October 24, 2008
I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Otom Sushi-ya. It’s no Sushi Zo or Urisawa, but it’s my go-to neighborhood place for sushi at lunch. Tucked behind a Ramada Inn and right by the 405 off-ramp, it’s easy to miss other than a plain sign that just says “Sushi-ya.”
On most days when I have time for a leisurely lunch and it there aren’t too many other people at the bar, I leave it up to Shige-san, the chef. This time, he started me off with an assorted fish poke. There was octopus and some other fish in there, but I wasn’t sure what. The sauce was tangy and the dish was a refreshing way to whet my appetite.
A handful of customers started coming in after me, so I expected the service to be slower since only one chef works at lunch. Shige-san ordered some fried green-beans for me while I waited. These were crunchy, salty, and would have gone great with an ice-cold beer.
Next came the hotate, Japanese scallop. I wasn’t that big of a fan of scallop to begin with, but after a couple of fresh ones, I’ve come to appreciate the taste. The hotate was tender, but not mushy, and had a pleasant sweetness and a slight taste of the ocean. With a minuscule sprinkle of salt, it was delicious. It definitely did not need any soy sauce.
Shige-san then served me what he said was his favorite: tai or red snapper. There was a small sprinkle of salt on top as well as some lime zest. These small additions really brought out the fresh clean taste of the fish.
Next came this cute little guy that I almost felt bad about eating. Just five minutes before he was plated, he had been climbing merrily on some rocks in a tank. The fresh water crab was mostly crunchy with a slight taste of crab — almost like a crab-flavored chip. I think eating it was mostly for novelty; the guilt is not worth eating it again.
After the crab came the negi toro maki. The toro filling tasted great with the green onions inside and the rice was seasoned perfectly.
I think Shige-san is most proud of this dish: seared tenderloin nigiri. He sears the strip of tenderloin right in front of you and then shapes it onto rice. While I like the idea of steak, I usually get sick of it by the 2nd or 3rd bite, so this was the perfect serving of tender, juicy beef for me.
I thought that the beef was the end of my omakase meal, but Shige-san also made me this roll with unagi wrapped inside thin strips of cucumber. I love it when he experiments with his ingredients like this. Unagi is usually very rich and sweet, but the cucumbers in this roll balances out the sweetness. I hope he adds this to his regular menu.
Lastly, when I thought I couldn’t eat anymore, came dessert: home-made white sesame ice-cream. It wasn’t too sweet, which I liked, and tasted almost like a lighter, less-rich peanut butter.
I like Otom Sushi-ya because it’s not too hurtful to my wallet (my omakase meal cost around $58 including tax and tip) and while you won’t get the most variety of fish, the fish you do get tastes good and is decent. The waiters and waitresses are always nice and the chefs are friendly and humble.
I do avoid the oysters when I go now because I had an oyster on a half shell there one time at lunch and had severe gastro-intestinal distress the whole afternoon and well into the night. I wasn’t sure if it was the oyster that did it or not, but considering I eat the fish there all the time and never had a problem, I don’t think I’ll take the chance on the oysters again.
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Otom Sushi-ya
3936 Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90230
