LA Weekly Appreciates the Affordable Omakase at Okumura

This week, LA Weekly's Garrett Snyder reviews Okumura, a strip mall sushi restaurant in Encino. Helmed by Sushi Zo alum Ryota Okumura, the eponymous restaurant doesn't share the same hefty price tags as Zo, instead it's a restaurant where "it's possible to work your way through most, if not all, of the daily special nigiri and not spend more than $60 per person."

And according to Snyder, that nigiri is pretty special:

That might include a silky strip of black snapper sprinkled with truffle salt and a dab of tart yuzu kosho; plump Hokkaido scallops gently brushed with soy; and amberjack laid atop a bit of shiso leaf, decorated with crunchy brown flecks that your chef explains are dehydrated flakes of soy sauce. I also had one of the more memorable bites of sushi I've ever eaten: a firm slice of triggerfish that arrived topped with a dollop of its own raw liver, a creamy, fatty counterpoint to the lean flavor of the fish. It cost $4. [LAW]

Ultimately, Okumura's "quality fish, properly seasoned rice, skillful knifework and an omakase that's affordable enough to be a once-a-month indulgence rather than a once-a-year one" scores two stars.

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The Elsewhere: Darin Dines has a fine meal at Charcoal Venice, Eating L.A. discusses Ozu East's ramen, and kevinEats eats mountains of sashimi at LA Hwaluh.