Restaurant Kamon

First of all, you must sit at the bar, and you must order “omakase” (a.k.a. “chef’s choice”). As self-absorbed Southern Californians we, of course, think we know exactly how we want to steer our gustatory ships, and which of the cutely named fusion-rolls (“caterpillar”, “dragon”, “Tootsie”) we want, but trust me by trusting the sushi-man and ask for “omakase”.

The friendly, smiling men behind the counter know what’s freshest, and if you display even the slightest enthusiasm for their works they’ll respond with redoubled efforts. The sushi’s more inventive than the simple (but still incredible) food at a more conservative place like Nozawa in Studio City, and the staff are much friendlier. At my favorite meal of memory at Kamon, the sushi-man pulled out the stops and started serving plates with two different pieces of sushi each, so I could have the maximized experience of his creativity without filling up on any particular cut of fish – show off. The highlight was the “honeymoon sushi”, a slice of a fish liver topped with a tiny raw quail egg; it made you feel like a mini-Rocky Balboa.

The sake choices are a bit spare, but in all other respects the restaurant, recently renovated, deserves notice. Kamon, however, is both unfortunately and luckily overlooked – who’d expect to find divine sushi in some place called the City of Industry?