June 3, 2008 8

Asanebo (Studio City)

By in 18: Greater LA, Favorite Food Entries

Back to LA with many belated entries. First up. I met up with a big time foodie friend at Asanebo, also known as the small strip mall sushi place that got Michelin one star (given that Michelin stars are scarce in LA to begin with). We got there at the right place and right time and landed the counter seats facing the chef.

Omakase is in 3 price range: A: $80-100, B: $100-125, C: $125-200. We picked the 2nd level, and requested uni and ‘as exotic as possible’ in general. The waiter took down our names for future records as well.

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It started off with a Spinach Salad with Portebello Mushroom and Fried onions. Simple but very delicious, the fried onions provided great texture. Whitefish and Shrimp Roll with Shiso Leaf, Yuzu pepper and Shitake Mushroom with Sweet Onion Salsa, interesting .

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Mountain Yam with Uni and Seaweed. The slimy shredded yam and very sweet and creamy are so smooth and gulp-down able together if weren’t for the acidic vinegary sauce. It’s a dish full of contrasts. Very refreshing.

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Red Snapper with Yuzu salt and Kanpachi with Miso Paste and Jalapeno. Very fresh and melt in your mouth good.

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Halibut with Truffle. The wonderful truffle makes the Habliut more buttery tasting.

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King scallop and Grilled octopus. Roasted salt and yuzu pepper are drizzled around the plate, they added to the heavenly grilled aroma. The octopus are very tender (and enhance with some wasabi salt). It’s AMAZING!

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Big eye tuna, Yellowtail, Snapper topped with Miso Wasabi sauce. The sauce are a bit overwhelming for my preference, the fresh sashimi are top notch by itself.

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On the left: Kagoshima Beef. It’s flown in from Japan, marinated in miso, grilled as a whole filet then minced and mixed with sauce. It’s so tender, smooth and delicate, very un-beef like. They just melt away in your mouth. On the Right: Miso seabass is perfectly cooked and flavorful. They’re meant to be ate with the butter lettuce like a taco.

My friend went back and had this again, the Kagoshima beef were in a whole piece…amazing!

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Soup and Shrimp head. The chef show us the still breathing shrimp heads before these poor little fellers were deep fried.

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Toro, Aji, Amaebi and Kimantai. So good! The sweet shrimp wasn’t as sweet as I expected though.

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Our stomach still have some room so we go all out on the dessert: soy milk, chocolate cake, green tea flan, and black sesame ice cream. I like the black sesame ice cream.

After we paid the bill ($125 each + tips), we sat there chatting with Chef Tetsuya. My chatty friend was telling her Japan sushi adventure stories, the topic of marinated Kohada came up….

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Chef Tetsuya is very proud of his Marinated Kohada and let us try for free!!! 😀 The meat texture are preserved and very flavorful. Very good!

The ingredients are top quality, the dishes are interesting and prepared meticulously, very satisfied. Though I have a feeling that experiences varied as the two women sitting next to us got very different dishes (mostly cooked things). So it’s good to state your preference at the beginning. The most expensive omakase C is basically same as B but more in quantity, plus a few special premium features of the night (ex: crab, Kagoshima beef in ‘filet’ style, etc).

Asanebo (818) 760-3348)
11941 Ventura Blvd. Studio City, CA 91604-2607

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8 Responses to “Asanebo (Studio City)”

  1. valentine says:

    I’ve been hearing on the news here a lot that Japanese
    beef is being exported overseas and is in vogue nowadays
    with the mad cow disease and all that, but now I see it’s true!

    A decade or so ago, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine
    Beef getting imported to the US, I think…@_@

    Red Snapper with Yuzu salt and Kanpachi with Miso Paste and Jalapeno
    looks really pretty! ^^♪
    I don’t think the miso-and-jalapeno combination has been imported
    to Japan yet!
    does it taste like 豆板醤?

  2. seat says:

    Asanebo??? “Oversleep”?? ^^;;;
    Why would someone want to go to a sushi place and order only cooked dishes?!!
    Hey you should go back to this place…you might get some free dishes or at least have your food come in better quality!

  3. Tiffany says:

    Hmm…I like how adventurous eaters you guys are. I don’t think I am at all compared to you. There’s no way I could’ve eaten that last dish.

  4. Erinn says:

    I love that you ordered “as exoctic as possible”…really leaving yourself open to what the sushi chef thinks is the best for that evening. The plating is simply gorgeous, and for me, one of the most fun things about eating sushi is the artistry each chef can bring to the plate.
    I’ve been checking in with your blog (first time leaving a comment) and enjoy your point of view – and your photos, so thanks!

  5. Chubbypanda says:

    So beautiful. Want! Want!

  6. Freda says:

    Oh…Asanebo means “oversleep”? ^^;;

    Valentine, ‘Kobe Style” beef had been all the rage for awhile in LA, but they were grown here, so the more premium level would be those flown in from Japan for ‘authenticity”. ^^;;

    My friend went there a week after me and said the chef’s omakase gave her mostly ‘cooked’ things too, she was so mad… 🙁 I guess a lot of customers are tamed eaters, and expected cooked things half way. “Cooked things” required skills too~ ^^;

    Thanks Tiffany and Erinn~ I’m glad the photo made you drool.

  7. seat says:

    I think so! Asanebo=あさねぼう=朝寝坊=oversleep. Ask the staff next time you go there!

  8. […] for me.  Oh and minimal cooking on my part.  I had recently drooled over food photos posted on potatomato’s blog on their trip […]