Sushi Sake and Shibucho

Sashimi at Shibucho in Orange County is an amazing ride. Take a look at the quality. First off it’s far. Costa Mesa from LA isn’t a laughing matter to eat dinner. The spot isn’t in the most remarkable place. It’s next to a cell phone shop that’s open late, and a liquor store. But what they serve is top notch. I’m not going to say, this place is better than that, but this one ranks high. The difference regardless? It’s cheaper.

The red in the upper left corner is Sujiko. It’s Ikura (fish egg still in the membrane sac) and soaked in soy sauce.

Nikogori is fish jelly! Totally good and a tiny snack.

Shiokara is a salty squid.

Uni Kasu Zuke

Kazunoko Kombu! The few things listed above, are what you may get when you have a good relationship with the chefs. They start bringing out their home brew. It helps to drink a ton, because if you’re drinking a soda, they won’t bring this stuff out. It’s reserved for sake drinkers since these small snacks exists to taste with sake.

Ayako F. samples a sake.

Abalone

Geso sushi. How often do you even see this?

Shibucho is no nonsense. If you look confused, the main chef will say, “No California Roll, no spicy tuna roll. This is sushi.” It may seem condescending and plenty of people write bad reviews on the place, and it’s not because of the quality, it’s because there’s no “Avocado covered rainbow, mixed with shrimp tempura upside down with Sushi paper roll”. It’s serious and how you might find sushi in Japan.

Tamago sushi – notice the rice, barely under this brick of egg?