Oh, Noshi Sushi. I'm going to keep my words to a minimum here as I don't know how necessary they will be. Let's just say that this place was packed on a Wednesday night. This place has a great reputation in Los Angeles of having high quality, fresh sushi. Places like this are getting harder and harder to find as most of your sushi places serve cheap, fishy (in a bad way), frozen fish. That's definitely something you won't be getting here. Of course, you get what you pay for. Good sushi is pricey, but relative to other higher-end sushi places, Noshi Sushi is fairly cheap. Look to spend around $20 per person. One last note before we get to the goods, be aware that this place is cash only! However, there is an ATM at the back of the restaurant.
The tuna, salmon, and yellowtail nigiri were all excellent. As mentioned earlier, super fresh and no fishy aftertaste. The cuts of fish here are also very thick, which is something you don't see too often. The sushi chefs expertly grace each piece with a small amount of wasabi (and certain fish with soy) as any self-respecting sushi chef would do. I think this is a good time to take a quick break to learn how to properly eat sushi.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx3JSl9Rdl0]
Okay, so that wasn't completely serious. But if you're eating good sushi, you should be using your hands, not chopsticks, and you shouldn't need to dip your sushi in that soy sauce-wasabi mix that sushi purists would cringe at. If you want to learn how to properly eat sushi in a slightly douchey CHOW video, check this one out. If not, skip ahead.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-fYp_N9kX4]
The assorted sashimi was great as well. I don't know what else to say...moving on.
They offer some more premium cuts of fish, like this one, salmon hara, or salmon belly. The belly of the fish has the best cuts and are generally fattier. However, in this case, I preferred the regular cuts of salmon. This salmon hara had some tough tissue that didn't have the greatest texture.
This, my friends, is chu-toro, or medium-fatty tuna. They ran out of o-toro, or the fattiest cut (that is sold in restaurants), so we had to settle for chu-toro. Even though it was the primo cut we wanted, it was still amazing. Seriously. This stuff melts in your mouth. Just try it. Don't look at the price, just try it. Please. Oh, and get o-toro if you can.
The money shot AKA Get in Mah Belleh.
Here's one last glory shot of some assorted nigiri.
If you are looking for delicious, fairly priced sushi in Los Angeles, be sure to check out Noshi Sushi. There's a reason that it's packed on weekday nights and (from what I hear) hard to get a seat on the weekends.
Noshi Sushi 4430 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90004 (323) 469-3458 www.noshisushila.com