ami sushi

out of all the sushi restaurants in westwood, there are several things that make ami stand out from the rest. first of all, they give UCLA students a 15% off discount. (and when you’re poor, you appreciate any discount you can get!) granted, california teriyaki offers half-off dine-in sushi meals, but their rolls tend to be more rice than fish, which totally degrades the whole experience. next, they’re in a GREAT location. broxton b/w weyburn and kinross is like a little respite from the rest of the westwood bustle. lined (on one side at least – and maybe thankfully) w/several restaurants, shops, and a movie theater, it’s got just enough to keep you interested, but not make you feel overwhelmed. finally, the rolls are AMAZING. there’s a ton of them to choose from and the pics really do it for me. (can you tell i’m all about the visual appeal? i swear i was in advertising or marketing in another life.) i feel like i’ve had the same rolls at tomodachi and not really enjoyed them as much.

in any case, this most recent trip was spent w/uri who was out from hanover for the weekend. needless to say, he was pretty much in paradise just being in LA. but to make it even better, we got to have sushi outside on the patio – no heat lamps needed! at first, the staff was being a bit odd and/or slow, b/c i saw seats outside and i was a bit annoyed that they seemed to be holding back in giving them to us. thankfully, they quickly changed their minds and seated us right away. from then on, the service was quite awesome. our server checked on us several times, and our order came out fairly speedily as well. two thumbs-up on the service front!

as i’ve mentioned before, the company and the conversation really make the meal. and chatting w/uri about life’s random ups and downs always makes the meal. (thanks, uri!) seeing as how i was so entranced by the conversation, i was somewhat distracted from the food. (that, and i’d just eaten chipotle earlier in the day, so i really wasn’t too famished.) however, i will say that what i ordered was quite delish and totally satisfied me – the seaweed salad and two orders of the unagi sushi. mmm.... uri ordered the combination special w/what seemed like a lot of meat that he really enjoyed. he also ordered the spider roll, which (from the pieced i had) tasted absolutely YUM. (that’s definitely being ordered next time, especially w/the cool claws sticking out of the roll.)

c/o our alma mater, we ended the meal w/a mojito (guess who had that?) and some tempura green tea ice cream (guess who had THAT?). both were delish, though i must admit that the tempura was a bit too thick (which is probably why uri didn’t have more than two bites before i inhaled it). perhaps a lighter coating of tempura (or even panko maybe?) would’ve done the trick. at any rate, the meal was fabulous overall and i couldn’t have asked for better company on a friday night. (thanks, uri!)

as a side note, several other dishes worth trying are: the dynamite (OMG ridonculous), the salmon skin salad (one of my faves anywhere and everywhere), and the crunch roll. also, any special rolls they offer w/tempura something or other in it is absolutely to die for. plus, they always have special rolls, so you can totally order something new every time.

as another side note, the techno music and huge tv can be somewhat distracting when you’re sitting inside, but i suppose they’re going for a certain aesthetic what w/all the black leather. i have to say: it’s a bit much. which means: try to sit outside if the weather permits.

for a totally LA experience:

ami sushi
1051 broxton avenue
los angeles, ca 90024-2803
310.209.1994

http://www.ami-restaurant.com/index.html