Sushi Dokoro Ike

User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I CRAVE Sushi Ike!: There are so many Sushi choices in LA! Sushi Ike is the freshest fish that I've ever eaten, every time. The atmosphere is quaint, but the sushi is the BEST IN LA! You will never want to eat sushi anywhere else!!!!!!!!

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User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

We count the minutes til we can go back.......: I started going to Ike's about 8 years ago and have never looked back. It is truly a unique and totally pleasurable experience unequaled at any other kind of restaurant.
How can I describe how fun & delicious it is?
The first thing that happens when you walk in the door is a loud cheerful greeting from your sushi chefs and the lovely (& handsome) servers that help make this dining experience unique.
You MUST sit at the sushi bar. Tables are for dabblers! The bar is for the hardcore afficianado because it is just plain more fun! You never know who you will meet!
As you are seated, an attentive server brings you a warm cloth to wash your hands and asks what you would like to drink….warm sake if you wish to imbibe or iced green tea (my fave) or any other beverage.
After your drink order is taken, you are handed a little treat…always something different…tuna one time, giant clam another. Always delicious recipe of Ike's own devising. Your tray with ginger and wasabi is placed before you and now it is time to make the major decisions! What shall you order? Since Ike himself choses the fish that will be served that night (he is up at dawn to go to the fish market…if he doesn't like the way the fish looks at him, he doesn't buy it) you are always guaranteed the freshest, tastiest fish. I always start with ankimo which is monkfish liver pate. What could that possibly taste like you ask? The texture is buttery and light and almost green tasting and totally delicious. Nothing like any pate you have ever tasted before. Then there is the yellowtail and the toro. These are sushis that you dip into your potent mixture of soy sauce and wasabi. The exquisite albacore comes already sauced…Don't dip! And it truly melts in your mouth. Then there is something that you can only get at Ike….special salmon eggs. Not your run of the mill salmon eggs…nooo, these are soaked in sake and the taste as they pop on the roof of your mouth and then mix with the seaweed and rice…heaven! In between each choice, your server is whisking away the empty plates and making sure that your glass of green tea is full.
While you are enjoying your oysters (available only when they are in their prime season) and uni (sea urchin eggs), observe your fellow sushi addicts. If they are eating something that you have never seen, don't be shy! Ask what it is! I've done that and that person was kind enough to let me taste what he was eating! It was halibut muscle (sounds pretty gruesome but oh my goodness!) and ever since, I have felt it was my duty to share with other diners who are curious. Halibut muscle is the muscle found right under the fin of the fish and is deep fried and piled in a haystack. I promise you have never tasted anything like it. Another taste sensation is sweet shrimp or ebi. There are 2 ways to serve this dish, with ½ of the shrimp served raw and the rest quick deep fried…eyeballs and tentacles and all! I prefer to have it all fried and let me tell you, the taste is completely unexpected. It truly is “sweet”.
At the same time, you are making new friends and who knows, you could be invited to a party!
Your Ike experience should end with an order of mochi…sweet sticky rice surrounding a ball of red bean or green tea ice cream. Light and sweet and it leaves you just enough room for a slice of melon and a slice of apple. Perfection.
Good food, new ideas and new friends…That's Ike.

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