Best of Simi Valley Sushi - Half Time Report

[tofuburrito]

Those who follow Simi Valley threads may recall the Best of – Thai experiment from last year. This year we decided to take on a more daunting task and score all of the Japanese sushi bars. In order to keep the numbers manageable we decided not to include non-Japanese (there is a Korean restaurant with a sushi bar) and rice bowl type locations that serve rolls but don’t have a sushi bar.
Our research revealed 16 locations, 8 east of Erringer and 8 west of Erringer. We have visited all 8 that are on the east side. Since there were various levels of expertise on the scoring team we brought along a non-scoring sushi consultant to offer insights.
We also adopted a weighted scoring system for this task. In the Thai scoring we just gave a 1-10 score and in the end we felt that was a little too random and didn’t allow for enough differentiation between the locations. For the sushi we score 1-5 in Plating, Atmosphere and Service and 1-10 for sushi/rolls. With three of us scoring that allows for a maximum individual score of 25 and a maximum combined of 75.
The current leader board has Momoya (Sycamore Plaza) on top with a score of 63 followed by Sushi Suki (L.A. & Yosemite) with 61 points. It should be noted that this is just the combined opinion of three people and you are encouraged to go out and explore for yourself. We have been pleasantly surprised by several of the locations.
It will be interesting to see how the second half goes.

[mikester]

Wow, well as a guy who grew up in Simi during the '70's into the mid-80's (moved to OC long ago), I say this: the mere fact that 16 sushi locations exist in Simi Valley is amazing to me ! When I was there, I do believe that the pinnacle of ethnic cuisine was the El Torito, with Paul's Italian Villa as a very close second and a few chinese restaurants running close behind.

[tofuburrito]

The (nearly) two-year mission is complete, 17 Simi Valley sushi bars have been visited, reviewed and scored. Before announcing the top 3 it should be noted that some of the 17 establishments have changed ownership since we went there so the longevity of the project may have caused some inaccuracies. Maximum scores were 75 points (read the first post if you want to see a more detailed explanation of the scoring).
1. Go Fish (Town Center) - 64 Points
2. Momoya (Sycamore Plaza) - 63 Points
3. Sushi Suki - 61 Points

[SIMIHOUND]

Tofu-There two sushi bars at Yosemite and LA. One is inside the plaza with Carl's Jr and one is in the 7-11 plaza and the names on both places have recently changed. Which one is Sushi Suki and did you try the other one? I would love to read the reviews on both. I just went to Hai Sushi on a friends recommendation and I didn't like it. I am no sushi expert but I like Cho Cho San in Thousand Oaks and Encino. I like the offerings, friendliness, price and ease of ordering by talking to the sushi chef myself. I don't "get" the ordering on paper at so many places. So I make my first order on paper. I am going to want more and have to tell him anyway later so what is the point? Another great inconvenience is non speaking Sushi chefs. Do they think I am impressed with their qualifications if I can't communicate with them? How can can I ask questions?

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Hai Sushi
1101 E Los Angeles Ave, Simi Valley, CA 93065

Cho Cho San Restaurant
400 E Thousand Oaks Blvd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

[tofuburrito]

Sushi Suki is in the Carl's Jr. plaza. The one across the street next to Chuy's was, until recently, Arigato but now has a new name. Arigato was one of my personal favorites so I was disappointed to see they had changed ownership. I haven't been since the change so I don't have an opinion on the new team.
When sitting at the sushi bar you can tell the chef what you want as you want it, you don't have to fill out the paper. But if you know what you're going to want you can fill it out and hand it to him/her. Either way is fine.

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Chuy's
25401 Madison Ave Ste A, Murrieta, CA 92562

Arigato
31441 Santa Margarita Pkwy Ste J, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

[Jwsel]

The owners of Cho Cho San have two restaurants in Valencia -- Kisho and Sushi California. Here is information on their locations: http://www.chochosan.com/loc.html#val

[sushiburrito]

Hi Tofu. Do you know who did this report? Was it a city thing? Are the final results published anywhere? Thanks in advance

[tofuburrito]

It was just three guys (one of whom was me). We did the same thing with the Thai restaurants in Simi. I have a pdf with all the scoring, I can send it to you if you want it.

[sushiburrito]

Hi again Tofu,

If you dont mind sending it I would appreciate it. My Email adress is [e-mail]. So you did this report how did the results come to all city employees with there paychecks. I'll tell you why I ask with the next post :).

Sushi burrito

[tofuburrito]

Hi Sushi,
Yes it did.

[sushiburrito]

Thank You for sending me the report. I am part owner in Go Fish Sushi and somebody sent us the newsletter stating we came in first. I do see we have some work to do on service. So thats what we will do. Thanks for including us in since we have only been open 8 months. We actually went live with our website (GoFishSushiBar.com) and delivery service to Simi Valley. Stop in and introduce yourself, I work every Friday night. I would love to buy you a sushi burrito. Thanks again

[Dinnyin]

And a fine website / delivery service it is. Put in what we wanted, and it arrived exactly as ordered 45 mins later on the dot.

Why cant more restaurants figure out this online ordering thing??

[Dinnyin]

Tofu, are you going to post the rest of the list? :)

[tofuburrito]

I can if you want to see it.

[Dinnyin]

Prty. pls?

[tofuburrito]

Go Fish 64
Momoya 62
Sushi Suki 61
O2 59.5
Tomodachi 59.5
Arigato 59
Hai 59
Ken of Japan 57.5
Hikari 55
Fune 52
Fuji 52
Traditions 48
Blue Fin 47
Musashi 47
Sushi Koy 42
Sakana 39.5

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Ken of Japan
4340 Cochran St, Simi Valley, CA 93063

Arigato
31441 Santa Margarita Pkwy Ste J, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

Musashi
1747 Simi Town Center Way, Simi Valley, CA 93065

Tomodachi Restaurant
771 N Wendy Dr, Newbury Park, CA 91320

[SIMIHOUND]

Much appreciated. I can venture out now and not be afraid of wasting my money.

[Dinnyin]

Awesome, thanks!