Nighttime in Santa Monica. A drunken stroll across the street from Mom's Bar. (http://su.pr/1QLW4P) It started to drizzle. Jin Y. and I walk into a sushi bar wearing Leather and Lace. Cucumber handroll. ($5.20) Miso soup. ($3) Hot green tea. A fascination with the whipped consistency of their wasabi. Looking back, I think I ate all of the ginger (sorry Jin!) I forgot what Jin ordered...I was drunk! They kicked us out cuz they were closing. Post-Yelp Elite Event Eats are always fun :) Tip: minimum $15 purchase if you pay by credit card. read more

Echigo - Cucumber Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Omakase (in a Japanese restaurant) is a meal consisting of dishes selected by the chef. If you have self-inflicted dietary restrictions, as I do, having someone else select what you put in your mouth is a bit uncomfortable -but fun for me at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a bit of uncertainty - just know, if omakase consist of other types of meat besides seafood and if I am dining out with you -you're welcome to eat it for me. Restaurant wasn't overly packed for a Friday night, had a overall casual vibe-nothing fancy (although, my new friend mentioned it has gone through renovations). It is located upstairs in a corner strip mall and service was adequate. We didn't have to wait too long to get seated at the sushi bar. Omakase here at Echigo is all seafood- Thank heavens. I was so engulfed in the conversation with my new foodie friend, that we both are unable to recall the order of sushi! Okay, I admit -I did a Yelper FAIL, but I remembered to take pictures! (see my pics below). Although, I can report that everything melts in your mouth-so incredibly delicious! The rice has a delicate smoky/salty to it and is a bit more sticky (which was fine with me). Some pieces already had wasabi and the chef will make recommendations when soy sauce is not needed. My new foodie friend chose a dry sake to complement our meal and we had Asahi beer as well -alcohol is the added culprit to the poor recall of the sushi order as well (Ha!). I have no clue as far as how much this meal with break your bank, as my generous new foodie friend took care of everything -just trust me that it is worth it. If you're in search of amazing sushi this is one place worth a visit and your foodie friends will love it here. read more

Echigo - Omakase: starts top left, then down (will update order of fish, later) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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The bottom line is the Sushi is fresh and good. They have no fancy stuff or rolls here but that is OK. My favorite was the albacore. For the lunch special ($14.50) they bring one piece at a time. That is one way to make sure you do not eat too fast(: When I was finished with the 5 pieces for the lunch special I was still hungry. If you go here it should be fresh as mine was. If are hungry and want a full meal be ready to open the wallet and peal it out. read more

Echigo - Sushi Bar. Everyone is hard at work. Very good Sushi! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I went to Echigo last night and felt compelled to leave a review, because I couldn't disagree more with some of the negative reviews i had read prior to dining there. To be fair there are things that can be criticized -- the atmosphere leaves much to be desired, and the prices do feel maybe 20-50% higher than I'd have expected. But putting those issues aside, when I look for reviews on Yelp, the hugest thing I'm trying to determine is whether or not the food is up to my standards. As a pretty massive sushi enthusiast/snob, I can tell you that this place absolutely does not disappoint. The quality of their fish is excellent. Maybe not "world class" but it's still easily 4.5+ stars, if not a full 5 stars. My favorites in no particular order were the monkfish liver, butterfish, scallop, salmon, and toro nigiri. But truly everything I ate was delicious. There were no duds. I found the service to be a little uneven. They were all super nice and we never waited long for food or drinks, but they did seem a tiny bit scattered. Not a big deal. One last thing which I saw mentioned in another recent review was the presence of "rules" that were characterized as being anti-customer. This is absolute nonsense. The menu in several places mentioned how they would gladly accommodate special requests and modifications. And the only real "rule" was that if you sit at the sushi bar it's entirely devoted to omakase. Other than that it's such basic stuff like your standard "tip is included for large parties" etc. I found these to be more like informative guidelines letting you know what to expect. Seriously anyone complaining about this is like a person complaining about a hotel that tells you they will only wash towels left on the floor in order to save water. I see it as a heads up about how they operate and far from a reason to be deducting stars. Anyway if you close your eyes to the prices, I am quite confident that any fans of purist sushi (no weird rolls) will not just like, but LOVE their meal at Echigo! read more

Overall: Don't be deterred by the $$$ Yelp pricing. Their $15 lunch set and a few additional orders of their many interesting, varied selections will set you back $30, but you'll leave full and satisfied. Definitely get their Monkfish Liver, which has a foie gras-like texture. Food: 4 Lunch Set ($14.99) includes 5 pieces of nigiri sushi and a blue crab hand roll. It's not the cheapest sushi joint, but this is a deal in comparison to their normal prices where the cheapest plate of nigiri sushi is $5. The fare is standard with tuna, yellowtail, white fish, salmon, and albacore. The fish is of good quality, and the sauces and garnishes complement it well. However, the rice was warmer than it should be in some pieces, and one began to crumble in my hands before I could pop it in my mouth. The albacore was delicious but it was drenched in sauce, and the white fish was cut poorly. I hope that this is a result of our late entrance rather than reflective of their normal food because I had high hopes. However, if it is a result of us coming in last minute, I am highly disappointed that this affected the quality of what they sent out. Monkfish Liver is poached in store and topped with a miso sauce. In store steaming makes all the difference. It's served still warm, and it's more buttery and smoother than any of its counterparts. In fact, I'd dare say it almost resembled foie gras. Service: 4 It's hard to get bad service at a Japanese restaurant, and they graciously took us in even though we came about a minute before they closed at 2 pm. We had to order food all at once because they were taking last call orders. Food came quickly, one after the other, and lunch took about 20 minutes all together. I'm not complaining because I had to be somewhere by 3 pm, but I did feel like the speed at which food came was a result of their desire to have us leave so they could close up. This did NOT show in their service; they were polite and professional. However, it may have shown in their fish. Ambiance: 3 The restaurant is a unassuming plaza with treacherous underground parking (the ramp down is steep and winding and the spaces are tiny). The restaurant itself is clean, but it's sparse with white walls and minimal decorations. Perhaps not the right place if you want to impress your eating companions with food and ambiance, but none of your foodie friends will complain if you take them here just for the sushi. read more

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This is the best sushi in LA. I love Echigo. Get the butter fish and the blue crab hand roll.

The good: the quality, freshness, and taste of the fish is fantastic, the rice is moist and slightly warm, and the nori is crispy and light. We ordered the tuna hand roll, blue crab hand roll, and the tuna, scallop and albacore sushi. All were very good, and I would give 4 stars based on the food alone. The bad: the atmosphere is very sterile (but clean), and feels more like a hospital waiting room than a restaurant. And the price is quite high. The other: the menu has a very wide variety of fish, and everything is very simple... as in no avocado, cucumber, or other typical accoutrements. The focus is solely on the fish. read more

Best sushi in LA. If you're hungry, order two lunch specials. Consistently the freshest, highest quality fish. And the small additions they add to the nigiri are perfect. read more

Quarantine Review! Came here after seeing a famous celebrity go in #shameless. Never really paid attention to echigo as it isn't placed in the best looking plaza, but I'm really glad I came to check it out. Parking is really easy as they have a garage and there's ton of street parking. When you go into this restaurant, it's really a hidden gem, albeit unpolished in terms of decor regards, but a gem nonetheless. The servers and chefs were very friendly, knowledgeable and recommended some delicious fish. Comparing my experience to places such as Sushi Gen in DTLA, I would definitely have to say that Echigo could compete against them without an issue. The fish was extremely fresh and tasty. If you are looking for delicious high quality sushi, go ahead and try Echigo out. On a side note, the pricing is on the higher side. read more

Omakase fan on a budget? This may be the place for you that mixes in a bit more cost with an overall satisfying meal. (This is only the dinner review as a heads-up). Pros: +Personally, I've never experienced much of a wait here when I've been (mostly weekdays) and they do take reservations just in case if you call in. There is a private underground parking lot and lots of street parking around as well (just be mindful of signs). Remember that this is on the 2nd floor (there's a big 'sushi' sign to help guide you). +Love how if you buy a bottle of sake, they will save it for you until the next time you come which is awesome. They have a not too bad variety of wine, sake and beer. Sake bottles can range in rice pretty wildly as a heads-up. +Service has always been awesome and the chef has always been super kind in explaining the orders and whether to dip it in soy sauce or not. +The Omakase price is definitely solid at about $50 for a good amount of food and a lot of the food I think is pretty solid (favorites including the Toro and the blue crab hand roll) They do have sushi also available a la carte. Rice is a little warm which might not be great for some as a heads-up. +/- Note that the bar area is only for Omakase first customers only. At the tables, you can order a la carte if you'd like. +/- Also note that this is a fairly straightforward sushi place with little in terms of fancy rolls or other items. +/- Vey minimalist in design and decor and equipment just as a heads-up (don't expect fancy TV's or bells for instance). Cons: -Although the price is great, I do admit that sometimes the sushi isn't always as 'good tasting' as some of the higher tier sushi restaurants around town perhaps. Placebo effect? Perhaps but for the price you're paying, the flavors seemed mostly fine on my end. Echigo may be a bit quieter and less-known Omakase place in the busy Japanese restaurant-filled Westside but I personally am a fan! read more

Echigo - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

By far my favorite Sushi Restaurant in Los Angeles. The most tender fish served piece by piece over soft warm rice. It's all about quality, not a lot of fancy rolls just quality sushi. Happy Hour Monday-Thursday 5:30-7:00pm. Give it a try. read more

Echigo - Sake Flight - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Pros: great quality of sushi, polite servers. Cons: extremely expensive, $6 for a small single sushi roll! Insane pricey. The place is far from being fancy to charge such price. Last time here. read more

Another Yelper put it well: this is sushi for the discerning. High quality, traditional, and absolutely delicious. A way to treat oneself or others for a special occasion. I've been here only three times in the past 10 years, but each time has been a consistently exquisite experience. read more

I've been patronizing Echigo for almost 20 years. I can't believe it's been that long already but I am so happy that they've beat the odds and weathered the pandemic. I've gone to other sushi restaurants around So.Cal., some much more expensive, but all roads lead back to Echigo. It is seriously THE most consistent sushi restaurant I've ever been to. The quality is always top notch, never a bad meal. I'm so impressed with how it's maintained its high standards throughout the years. Echigo is not cheap but for the consistency and quality, its price point reasonable compared to other similar edomae sushi restaurants. If I could afford to go every day, I would. read more

Didn't know about the review and just walked in and had the best sushi ever. Ordered the five piece sushi lunch special and have to order second rounds since they are just too good. read more

Echigo is one of those surprisingly decent restaurants tucked away in LA's nondescript strip malls. Identified from the street by an illuminated sign advertising "sushi," Echigo seems rather generic. But, from the moment you set your eyes on the menu, you realize that that sign makes total sense: Echigo serves only traditional sushi. My friend and I visited Echigo on a weekday evening; we were one of only two parties in the entire restaurant. Since we specifically came to Echigo to try their omakase (~ $49), we opted to sit at the sushi bar, which provided us with a clear view of the chef. For the price, the omakase was solid, but nothing to write home about. The omakase consisted of 1 plate of sashimi, 8 pieces of sushi, and 1 hand roll. Most of the sushi was served with minimal wasabi and a generous dash of ponzu. At times, I felt like the texture of the rice and the fish blended together; perhaps the rice was a little too warm and a little too wet. Nevertheless, the overall quality fish was good: fresh taste, smooth texture, and decent portion size. The highlights of the meal for me were the butterfish, yellowtail, and blue crab hand roll. Although I didn't feel particularly full after the meal, I was satisfied with the experience. Would I come back to Echigo? Probably not. There's many other restaurants (i.e. SugarFish) that offer comparable or better omakase at similar prices. If you're willing to pay more money, there's definitely higher quality fare. Would I recommend Echigo? Sure. It's not a bad place to get your sushi fix and definitely worth trying if you're looking for quality sushi on the Westside. read more

Echigo - Omakase ($49) [hand roll not pictured] - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Echigo had been on my list for a while but I knew the bill could get pretty pricey at dinner so have been putting it off, that is until I heard about their lunch special! The $14.95 lunch special includes five pieces of sushi and a blue crab hand roll and overall I was very pleased. Fish cuts weren't the neatest but the flavor and quality of fish was spot on. It's not a huge lunch but it's a perfect light lunch and I appreciated the large amount of wasabi and ginger delivered with the first piece of sushi. The five pieces if sushi included albacore, tuna, salmon, yellowtail and one other that now escapes me. The blue crab handroll was smaller than most, but the taste was excellent. Reservations are not necessary for lunch. Mostly a business lunch crowd. Parking was easy in the lot below. read more

Echigo - Albacore - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

This Japanese restaurant is located on the second floor of a strip mall with large windows overlooking the busy streets. The interior is well lit, airy, spacious, and highly organized with a brown on white colored layout that brings about a pristine ambiance similar to the one at Takumi. Thanks to fellow Yelper Louis G for the referral, I came with a friend to get an impression on their Omakase dinner ($45.20). The Omakase starts with a choice of sashimi followed by a string of eight-piece nigiri meal and a blue crab handroll for the grand finale. I wasn't fond of the Seared Baby Tuna Sashimi from the start as the pieces were noticeably fishy. The quality of the nigiri that included Toro, Hirame, Scallop, Bonito, Kanpachi, Red Snapper, and Butterfish were solid but not amazingly reflective of the price they were charging. I also thought the selection could include items such as ikura, uni or aji but they were missed in the equation. Furthermore, the cuts of fish were small and the sushi rice was too damp which didn't translate well when ponzu and a mysterious orange colored sweet and sour sauce were added to these nigiri pieces. I wasn't full from the meal so I also ordered the Stuffed Calamari ($7) that was fully loaded with moderately sweet blue crab. I thought the Stuffed Calamari was tasty but the temperature on the blue crab was too cold. The Blue Crab Handroll also experienced the same issue with temperature. Some reviewers had drawn comparisons between Echigo with the likes of Sasabune and SugarFish. The overall quality is far off from the breadth and depth of what Sasabune offers and SugarFish provides appetizer and their nigiri actually come in pairs in the "Nozawa" combination. Beyond this dichotomy, I see the $50 Omakase from Sushi Masu as a better value where service and freshness are as consistent as they come. As for service, our server was friendly but she also did not explain or cared to elaborate on the nigiri and sauces that were arriving at the table. Here's how they fared in the end: 1.) Quality and freshness: 3 stars. 2.) Creativity and presentation: 3 stars. 3.) Quantity and substance: 2 stars. 4.) Accessibility and affordability: 1 star. 5.) Service and ambiance: 3.5 stars. 2.5 stars for the overall experience. I won't be coming back. read more

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I haven't had omakase with very warm sushi rice, but probably that's just me. This meal was also a FREE one for me, treated by my favorite forwarder, thanks Thomas! Upon reading the review about the omakase for $40/pp, it's about the same as sugarFISH trust me price, we decided to give this place a try. Located above Pizza Hut, this place only open from 12-2pm for lunch, it's so tucked inside, you could barely see the OPEN sign. As we enterred, we were given an option where to seat and we opted to be seated at the sushi bar where it's apparently omakase is the way to go if you decide to sit there and just what we wanted. Here are what we got for $40 omakase: - Toro - not as marvelous as Sushi Gen - Hirame (halibut) - the best one by far - Scallop - just okay - Bonito - loved the texture - Kanpachi - another great one - Seared baby tuna - let's just say this was an interesting one (no pic) - Japanese snapper - I preferred the red snapper - Butterfish - third best one - Blue crab handroll - pretty chunky portion and really good Extras that we got after omakase-portion was over, - Yellowtail - fourth best dish - Albacore - fifth best dish - Skipjack - not as good as I thought - Salmon - liked the presentation - Red snapper - pretty good *my forwarder decided on Uni, instead of Albacore. He loved it, there are plenty of uni stacked on top of the warm sushi rice, it's almost overflowing. With great service and awesome sushi, who can resist? I like the quiet ambiance and seclusion of this resto, I will definitely come back. In total the whole meal supposed to be about $132 for 2 peeps (tax and tips included), so I believe it's not a bad deal at all for Omakase. read more

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Located upstairs at an indescript strip mall, Echigo is a quiet yet delicious sushi joint. Omakase is the way to go and for around $45 a person, you really get your money's worth. You get 1 piece of sushi per round and every single piece is super fresh and yummy. I can't remember everything we ate because I was in a sushi induced stupor, but the highlights were toro, halibut, tuna, yellowtail, butterfish, scallop and the blue crab hand roll. I didn't really care for the baby tuna, but everything else was delightful. It's very quiet in there and service is polite and accommodating. I prefer sushi bar over table just because you get your sushi faster. Definitely a hidden gem if you're in the West LA area. Parking is underground but be careful about scratching your car on the ridiculous spiral going down. read more

To comply with a request for a 'short & breezy' review, here it my 2 cents on this restaurant: Pros: - DELICIOUS. Warm, sweet rice with top quality fish Cons: - $$$ Tips: - Go during their lunch special (M-F: 12p-2p) to get 5 pieces of sushi and 1 blue crab roll for $12. Yum! read more

I've eaten an insane amount of sushi, I love it so damn much my arteries are probably pumping mercury. Years from now, when the oceans are completely depleted of fish - history will label me as a monster. So when it came to Echigo, I really thought long and hard about giving this place one star. It's probably my favorite sushi joint in the world, and I've been to a ton of them - from Tokyo to Buenos Aires - and virtually every spot in LA. And the last thing I want is for the place to get too popular. Luckily for me, though, despite being highly rated on Yelp for the past couple years, Echigo remains reassuringly unnoticed. I can confidently drive over knowing I can get a table without a wait or reservation. Fingers crossed that it keeps staying out of Zagat ... read more

Echigo - Brain Sushi (it's actually shirako) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I rounded down to 2 stars because of the price and service flaws. Perhaps the lunch omakase would be worth it as it is only 2 pieces less for a third the price. With all the 5 star reviews and a reasonable omakase price I thought this would be a good choice. The wait for Sugarfish was about 90 minutes so we checked yelp for other sushi options nearby. Echigo was something I'd bookmarked so we went to check it out. We got there around 8:30 which is kind of close to closing time (9:30pm) so maybe thats why it was so fast-paced. I've never had such an unleisurely sushi bar experience...they certainly werent that busy. I did not realize until we sat down at the sushi bar that this is mostly all pre-cut sushi. Do legit sushi bars do this? I dont even think sushi stop does that. If I wanted pre-cut fish I could pick up a bento at Nijiya. Service overall was not good - I mean they were nice but the younger, non-Japanese sushi chef spoke really fast and was unintelligible. If we asked him to repeat, we still couldn't understand him and if the older Japanese sushi chef didn't repeat it, we would just give up. Plates were not cleared away so we had empty plates stacked next to us much of the time. The appetizer sashimi platter was kinda meh. Not great quality and after the first bite we kinda exchanged oh, crap looks. The sashimi looked like something I cut with a dull knife - scraggly and skinny. The pictures of the fish on yelp looked plump and well sliced. Our pieces were anemic and some were sloppily cut. Half of it was meh, half of it was good, nothing was great. The omakase didn't come with uni. The scallop was not bad but the butterfish had no flavor. I did like the blue crab roll so at least it ended on a good note. I really wish we had just waited for Sugarfish, which would have been better and cheaper or gone to Kiriko. I had omakase at Sasabune a few months ago and it is a similar omakase menu, granted for about $20 more but way better quality, service, and quantity. I'm not sure how this restaurant makes it on so many top sushi in LA lists - maybe we went on an off night, but I say no thanks to pre-cut fish and rushed omakase. read more

Echigo offers OUTSTANDING Omakase...truly the best I have enjoyed anywhere in Los Angeles. If you are looking for sensational, fresh melt-in-your-mouth sushi...Echigo is your place and their sushi chefs and their sushi deliver a 5-Star experience. With that said, you must be aware in advance that a few other factors bring my rating down to 4-stars. If you can appreciate/tolerate the "strip-mall" feel of the location, and the no frills ambiance of the restaurant, and the overly-rushed, mildly friendly staff...then it is a must try! I have tried dozens of sushi restaurants in LA, and Echigo is consistently top on the list - for the food (though it needs other improvements as noted above). Consistent favorites include: Butter Fish Blue Crab Handroll Squid Sashimi Amberjack Halibut Yellowtail Salmon Albacore Great for lunch or dinner...just outstanding sushi. As for the owners/management...try to make the experience feel less rushed, and work on the friendliness, smiles, professionalism and kindness of your staff. read more

This sushi restaurant is a true gem. Traditional omakase style, no frills, no BS mayo-rolls crap. The fish is always excellent. Although the decor may not be the most hip, and the owner/sushi chef the greatest conversationalist the quality of the food is top notch. If you like Sasabune and restaurants of that ilk you will be more than happy here, especially when you get the bill! If you want a quick lunch you will not find an omakase lunch that will come any quicker. I can't say enough about this place. Maybe not for date night, unless you are both foodies and appreciate a find when you see one. read more

Traditional sushi. Simple menu. Rich flavors. $50-90 per person. Our favorites: Fish Liver, Halibut, Egg, Crab Roll One dish at a time. Reset your taste buds between each dish with ginger. Fish are not overly flavored (thus you'll get a true taste of each fish). But the added elements the chefs do use compliment the fish flavors. All meat is tender and well-portioned. Cannot order rice bowl: sushi only. If you are starving, eat a bit before coming hear or plan to eat after, or eat slowly. (Just a suggestion.) If you are used to Americanized or fast-food-type sushi, reset your expectations for this place. Take your time. Look at the dish before you eat. Chew/eat slowly. If you really wanna look pretentious, close your eyes as you taste. Think about the flavors. Cleanse with ginger. Repeat. Of course, I like the quick, Americanized sushi as well. But if you want something special that you can eat slowly (cannot stress this enough) and appreciate, this is an excellent choice. Interior compliments the food: simple and not distracting. Health notes: Probably not the best option for ketogenic options or paleo. Sure you could eat just the fish and not the rice, but you'd have to have amazing willpower since the rice is best part of any fine sushi restaurant. The fish probably have sauces using non-gluten-free soy as well. Nevertheless, if you can come out of ketosis for a bit, this is the place to do it. Absolutely exquisite rice. read more

Echigo - Halibut (I think) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Los Angeles, California

An omakase lunch at Echigo made me really happy. The chef really know how to serve great omakase. The choice of fish was excellent. Sushi rice was perfectly made and served at body temperature. The nigiri were just work of art impeccably crafted and sauced. I love everything he made. The crab meat handroll was phenomenal. How I wish I had time to return for a dinner omakase at his sushi bar. The strip mall location might be unassuming but the restaurant is sparkling clean with a welcoming ambiance. The food is very reasonably priced for this kind of quality. They only serve traditional sushi here. Don't expect any fusion rolls or kitchen food. read more

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Hole in the wall. Food is absolutely delicious and the service is amazing. Definitely would recommend coming!

An amazing place for sushi. It's small, and in a strip mall, but it's sushi the way it was meant to be - don't ask for the American rolls like Philly or California. The lunch omakase for $14 was an amazing deal. Five pieces of sushi and a delicious crab roll (I recommend an extra or two). Warm rice sushi and you can request sashimi, too. Hot tea that was prepared properly, too, and refilled swiftly. Dinner omakase is supposed to be even better. Can't wait to try it again! Toro is pretty cheap here, too. read more

The fact that this place is on my block is very dangerous. Amazing sushi lunch for $15 ($14? Something like that) - 5 pieces of sushi, and a blue crab hand roll. Not the most filling, but does the trick (at least for me). Have also been here for dinner omakase. We also ordered a couple more items than what the chef gave us, and it came out to around $70 a person (including drinks). Definitely a nice night out, but better priced than some other places around here, and the food is great. read more

Best sushi, hands down! It's true, there is no ambience, so if you're looking for a romantic candle lit restaurant, Echigo is not for you. But if you're looking for the best sushi outside of Jiro's subway in Tokyo, this is the spot! I come here as much as possible, the fish is always delicious! The crab hand roll here knocks the sock off Sugarfish's crab hand roll! The albacore is ALWAYS incredible! We often get the omakase at the sushi bar. All the sushi tastes best coming straight from the chef, especially the hand rolls! I do recommend eating the sushi as prepared by the chef, no soy sauce or wasabi added. It's perfect as prepared!! I highly recommend this place if you are interested in great sushi and could care less about ambience. Plus their staff is very friendly and always helpful! read more

Either I'm in a nice mood or I've just been eating at really good places recently, but this place is absolutely awesome! Come here if you: A) like sushi B) don't want teriyaki or tempura C) have some $ to spend on a great meal Went here for lunch and got the lunch special, which was 5 assorted pieces of fish and then a blue crab roll (hand roll). Each of the 5 pieces of sushi were absolutely fantastic and the blue crab roll was just so good. The sushi rice was slightly warm, which was a nice difference. This is the kind of restaurant where it is quality over quantity. So if you've got a craving for fried/garlic cream sauce covered/cut roll/teriyaki boxes, this is most definitely the wrong restaurant. read more

Excellent sushi in every regard. The $45 omakase here is available at the chef's counter only and comes with a 5-piece sashimi starter, 8 pieces of sushi and a blue crab hand roll to round things out. The format is very traditional as far as I know - the sushi chef makes each piece one at a time and serves them in such a fashion. The sashimi atop each piece included much variety ranging from scallop, kanpachi and red snapper to skipjack tuna, maguro toro and halibut. As for the sushi rice itself, it was seriously legit - served warm and exceptionally well seasoned with the perfect amount of vinegar. Suffice it to say, every piece was amazingly fresh and a mouthgasm in its own regard. While others have noted spotty service, I can at least say that the waitress did a nice job taking care of everyone at the counter early in the evening before the place got more packed. The freshness of the fish/shellfish at Echigo and the care taken in making the sushi rice rival the very best I've eaten thus far and actually outdo even the top places I've tried in the Bay Area! read more

I love me some Echigo. Toshi-san does not say much, but he is a true master of his trade. I used to be a regular here until I stopped eating out as much and started cooking more at home. Very fresh nigiri. They bring out one piece at a time - kanpachi, spanish mackerel, halibut fin, uni, ikura (I never liked ikura until I had it here), the list goes on and on. At first, you will think, WHAT!?!? one piece each? I'm gonna need to eat another meal after this meal. However, after the blue crab roll, you will be satiated. Definitely worth a try! Not much ambiance, and the staff could definitely be more attentive. Bring somebody you know and love, not somebody you are trying to impress. read more

Straight sushi bar with only sushi and sashimi. The restaurant required ordering the omakase when sitting at the bar. Our $50 omakase consisted of a previously prepared and very cold albacore sashimi, eight warm rice nigiri (toro, halibut, scallop, bonito, kanpachi, ono, Japanese snapper, butterfish), and one terrific blue crab hand roll. With a wide selection of seafood, we also ordered moon fish, soft cod roe milt, and fun baby squid sashimi. The fish was relatively good, but the presentation was not the most creative. Free underground parking was plentiful. The elevator goes straight to the second floor where the restaurant is located. read more

I went back after about a year for the lunch special ($14), and the pieces were much smaller. The pieces were really thin too. I had to get two of the lunch specials, and i still wasn't really full yet, but i was ok i guess. The lunch special comes w/ 5 pieces of sushi and a blue crab hand roll. My friend i went with came here a couple days ago before at night, and said the pieces of sushi were bigger, but still smaller than when we went last year :(. Tasted great still. read more

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Classic, traditional sushi done pretty fresh and delicious... so if you are looking for crazy type of rolls, this isn't your place. Moderately priced, so if you have a big appetite, you will have a big bill. They have an extensive list of fish, and we ordered a ton of sushi, all sushi is prepped pretty simplistic, with just the amount of rice to fish ratio. The restaurant is on the second floor in a strip plaza, so needless to say this is a no frills establishment and their menu is also very straightforward. My only disappointment is that when they have sweet shrimp, they don't fry the head, but they offered me some miso soup where they used the head to flavor the broth. It was good, but I much preferred the fried (good) stuff. Also, get the blue crab hand roll. It's my fave and not to be missed!! This place is a local gem! read more

the BEST no-frills sushi ever. EVER! i've been here twice while i lived in LA, and now i'm in the bay area and wander from sushi bar to sushi bar trying to find nigiri sushi that even comes CLOSE to the melt-in-your-mouth freshness of echigo, but i am sadly disappointed every time and continue my doomed search. my favorites: albacore nigiri and blue crab hand roll. btw no-frills means no california roll and no teriyaki. i don't think they even have edamame! read more

A restaurant in Santa Monica w/ parking - and if that's not exciting enough - it even has actually really awesome food! This connoisseur in my client's office tells me that the Japanese chef/owner at Echigo, Chef Toshi, used to work for Sushi Sasabune's Chef Nobi, and so this place has some amazing "ancestry". Sorry, I don't recall the names... What I thought was really awesome is that you can go to this spartan joint on the 2nd floor of a Westside strip mall at lunchtime and just have a $12 lunch special where you don't know what you're going to get, and enjoy some really great seafood. All well and good - but remember - I'm a vegetarian, which to me means no seafood either. So, I didn't take the Lunch Special, and instead ordered 3 kappa maki (cucumber roll) from the menu. Now, I've been to a lot of Japanese restaurants in my life, but this place had, by far, the -best- seaweed ever. It was stronger than any of the flimsy seaweed other Japanese restaurants offer. I really liked this place, and not just for the cute waitresses. read more

I'm rather conflicted about this restaurant, as the experience is slightly that of visiting the Soup Nazi. You're confronted immediately upon passing through the doors with a small sign warning that this is a sushi restaurant and does not serve anything else (though the warning seems not to have deterred a couple of vegetarians from complaining that they had nothing to eat in an establishment dedicated to raw fish, so perhaps they have reason for this bluntness). Various rules and admonishments are posted throughout: if you sit at the bar, which is where the hostess will try to seat you, you are limited to the omakase (chef's choice). In that case, you may tell the chef when to cut you off, but you are apparently not given a price list and suggestions for the chef's selection are discouraged. If you sit at a table instead, the menu starts with a warning again that there is no miso soup, no Americanized rolls involving cream cheese, mayo, or unagi sauce. Most of the rolls are temaki or nigiri, not cut rolls.The sushi rice is served warm and slightly more seasoned than is usual, which brings out the flavor of the fish wonderfully but apparently bothers some people. The fish was amazing, each of the 4-5 sushi I had being incredibly flavorful, fresh, and beautifully presented in a minimalist way. For a sushi purist, I would guess that this is a fairly good choice, and I may go back simply for the quality of the food, but the lecturing and condescending tone that comes across is a bit off-putting. read more