Minori downhill alert... Maybe late to the game here...
Minori was my go-to neighborhood sushi spot for about two years, and went last week for the first time in maybe 8 months. Inexcusably slow on a thursday night with not too many people, fish quality was fine but not outstanding, and the "whitefish carpaccio" was a bummer. Too thick, the fish was warm, the garlic was burnt. I know it's an affectation of a dish, but it used to be something my wife and I always ordered because we enjoyed it so much. The sushi chef, who I believe to be the owner, was oddly incommunicative and mumbly. Custom-ordered handroll was good (yellowtail, pickles, shiso leaf) but couldn't salvage the night. The check came in way higher than I expected, and definitely not worth it.
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Minori Restaurant
1170 S Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035
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Wow, this is so wild that you wrote about this restaurant. We had been going here for years, and really loved it, but have not gone in a long time. Last Saturday, while on the westside, we thought about reliving the past and thought to give it a try again. We arrived a little after 8:00 and the bar was full. We waited about 20 minutes for 2 seats to open up. Once sat, we waited for about 10 more minutes and couldn't seem to find anyone willing to take a drink order. Finally, when the sushi chef asked are you ready to order, we said how about a large hot sake and large Sapporo. He barked out our order and a waitress finally brought it out. Then we ordered 2 salmon sushi orders. Our chef seems confused and went to Taka, the owner, and Taka says "we are out of rice!". At first, I thought he was kidding. I asked how long would it take to have rice and he said "30 minutes". We were flabbergasted!!!! A sushi bar with no rice...go figure. So we sadly stood up and left.
