Thursday, March 17, 2016

HAMASAKU (WEST LOS ANGELES, CA)

Hamasaku
11043 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
www.hamasakula.com
Tel: 310.479.7636
$$$ ($30-$45)
Cuisine: Japanese
Fri, 02/26/2016, 6:00pm reservation
    (4 Piglets)




Who would've thought a Japanese restaurant nestled in a small corner of a strip mall could be a gem in the heart of West Los Angeles? The restaurant boasts a cuisine that incorporates Japanese food with a hint of California flair. Hamasaku, which means "one who creates food from the sea" offers a wide range of traditional Japanese sushi and sashimi all the way to small plates of their own creations.


The interior is modern and simple with clean lines. The restaurant is not at all pretentious. You can sit at the sushi bar surrounding the chefs who create the delectable eats or opt for a table.


TEMPURA ($14.00): Battered and fried market vegetables, jumbo shrimp. Sometimes I absolutely crave tempura. The delicate vegetables are deep fried to perfection. They were super crispy, not caked in batter and not drenched in grease. I definitely thought these were definitely one of the better tempura vegetable dishes I have eaten.




NIGIRI: TORO ($18.00), SALMON ($7.00), SEA URCHIN ($12.00), YELLOWTAIL ($8.00), SALMON ROE ($8.00), SPANISH MACKERAL (VARIOUS). The sushi was pretty fresh. My favorite is the salmon nigiri and it was pretty delicious. The uni wasn't as fresh as I was hoping, but I still ate it regardless. Overall, they have a decent selection of sushi.




MY FAVORITE DISH. UNI UDON CARBONARA ($20.00): This dish was so good with a beautiful presentation. The udon sits below a beautiful sauce consisting of egg whites and uni. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the sauce was seasoned well. Mix it together and you have yourself a delicious bite. Oh, they only serve this at dinner and you gotta call to make sure they have it. It'll be devastating if you didn't try it.
Below is a video of the uni udon carbonara:





Overall, Hamasaku is good and a favorable option from eating the traditional sushi if you're craving variety. There wasn't a thing I didn't like. I even ordered two other dishes that didn't make it to the blog cause I was starving and scarfed it down before I could take the pic. The parking lot is somewhat cramped and they do valet. In terms of the tables, they are a tad small if you order a lot of food like we did; however, they try to stagger the dishes. Would I try it again? Most definitely, especially since it's located near my work. Dangerous I say!





Notable Dishes: Uni Udon Carbonara

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