Sushi Dan might be fine for lunch if you are in the area but not worth going out of your way for fine dining or a date. Neither the atmosphere nor the food was very rockin’ at Sushi Dan in Studio City. There seems to be a bit of neglect by these sushi restaurants with outposts in the valley. They seem to focus their ‘coolness’ on their Hollywood locations. We saw this also with Katsuya. The strip mall aspect doesn’t bother me, because I love the idea of finding hidden gems in unsuspecting places. It’s more the interior atmosphere, service and food quality. At Sushi Dan the service was slow, then everything came at once. We had a hard time managing all the dishes on the table at the same time. There was a large screen TV above our head, so that was distracting. Once it got dark outside, the interior was not lit very well. In Italian restaurants that is acceptable, even expected, but for Japanese food, where the restaurants pride themselves on presentation and freshness, it’s nice to be able to see what you are eating by more than the light from the television above your head.
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What We Ordered
- Mango Salmon Roll
- Hidden Dragon Roll
- Softshell Crab Roll
- Caterpillar Roll
- Seaweed Salad
- Albacore Sizzling Sashimi
- Edamame
- Scallops on California Roll
- Spicy Tuna Tartar
- Albacore Special Roll
- Shisito Pepper
- Green Tea Ice Cream
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Our Favorites
Mango Salmon Roll
This was my personal favorite. Not only did the presentation with the different colored roe (fish eggs) WOW everyone, the fresh taste of mango went quite well with the taste of the raw salmon. I also like to give credit for something that is somewhat original and not all sauced up.
Albacore Sizzling Sashimi
The albacore sashimi was delightful. Tender and tasty. But most of the group didn’t like the overabundance of onions and garlic served with it. Usually when we have had this dish there are thin crispy onions. Here they were slices of red onion. It just seemed a little too dressed up for a sashimi dish.
Green Tea Ice Cream
This is pretty much a known quatitiy. I mean, when is there bad ice cream? I guess as a note to our readers, if we list “Green Tea Ice Cream” as one of our favorites, that pretty much means we didn’t have alot to say about the food. Also interesting to note is that we ALWAYS seem to have the green tea ice cream when Leah joins us…hmm…interesting coincidence!
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Sushi Gallery
(click image to zoom)
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- Seaweed Salad
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- Hidden Dragon Roll
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- Spicy Tuna Tartar
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- Softshell Crab Roll
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- Mango Salmon Roll
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- Albacore Sizzling Sashimi
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- Caterpillar Roll
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- Scallops on California Roll
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- Leah, Suzi & Skip
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- Cat, Ruth & Brian
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- Dividing the Check
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- Menu
Points of Interest
Roll Selection
Sushi Dan did have quite a large menu with lots of specialty rolls. This is always a good thing for groups of people. We also liked the presentation of the wasabi. It was nicely shaped like little florets.
Less Desirable Atmosphere
Pretty generic and nothing to really denote this sushi restaurant as ‘rockin’ in any way. The service was slow and our server was fairly cold and less friendly.
Dirty Mens Bathroom
On the way into the dining area we saw a large kitchen trash can out in plain sight. Not very appetizing when you are about to eat raw fish. Brian, later ventured into the men’s bathroom and said “the bathroom is gross, you may want to have a drink and ignore them.”
Price per Wonton
Yes, we were charged for each “wonton chip” we wanted with our tuna tartar. If you are searved a tower of finely chopped tuna it seems appropriate to also provide something with which to scoop it up with. Maybe I misunderstand the advanced techniques of chopsticks (but I am pretty good with them if I say so myself) but it just seems like they should go together.
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Summary
Date: August 19, 2009
Restaurant: Sushi Dan in Studio City
Desserts: Green Tea ice cream
In Attendance: All Founding Members (except for Kris) plus special guests: Leah and Brian
Price: $$ - Meal cost was $35 pp. (with ~15% tip)
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