Sushi Sasabune is famous in Los Angeles for omakase. The restaurant used to be located in a tiny shack (quite literally, a shack) on Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA, with fluorescent lighting, flimsy tables and chairs, and no atmopshere whatsoever. But night after night, Sasabune was bursting at the seams with devoted fan of the fresh fish.

Sasabune has finally moved to a much larger, cleaner, airier space on Wilshire Boulevard (the space used to be a Todai - thank God it's not there anymore). We went recently to check out Sasabune's new digs, and to see if the sushi in a larger, higher volume operation would be the same.

One of the defining characteristics of Sushi Sasabune is that they serve fairly traditional-style sushi. That means there are no crazy creative rolls like, God forbid, a Philadelphia Roll or some other monstrosity like the Caterpillar Roll. They don't even serve California Rolls or Spicy Tuna Rolls, which is stated quite overtly on a sign at the front hostess' stand. Sasabune is strictly for the hard core.

Omakase, loosely translated, means "trust." Though diners do have the option to order a la carte, the hostess, the staff, and the chefs highly encourage everyone to go with omakase, wearing shirts with "Trust Me" printed right on them. Even Sasabune's chopsticks urge you to "Trust Me!" The wrappers have poetry, not quite a haiku, but poetry nonetheless: "Sushi/Delicate snowflakes rest on warm, sweet rice beds flavors intertwined/translucent jewel - (sliced) natural perfection - slide into my mouth/Trust me!"

Sasabune offers beer and wine. "The Boys" ordered large Asahis and "The Girls" ordered umeshu, a very sweet plum wine. It also happens to be one of my favorite drinks.

As is normally the custom for sushi, sashimi comes first. We had an albacore sashimi cut into perfect squares. The pieces were presented on a small round plate and covered with a tangy ponzu sauce. Every person got their own plate. 

Maguro is the general term for tuna. Two pieces of maguro nigiri sushi were one of only two fish that came out as a pair. (The other was hamachi, which comes up later.) The photo looks somewhat pornographic, doesn't it?

Ono seems to be more available, or perhaps I just never paid attention to it before beyond ordering it at Roy's with a macadamia nut crust. The ono was slippery and soft, but somewhat bland. Hirame (halibut), too was similarly light and unoffensive.

Sushi at Sasabune is all nigiri except that first course of albacore sashimi, but I had to ask the chef to serve mine sashimi-style after a while because I was getting way too full. The hamachi (yellowtail) were so heavily laden with fat, almost to the point that I didn't even have to chew it.

Next up are scallops (gai) and a slice of salmon (sake). The scallops had that tautness that scallops should. The salmon was accompnaied by a paper-thin piece of what looked like either jelly or seaweed. I'm not sure.

Butterfish is served lightly grilled, the way unagi (freshwater eel) is. Don't forget the USDA warning about eating high quantities of improperly prepared butterfish and escolar!

Albacore makes a second appearance, this time as sushi. It was good, but what was even better was the kanpachi, a type of jack. I have heard people refer to kanpachi as baby hamachi.

The final dish from the sushi chef is a tuna roll, and the locally famous blue crab roll. They are served in a sort of hybrid between a regular cut roll and a hand roll. The picture shows three pieces of each only because they chef put three orders on one plate.

Omakase is eight courses at Sasabune, but you can always order more, and you can certainly ask them to stop when you're full. Oh, and you will be full. Trust me.

Sushi Sasabune
12400 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 268-8380 or (310) 820-3596