We tried another fairly new restaurant on the westside – a Japanese izakaya/sushi bar called BiMi. The Asian Tapas sign and the quoted disclaimer came off a little cheesy for me. The sushi chef was from Matsuhisa, but BiMi is much more affordable. Sushi are generally $6-7 for each order.
We were one of the few who sat at the counter, so we ordered more sushi and sashimi instead of the izakaya (tapas) menu.
Hamachi in two style. The one on the right was dressed with ponzu, onion and daikon. The onion flavor was a little too much, hence I prefer the simple way.
Really good Spanish Mackerel 6.50. The White Fish Carpaccio with lemon citrus, salt, olive oil and tomato caper $12 was a little too sour for me, the sauce overwhelmed the palate. There was too much oil as well…I could barely taste the fish. I’ll stick with the traditional Japanese yuzu sauce next time.
We asked for the ‘good stuff’ and the sushi chef gave us the Ikura (Salmon Roe). It’s incredible light and ‘burst’ the moment they touch the mouth. It’s not salty and full of flavors…no doubt the best ikura I’ve ever had. Wonderful~
Crispy Scallop Filo: With wasabi mayonnaise tonkatsu sauce $7 This is surprisingly good! The well-cooked jumbo scallop is inside that crispy nest. The crispy lettuce compliment the thin crispy strips (which was very light and not greasy). The sauce was used with restrained…it’s perfect.
Sea Urchin Fried Rice $6.50 The sea urchin was mixed with miso so it could get a little salty. The fried rice is was ‘clean’ and not oily, very nice! It’s a great dish to stuff your stomach full at the end.
The dessert menu is surprisingly big and not the typical mochi redbean greentea icecream. Pyramid $8.50 Chocolate mousse with a molten caramel center, dusted with cocoa powder. Very good~
Good sushi + delicious and interesting hot dishes + good price, I’ll definitely come back often.
BiMi Restaurant 310-479-2464
11917 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90049
Nice write-up and looks delicious! Read the review on LAT last week, which was pretty positive as well, will put it on my ever-expanding ‘to try’ list!
Ha, I just went there this past weekend! I also ordered the Uni Fried Rice, which I wish they didn’t add any sauce to the uni. I asked the waiter if anything was added and he said, “No, we didn’t add any sauce to the uni, it was fresh.” ……
– *B* –
It got to be the miso that they added to the uni, and I agree with Bonnie, I wish they didn’t add anything, cos not only that it’s too salty (the one we had), it also covered the uni flavor. The fried rice was really good otherwise though.
That filo birds nest makes the scallop dish look might mysterious. I really want to try it. The wasabi tonkatsu mayonnaise has my mouth watering!