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Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese [Edit]
Neighborhood: DowntownMon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
"When I have the taste for sashimi, I fill up the car and drive 80 miles to go to Sushi Go 55. There are probably 500 other sushi…" read more »
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I was told from a friend to go for lunch and have the sashimi. Straight up the best. I dont even have to yelp any further I go for the sushi. Parking Dont forget to get your crap validated or else youll get pipped.
Lessons learned take the metro if you dont wanna deal with stupid parking fees. But the food is good :) id go for lunch I cant say much for dinner but lunch these guys are fast like ninjas. =)
If you're a huge "sushi connoisseur" like I am then I highly recommend going to Sushi Gen!! This lovely place is located in the heart of Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. This place has authentic sushi that simply melts within contact with your mouth!!! The restaurant also has a very intimate ambiance....perfect for dates! I highly recommend getting their sashimi and eel avocado roll!!
However, keep in mind that this place doesn't have much selection for those that do not eat raw fish, cause this is legitimate sushi only!!! Also, this place is a little pricey for the average college student. Prices aren't listed on the menu, but I spent around $30 eating there. In addition, most of the menu is in Japanese, so if you don't really understand what's in the dish, just ask the super-friendly waiters. If you go, remember to get there early. The place gets pretty packed around dinnertime.
All in all, if you want pretty high quality sushi that is slightly pricey, check Sushi Gen out! What I also like is the fact that their IS free parking! So, sushi fans in Los Angeles or visitors, check out Sushi Gen!! I guarantee you'll like it!
I've been a fan of Sushi-Gen for some time now. It was actually one of the first sushi places I was introduced to when I moved to LA.
There are a number of directions you can go here. Their combinations are quite good, and I think their chicken teriyaki is some of the best. It comes with a serving of miso soup, sunomono, rice, and either sashimi or tempura. A pretty full meal for about $20.
However, you can also go with their sushi or sashimi combinations. These come with soup, sunomono, tempura, and a selection of various sashimi/sushi, of the same quality as you would get a la carte.
Personally, when I want to treat myself, I'll just order off the a la carte sushi menu and just pick out exactly what I want. The sushi is as good as any that you'll get in Little Tokyo, and I think it's pretty much as high of quality as you'll get for the price.
I do enjoy sitting a the sushi bar, but similar to other sushi joints, you can only order sushi there - small drawback. If you know you're just gonna get sushi, go for the sushi bar (the wait is usually shorter there too). If you want to try out the combinations, you'll have to wait for a table (which can be quite long at times).
Parking in the Honda plaza is $2.50 if validated. Street parking is ample with a decent walk.
Service was great. Food was excellent. I was looking for a rainbow roll or a catepillar roll but instead found a lot of Japanese. The waitress helped me avoid certain items I likely wouldn't enjoy. I went with the albacore tuna tataki and some other sushi. It was great. My girlfriend was very happy with the food as well. She thought it was a little pricey but I was the one paying so everyone was happy.
The sashimi is always fresh and the place is a very authentic sushi restaurant. This place is the best in Little Tokyo if you are not into americanized sushi rolls. Plus I don't think this place has rolls here. Anyways my advice is: Eat sashimi here!
The only bad thing is that lots of people love this place so this places tends to have a line before it opens for lunch or during peak hours.
Fortune has taken me to Los Angeles a few times this year and undoubtedly one of the best trips has been to stay with jeweler friend Rose. Being compatriots in a great love of sushi, she and her boyfriend, Andrew, insisted on sharing her personal favorite, Sushi Gen at 422 East Second Street in downtown. I think Rose has a personal "in" with head-chef Masa, but I'm not complaining. We had to wait a long time to get in and apparently that is not unusual for the following this place has. We waited a good 45 minutes for the coveted seats in front of Masa's station and it was well worth it.
We started with a bottle of Kubota Senjyu which worked well for the entire evening's offerings. To sort of "cleanse our palate," our first offering was halibut sashimi in ponzu, with just a touch of yuzu and the fresh green onions, this awakened our mouths with an immediate demonstration of a respect for the fish and how it is best showcased. Not wanting to get too full on rice, I requested more sashimi than nigiri and fatty tuna was the next presentation; so rich and satisfying. There were presentations of both Japanese and Spanish mackeral (I think I liked the Spanish a bit better), sweet shrimp with fried heads (yeah!), and red snapper.
Rose knows of my willingness to try anything new or different and we asked Mas for the most unusual ingredient of the evening. In this, Sea Cucumber to which his sous chef (sorry, didn't get his name) gave us a little dance on what sea cucumbers look like in the water. I'm just thankful I got pictures documenting that hilarious demonstration! The salmon had perfect marbling and the dressing on the albacore was just enticing enough to bring out its delicacy. Another juxtaposition which was offered was the Ankimo; Rose likes it with miso while Andrew prefers it with ponzu. I got to taste both and I'm still not sure which is my favorite, both worked so very well and it was thrilling to have great ankimo as lately, so much of the livers I've been eating have been grainy and not fresh.
We should have been full, but we couldn't stop ourselves, continuing with some shared nigiri; scallops, unagi, squid with uni, and yellowtail. Rose and I also shared some oysters and then we culminated on a roll that Masa makes for Rose specially: a toro maki that is topped with more chopped toro and green onion. That was about my breaking point - we were too full for words and quite ecstatic. I don't get this quality of sushi in San Francisco, that I have been able to find. The freshness of fish and its presentation was very reminiscent of Urasawa at a fraction of the price.So glad to have a new destination restaurant in Los Angeles and great friends to share it with!
[url="http://www.feast-blog....;]Pics on the blog.[/url]
Holy Moley I guess I'm reviewer 536. This place is definitely delicious! I came here to treat my friends after moving me into my new apartment. We got there on Saturday at 5:25pm and there was a 15 person line waiting for this place to open at 5:30pm. All the people were authentic older Japanese people, which I thought was super cute.
We got the sashimi plate and it was super yum!! The sashimi plate had, I believe 15 different small dishes on it. My friend got the beef teriyaki plate, but I thought this was so-so, since it was really dry. The tempura was light a fluffy, tofu was perfect and the salmon skin salad was delicious.
We had the cutest Japanese lady waitress, she seemed like a Japanese mom straight out of a Japanese anime. Definitely worth checking out!
And I'm 537! Ever since I was but a wee sapling I've always dreamed of being Numero 537!
Big, fresh, fat and moist slices of freshly-killed fish. With plum wine to kill. 'Nuff said.
Absolutely splendid.
YUM YUM!
I love the sashimi combo lunch! The fish was so FRESH and YUMMY. And the combination of the fish were so special and different from other Japanese restaurant. $15.00 what a deal! No wonder so many ppls ordered this lunch combo!
Service was pretty good, fast, friendly and efficient! But be prepare the line. I believe the wait should be hella long during peak hours. My friend and I (two ppls) were there around 1pm on Friday and we still needed to wait 15 minutes!
After reading all the reviews my expectations were set very high... and when we do this we typically get disappointed because it doesn't usually live up to all the good reviews.....And in this case it was absolutely NOT that way at all!
Since it was our first time we ordered the sashimi deluxe. The sashimi tasted like butter! We also got the oysters which was very fresh but i think i prefer my oysters with lemon and tabasco. Other things include halibut, masago, giant clam and sweet potato tempura. The only thing that was a little strange to me was the sweet shrimp, I don't think it tastes bad at all but it has a very strange texture....Takes some getting use to. Also you have a choice to get the head from the shrimp deep fried or in a miso soup. We got it fried and that was good. But anything fried is usually pretty tasty =X
At the end of it all, my stomach was happy. When the bill came around I thought it would have been a lot more damage than it turned out.. So I definitely recommend sushi gen.
Jermaine Dupri once said, "Fresh, like a million bucks (throw on the Bally shoes and the fly green socks)."
That's what Sushi Gen gives you - fresh sashimi and fresh service.
I came here on a weeknight and did not experience a wait (which was surprising given the experience of other people). We were seated almost immediately, and the wait staff was extremely welcoming, friendly, and timely. Our drinks were almost always topped off.
Everything on the menu appeared appetizing, and I settled for the sashimi combination, to get a sufficient sampling of goodies. It was melt-in-your-mouth legitimate.
I would warn that parking in the area is slightly limited. While Sushi Gen is located in a plaza with a parking lot, if it is full, street parking is often difficult to get.
FRESH sushi! DECENT price!! What Else??
Been to this place lotsa time.. the only thing that I hate about the place? Have to wait in line LOL.. Always packed.. Even if we tried to go there before it opens.. Crazy, huh?
This is the place for good sushi.. Try it and you'll know
Delicious.
I've been to a lot of upper-scale sushi restaurants, and Gen can fight with the best of them. The day I visited everything was high-quality and authentic Japanese. Wasabi was freshly made and the fish tasted like it was caught that day. I found out that the amaebi I ate was shipped in that day, and I could definitely taste it.
I highly recommend this restaurant. Delicious oysters, sushi, sashimi, and green tea. Very authentic.
We were really hungry and in a rush because baby was sleeping. We decided to go for the bar instead of wait and I'm so glad we did.
Fish served at the tables is excellent, but I think that they reserve some of the extra special cuts for the bar. When you are willing to shell out a little more, do it.
For example: Got the Scallop sushi at the bar. Seasoned just right with lemon and sea salt, it was so much better than the same order I received at a table. Also, get the Toro. OMG. I had a flashback of Tsukiji.
Tip: I have a better experience with the chefs in the middle area. I do not mean to disparage any of the other chefs but the older guy and the lean handsome chefs in the middle were so good to us. The perfect combination of friendly and hard core.
The gold standard at Little Tokyo. This restaurant knows their worth and the confidence shows.
Along…
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I finally made it over here for lunch the other day. What more can I say that 500+ others haven't? It was by far the best sushi I've had in L.A. and since I refuse to spend $300-500 per person at other highly regarded places , this will probably remain the best I ever have in L.A. The sushi is done perfectly. Not too much rice, served at the proper temperature a little cooler then body temp as opposed to some other places where it feels like it just came off ice. For $15 I got the combo with two makis and and I think 8 pieces of sushi. They don't give you two of anything so you get more variety in the combo and I even got a piece of toro. Where are you going to get that kind of variety and quality for $15?
My father asked if they had a Dragon roll or something and the waitress was almost offended saying they don't serve any of "that stuff". No dragons, no rainbows, no crunchy anything just great raw fish.
For the sushi phobes, my wife had chicken teryaki which was also done great with a cripsy fried skin on the chicken. The Salmon collar the people next to me had looked great too. Maybe next time.
This place is GOOD. Most sushi places you have to order their daily fish specials to get it fresh. You can try the rest of the menu and freshness is a toss up. AND esp. when you order the sashimi combo, it's mostly likely not going to be all that fresh. So sad. This place, all the sashimi is oh so wonderful all the time! My friend and I shared the sashimi plate and a yellowtail collar.
Sashimi plate - more than enough for two people. I would say 25-30 pieces, oh my. All of it was awesome.
Yellowtail collar - crispy skin, juicy and tender meat--some of the best I've had.
Although we only ordered 2 things we both had food babies at the end of the night. No rice, no edamame, no miso, just straight fish. We had made it a mission to finish everything. And I got to say, it was quite the battle.
Parking - you pay to park in the lot. Forgot how much or if there's street parking. But since it is in Little Tokyo, I'd opt to say street parking is pretty hard to find.
Wait - went on a weekday for dinner. It was rather later in the evening so the wait was only 15-20 minutes. But I heard this place gets packed!
This place has some of the best sashimi I've had. It's well priced and consistent sashimi quality. Can't beat that. I can't wait for next time!
WASABI......... I happened to get lucky because I heard this place is usually extremely crowded. I ate here early before the dinner rush. We ordered yellow tail, salmon, sashimi, and of course California Roll. The fish tastes very fresh and everybody enjoyed their sushi. The staff was friendly and attended to our table often.
The sushi here is spectacular. The presentation is eye-catching, the flavor is top notch, and the freshness is hard to match anywhere.
Some favorites of ours during our visit, if you're willing to spend a little, is the Toro and Otoro (if they happen to have any). These items are rather pricey when ordered as sashimi, but they are very much worth it.
Looking around, the dining room felt somewhat cramped, with just enough space between you and other customers to not feel entirely intrusive to each other's conversations. The wait staff was good, though my water was left empty for much of the night.
Overall 4 Stars. If not for the water and somewhat tighter quarters, it would have most definitely won the 5.
I love this place!!! Just be mindful the line is pretty long. I went there for lunch just before they opened. There was a line already! It's totally worth it, believe me.
My Japanese instructor took a bunch of the classmates there for lunch. Try their Chirashi. Very fresh and good portion of sashimi toppings. The egg topping melts in the mouth. For "I-don't-do-sushi" peeps, try beef teriyaki. The meat is very tender. The portion is okay but you can't beat the quality.
GEN is the Sushi "Gem" of downtown Los Angeles!
Trust me on this one! I've been to many sushi restaurants in Los Angeles area and nothing comes close to GEN. They serve the freshest sushi in town! Sushi Deluxe, Chirashi Deluxe, Tempura plates, Salads, Sea Urchin, Unagi, Salmon, Halibut... I tried almost eveyrhing. I also tried the Toro once. (Tuna Belly: very expensive). They were all good and melt in your mouth like ice cream.
Vinegared warm rice + fresh wasabi = good sushi joint
These are two telltale signs you will be getting quality sushi and Gen provides both. But is it LA's best? Nope. If I have a choice, I'm at Sushi Zo or Sasabune hands down.
I've been to Sushi Gen numerous times but haven't had a chance to yelp it. We came back here the past weekend for some delicious sashimi. The wait time was about 45 minutes before we got seated. This time I brought my parents, so we ordered a pretty good amount of food. My mother is not a big fan of sashimi, so I got the beef teriyaki dinner with tempura it was was very tender and not over drenched with the teriyaki sauce. The rest of us shared the sashimi deluxe, yellow tail tatake, rolls, and other small dishes. It was a very satisfying meal between the 4 of us. If you are looking for fresh sashimi that will melt in your mouth, you ought to give this place a try.
I am pretty much always in the mood for sushi so I was pretty excited to go for Sushi Gen. It was a Friday night, so of course it was packed. We waited around for about 30 minutes and when they discovered 1 person in our party was not there, they refused to seat us! :( So sad. We had to lie and say he wasn't coming anymore. Shhh!
Seriously fresh fish! We got the Sashimi Platter and it was so satisfying. The Sushi Platter was eh, normal. The BEST part of what we got was the Ama-Ebi which is delicious x 2 because not only do you get the sweet shrimp part, but also the fried head! mmmMMM. Ok, I lied, the Uni shares the spot for BEST part of what we got. I think I'm starting to drool....
I would totally go here again. It's pretty decently priced for such good sushi. Definitely 5 star material but I had to -1 for 1. making me wait, and not seating me with 1 person missing, 2. Ebi/Uni seemed unusually expensive although the rest wasn't too bad.
Yellowtail (hamachi) was alright, Sweet shrimp was good. And their egg (tamago)? It was tha muthaflippin rhymenosauras.
Sushi Gen, though ownership had changed hand, still maintains the quality it had. As a downtowner, I go there often and have tried virtually everything on or not on the menu. It has some of the best Sushi close to real Japanese sushi.
yuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmy!!!!!!
YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!!!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
GOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!! =D
is it because i havent had sushi in awhiles? why was this place so darn good ....
FRESH, FRESH, FRESH !!!!
LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT....
aishteru sushi gen! :)
Heard the raves from my coworkers and decided to finally give it a try. Had their most popular Sashimi Delux that came with miso soup, tofu and pickled cucumber. The miso soup was pretty typical, but the tofu was nicely simmered in the soy sauce. Very savory. The sashimi plate was plentiful and full of varieties that included: spicy tuna, albacore, yellowtale, crab meat, cuttlefish, octopus and toro. The food was more than enough and the quality of the fish was better than most, although I found the albacore to be a bit grainy.
I'm adding two stars for eating AT THE COUNTER only.
Otherwise, don't even bother.
Tourist trap.
Average quality of sushi. Way enthusiastic waiter/waitress who reminded me of promoters…
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Only been here for their lunch menu. My mom took me to this place after hearing a raving review from a client of hers. Supposedly, her client does sushi import business and she said Sushi Gen imports quality fish. When I hear restaurants using quality food, I get over-hyped before even trying their dish and sometimes, come out disappointed, which was not the case for Sushi Gen.
Their Sashimi Combo platter was amazing! It was not the typical Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail dish like other Japanese restaurants. This place was an authentic sit down quality restaurant with real Japanese dish. They served slices of quality tuna slices, thick and fresh, along with other flavorful dish that I have never tried before. It's hard to explain what they were but it was really good. The dish also came along with miso, rice, and something like a seaweed salad.
The ambiance felt like you were in an actual Japanese restaurant. Portraits of Sumo wrestlers and Japanese employees. It had a good vibe.
The line can get lengthy at times and they do not take reservations, but if you have the time, I believe it is all worth it. Overall, this place gets my vote as the best Sushi restaurant for lunch.
omg! my fav sushi joint eva....
i rarely eat sashimi cuz i hav an extremely sensitive palate esp to anything remotely fishy but I swallow every sashimi on my platter. Every piece was sooo fresh, I love snapper and tuna tartar the most :)
If you sit at the bar, you're about thiiiiiis close to the person next to you, but you'll forget all about your thighs touching some stranger when whatever delish sashimi you just put in your mouth melts on your tongue like a pat of butter on a stack of fresh pancakes. The standbys are all great - alabaster, red snapper, fatty tuna, but even the unexpected orders like (gasp!) rolls and monkfish liver were excellent as well. Whatever nori they use, don't know if it's made inhouse or not, is so subtle and tastes freshly roasted. Sushi-Gen is really edging out In 'n' Out as a must-eat when visiting LA!
SUSHI-GEN has to be one the top list for my sushi,SUSHI-GEN respects the fish that they serve,their fish is so fresh....I'd recommend.
I love it there.
If you sit at the sushi bar, there is no menu and you cannot order hot food. Each person must order at least 4 pieces of sushi/sashimi.
A party of 2 gets seated quickly pretty much all the time during the week if you're willing to sit at the sushi bar. We also came here with a party of 4 and had to wait 10 minutes. No big deal for such amazing food.
Nearly every time we order: tuna, salmon, mackerel, eel, and tamago. Every time we put one of these pieces into our mouths our eyes roll into the back of our head and we squeal with pleasure. So good.
OK, is Sushi Gen one of those over rated places?
I've heard from people that Sushi gen is pretty expensive and I was not sure if this place was " Omakase worthy", so I decided to order Sashimi deluxe.
The potion was American size and it was way too much.
There are 6 pieces of Toro on my plate and I couldn't finish it. It's just too much.
The fish selection on the deluxe plate was very interesintg,,,,, there was a tiny piece of grilled salmon, and I thought it was odd. It looked like left over from Makanai.
I also ordered Ankimo sashimi, and it was not my favorite.(It was better than Otafuku,though)
I will go there one more time and see if this place is at least 4 star worthy.
By far my favorite sushi spot. I usually order hamachi, maguro, sake, toro (if I'm feeling spendy), and a few orders of ama-ebi. The ama-ebi heads here are cooked perfectly. I usually need to have four, not just the two. I don't even live in LA anymore, but anytime I am in the area it is my go-to spot for lunch or dinner.
With rolls becoming the more and more popular at most sushi places, I like Gen because they are a more "traditional" sushi restaurant. You can tell by the crowd that the people are here for the sashimi and nigiri-not the rolls. Gen also has a ton of sushi chefs working so the service is always very good and your food comes quickly (especially when at the bar).
Parking is a hassle and Gen should really consider taking reservations for the sushi bar. The bar seats are the best in the house, so naturally they get mobbed, and the waiting area leaves plenty to be desired. That said, there's a reason for the madness at the bar - Sushi Gen does a delicious omakase.
I met a college friend driving in from Orange County and by the time he showed up and we got seated, I was impatient to eat. Service is incidental to the Gen sushi bar, but I'm okay with that. Our waitress was quick and impersonal, but efficient and polite. We asked for omakase, gave her our preferences, and she relayed them over to our chef.
We asked for a combination of sushi and sashimi, with a concentration on fish, as per the preferences of my pickier friend. The chef was communicative all the way through, and though it was omakase, we were very much in control.
First came a cold appetizer of mozuku seaweed and yam, a refreshing vinegary bowl to start us off. Next was a sashimi assortment of kanpachi (amberjack), chuutoro (medium fatty tuna), and sake (salmon), all sea-fresh and toothsome. Ankimo (monkfish liver) in ponzu sauce with diced scallions was not my favorite, but this was my first brush with ankimo, so I have nothing to compare it to. Also, I had eaten six scoops of ice cream earlier in the day, making me a bit sensitive to the richness. The albacore tataki salad that followed was much more palatable, with nice slabs of fish served simply with greens in a light dressing. After this, it was all sushi: tai (red snapper), amaebi (sweet shrimp, fried head and all), hirame (fluke), aji (horse mackerel), saba (mackerel), iwashi (sardine), and unagi (freshwater eel). Every piece was good, with the tai, the amaebi, and the saba standing out past the others.
I'd been wanting to try Gen for a long time and I'm glad that I finally did. At the end of the day, it wasn't the best sushi I've ever had, but it was definitely quality, and I'd be happy to go back.
Yeah, like this place NEEDS a 485th review. (sigh).
Still, yes, go. We mixed and matched and had a great amount and variety of food. I ordered the sashimi dinner (like the regular sashimi, but for a few $ more, you get soup, rice, sunomono AND tempura. Tasty and well worth it.)
Also ordered the grilled marinated black cod. Mmmmm. And it's a Best Choice' on the http://seafoodwatch.org pocket guide to sustainable fish.
Red Bean Ice Cream was great. And the cold bottled saki was awesome. The place was busy, and at times at little distracted/disorganized with the service, but nothing to get miffed about. A great place for dinner. I look fwd to trying lunch sometime!
Another spot in Little Tokyo which is filled with Japanese people so you know it's legit. That's the mark of a good Asian restaurant.. well authenticity wise at least.
The wait is kind of long here.. we were a little late for our reservation and we had to wait another 15 minutes.
The sashimi deluxe special is really worthwhile on the menu. Fresh.. varied.. large spread... great deal! The mistake we made was that we thought the sushi deluxe special would be as good.. it's not. Saw the salmon teriyaki.. quite large piece of salmon.. so you wouldn't be going wrong with that either.
The only thing I wish ther was... more rolls. They had maybe a handful of rolls where half of them were California or cooked ones.. if they have fresh fish, they should show it off with tasty exotic rolls!
I love their sushi and sashimi. The cooked dishes are very good as well. Always fresh and at the right temperature (some places have them too cold). We will try to go right around the time it opens for dinner so we will have a table without having to wait.
Lunch time on a wednesday and there was about a 15 minute wait. No problem. Once we were seated I noticed how the inside looked so much bigger than it appears outside.
As soon as I opened the menu, one of the waitresses came to ask if we were ready to order. She was on it!
I had the chirashi and my friend had spicy tuna and eel. Her spicy tuna was really good and it had tiny pieces of chile in there to spice it up. Now that i think of it, i should have ordered one of the lunch specials with something and sashimi. Next time. The service was really friendly and fast.
The parking in the lot is about $2 or so with validation but parking is very scarce in the little plaza.
True rating would be about a 3.5 but I will round up in anticipation of next time ordering something else and maybe it being better!
$ushi $pecial!
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Free Hot Sake for Yelpers!
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Sushi Bars
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