Kurt S.'s Profile

Okay.  5-stars.  Big surprise, I know.

WESTSIDE'S MOST FAMOUS SUSHI
Blah blah blah... Chef Nobi Kusuhara from Sushi Nozawa... blah blah blah... formerly on Sawtelle in 1996... blah blah blah... ex-Todai on Wilshire... blah blah blah... Hawaii & NY... blah blah blah... celebri-sushi & TMZ.  (Read the other reviews for a rehash of all that.

A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN:
1) STOCK TIPS:  During the Internet boom of the 90's, the bar at Sushi Sasabune was known to insiders as a phenomenal place for investment & stock tips.  Frankly, there was more insider information floating amongst bar patrons than at the Beverly Hills Country Club.  Nobi was the kingpin of financial information & to this day, you'll still occasionally overhear an interesting conversation or two whispered at the bar so keep your ears open.
2) OPEN SATURDAY:  Within the past month or so, Nobi's opened the restaurant up on Saturdays for dinner, something he hasn't done since the late 90's on Sawtelle during more profitable times.  Apparently word of this change hasn't quite gotten out because the restaurant has consistently been only half full each Saturday, so if you're interested in a good meal of sushi on the weekend, this is a great opportunity.
3) QUALITY COUNTS:  They serve fresh grated wasabi & Maeda-en green tea instead of stock Yamamotoyama.  Also Nobi keeps Hakutsuru Junmaishu on tap for folks that request the heated sake tokkuri/ceramic flask, which is more costly but refined & less caustic than the Gekkeikan/Sho Chiku Bai/Ozeki served elsewhere.  

OMAKASE:  TALE OF THE TAPE
A typical omakase meal at the bar, may include any mix of a variety of typical fish so I'm only going to discuss the fish that I think distinguish the restaurant since I have a limited amount of space on Yelp.

- BABY TUNA SASHIMI (sweet teri sauce with scallions) - The tuna sashimi is a recent addition that can be heavenly, if layered with the right amount of fat.  The dish is, as the chefs say, "something new to distinguish them from folks that have copied their opening appetizer".  
- PEN SHELL SASHIMI (w/ sea salt & yuzu/chili pepper/salt) - Something of a cross between typical mirugai/clam & a scallop.  Softer in texture & mild in taste like a scallop, the pen shell appetizer is a delightful deviation esp. w/ the yuzu/chili & salt.
- ALBACORE SASHIMI (in ponzu & scallions) - The dish that put Sasabune on the map, when served fresh, it's hard to beat for its soft texture & savory mouth-watering appeal.  It's often preprepared hours beforehand however & the ponzu can oversaturate the fish toughening it up from over-refrigeration.
- JAPANESE RED SNAPPER (yuzu/chile pepper) - Usually accented with a bit of yuzu/chile pepper, the Red Snapper is a personal favorite not just because of the accent but because some of the skin is purposely left on the serving of fish to provide a richer oilier bite.  The essence of umami.
- SALMON (sesame & kelp) - Alway fresh & brightly colored, what gives it it's unique flavor is the sweet transluscent pickled kelp & sesame seeds that adorn the top of each piece.  To some it may overshadow the natural subtlety of the salmon but I recognize this as being properly served right between two less overt dishes to provide variety.
- GOLDEN EYE SNAPPER (ponzu, ginger & scallions) - A house specialty & not something you'll find in many places.  It's topped with ponzu & garnished with ginger & scallions, & it's a consistently succulent & flavorful fish.  Tastier than it's cousin Red snapper, golden eye snapper tends to be sushi that you roll around in your mouth a little to savor.
- OVEN-BAKED MUSSEL & KUMAMOTO OYSTER - Often served together for contrast, the mussel & oyster dish is an exercise in tart & tangy finishes.  Between the lighter ponzu oyster & the heavier cooked mussel, some may find the mussel overpowering w/ it's mayo-based sauce but I find it to be a nice contrast to the more subtler tastes of the sushi.
- SWEET SHRIMP -  Surprisingly large, plump, & delicious.  They're not "live" but don't be turned off by that.  He pre-veins the shrimp & keeps it just as fresh as the rest of his fish & because he does, he has it virtually always available & doesn't 'run out' like other locales.  Check however w/ the waiter beforehand to see if they have the shrimp head available for deep frying, otherwise you might find yourself disappointed if you're expecting it.
- SEA URCHIN - A consistently fresh dish from Santa Barbara, the Uni is always slightly sweet, creamy yet firm a served well chilled - just the way it's supposed to be.  It's always a toss up for me to figure out if they or Hiko serves better uni.
- CRAB STUFFED SQUID (plum sauce) - Stuffed with the same blue crab as used in the crab roll, the squid tends to be simply a wrapper for the meat inside while drizzled w/ sweet plum sauce & garnished with sesame, but it remains a good dish to nibble on.

A Top-10 meal for LA every night.

5-stars.

I used to like this place but my last trip was an industrial strength colon cleansing.  

CASINO
Let's start with how the casino has effectively become the United Federation of Douchebaggery on the strip.  Many years ago, Caesar's was the sh-t & it only took $10k to be treated right.  Then one day, all the hosts up & left, taking their high rollers to Mandalay Bay & Caesar's Palace was effectively f-cked.  Caesar's had always been pretty dependent on its VIPs & this exodus rocked the place to its core.  With few whales available to sustain the revenue column on the balance sheets, the joint was forced to re-jigger its image.  That's when you started to see all that advertising on Los Angeles billboards for the milquetoast Venus Pool Party & that ridiculous TV show, "Caesars 24/7", positioning the resort as a purported "hip & cool" place to stay & play.

Apparently this appeal to the young & infinitely stupid worked:  The tables are packed with guys that have that "I'm a Maxim magazine subscriber" look, playing 6-5 Blackjack on $10/$1000 tables packed ass-cheek to ass-cheek.  One Federline-lookalike got so excited over his $10 double down win I thought he was gonna up & cash his chips in for a Red Lobster gift card right then & there.  Don't be surprised to see at least one dipsh-t thinking he's the shizz & splitting tens:  This always has me in stitches because when the dealer bellows "SPLITTING TENS", all eyes lock onto that table for a brief second as if f-cking TeddyKGB himself just opened a package of Oreos.  Then everyone realizes that there's no way this alcoholic asshat with a tribal arm tattoo is doing anything other than being a Grade-A chode.

And then there's the gold diggers crawling all over black chip players like a fart in a spacesuit. Yes, the ghetto 'Paris Hilton' skank parade here is quite possibly at the root of why Caesar's has degenerated from a once proud denizen of upper class well-dressed high rollers to wife-beater-wearing lowlifes that adorn their Ford F150's trailer hitches with "truck balls".  The soulless atmosphere of Caesar's casino is a side effect of all the 21-year-old-lip-gloss-laden brats trouncing about half-naked in this biohazard of a casino.  You can sense these self-important harpies leeching the joy out of everyone else in the pit as they shout intoxicated epithets at each other & spill Red Bull & Vodka drinks all over on their "You say bitch like it's a bad thing" tank tops.  If they breathe on you, look into getting treated for gonorrhea.

Take my advice:  Even if you completely disregard the horrendous atmosphere, anyone that plays Blackjack here is a masochist.  Putting aside the obnoxious number of 6:5 tables here, the table rules that Caesars has on their 6-deck shoes are possibly the worst on the strip.  It's indicative of how they're clearly targeting dumb & dumber.  Check http://wizardofodds.co... for ongoing playing conditions but in general, I've never seen a good game at Caesars outside of the high limit tables.

FORUM SHOPS
What's there to say about this Roman bastion of commerce?  The walkways are loaded with f-cktards that wear faded clothing labeled "Hollister", "Affliction", & "USC Football".  Oh, by the way, in case it wasn't clear, buying anything here is about as enjoyable as a prostate exam from Rosie O'Donnell but what were you expecting?  Going to a 4-star hotel's shopping mall & being surprised at the craptacular markup at "Brookstone" is like buying hot wings at a nudie bar:  Wrong place, wrong agenda, dumbass.

But let's face it:  No one you know is really buying anything dangerous here.  While you drink yourself silly at Fat Tuesdays & hurl insults at Pete Rose who's usually signing autographs at the sports memorabilia joint, your girl's gonna get moist over the leather in Salvatore Ferragamo's, ogle the red soles of Christian Louboutin which she once saw on "Housewives", then get self-conscious & head on over to Banana Republic to buy something cotton that her self-esteem will actually allow her to buy.  The big ticket purchase isn't likely going to happen here so you can holster that Amex, Tonto.

And you know what else isn't going to happen here at Caesars?  You getting laid.  At least not with anyone that doesn't work for Benjamins & hangs out at Cleopatra's Barge.  For those of you looking for that kind of pay-for-play action, those ta-tas hanging from the barge aren't just a coincidence:  It's an "open for business" sign.  Yes, this place is tacky enough that anything with double-X chromosomes & even a few brain cells that can recognize what a classy Vegas experience is isn't going to be bend-me-over-the-mini-bar impressed... which of course only reinforces the explanation as to why there are so many Vegas virgins here.

(I originally reviewed the rooms, dining, & other parts of the resort but don't have space to include it all.  The rest is at: http://bit.ly/5TImS)

2-stars.

Hey S J N, (a.k.a. the "1-review wonder"):

re: "Pay the extra for the VIP package!"
I see...  so you're saying that I should have paid MORE money and that would have made all the difference in the world in the show?  You're saying it would have made the food taste a little less like cardboard, the drinks stiffer and kept them from being served in dixie cups, brought in a breeze into the ridiculously hot venue, provided comfortable non-fold out plastic chair seats, and transported the performance to a classier hotel that wasn't considered the eyesore of Las Vegas?

OH HELL NO.

Who are you kidding?  With no wind & unrelenting heat, the venue is like walking into the Amazon.  And outside of the performers, this is nothing like a decent luau.  The booze is watered down.  The mac salad is atrocious.  The meats taste dry and unholy, like they were left out all day.  Oh sure - if you want to compare it to those bullsh-t fresh-off-the-ATA plane luaus they package 'complimentary' with your stay at the  Hilton Hawaiian along with the free t-shirt at Hilo Hatties, alright... I guess it was "on par".  Uh... way to set those standards as low as frickin' possible, by the way.

BOTTOM LINE:  
This remains, out of the 80 some odd reviews I've done of Las Vegas, possibly the absolute worst shows/meals in the city.  I'd even go to [gulp] the dreaded "Tony & Tina's Wedding" for dinner & a show before I went back to this Sin City nightmare.

--------------
THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH $50 OTHER THAN ATTEND THE IMPERIAL HAWAIIAN LUAU:
1) Bobby Slayton:  Cheap tix at the Trop for a journeyman comic that's got a faster wit than most pros on the circuit at Caesar's..
2) Anthony Cools: The best hypnotist act in Vegas. Admittedly, filthy as all hell but if you're not a prude, neither is he.  Party on at the Paris.
3) Defending the Caveman:  A fantastic 'date' show featuring Kevin Burke.  An off broadway hit that's gone on for over a decade.
4) Disney's The Lion King: Mandalay Bay actually has $50 tickets for this show.  There's really no bad seats.
5) Excalibur's Tournament of Kings:  The food's actually pretty good and for all the cheesy clashes at least the arena is very well air conditioned.

ATTENTION VEGAS-TOURISTS:  A WORD ABOUT "LAVO"
I've been to Lavo a few times - mostly because other less-experienced parties have dragged me there.  As someone that's actually partaken of their services as a guest, (as opposed to being an employee of Lavo like most of the recent reviews on this site [ahem]) let me be the one to tell you:

-- Some of the claims made by these 5-star-reviewing, Lavo Employees are at least, supernaturally inflated and at most, just patentedly false.

Lavo's kind of a sad place that appears to have spent an inordinate amount of cash on decor, architecture & efforts to reinvigorate a club/restuarant that never really took off since its inception.  It's like the stepchild of Tao which is a less-than-authentic Asian club/restaurant as well but is really popular with us members of the Asian crowd making it a destination club for tourists and, to a nauseating degree, other guys that simply like hounding Asian women.

But unfortunately, Lavo doesn't even have that going for it.  If Tao is the Dr. Evil of Night Clubs, Tao is like Mini Me:  It's tiny and not really useful for anything.

Here's a few things to consider:

-- 15 FAKE REVIEWS:  Their staff appears to have posted an onslaught of clearly artificial 5-star reviews from 0/1 people who'd never visited Yelp before over a span of a week, (Look at the reviews between 7/8 - 7/13)  I assume because Lavo can't get any of their real patrons to post positive experiences.

-- LESS THAN 3-STARS:  They've got an average of 3-stars across 120+ reviews when you filter out the one-and-dones.  In fact, prior to their desperate & fraudulent review posts, the club was trending DOWNWARD below their historical average of 3-stars.

-- TINY:  I love how the fake reviews of this place try to spin this as a positive.  The first time I walked in to Lavo, it was on a Friday & I was reminded of the famed movie quote, "You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."  As I passed the predominantly male, sweaty & oversexed crowd, I realized that part of what really turned me off was how Lavo was just 'ultra lounge' size but was trying to be a 'nightclub' big.  The bottom line is that Lavo's diminutive size means that there's really nowhere to escape the Affliction shirt-donning, Axe-bodyspray wearing, frosted tips-sporting guys with tribal arm band tattoos & tattered jeans.  There's always gonna be some liquored up dude listening in on your conversation and butting in to say, "HeyhowYOUdoin'?"  So have fun ladies.

-- WEAK SAUCE CUISINE:  Lavo's original menu was probably so poorly received they scrapped the whole Mediterranean theme for an Italian one. (Because we all love jumping up & down to hiphop after eating a starchy meal of pasta, right?)  They appear to have kept the kitchen intact because I've had both menus & the menu items appear interesting but the resulting food is consistently mediocre. Jesus Lavo:  How can you f'up Linquini & Clam Sauce?  Better yet, how do you not serve lasagna at an Italian restaurant?

-- GHOST TOWN:  I've been dragged to Lavo on two occasions where there was nobody & I mean NOBODY around.  Get ready for a similar experience if you go any day other than Friday or Saturday, and on those days, it's...

-- SAUSAGE CITY:  On the nights that there are actually people there, the club has a very oddly slanted ratio toward guys.  Basically, it's clear this isn't where the hooked up ladies want to be for whatever reason.  (The Palazzo's ladies must be going to a club where things are done 'right', like across the bridge at Encore's XS)  To be honest, it's mostly amateur night in the club which kind of makes sense when you consider most of the overflow from Tao, i.e. folks that have no hookup or are noobs to Vegas club scene, matriculates to Lavo.

-- TOP 40:  Hope you like MTV "TRL-esque" music like Lady Gaga, Flo Rida, Ne-Yo, and everything else they play ad nauseum on  Power106 in LA because they're gonna play it over and over and over again until it's burned into your cranium, repeating the same Top 40 music every 30-60 minutes.

Only one positive:
The only reason they get an extra star is the decor is VERY pretty and it's clear that a lot of money's been put into it.  Whomever their designer is gets two thumbs up for having a very elegant touch and a knack for lighting.  That being said, they misfired on virtually everything else.  Music, food, crowd flow.  Their service is frankly a crapshoot:  I've had attentive, smiling waiters there, and I've had complete morons serving us, or should I say, FORGETTING ABOUT US.  Hopefully, they'll someday get their act together but as of right now, their staff clearly does not 'hum' together as one unit.

2-stars.

It takes a lot to get me to write a review, not the least of which being, I need to engage the business I'm reviewing at least 3 times before I'll write anything into Yelp.  So that should tell you how many times I've had to have my stupid air conditioning fixed.  

BACKGROUND ON MY AIR CONDITIONING REPAIRS:
Once, it was short circuit.  Another time it was a blown compressor.  (WTF is a 'blown compressor' anyway?  Apparently, according to Wikipedia, a blown compressor translates into, "You're shelling out more f'ing dough, mac.")  Then there was the ceiling leak from the condensation unit.  Yeah, that's right.  As if being hot wasn't bad enough, now my condo was pissing on me. This time it was a broken pipe that released all our freon.  Great.  Now I'm hot and Al Gore hates me.  He's probably writing a Powerpoint about me right now.

Anyway, I have an American Home Shield warranty meaning I pay a slave wage of $300/yr to have the appliances in my condo repaired at a $60 deductible.  Not bad.  But over the past 8 years, I've had at least 3 half-retarded repair companies come to fix our air conditioning, and they all can eat my ass except for Advanced Cooling and Heating.  I swear - one grease monkey took 3 hours to attempt a repair then tried to charge me $200 because they took too damned long on a trivial job.  Others couldn't tell the difference between their ass and a hole in the wall. Hell - one guy up and left without notice, then never came back. I had to call up those bastards at American Home Shield to tell them their guy abandoned my air conditioner like it was the f-cking Titanic.

WHY "GENE" FROM ADVANCED COOLING & HEATING RULES:
Now I live on the Westside of Los Angeles and "Gene" is this fellow that looked a little like Mario from Super Mario Bros.  (DING!  Good sign, right?)  Anyway, he didn't chit-chat, examined the problem, told me point blank what the problem was, what it would take to fix it with an eye out for costs, and told me the timeframe it would take to fix it in under 15 minutes... in an honest & straight forward manner.

Sound like no big deal?  Well, clearly you haven't talked to the industrial-strength dumbasses I have over the past couple years.  Getting a good repair monkey for your air conditioning system can be like trying to pry a cell phone out of an adolescent girl's hand while she's talking to her "BFF":  Damned near impossible.  With Gene's help along with my AHS warranty, I paid a whopping $60 for a new air compressor, new freon, new piping, & two visits to my condo to reinstall everything.  BOOYA.

SPEED OF INSTALLATION
And by the way, they were fast as sh-t too.  These guys don't screw around.  Within an hour of arriving here, they'd removed the old compressor, installed the new one, injected the new freon, (they'd fixed the piping in the previous visit and had to return after ordering the new compressor) and had cool air piped into my unit right in time for the heat wave here in LA.  And I get bitchy when it's hot.

AND THEY WENT THE EXTRA MILE:
Here's the part that really impressed me enough to write this review:  American Home Shield isn't populated by the highest quality bulbs in the tulip field and they for whatever reason, sent the new compressor that Gene had ordered, to ANOTHER repair contractor.  (@#$%???)  Of course I'm furious but Gene, who is based out of Northridge, voluntarily DROVE to his competitor in Burbank which was 20 miles away one-way in Los Angeles traffic to pick up the compressor, then drove the 20 miles to my place to install it and didn't charge me a nickel.

WTF?  I'm so used to being kicked around by these dipsh-t technicians that when one of them actually treats us nicely, I feel like we're all of a sudden working with the James Mother@#$%ing Bond of repair guys.

CONCLUSION:
In this day and age where every repair company out there seems like a goddamned Bernie Madoff clone, Advanced Cooling & Heating has got my loyalty.  Thank God there's still some honest repair people out there.

I'm probably being bit lenient here because I'm in something of a good mood or at least less cranky than normal, but I'm giving this joint a '3-star' on the basis of a few bullet points:

1) LOCATION
WTF?  A restaurant serving hot food on a major intersection?  It's almost on the corner of Santa Monica & Westwood... wow.  How much more central do you want?  It's just two major blocks away from UCLA, and it's just east of the 405 on Santa Monica.  
More importantly, it's REALLY FRICKIN' CLOSE TO WHERE I LIVE, meaning a quick, hot, NON-FASTFOOD meal is available at any time for me within a 60 second walk.  Hell, I walk my dog past this place every day making it easy to get my snack on.  Yes, Wakasan's across the street too which is a really good meal, but some days I just like my meals like I like my women:  Hot & no-nonsense.
+1/2

2) OPEN 24-HOURS
WHOA.  Open 24 hours?  Not even Tomy's of Westwood or Pink's Hot Dogs are open 24 hours.  Big ups for this which is admittedly a huge plus for me because I just had my first born son a couple weeks ago and 4:00AM in the morning is often times THE ONLY TIME I HAVE TO EAT while he sleeps.  [insert cheesy analogy about being open 24hrs/day & 'how I like my women' here]
+1

3) DISH VARIETY
There's like 60 different dishes to choose from.  Steamed, stir-fried, noodles, rice dishes, little appetizers, and of course, pho.  Yeah, not all of them taste that great but goddammit, if I can get it to taste reasonably good with the sauces or spices or whatever the f-ck it is they've got available, so be it.  It's hot, it's fresh, it's not Jack-in-the-box & Big Tomy's (which are the only other places open at 4AM), and it's varied.
+1/2

4) CALIFORNIA SUSHI & ROLL SHUTDOWN/CLOSED
This is the single biggest reason Pho Citi gets 3-stars:  They finally shutdown that abominable "California Sushi & Roll" joint and replaced it with this Pho Citi restaurant.  That place was the single reason I was lobbying Yelp for negative stars.  Each lump of garbage they served used to be a gut bomb waiting to explode out your backside in some insidious way that'd make Darth Vader go, 'Eww'.

Now to be clear:  Pho Citi is owned by the same owner of the former CalSushi&Roll.  Apparently, this Vietnamese guy thought he could make a quick buck selling unconscionably crappy sushi that not even college students would eat, and after concluding that LOUSY F-CKING FOOD can't sustain a restaurant, he reverted to something he apparently does know... sorta.
+1

CONCLUSION:
Their operation seems a little more polished than most "new restaurants" and I think that's because this is not an independent but rather the second of a chain of "Pho Citis", the first of which is in Burbank.

Now I'm hearing a lot of nit-picky bitching about this restaurant without consideration for the fact that it's not f-ing gourmet.  I think this is akin to pooh-poohing Taco Bell for 'not being Mexican enough'.  Look:  It's cheap, hot, college food, clearly priced for college students.  There's a ton of vegetables for the ladies and the meals are wallet-sensitive.  The menu (http://www.phociti.com/) is large and varied and there's something for everyone.  A lot of it is 'meh' but some of its is 'yeah'.

So goddammit, keep this restaurant open, if for no other reason than for this struggling father of a newborn:  Please... I need some place to quickly GULP, CHOMP, & SLURP hot food when the baby is sleeping at 4AM in the morning.

Thank you.  3-Stars.

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HINT #1:  There's a Twitter feed for Pho Citi where you can occasionally hear interesting things about the restaurant.  They do contests and stuff for free food, I believe.  http://twitter.com/Pho...

HINT #2:  Phone in your order if you live in the area, then pack up and drive over there and the meal is ready when you walk in.  (310)446-8070

One word:  GODMOTHER.  This is one bad-assed sandwich that's worth the wait.

To quote Magnum, "I know what you're thinking, & you're right."  Yelp is full of frankly pushy opinions & overly exaggerated hype most of the time... lord knows, I'm sure I'm guilty of it just as much as anyone else.  So why should you believe in this Godmother sandwich hype?  The thing is, it's rare that I gush about anything as mundane as a stupid sandwich.  So I'll do my best to explain what makes this sandwich unique & I'll leave it to you to decide if you're interested... however, I gotta tell you:  I'm drooling right now, just thinking about that damned sandwich.

BREAKING DOWN THE GODMOTHER:
I really think anyone could make this sandwich, but it's just that having all the ingredients available all the time would be a little much.  As I'm sure everyone else has written, it's got Genoa salami, Mortadella salami, Coppacola ham, Prosciutto, provolone cheese... & if you order it with the 'works' (why wouldn't you?) it comes w/ mayo, mustard (yellow, honey or dijon), onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, mild or hot peppers , & Italian salad dressing.

The first thing I noticed was the savory taste combination of Mortadella salami & provolone.  The key word is 'savory' & the feeling you get that makes you want to roll the salami & the cheese between your tongue & the roof of your mouth - it's sumptuous.  Also the ham & prosciutto provides a nice bit of 'substance' to the sandwich.  It's light tasting & creates the appropriate body & balance throughout the sandwich.  I never want to have just raw 'flavor' in your sandwich - I want something that's going to buffer that flavor & smooth it out throughout the eating process.  I'm not saying the ham & prosciutto are filler but I am saying that they compliment the salami well so the salami's sharpness doesn't sear itself through every bite.  It's all about balance, Daniel-san.

Mayo, mustard, lettuce... all fresh stock ingredients to provide a bit of refreshing juiciness for your culinary delight.  But what really packs a punch are the hot peppers & the spicy Italian dressing.  Folks - THIS is what gives the Godmother its fundamental uniqueness.  On top of the layers of tasty well-balanced gastronomical pleasure, the hot pepperoncini slices & the spicy Italian dressing give it that pervasive 'kick' that really makes the sandwich something to drool over.

Put it all together?  The GODMOTHER.  One utopic masterpiece of well-balanced flavors & spices that I have yet to see repeated on the west side.  Behold the 'one' sandwich.  

Kneel before Zod.

ORDERING PROPERLY AT BAY CITIES:
Not unlike the Soup Nazi, there's a specific procedure for ordering at Bay Cities counter.  
1)  Take a number from the red number dispenser on the glass counter of the deli.  It'll be crowded so brace yourself.
2)  Ignore the number shown on the wall.  Stand as close to the glass as possible.  Avoid standing in the back - you might 'miss' your number being called.
3)  Listen carefully.  Be 'on-pins-and-needles' alert for when your number is called, because it'll be called quietly & quickly.  If you miss your number being called... tough.  When you hear your number, loudly repeat your number & raise your ticket in the air to catch their attention so they don't go to the next number.
4)  Have your order ready to recite quickly.  And for God's sakes, stay off your cell phone.  They have no patience for cell phone users or people screwing with their stupid Smartphone when their name is called.

THE SECRET TO ENJOYING THE GODMOTHER:
Here's the important part about ordering the Godmother.  Ready?  You have to order it 'SPICY'.  End of story... got it?  The hot Italian dressing will drip off the sandwich onto the wrapping paper & if you've ordered it right, you'll find yourself taking the sandwich & scooping up the drippings on the paper.

Y'know, I've heard so many morons go to the counter & order, "large godmother works, mild".  WTF is that?  Ordering this sandwich 'mild', not only makes you look like a colossal pussy in front of the 25 other people eagerly waiting for their number to be called, (likely to order the same sandwich) but it also fundamentally castrates its character.  And no real man should be castrating anything on this planet.  Ever.

CONCLUSION:
I've been on paternity leave for two weeks & the late shift with our newborn has been occupied by Godmothers that I pick up in the evening and store for midnight snacks.  It's the late night meal that I look forward to every evening.

5-stars.

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HINT:  Order online at http://www.bcdeli.com. Come in & pick up your sandwich instead of waiting in line.  And if you do have to take a number, don't be immature:  Follow the procedure.  This place has tons of customers & I don't think they really care if you throw a tantrum or storm out upset.  If you want the sandwich, play by their rules.  Nobody gets hurt.

This was a fairly "meh" experience.

Here's the tale of the tape:
SAKE:  Excellent... Kubota Manjyu
WASABI:  Fresh made/ground.  
RICE:  Good recipe, but using American rice.
FISH: Micro-sized portions; poor value
NORI:  Yamamotoyama.  Good & 3-level crisp.

DISHES:
- Albacore... 5/5 Excellent
- Tuna... 3/5 Fair
- Red Snapper... 4/5 Good
- Crab roll.. 1/5 Mayo?  Weak
- Yellowtail... 3/5 Good ... The cut is a little off but uses pretty good fish
- Baked scallop... 4/5 Good... Creative mayo concoction
- Uni... 1/5 Not sweet at all... Weak
- Toro... 1/5 chopped/mushed... Distinctly day old... Weak
- Sweet shrimp 2/5... Fair...Somewhat sweet.  Too much wasabi... No fried head
- Salmon... 5/5 Excellent
- Scallop... 4/5 Good
- Albacore belly... 5/5 Excellent
- Octopus... 4/5 Excellent
- Spanish mackerel... 5/5 Excellent
- Unagi... 3/5 Good but a little too much pepper
- Skipjack... 3/5 Good
- Skipjack skin... 4/5 Good
( No Tamago avail. Something about the chef's hatred of egg.)

POSITIVES:
Ingredients wise, I think the chef has great skill in combining the right flavors.  The sake, the nori, the wasabi... all top notch & this is a great start.  The fish was generally quite good & even the rice, even though it was stock US grain, was fresh & well made.  The cuisine was above average & while there were a few shortcuts taken here & there, (midslicing the Tako/Octopus to make it easier to chew?  C'mon.)  the experience from a tasting perspective was a good one.

The quiet atmosphere & the traditional sushi approach is a rarity in the OC, which is bereft of truly old school Japanese restaurants, in deference to places that serve "California rolls" & "sake bombs", so this was definitely a plus.

The sake was VERY surprising.  I didn't expect Kubota Manjyu to be served - which is a great super-premium "Junmai Daiginjo" sake.  It's also very expensive & the waitress was very professional in its presentation & immediately knew that I'd be interested in the import date, which was only 5 months ago.  I have to believe that this was their own personal stock & they simply sold it to me because they knew I'd appreciate it.  I personally have two bottles of it at home in the fridge & no, I'm not going to say how I buy them.

NEGATIVES:
I was very disappointed in the chef's obvious desire to cram as much down our throats, or should I say, credit cards, as possible.   I got the distinct impression that because we were the only patrons there (Thursday night?  WTF?)  he was going to make up his deficit on us.  The portions were atrociously small.  I wanted to tell him, "Excuse me - I'm Japanese.  Small sushi is gyp in Japan in the same way that it's a gyp here in the US.  This small portion "it's a tradition" bullsh-t doesn't fly with me & we both know it so knock it off."  To top it off, the final bill for 2 people of ~$300 not including tax was a bit much even with our bottle of sake.

The crab roll was.. well... shocking.  The inclusion of mayo into what is one of the most flavorful fish in the chef's repertoire is horrible.  Anticipating something more traditional, I almost didn't finish it.  The use of mayo in sushi against Blue Crab is usually the mark of an Americanized sushi restaurant trying to shop old frozen crab & usually accompanied by "spicy tuna" rolls & "Philidelphia rolls" with crème cheese.  Additionally, the usage of 'chopped/mushed' Toro was a little insulting.  This is a tactic used to recycle yesterday's leftover 'expensive' Toro so that it can be priced at the same level as today's fresh Negitoro.  It was an okay piece of sushi but the fact that he was trying to shove as much down our throats was a little much.

On the sort of picky side, there's virtually no excuse for having a poor cut on the Hamachi.  Hamachi is one of the most often served, (if not THE most often served) fish at sushi bars & thus it gets used very quickly.  It should always be cut well against the grain at a diagonal, & mine certainly wasn't.  Also there's never any excuse for serving people sushi BEFORE they've finished their last plate.  Katsu-san was trying to set some sort of land-speed record for sushi production.  

CONCLUSION:
While the sushi is good there, there is better in many other places.  I wouldn't send anyone there at the risk that they might get taken to the cleaners by these folks, unless they were on an expense account.  And while price generally ISN'T an object for me, the mere principle of being "fleeced" by an overly aggressive chef is upsetting.

Overall, it's better than Koi in Beverly Hills which lacks sushi quality & services, but worse than R23 of Downtown LA which has on par sushi but a better ambiance, better sake selection, & a bit more variation in traditional sushi.  It's not anywhere near my top 10 but it's okay for the OC.

3-stars.

This is a really fantastic meal but before I begin, I think it's crucially important that people understand what Kaiseki is and how Kaiseki is served before they go and actually rate a restaurant for it.  Most of the reviews I'm seeing are blatantly ignorant of this Japanese cuisine.  

THIS AIN'T YOUR FATHER'S JAPANESE RESTAURANT:
Kaiseki is a refined and artistic form of cuisine that is generally served as a prix fixe meal.  Usually consisting of numerous small dishes, Kaiseki used to describe an elegant and light meal during a Japanese ceremony emphasizing harmonious balance between dishes.  These days it's more recognizable as a multiple course meal of numerous Japanese dishes but the tradition is the same.

Now Kappo Ishito is a small restaurant in the Weller Court.  The décor is minimalist and the capacity of the restaurant is no more than 30 people due to the lack of seats.  The service is casual but attentive and very traditional - and be prepared to hear mostly Japanese spoken:  This locale is predominantly Japanese families or businessmen.

Amongst Japanese, Kappo Ishito is known for having the best Kaiseki meal in Southern California.   Like an old family restaurant with a lineage of cooks going back generations, the chefs are masters of most Japanese cuisine enabling them to provide varied meals that change seasonally.  

QUALITY & BALANCE IN ALL COURSES:
The availability of fresh ground wasabi is a sushi connoisseur's initial green flag of quality and indeed they have very good sushi & sashimi - good enough to rate with amongst some of the better sushi restaurants in Southern California.    (Strangely enough, Little Tokyo has highly variable quality amongst its traditional sushi restaurants - I've found most public facing sushi restaurants in the Downtown area to be a crapshoot from 2-5 Stars.)

One of their hallmarks is their broiled fish:  All of their fish is flown in from Japan to ensure flavor and quality.  For individuals that are squeamish about uncooked foods, they'll be happy about the selection here.  For those curious, a sample of what their different courses are like include:
* Fresh Japanese greens dressed with a Asian mixed nut sauce
* Steamed shrimp in seafood reduction broth
* Sashimi of Geoduck, abalone, giant clam and other conventional fish
* Crab cake in a soymilk skin
* Braised Kobe beef tongue
* Japanese pumpkin in Lychee sauce
* Whole broiled yellowtail flown in from Japan
* Whole pregnant flounder flown in from Japan

A BEAUTIFUL SAKE MENU:
Being rather near Mutual Trading Company makes it easy apparently to serve some of the higher end Junmai Daiginjoshu.  (Super Premium Pure Rice Sake)   But additionally, the menu has some very exclusive sake on the list that... well, frankly, I'm not sure how they got other than to import it themselves or to order from some of the larger importers.  Take the Daishichi Houreki - this is a very pricey Daiginjo sake usually selling for $120/720ml bottle.  I don't know anywhere in Los Angeles that carries it.

SERVED SLOWLY:
Some dishes are often good enough to make me shed a tear, thinking about dishes my grandmother used to make.  And like my grandmother, all dishes are served VERY SLOWLY.  Folks - this is the way Kaiseki is served:  This isn't a turn-and-burn restaurant.  Think of this as being something like a French restaurant with very long courses and a 2-2 1/2 hour experience.  For the impatient, I'm sure you can find a Todai somewhere to appeal to your tastes.

CONCLUSION:
If you'd like to experience something more traditional - almost ceremonial - I'd highly recommend trying Kappo Ishito, especially if you're looking to try something that you wouldn't normally otherwise order.  This is a great way to broaden your horizons around Japanese food and an even better "adventure" for those looking for a new place to eat being that I doubt many people have had Kaiseki in Los Angeles.

5-Stars.

Sushi Gen is kinda like "office hottie" that everyone talks about:  You hear a lot of things around the watercooler & only half of them are actually true but most of it is urban legend rooted in something someone said long ago... and kept alive by the same people that forward "email petitions" & "medical warning emails" around the office.

A DOWNTOWN BUSINESS LUNCH HOTSPOT
Sushi Gen, as it is today, is pretty good.  It's blown up ridiculously since its inception but it's still a good restaurant.  It has the added benefit of being easy to get to from downtown & having plentiful parking.  Sushi Gen got absurdly popular after being repeatedly listed in the LA Times & the LA Weekly as being one of Los Angeles top sushi restaurants.   It's also listed as one of SushiMasters "Top 10 Restaurants in California" so LA locals know about it & the rest of the America has seen it listed on Zagat LA & we all know that Zagat is where restaurants go to become generically mass market so that pretty much means that anyone passing through town that can flip through a 3 1/2x8" book trounces through Gen's doors.

BEST FOR BUSINESS LUNCHES?
To its credit, Sushi Gen operates somewhat like a Tokyo kitchen - very efficiently & quickly.  Some believe their sushi to be the "best in Los Angeles" based on discussions I've had with folks there.  I don't think it comes EVEN CLOSE to that but it's certainly better than joints like Beverly Hill's Nishimura or La Cienega's Koi at half the price.  Sure, it's in the upper third tier of sushi restaurants for certain;  & if you need a business meeting restaurant, this is probably a good choice being that:

1) It's got reasonably good sushi & authentic Japanese dishes (i.e. no bulgogi or kimchee here)
2) It's got a variety of dishes that'll please the Japanese foodie as well as the "I don't eat raw fish" types
3) They "put the hold" on the sushi nazi routine for noobs making it friendly for high maintenance types that usually bitch about 'not enjoying the experience' or 'rude service'
4) It's on the higher end of the price scale but you won't care since you'll be able to expense the meal as business

WHAT'S GOOD?
For starters, the wasabi is real fresh grated wasabi root, and miraculously they serve high quality Maeda-En tea, instead of stock Yamamotoyama.

The good news is that because they churn out so much fish across EIGHT sushi chefs, they generally always serve fresh fish.  In other words, there's very little chance of you being served something that's been in the refrigerator longer than a day or two.  

And when you know that the fish is going to be fresh, it's best to side with the dishes that are hard to screw up when fresh.  For example, the Ikura/Salmon Roe is quite good.  Additionally, Yellowtail, Albacore, & Salmon are all generally always good, (since most of the crowd orders a ton of it) & again, consistent in bulk.  What is served on Monday will be the way it is Friday with completely new, fresh fish.  Ask for Toyo-san - the older chef in the middle.  

WHAT'S BAD?
Sushi Gen is akin to a conveyor belt production line which is good for speed of service but ultimately weak for quality.  Preparation is often sloppy:  The rice is occasionally dry, the fish cut is very consistently mediocre unless you sit at the bar, knife strokes sometimes seems to be almost with the grain, I've had fish w/ a small bone in it, etc.  All you really have to do is visit during lunch to discover how often the 'ball' gets dropped.

Also - something to know is that while their fish may be very fresh, it's usually of arbitrary quality.  Generally the chefs themselves go to select the fish but I really have to wonder when it comes to Gen.  And this is a point that seems to be lost on a lot of reviewers - FRESH fish does not equate to GOOD fish.  I think they serve so much sushi that they virtually become indiscriminant about the fish they select to serve.  It's probably because of all the "business lunch" traffic they get, who they figure can't tell the difference anyway.  (Apparently very few Yelpers seem to be able to as well, judging by the reviews.  I would not '5-Star' this place.)

For example, one of their 'specialties' is Otoro & Chutoro... & most of the time it's laden with tsuji.  (fibers)  I shouldn't need to chew my sushi to this degree.  I order this for customers I bring but it's always the weakest parts of any meal here.  Also Sushi Gen serves very poor Uni.  It's usually firm, bright, & well textured... but ultimately bitter/tasteless instead of being sweet.

CONCLUSION:
I'll have lunch here & I'll take my customers because it's convenient & they serve a broad range of dishes.  The sushi's not bad & the atmosphere is electric.  But when I'm on my own time or I'm aiming for quality, I go elsewhere.  For those looking for alternatives, Sushi Go 55 & Komasa downtown are more meticulous about what they serve.  Or Hiko on the Westside.

3 1/2-stars. (Rounded up)