Urasawa, Beverly Hills
Last Saturday, my family and I made our much-anticipated maiden voyage to Urasawa. My sister was generous enough to take us all there to celebrate our birthdays, anniversary and other milestones, and we had a wonderful time. I can’t really put into words the kind of service and food we experienced; it was all delicate, profound and will be put into the “once in a lifetime” category.
I’ll try my best to remember everything we ate; some of the sushi is lost on me now that a few days have passed but here is my photo essay of our wonderful Urasawa meal! Enjoy:
Beautfiul display behind counter
First course- hairy crab salad with crysthansamum petals
Lightly seared toro with ponzu
and edible gold leaf
Assortment of lightly stewed vegetables & seafood
Assorted sashimi on ice block…check out that toro…wow!
Baked dish made of yamaimo (mountain potato) with various treasures hidden inside..like uni, ginko nuts, shrimp. Most surprising dish of the night- had the exact texture of rice but was made of this very healthy potato.
See the uni inside?
Tempura of cod sperm sack served with dashi dipping sauce
Chef Hiro Urasawa starts to work on a huge slab of Kobe beef…..
…perfectly marbled with fat
Toro seared on a hot stone
The leftover meat from the hairy crab used in the first course, cooked in it’s own shell with a nice slice of uni. This was sublime…
Beef slowly braised in sweet soy….this was one of my favorites. So tender….!
The raw ingredients for shabu shabu, including a large slice of foie gras.
See huge slab of foie gras….
Cooked for about a minute in the hot broth, the foie gras was rich, tender yet extremely refreshing. My father and J, neither of whom are big foie fans, loved this dish.
Sushi course:
Toro
Hirame
Kohada- much less “pickeled” than versions I’ve had before, you could really taste the fish instead of the vinegar.
Lighly grilled shiitake mushroom. This was absolutely meaty and delicious.
Sayori (half beak)
Aji- Spanish mackeral
Awabi (abalone)- I’ve never been a fan of abalone but this was very good.
Uni (sea urchin). The best I’ve ever had, hands down. No bitterness, just sweet and creamy. Wow.
Maguro (tuna)
Ama ebi (sweet shrimp)- we watched Urasawa-san cut open big, fat Santa Barbara spot prawns to create this. Again, the best I’ve ever had.
Giant clam- slightly crunchy and sweet
The housemade “gari” or pickled ginger was sweet and spicy with a softer texture than most.
Real, fresh wasabi root
Unfortunately, this one escapes me!
Saba- mackeral
This one is lost on me now as well…
Unagi, sweet and tender
Astuyaki tamago- his version was almost cake-like..I could have eaten a few more of these!!
Desserts
Box containing assorted fruit- the stewed apple was my favorite
Sesame pudding topped with a sweet bean paste and matcha (green tea)
The sesame pudding was super smooth, slightly nutty and just sweet enough.
Toasted rice tea finishes out the amazing meal
The thing that surprised me the most, I have to admit, was the cheerful disposition of the chef, Hiro Urasawa. I guess I assumed that he would be a very serious and disciplined type, and although he certainly is when it comes to his food, he was good natured and joked a lot. He made everyone feel so comfortable and made sure to call each person by name.
Everything about the experience was perfect, and I highly recommend one visit if you ever get the chance. It is, as most people know, very expensive, so it certainly isn’t a place to go often but everyone should experience this at least once in their lives. The food, service and watching Urasawa-san at work is absolutely worth every penny.
Urasawa
218 Rodeo Drive Los Angeles CA 90210
Dad and Mom, last year at Urasawa
Toro
