It's weird, I've always wondered why there are no good all-you-can-eat Japanese spots in LA. There's a few but it's always something wrong about them that makes me go, "Yea, not gonna spend the money for this again."
However, Leonard has been craving about this AYCE place out in Encino, called Midori Sushi, for the past 3-4 months, but we never found the time. Midori actually has 3 locations, one in Universal City and the other in Sherman Oaks, down the street from the Encino location. He's tried the other locations but somehow always go back to the Encino spot so this past Saturday, finally got the time to head out there with Leonard & Diana to check the place out.
Midori Sushi
17047 Ventura Blvd
Encino, CA 91316
Small location on Ventura Blvd. The restaurant is quite deep, with a sushi bar on the left side and a modern decor. I guess it's a hip spot in Encino? All sorts of people there: families with children, men/women in clubbing attire, couples out on dates, and students.
Nice! I love marinated ginger. They eventually just gave us extra side of ginger cause we were demolishing them.
Started off with some fried calamari. Drizzled with a sweet soy sauce. I like how the batter is really light!
Of course, gotta order tempura. Comes with shrimp, pumpkin, sweet potato, broccoli, and green bean. Got two to share.
First order of nigiri: salmon, albacore, and ono (king mackerel)
Albacore. Nicely done with the green onion and a little bit of yuzu dressing.
Ono. Holy crap this fatty fish is good. The sauce over it is great with it.
Really fresh salmon. Probably the freshest of the night. I like their fish to rice ratio :]
Godzilla Roll. California roll topped with spicy tuna, scallop, spicy baby shrimp then drizzled with ponzu sauce. The topping is a nice mix of spicy goodness.
Hokkaido Roll. Spicy shrimp & cucmber then topped with seared tuna, avocado, ponzu and chili oil.
Samurai Roll. Spicy crunchy albacore roll topped with seared tuna, fried onions, and ponzu sauce. I love the fried onion bits! Favorite roll of the night.
Salmon skin hand roll. Salmon skin definitely not skimped on :]
Unagi. Slightly torced before serving so there's some crispiness.
SALMON KAMA! That Saturday the special for AYCE was salmon kama. We had to get two.
Chicken gyoza.
White fish. Dressed with a sauce but probably needed since white fish is pretty tasteless.
Hamachi! Pretty fresh.
Spicy crab nugget. Spicy crab meat topped with avocado on top of crispy rice tempura and eel sauce. Seems like all restaurants are beginning to have a crispy rice item now, not that I'm complaining :P
Bonzai Roll. Garlic albacore topped with spicy tuna and crispy onions.
Tokyo Roll. Spicy baby shrimp and avocado roll topped with salmon tempura and bonito flakes. What part of that doesn't sound good?
The special orders (1 per person only). They weren't a fan of iruka (salmon roe) and I'm not a fan of ebi (shrimp) so we only got one order of each but definitely took advantage of the uni.
Uni. Ok... so I'm still in the process of trying out uni and I've been grossed out a lot thanks to not-so-fresh-and-gives-out-odd-smell ones but the ones at Midori are good! Still gotta get used to the texture but I'm getting there hahah.
Iruka :] Love the salty goodness, especially when it pops.
Ebi. Can't really say much about it since I didn't eat any of it but it actually looks good!
Actually it was a good thing I didn't eat the shrimp probably because the following day (Sunday), Lydia & Young came to South Bay for a visit and we ate a lunner of orgasmic proportion (part2).
Overall, I like Midori. Actually, I like it a lot! Next time will probably be ordering more nigiri rather than the rolls since if it is the first time I just wanted to get a taste of everything. Lame how the closest location is Universal City, and that's still a drive. Time to start cajoling Leonard for the next Midori adventure :P
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