Crazy Fish
Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese [Edit]
Neighborhoods: West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills9105 W Olympic Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212 (310) 550-8547
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
75 Reviews for Crazy Fish
Great place for cheap, asian fusion sushi. They have some creative rolls and they like to drizzle them with sauce.
Get their Kinta roll. It's the best!
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Pros:
Cheap
Fusion (something different)
Good portions
Variety of rolls
Cons:
Not the best quality
Fusion (not traditional)
Crowded
Hard to find parking
I say go if you are someone who:
-is on a mission to try every sushi restaurant
-if you are hungry and are nearby
-if you are trying to save money and nearby
-if you prefer fusion Japanese over traditional Japanese food, and are nearby
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For all the people who walk in here and compare this place to No bu... you guys need to get a life. First of all why would you rate this place on the decor and design?
Basically this place makes great rolls. Don't come here if you want upscale service and a great wine list. It's not gonna happen.
I come here about once a month and I have no complaints. It is a typical hole in the wall sushi place that makes great rolls. Honestly the service could step it up a notch. I've been here 25+ times and Ive never talked once to the sushi chefs and they don't smile that much. But I'm not really holding that against them.
4 rolls will usually be good for 2 people... The only real sushi i get here is the albacore. Kinta roll is their famous roll and that is pretty good. I usually order the caterpillar and the snow roll cut. Their portions are large and they don't look "pretty." but who cares. just make the food taste good and ill shut up...
some tips...
There are usually 3 sushi chefs that make the best rolls. They are all Japanese. Do yourself a favor and ask the waiter nicely to hand it to one of them. Last time i was distracted and he gave it to the "non Asian" chef... and i paid for it.
if your in a party of 2 sit at the bar. its alot faster service and this goes back to the first tip. you can hand the order slip to the right chef. not to be mean, but the waiters here are borderline retarded, so you can expect to wait a pretty long time. Even for drinks.
Lastly don't come here with 5+ people in your party and expect magical wondrous things to happen. It's small, the service is borderline non existent, so your gonna be waiting a long time to get seated and to get your food.
good cheap rolls. one of my faves in LA.
Great place for average sushi you can afford. Their sushi combo meals give you so much sushi and miso and rice that I couldn't fish my whole meal which is always a good sign at a sushi place since usually you have to spend a bit more than $15 to get completely full at a sushi bar. The decor is nothing to brag about here with lots of metal chairs and tables, but for cheap easy sushi that is as tasty as a cheap sushi place can be, Crazy Fish is great.
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this place was awful. my friends and i were craving sushi, but since our local ca roll factory burnt down recently, we decided to check out crazy fish. BIG MISTAKE.
when we get there, there's a long wait outside, so we assume that it must be good. after waiting almost an hour for a seat, the waiter takes our order (kinta roll - not bad, spicy salmon roll - not spicy at all, and a crazy rock and roll - meh). after he takes our order, he says, "what? only three rolls? you guys look like you can eat more than that,".... what kind of crap is that? like can you just do your job without insulting the customers? anyway, the food comes out - after a LONG wait - and we have to ask the waiter more than once to bring out wasabi and plates.
anyway, so the bill comes, at its $50. FIFTY DOLLARS. for three rolls and drinks. then we realize that they automatically add 18% gratuity on the bill, no matter how small your party is. LAME.
the food was not worth the wait, nor the reluctant tip. hurry up and reopen already, california roll factory :(
Blech! blech blech blech, pitew pitew!!!
I remember back in the days when this place used to be good. Being in the area last week, and not having read the Yelp reviews for this joint, I decided to stop in. I must say that I feel really bad for this place, and rather embarrassed at that. The sushi was aweful, and has not a hint of Japanese authenticity. The service only adds to the miserable experience. The wait staff doesn't give a crap, and it seemed like they were hired an hour ago. If you want to gauge the quality of the sushi, I think a good comparison would be Sushi Mac on Sawtelle. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.
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I rate this place 3.5.
I like Crazy Fish, but only in the way I like Tommy burger. It's unique in a very crowded field, and with such a very interesting take or twist on it that it needs to be judged differently.
A sushi connaisseur's place this isn't. If you're a Katsuya or Nobu fan, and like ambience, stay far away.
If, on the other hand, you can take this place for what it is, which is.... uhm... basically a 'crazy' sushi place, much like the first old school East coast pizza lovers to appreciate peking duck pizza (as in CPK), then you'll like it. In fact, everything that is considered 'standard' sushi fair anywhere else pretty much sucks here.
But the salmon tempura roll, kinta roll (spicy tuna roll covered in a seawood tempura skin, and covered with eel sauce), and their GIANTOR twist on avocado eel roll, is just terrifically awesome. In fact, start off with their rendition of the oyster shooter, if you really want to kick things up a notch.
A few years back, the health dept rating was a "B", but glad to see they attained (and have maintained) "A" for a few years now.
Service is very mediocre, but if you look at the place, it does resemble what many would imagine to be a highschool cafeteria, only with a sushi bar, and matching service to boot.
Come open-minded, and judge the non-traditional 'crazyfish' specials and you'll love the place. Prices are awesome here too. Great value (again, the way Tommy Burger's is considered a steal). Come expecting Nobu, and you'll want to burn the place down.
As for me? I come here twice a month (as a reference, I'll do Katsuya's 6 times a month).
The only bitch I have about this place is parking. This is your standard "drive around for 20 minutes" place, so if you're coming with a party, drop them off first and get them on the waitlist first. There is VERY limited parking behind the restauant lot, but it gets filled very quickly, but still, make a pass JUST IN CASE (I've gotten a space 2/8 times).
My girl and I along with another couple went to this joint for some late dinner the other day. We waited for almost an hour to get seated so I thought we were in for a treat. Once we sat down, the dude that waited on us took forever to come and to take our order. After we told him what we wanted, he said, "that's it? there's two grown boys here, that's all you're having?" What kind of s*&t is that to ask people. Anyway, I wasn't feeling too bad because he was getting punked about something by mama san who was hovering over the cash register like she's bout to get robbed. Anyway, the food suck and it was expensive as hell. We ordered 2 rolls and 4 pieces of salmon along with 2 beers and the check came out to $57 bucks; and the dude included gratuity of like 18%!!! And the worst part was I got the "hersey squirts" that night after eating there. I ain't ever ever coming back there again. I rather get me some pre-packed sushi from Costco then go to that dump.
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I wish I read the last few reviews before I went here. If you want quality sushi, this is not the place. If you want rolls that are just like California Roll Factory, then go there. The sashimi and raw fish are not very good and they top it with too much garlic,ponzu, ginger, etc. We had the spicy tuna salad and could not find the spicy or the tuna, just lots of lettuce and mayo dressing. I agree with others that you have to pull over a waiter in order to get your order. All in all, I've always wondered about this place, since I've seen the lines, but now that I've experienced it, I will just keep on driving by.
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The McDonald's of sushi bars. Crazy Fish sets out to do something and they do it well-quick, cheap rolls. I give them three stars cause I don't like my sushi deep fried and stuffed with spicy mayo, but if you do, you'll dig Crazy Fish. I personally had a difficult time finding something non...crazy, if you will, on the menu, but what I ultimately settled on was tasty and gave me plenty of bang for my buck. I wouldn't go here for LA's best sushi, but it's hard to argue when I leave a sushi restaurant stuffed for a mere 15 dollars plus tip.
Standard place for standard sushi, but without the convenient lot parking. My Jewish friend insisted on me trying this place. We were lucky enough to find parking after 6pm at a meter and walked 2 blocks over, only to wait for another 15 minutes or so. The food was okay, but I've had better.
Do not come here if:
*you're in a hurry
* you enjoy good service
* you want authentic Japanese food
* you want a cheap meal
* you want to impress a date
Do come here if:
*you enjoy being ignored by waitstaff
*you enjoy Americanized Japanese food where fresh raw fish is slathered with sweet sauces and dressing.
*meeting with friends and just don't care about the quality of food or service because you live in the neighborhood and this place is in walking distance to you.
*you want to finish your meal thinking I should have gone elsewhere and it would have been cheaper and more delicious.
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I go here if I'm too far from the Santa Monica California Roll Factory. Same concept: cheap, inventive (and hokey) rolls, sign-up sheets, and crappy parking. This place seats more than California Roll, but service ranges from indifferent to gawd-awful. Still, it's cheap and food comes pretty fast if the waiters are so inclined to bring it to you. Stick to the rolls so the fish doesn't have to stand on it's own.
Friday (12/14) outting:
i'm going to cry ... i'm SO going to cry ...
O Lord, please have mercy, and bless this place ...
This place seriously has so much potential to grow... *gag*
Why & how does this place keep itself opened and what does this place have to offer other than their poshy location?
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I went with a few friends, since one of them swears by it. We arrived and waited for a seat for about 30 minutes. The staff had no customer service skills and not even a smile on their face. I disregarded the first impression, seeming that the place was cheap. When we sat down, the waiter didn't show for another 15 minutes. Ridiculous. We ordered, got our food, and the rolls, I must say, were decent at best. The nigiri was chewy and I almost gagged at the thought of getting food poisoning. I was embarrassed for the restaurant since they have so much potential being in a prime area.
I would recommend people that have decent taste to spend a few bucks more and head down to Fat Fish in K-town. It's still very affordable (unlike Katana and Koi) and decent sushi with friendly staff!
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This is a great place to go if you have people in your life who are afraid of sushi. It's like perfect entry-level sushi, but only if you never plan on graduating to raw fish. It's great for my husband, who I love dearly but is absolutely not willing to eat raw fish.
I tricked him into eating some uncooked salmon on a Jewish roll though, and to me, that was worth the price of admission.
I have never seen an eating establishment with so many hand lettered signs of warning about what you get and what you won't get here. This place is joyless.
Maybe they got sued by a patron and they are just all about disclosure. The sign closest to me said that you'd better check the written order before you turn it in because they aren't going to remake a roll for you if you wrote down the wrong thing. In the meantime, the waiter reviewed the written order form with us and then they made us the wrong roll. I didn't feel like arguing, I just wanted to leave this place that sucked all the fun out of sushi.
I was extremely hesitant to eat here, as it looks pretty cheap and nasty on the outside. Additionally, the ginger is stored in big vats on the sushi bar...pretty repulsive according to my pallet.
HOWEVER, I was wowed by the rolls. Their spicy tuna hand roll, although jam packed, was perfect. Spicier than most, with what I think were very finely slice chives to add texture and flavor. Kinta roll, the most popular item, is delicious but heavy, especially with the plum sauce rather too amply dripped all over.
Do not expect a flashy typical LA sushi joint at this dive, oh no, its rather more reminiscent of the trashy charm of a strip mall in the desert. That said, it is a MUST, always packed, and known to be a gem set amongst many pretentious Beverly Hills sell outs. (Dr. 90210's office is right across the street too...haha)
EAT THERE! You wont regret it.
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I really do not understand why people line up for this place because the sushi is not that great!
It is certainly not the freshest of fish and the sushi is not presented in a very attractive fashion.
I like the kinta roll and that is about it.
I know some people who swear by this place and all I can say is that many people do not have a discerning palate!
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Wow some people really seem to hate this place.
I thought it was overrated based on what spectacular things my friend kept saying about this place. The wait was very long and the feel inside was very... neon.
Portions are huge... I've never had sushi pieces that I had to eat in more than 3 bites. Because of it's giganticness, it looked a little sloppy. Sushi (even big sushi) is meant to be eaten in a bite... 2 at most.
The food is decent... it is semi hole in the wall like but it's a good bang for your buck. Is that the correct phrase? I'm so bad with idioms...
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[WARNING: The following review may be offensive to one or more of the following groups: Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Spanish, Latin/South American, mentally-impaired (or whatever the PC-term is this week), Arabian, senior citizen, zombie and/or undead, French, German, Canadian, people with no sense of humor, and everyone else.]
This review is like those multiple-choice menus at that $1-Chinese restaurant where you get to choose something from column A, something from column B, etc. (apologies to you, cheap Chinese restaurant, for associating you with this review, but your literary reference came in handy like an easy ex-girlfriend on a free Wednesday night and I'm saving your stylish, adopted French sister, with her prix fixed menu, savoir faire, and short black dress, for a classier review, so have a few drinks and strip for me already).
[Column A - Beginnings (choose 1 or 2)]
1: I wish I had a time machine. Things would be so different if I could travel back in time and "do-over" a few things. Like the time in college this girl invited me over to her place to give her a massage and, excited, I went over and ended up giving her...a massage. Or the time this girl asked me to join the mile high club and I declined. Or last night, when I went to Crazy Fish.
2: You know how some people warn you against doing something, but you do it anyway? Well, I was warned to stay away from Crazy Fish, but after having not been there for over a year, I thought: "How bad could it be?" Oh the humanity!
[Column B - Entree (no choices here!)]
1st bad sign: we did not hear a greeting as we walked in. Maybe they were flabbergasted that we were the only Asian customers that had walked in there for many moons. Our meal lasted for over an hour, but we did not encounter another Asian diner. Well, technically that's not accurate because I saw a hapa there, but I'm writing her off because I'm rounding down.
2nd bad sign: the sushi chefs looked as defeated as the Japanese in those pictured from the internment camps in WW II, their lifeless eyes peering beyond us as they mechanically made the rolls for the take-out orders that undoubtedly were destined for the attendees of the local synagogue. I'm definitely not a sushi snob, and I applaud the evolution of "traditional" Japanese sushi fare with innovative rolls, but it appeared as if the spark of genius had long been smothered by the mounds of cream cheese and (pre-sliced!) salmon used in their Beverly Hills rolls.
3rd bad sign: there was not one single Asian in the wait staff. I miss having someone snickering at and/or correcting me when I mispronounce the menu item in their ethnic tongue. These guys spoke English better than I! If I had wanted my English corrected, I'd go back to Mrs. Milo, my beloved tutor who used to serve me pink lemonade after every lesson.
We ate:
- Spicy tuna roll (way too many scallions in the mix--it was like a party in my mouth...except everyone had gotten sick and was projectile vomiting).
- Salmon skin roll (the salmon skin wasn't warm and there weren't any pickled carrots or those sprouty things).
- Crazy Fish roll (consisting of yellowtail, tuna, salmon, shrimp, smelt roe, and asparagus, this was probably the only roll that didn't suck, which is not saying much for a restaurant that is supposed to be known for their rolls because it was just a bunch of fish wrapped in nori and rice).
- Sesame chicken (over-fried, the almost non-existent pieces chicken were more battered than Tina when she was married to Ike).
- Tempura dinner (the tempura was passable, but they forgot the miso soup and I actually did NOT want them to remember).
- Yellowtail nigiri (passable).
- Mackerel nigiri (excellent!...compared to the other stuff I had).
- Sapporo (the only thing Japanese about this place--this is said tongue-in-cheek, of course, as you know the Sapporo we drink here in the US is brewed in Canada).
[Column C - Ending (choose 1 or 2)]
1: Like the dinner I tossed the last time I drank bad tequila, I'm never getting that meal back again. The only way I'm coming anywhere near this place again is when they're closed...with a time-machine...and a backpack full of explosives.
2: You don't have to say you told me so, because you did and I didn't listen. Spank me later, after I've recovered from the purging and the self-administering of this homeopathic medicine (http://www.colonblow.com). Take me to a good sushi restaurant, please, because I can't do it myself.
Oh yeah, I've never had a good take-out experience at CF because the woman who is either the manager or owner there is a real bitch. Yes, boys and girls, I used the b-word in all its basely glory, spelled without the cutesy "*" or the "a" after the "i." They charge sales tax, are slow as a dyslexic trying to read, and, like the Nazis from the Nuremberg Trials, never admit to any of their mistakes.
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I like this place for one reason. Inexpensive sushi and GIANT ROLLS.
I have never been sick from it, but I avoid the "Caucasian" chef or pseudo chef behind the sushi bar. He sucks and he can't roll a roll, even if his life depended on it.
The place is always packed, I only recommend this place for lunch.
There is no ambiance, and be ready to deal with your typical Bev Hills crowd, you know who you are, bossy, rude, loud and hairy and by that I mean.......... uni-brows and I don't mean MEN either, bitches!!
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"Crazy Gideon" is an Israeli electronics merchant in downtown L.A. He grabbed his schtick from "Crazy Eddie" from the east coast, a New York chain of discount electronics stores. Like many immigrants, the subtlety of American idioms like "crazy" didn't translate for Gideon and his version of crazy is both scary, hostile, and not at all charming. Yes, his prices are insane. So is his need for a straightjacket and heavy doses of Thorazine.
The same can be said for "Crazy Fish". Under normal circumstances, fish should be fresh, prepared by a trained chef, and served by an attentive, competent staff. Oh ho ho, not at Crazy Fish! Horrible fish prepared by incompetents and served by... apparently no one. Their spicy rolls and cooked dishes tasted slathered in a heavy mayonnaise, making the gag factor higher than newbie tapioca wrestling night at Weight Watchers. The fish is not fresh, the staff barely capable, and the ambiance feels like you're thrust into a twelve year old's myspace page.
The very first time we went to Crazy Fish was before seeing The Blair Witch Project in the theater. My wife and I, already feeling queasy from the bad fish and heavy mayo, fought a losing battle to keep our dinner down watching the shaky handheld camera.
Many people commit suicide by leaping off buildings, slitting their wrists, or hanging. Committed to your death? Come to Crazy Fish and order the blowfish.
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OK, so the place is a dive, and the staff has little to no respect for the customers, but once you get past that the Sushi is delightful. I actually use to do take out here at least once a week, and dine in at least once per week. After a year of this, the staff becomes your friends. And your service rules.
It's worth getting to know this little diamond in the ruff, especially if you like spiced tuna rolls and tempura. Yummy stuff there.
I do not like the popular Kinta Roll, to much plum sauce, but I know it's one of the favorites by many.
This place is the modern day version Mel's Diner for 90210. Teenagers flock here like seagulls, eager to mulch on subpar sushi.
- Minus the cool retro red seats.
- Without the cool counter you wanted to dance on.
It's a good way for pre-foodies to start; low low quality sushi.
Only one way to go from here, UP!
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ATROCIOUS!
this place gets a negative score in my book.
the service was terrible. the worst service i've ever had in my life! when we got our tea, we had to ask the waiter 2x for cups. when we finally got our rolls, we didn't get any dishes or plates for our wasabi/soysauce. no ginger on our table, we took it from another one...
the food.. i don't know how a place can mess up so badly on rolls. the cucumbers weren't peeled, and left that weird bitter after taste, the immitation crab meat was rough and tasted like it had expired, and the sashimi pieces seemed on the older side & warm.
the presentation sucked, the service sucked, but most of all the food sucked. and it wasn't even cheap!
we got 4 pieces per roll for $10-$13. uh.. yea.
don't ever go here. the best thing about this place is that it's near beverly dr. where we went to urth cafe and had a slice of pumpkin pie and spanish latte to make up for this nasty experience.
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Well look at you Crazy Fish.... Having 2 separate pages on Yelp for one location, trying to fool us into eating your shitty, shitty fish.
So here is my review from your other page. Yes, I hate you enough to post this twice.
The 'Chuck E. Cheese' of the sushi world.
So after many years of hearing about this place I finally gave in one night and fought the crowd to sample some of the things that they are supposedly famous for. Let me just say this... NEVER AGAIN!!!!! I'm sorry, but neon signs, florescent lights and a pompous, can't be bothered wait staff does not a good dining experience make. Now, I'm willing to overlook all of this if the food is up to snuff, but it just simply isn't. The 'unique' rolls that I've heard so much about were loose and all fell apart before even making it to the table. The sushi that I ordered was by far the worst that I've had in this city. The albacore was actually mush. I don't know how they did it, but they succeeded in making stage one baby food for me.
Now my mom raised me to always find something good to say about people and places, so here it is.
If you are 16, care more about being seen than the food and you have your dad's credit card for the night cause you are out on a date... then this is the place for you. Oh, and it's open kinda late.
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Love the Kinta Roll, which is spicy tuna roll with crispy nori flakes, deep fried than sprinkled with sweet eel sauce mixture. It's my favorite 3 things rolled into once: fish, fried and sweet. It's soo good. I think I'll go there tomorrow for lunch.
I left there thinking...I have to check Yelp to make sure I'm not the only one who HATED the place...and I wasn't!!
the lowdown: I went on a Wednesday night at 5:30 so no lines. we sat in the back room, right near some kind of stinky something (was it the kitchen??) Don't even get me started on the bathroom!
The friend who I went with warned me that the rolls were big but she forgot to mention that they were big, overstuffed and falling apart.
she's a big fan of tempura and so I got a taste of soft shell crab tempura roll which was at most bland lacking any kind of taste other than that you get from oil that's been overused.
I left the place stinking like greasy tempura and with a grumbly (like I gotta run home quick!!!) feeling.
Its far away from me and definitely not worth a trip back up to BH.
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Warning: Long lines after 7:30pm
After the owner was killed a long time ago in a shooting it was never the same, but I still go to this restaurant once in a while. The prices are not bad for what you get but it is not what it used to be. If you are looking for great sushi, and don't mind paying a high price, there are many other places to go. But for me, fresh from college and tired of living off Taco Bell. This will do for now. :) I used to go here with my parents as a kid so it brings back good old times. I have never had "bad" fish here or smelled greasy tempura.
You get what you pay for and here the fish is good for what you pay. Average price dinner for 2: $30-40. Which is not bad for a sushi dinner at all!!!!
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I seriously was going to give this place 1 star but reconsidered. Not only was this the worst looking sushi aesthetically, but I had to wait in line for 30 minutes for ugly, overstuffed, bland sushi drenched in eel sauce to overcompensate for the lack of taste. Now I give this place 2 stars because some people are in to this kind of sushi. I, myself, prefer the sushi that is well prepared and tasty as opposed to huge pieces of sushi that are overstuffed and lacks in taste. This place was packed so obviously some people really enjoy this stuff.
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i got the runs after eating here.
I have gone to this place three times in the last month or so. The first time was with a group of friends from school. I arrived minutes late, which paid off: no parking hassle and seating.
I was satisfied with the food that on the very next night I brought my mom, two sis to get a taste of their food. This is where CF shows some of its real self. First of all there were only four of us, but the wait almost ruined the experience for us. Luckily the food saved the night. The family liked it.
Now onto my last visit. How can (I think it was the spicy salmon tempura) something taste good all of a sudden not taste good? It was the same group of guys behind the counter. What is going on?
This third visit was for a bunch of friends from school nearby. Ok, UCLA. I think the table was divided into those who thought the food was okay, to those who thought the quality of food wasn't up to par.
They give you ginger in a huge container like there'll be no more ginger tomorrow. The portion is bigger than your usual sushi restaurant.
Due to the inconsistency of the food's quality, I give this place only three stars. I will not voluntarily visit this place, unless a group of my friends tell me we should go.
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I would give this place 0 stars if I had a choice. I don't think any fish at this place is crazy, but all the people eating there and waiting outside to eat in there are CRAZY! I've been here several times because it's convenient and I still don't understand why peeps wait to eat here The sushi is not authenitc or fresh, the employees are not nice/friendly, the price is not that cheap. It's mediocre at best. What's so crazy about this place???
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Crazy fish is one place that I always go to when I am in LA. The rolls are creative and aren't combinations that I usually find at places in the Bay Area. My most recent visit there was this past Sunday evening for dinner. My party of three of three was seated and served our water quickly. The rolls were good. The kinta roll is delicious. The rainbow roll was a little lacking because the real crab inside didn't have any mayo or anything mixed in it with it, which made the texture a little dry. The sashimi tempura roll was also delicious. The Jewish roll was surprisingly good. It has bits of onion in it that gave it a little kick.
Aside from this past visit, the place is generally crowded with a long line, so I would recommend going there at least half an hour early if you plan on having dinner there. And don't expect refills on your drinks unless you ask.
I'd have to agree that the service here is super sub-par, but the food (so far) has not got me sick and is in fact, pretty good for the price you pay. There were only two waiters on for the evening, hence the horrible service, but the sushi was brought promptly and so was the beer. All in all, we had an appetizer, two large beers, and four sushi rolls for $40. I'd recommend it as a cheap place to go if you're in the area, but I'd really send you to sushi row in Studio City if you wanted great sushi.
LA's version of Ryokos in SF. Fried see weed on the outside and fresh spicy tuna on the inside drenched in Sweet sauce = Kinta Roll... Ask the chef to put the sauce on the side to control weight gain. Fresh tuna, yellow tail, salmon and asparagus = Crazy fish roll... and a order of Asahi super dry large for $18. Not bad... for the price and portions and freshness of sushi.
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Thank God I didn't come to this yelp page and see 5 star reviews everywhere.
Crazy Fish. Decent for rolls, and that's it. Expect to wait a LONG ASS TIME because people who live in Beverly Hills (I used to be one of them) don't know the meaning of good sushi.
For people living in Beverly Hills, Crazy fish is "so good" you can't even believe it.
If you think the wait's bad NOW, you should've been there a few years ago before they added the few tables in the rear of the restaurant.
**IMPORTANT NOTE** You can get pretty much all of the same rolls (literally, exactly the same) at a place called California Roll Factory on Santa monica blvd. It's just as good, not as crowded, and not very expensive. What more could you ask for?
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Not sure who's been passing out all the HATERade on this sacred establishment! Crazy Fish is the quintessential hole-in-the-wall sushi superstar!
After five years of patronage and over 50 visits, excluding weekly and occasional strings of daily take-out runs, this place is my favorite (and I've never once got sick). A few things are given: the wait staff at Nobu is probably better than the part-timers at CF, and the fish is probably not as highly graded as that of Matsuhisa or Sasabune. And if you're looking for a dominatrix, er, I mean hostess, to punish you with an extended wait until you beg for mercy OR have a desire to show off some new plastic you recently installed, go to Katsuya! BUT, if you want great, innovative sushi, at affordable prices and without the drama and hassle, go to Crazy Fish.
Firstly, the quality is consistent. Definitely sushi grade and on par with that of restaurants much more expensive than CF.
Second, the signature dishes are great! The Kinta Roll (large spicy tuna with flash fried nori and eel sauce) and Sashmi Tempura Roll (five or six raw cuts of fish, add asparagus, wrapped in nori and flash fried) are some of the most innovative sushi treats I've tasted in LA. As *new* and *different* as the crispy rice phenomenon that Koi apparently started.
Third, its chill and affordable. You can leave the Ferrari at home, keep the gold bullion in the safe, slap on the comfy sneaks and forget about the LA paparratzi for a night.
Finally, the people have spoken. The proof is in the pudding! There's a line, 10-30 minutes long, every night. Sure it sucks to wait, but at least its democratic/first-come-first-served.
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WOW. And I mean wow. I love this place. My favorite sushi is spicy tuna and the spicy tuna roll here was the best I have ever had - they roll it in cucumber instead of seaweed - which threw me off - but it was amazing. They also have amazing udon noodle dishes. We were very happy with our meal here and will be back again very soon - and the bill was only 30 bucks for saki and sushi for 2 - very impressive.
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I don't mean to sound conceited but I would like to call myself a sushi aficionado. reading the colors, smell and knife skills can really tell me a lot about a restaurant's prowess, a huge mess a bit dirty and slow service yet still, Crazy Fish really breaks the rules.
Not only did everything look like an explosion of sauces that you could hardly decipher the fish, rolls were cut so unevenly, some pieces 1/4 inch, other 3 inches etc. But the food was pretty good, and might I mention CHEAP.
My two fav dishes were recommended by of server.... who just so happened to hot, dumb and perfectly amusing for us. We loved Alaskan roll with was a combination of Salmon, Asparagus and avocado.... good combo. The favorite of mine had to have been the Sashmi Tempura roll.... yes, fresh tuna and Asparagus with a delicious crunchy outside. It was perfectly done, just crunchy enough on the outside and yummy fresh sashimi inside.
I read some of the other reviews and my recommendation is that if you try this place, stay clear of the saucy dishes and don't go expecting a 5 star sushi experience, the food ranges from good to decent, the portions are oversize and wont expect to pay a lot.
