Echigo Restaurant

We drove from Santa Barbara to Venice yesterday morning.  My brother lives here with his family.  It is definitely one of my favorite places to visit.  Last night we went out for sushi and requested that we go to Echigo Restaurant.  My brothers family had not been but knew of it.  Fred asked Jason C, a sushi guru, where we should go and he said, this is the place.  So, off we went.

Echigo sits above a Pizza Hut in a non descrip strip mall.  There are many in LA.  The atmosphere is nil.  You couldn’t find something like this in NYC.  Literally, a large white room with some tables and chairs.  Bright light.  But, the sushi is incredible and so is the service.

There were 9 of us.  We went omakase style because for a group that large, it really just makes life easier. Also, it is fun to discuss each piece you eat. 

The sushi is like butter served over a warmed white rice.  They tell you how to eat each piece they bring.  No soy sauce, a little soy sauce etc.  Everything was so outstanding that I can’t even decide which was the best thing.  The baby tuna was superb, the kampachi served with a little bit of chopped jalapeno on top, the butter fish ( something I had not seen since South Africa ) got major oohs and ahhs from the group.  But the best was the last thing we ate.  King Crab handroll.  Literally a roll, not cut up, stuffed with chopped fresh crab.  Emily said it almost tasted like white fish salad.  It was absolutely delicious. 

The atmosphere must be made by yourself which is fine by us.  In terms of sushi, this place ranks as one of the best.