Sushi - My sushi eating started at Cho Cho San in Tarzana with my girlfriend at the time, Debbie. My initial foray into sushi included California rolls, Shrimp and cooked items like the Dynamite and Rock & Roll. Visited Todai (Japanese buffet) in Studio City and when the Todai in Woodland Hills opened I was there. Sushi Factory (Northridge plaza) opened, and a year later closed. I would talk all my friends (Frank, Mark, Rick/Jana, Evan) into partaking with me in these buffets. Almost overnight in 2004 I started eating the raw fish, and there was no looking back. Still attended the same buffets, now eating the raw fish. Started going to Sushi Bars that had an all you can eat policy, Light & Healthy in Woodland Hills, Midori in Encino, Sherman Oaks & Studio City. January of 2007 I signed up at Sushi Chef Institute for a 2 month long, 5 days a week course in Sushi. The sensei/owner was Andy Matsuda. Sivaman Udomdej was the assistant instructor, Nick Kang the assistant assistant instructor, Yosuke the school Administrator. The first four weeks was about traditional Japanese cooking. Started out with learning about Rice, and how to cook it. Please, be kind to your rice. Dashi, Miso soups and sauces were next. Learned about the traditional Kaiseki meal. Noodles (Udon, Soba & Somen) and their sauces, both hot and cold. The 5 Japanese cooking techniques, (1) Grill (2) Fry (3) Simmer (4) Steam (5) Raw. The second class was all Sushi. We learned how to dehead and degut a whole litany of fish. The 8 steps to form the boat shape rice for nigiri, the 6 steps to place the rice on the nori for a well formed roll. We weren't just expected to learn how, but to acquire enough skill to do it quick enough to work in a sushi bar. We were expected to make 2 California rolls in two minutes, including cutting into equal sized pieces. I learned what boot camp can be like. After 2 months of learning and weight gain I graduated. Since attending the Sushi Chef Institute, I have a completely different understanding of sushi. One of my fellow students at Sushi Chef Institute, Twist, has opened his own sushi bar, Blue Buddha Sushi Bar, in Page Arizona. Stop in and say hi. While attending Sushi school, Ann & I had a get together at her dad's beach house in Ventura. In addition to inviting some of my friends, I extended the invitation to my classmates. It turned out to be a sushi party. Sivaman and Nick drove up and put on a show. It was this party that gave me the idea to start a sushi catering company, Phat Sushi. Unlike other sushi caterers, we would do smaller parties, which would allow our clients to watch as we make sushi impossible to make for 100 people. I have enlisted the help of Sivaman Udomdej. Together we have already catered a few parties and have a few upcoming on the books. If you see me driving on the street, honk and wave hi. Where have I gone for sushi and Japanese food? I'll start listing places & reviews, sooner or later I'll start taking my camera and taking some pics. I will also include other restaurants I have eaten at. Cho Cho San, Tarzana & Thousand Oaks - This is where I started my sushi eating with Debbie. Never ate the "real" stuff there, only the cooked. I am hoping to go back there soon. I remember the creamy mayo-ish sauce on the Rock & Roll roll, yum. Light & Healthy, Woodland Hills - AYCE. The second place sushi place I went to, also with Debbie. Still go and still enjoy it. Good fish, good menu. Todai, Studio City, Woodland Hills, Glendale, Arcadia - AYCE. I can't even guess how many times I've eaten here. The first time Deb and I went to the Studio City location, when the Woodland Hills location opened I was there on the first day. This used to be one of my favorite restaurants. I often went to the Woodland Hills restaurant during lunch and got it to go, two big styrofoam containers filled with food. At that time, I was still only eating the cooked fish stuff. Since sushi school, I have been once. Unless someone is paying, probably won't be back again. Sushi Factory, Northridge - AYCE. A Todai clone. Wasn't in business very long. A common occurrence with AYCE restaurants I frequent. Midori, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City - AYCE. Been going here for a while. Frank and I are almost regulars. Started out eating at the Sherman Oaks location, was one of the first customers when they opened the Encino location. The Encino location is my old stomping grounds, drive down the alley and you can see my old elementary school. Also been to the Studio City location. Same menu, same quality of fish. One of the better AYCE. Tori Yen Sushi, Tujunga- great t-shirts. It was around the corner from where we lived in Tujunga. Not sure what else to say about this place. Oh yeah, great t-shirts. SushiYa, Duarte - AYCE. The closest AYCE sushi place to my castle. Average. Sushi Zo, West LA- One of the best in town. Made a visit here on my way to the Jazz Bakery to hear the San Gabriel Seven with guest artist Eric Marienthal. How could one make a visit to such a high quality Sushi restaurant without going Omakase? Everything was fantastic. The Yuzu drink that ends the meal was everything I had read about. Expensive, not the place to go when on a budget. Sushi Gen, Little Tokyo- Expensive but worth every penny. Omakase of course. Went solo after I dropped Ann off at a teacher meeting a few miles away. Sushi Go 55, Little Tokyo- One of the oldest sushi bars on the west coast. The fish was definitely not old, it was almost dripping salt water. On an upper floor corner of a mall this place could almost be overlooked. After doing a little shopping at Mitsuwa I stopped by for lunch. Rumor has it the mall has been sold and all new businesses will be coming in. Better go before it's too late. Kiku Sushi, Monrovia - AYCE. Korean owned Sushi bar in a shopping center. Fish has been fresh, a few specialty rolls. A little better than SushiYa which is a couple short miles down the street. Shogun Restaurant, Pasadena- TeppanYaki. Usually get a rainbow roll to start the meal off. The rainbow rolls have been average, nothing to brag about or complain about. Love that teppanyaki stuff. I'm such a creature of habit. The steak & chicken combo, with fried rice. It comes with the usual vegetables. Tokyo Wako, Pasadena, Arcadia- TeppanYaki. The first order is a Rainbow roll and iced tea. The 2 or 3 item combination, depending on the fish of the day. Soup and fried rice. Side order of salad. Arigato Japanese Restaurant, Azusa - The only Japanese Restaurant in Azusa. Expensive. Rainbow roll, mackerel, tuna & tempura. Noda, Pasadena - Forms to fill out selecting the sushi I wanted. Rainbow Roll, Dynamite Roll, Salmon Skin hand roll, Tuna, Albacore, Mackerel. 3 Japanese chefs, each one prepared a different plate. One only the nigiri, one the hand roll and the last one the two rolls. Two different colors of Tobikko, green onions on top of the Rainbow roll, lacked the individual taste of each fish I enjoy.Masago on the California roll underneath the fish. Kasaka Sushi & Grill, AYCE - Santa Clarita. A rather surprising meal for an AYCE type place. I'll have to try again but maybe the best AYCE I've eaten at. Kyoto Sushi, AYCE - West Hills & Northridge. Visited both locations two days in a row. The first thing I noticed about both were the chefs were young. The crowds were young. Both locations unlike other sushi bars that place the fish on top of the CA roll, wrap it from front to back over the top. Not much taste to the rice. Big selection of rolls. Chefs at both places were friendly and attentive. Fish was the standard delivery level fish. Had the Baked Mussels and Dynamite at the Northridge location. Average, the Dynamite came without rice. Noodle World, Valley Blvd, Alhambra - Ann had a Doctor appointment around the corner. The Boiling Crab was closed so we walked next door to Noodle World. Nice, clean and spacious. The menu is divided by noodle style- Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Soupless and Pan Fried. We ordered the Thai Spicy Beef Salad, Pad Thai noodles and the Spicy Yakisoba. More food than I could eat, for those that don't know me that means something. Sushi of Naples, Pasadena - Stopped for a quick lunch. The "True Worlds" fish delivery van was sitting in their parking lot. There was only 3 of us at the sushi bar for the 2 chefs. Average. Sushi Don, Valley Village - Meeting Deb for a movie date with her daughter and a couple of her daughter's friends. Since I made the trip to the Valley quicker than I thought I had a little time to stop in. Unlike any sushi restaurant I've ever been to before. No sushi bar, very plain interior. You order at a counter and it's delivered to your table. Limited menu to choose from, no Rainbow roll. Ordered [B], 5 pieces of sushi, a roll (Blue Crab was my choice) and miso soup. Presentation was not a top priority. Although not the best I've had I would go back for a quick and rather inexpensive meal. Bluefish, Spokane Washington - One of a few sushi spots in Spokane. On my recent visit to my sisters up in Washington, we stopped by for a quick bite before driving up to her place. A trendy place, no doubt it fills up at night. The sushi, well, I've had better. The sushi was made by a couple of college students. I'm also guessing the health laws in Washington compared to California are quite lax. Hakata Sushi & Cocktail Bar, Santa Monica - Picking up Ann's computer across the street, decided to drop in for lunch. Ann got the 3 Item Combo, I got the Hakata Select and a Riki's Crabmeat and Avocado roll. Lunch came with a little cucumber/salmon salad and Miso soup. The Hakata select came with nigiri: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, albacore, forgot shrimp. Sashimi: tuna salmon, albacore. 3 piece spicy tuna roll and 3 piece Ca roll. Finishing up with tempura. All for $19.75. Typical delivery level fish. To their credit, they didn't pre-cut the fish. They cut it for each order. It was all pretty much exactly what I expected complete with the daikon and shiso leaf in the corner of the plate. Except the CA roll used real crab. Tempura was hot and crisp, not too much batter. Riki's Crabmeat and Avocado was a big plate of food. They start with 2 nori out thin rolls filled with mostly real crab along with some avocado. These rolls were tempured and then cut into thirds at an angle. They were placed on a plate with a cream sauce, then topped with spicy sauce and eel sauce. It was a good combination, the rolls were fried just a little too long. Ann said the place was okay. Nothing bad, nothing stood out. Check back for updates.