salmon with a special mayo, hirachi, avocado and onions on top. BIG and spicy. I like it like how I like my men. (Ha, no I’m just kidding about the man part)
Their menu has many different options with the same result of great tastes. I always get the 3 menu seafood combo: Baked Mussels, Spicy Tuna Sashimi, and Assorted Tempura. Unfortunately I was so hungry the picture came out blury as hell, so I wasn’t able to capture a picture. Their tempura is light and crispy and it taste so good in the dipping sauce–a combination of bonito and soy sauce. The baked mussels are broiled with their special mayo, roe, and green onions and their tuna sashimi is fresh, with asparagus, roe and wasabi.
Ivy ordered the tonkatsu, Chicken Teriyaki, and Tempura and Don ordered Beef Teriyaki with Tempura.
Since then I’ve changed my usual to the Beef Teriyaki, Gyoka and Tempura. The baked mussels are a must, but the baked shrimp is just one big mayo disaster. Very heavy and the shrimps aren’t that big or full at all.
Things to Know
- If you’re there during the dinner rush primetime (7:30-8:00 p.m.), be prepared to wait outside. The place is small. Only 3 4-5 top booths, 2 4-top booths and 2 2-top tables. There are no waiting seats, and no numbers or markers for that matter. The line starts at the door.
- If you sit at the sushi bar, you get complimentary seafood salad whereas if you just sit in a booth or a table you don’t.
- If you’re tired of waiting for a table to open up or have a friend who doesn’t like sushi, but is there with you? There’s a lady cooking hot dogs 10 feet away. LA Dogs-Bacon wrapped hot dogs with grilled onions, peppers and topped with mayo. (Shit, that’s another review for another day.)
