Sakura Japanese Restaurant

A few of my friends mentioned that Sushi Sakura on Centinela was good, so good in fact, as my friend Marnie from New Zealand said, "It really is the best, you have to try it!" I'll admit, I was dubious. From the outside, it looked hokie. The sign is faded and it is located in a run down strip mall in Mar Vista-- not exactly an area of LA where foodies flock to try the latest and greatest.



However, I wanted to keep an open mind and after reading the many glowing reviews on yelp.com, I decided to give it a go, so I met my friend Michelle there for lunch today.



I was really impressed because the sushi was not only really great, but the prices were very reasonable too. I think the most comparable place to Sakura would be Hide Sushi on Sawtelle, but to be frank, I'm not really THAT crazy about Hide (their sushi seems a little catered to white people in my opinion), but I LOVED the sushi here.


I ordered a 12 piece sushi lunch combination, which included one of the following: Octopus, Shrimp, Yellowtail, Halibut, Salmon and Tuna, and a 6 piece spicy tuna cut roll. It also came with miso. It was reasonably priced at about $12.00.



To begin with, I am very picky about my miso soup. I had a friend in college who was Japanese and schooled me on what makes "good" vs. "bad" miso, and how to tell the difference between higher and lower quality bean paste. I think Sakura's miso was really delicious, it was light and flavorful and not too salty. They used soft tofu diced into small pieces, and the fresh scallions added a nice additional layer of flavor.


Their sushi was also very good. It was obviously very fresh, served at room temperature, and some of the pieces of fish melted on my tongue. I'm not the biggest fan of salmon because I think it has to be extra fresh to be good, but the salmon was perfect, as was the yellowtail. I also really liked the flavor of their spicy tuna roll, it was the perfect ratio of mayonaise, sriracha to fish.



The entire experience, I thought was reminscent of authentic, delicious fresh sushi without too much emphasis on the superficial (like decor and fancy fusion plates).


All in all, I would DEFINITELY return to Sakura!



Sakura Japanese Restaurant
4545 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 822-7790.