After making my periodic pilgrimage to Venice Ramen yesterday I noted Moto Azabu on the second story of the same mini-mall. Never heard of it. The tap beer and sake program initially caught my eye (Orion on tap and lots of sakes I have never tried).
Then I noted a few appetizers that are not on your run of the mill sushi/izakaya joint. Notably a soybean, seaweed, sweet potato dashi dish that was terrific. Also a lot of daily specials of sushi from Japan - all looked legit as shit.
So we went back at night and had a really great meal. The sushi was excellent and so were the side dishes. Should have taken some more photos but was having way too much fun.
Should be on the FTC radar of great sushi spots in LA.
Unfortunately all the Yelp photos of the menu show an out-of-date sake menu. They have much rarer bottles now.
My guess is that these sake would be optimized with the grill side of the menu, as well as the sauteed items/stir fry. Should you return and try sake of a similar profile, let it come down to room temperature and perhaps even try it warm, I think these two are built for it even to try those ways.
Wine of Japan is a bit of a strange elusive distributor that seems to have markets in East Coast, and all over the place in California, but not too much in NorCal. So availability or encountering these could be at random. There are a few gems in the portfolio I do think, but you would have to seek them out or try them at a restaurant.
Nothing like a great fun casual neighborhood place to change up the rotation, izakaya and sushi. We have maybe one or two places like that up here that I try to fit in once in a while.
I’m down there regular either at Charcoal or Venice Ramen. Will definitely try it out! It’s funny I’ve seen it but never went to check out the menu. Kicking myself. Great find
So I finally made it down here. Really meant to make it to the izakaya side but the tanker accident still had the 405 partially blocked off 8 hours later. So I barely made it in time to snag a seat at the sushi bar.
Still want to try the other side but this will def make my regular rotation. Really reminds me of Mako sushi in Little Tokyo, excellent quality at a reasonable price with a very Japanese feeling inside.
Finally made it back. Still think it’s one of the hidden gems for ordering sushi a la carte… It’s Really amazing to have such a special experience building a rapport with an Itamae including beer, sake & tip under 200. Lots of off menu stuff.
He gave me his name at the end of the night but I’m not sure enough on it to give it but he was positioned towards the front of the Sushi bar if that helps
Glad to hear they are still doing good work. It has been a while for me.
During “outdoor dining only” I went once it wasn’t so great - but I do not think that is a fair comp.
MotoAzabu itamae is (was?) Teri-san, who (and all you WestLA dining trivia mavens pay attention here…) used to run the great casual izakaya called Terried Sake House on Santa Monica Boulevard in the early 2000s.
There is an older Japanese gentleman who is running the show, very dapper but he’s not behind the counter, more orchestrating things from a stool by the front. There are three sushi chefs behind the counter two younger ones in their early 30’s and one a bit older maybe 40’s.
The sushi bar was nearly empty the whole time but they never stopped working with orders going out to tables on the hot food side. The sushi chef I had mentioned he had worked their 6 years. Not sure if he was the head guy or not but I felt well taken care of, lovely hospitality.
Younger guy you can see a little blond tips poking out the back of his hat maybe from a faux hawk. His name may have been Jio but I hate to get names wrong and after the Sake & Dai Dai Ale I can’t be 100% sure lol
