I wanted to write this because almost everything I saw before coming here was positive, and I think…read moreprospective diners should have another perspective - especially if you've had traditional omakase before or are very particular about sushi.
We booked through OpenTable the night before and had no trouble getting a Friday-night reservation. Be aware that there is a $100/person cancellation fee. Parking was easy; we found street parking right outside, and the meters ended at 8 PM.
We arrived early and were seated in the lounge while the 5 PM omakase seating finished. The restaurant itself is divided between the lounge and the main dining area.
I started with a beer and was a little surprised by the limited selection. Even the Sapporo was bottled rather than draft. Later I ordered the five-pour sake pairing for $59.
This is where some of the service issues started becoming noticeable. There wasn't much explanation of the sake pairing. I didn't know which pour I was on, what I was drinking, or why it had been selected for the food being served. The first pour was non-alcoholic. At one point when I asked where we were in the pairing, I was told I would receive six pours that evening, but ultimately I received five total. Maybe the intention was one non-alcoholic drink plus five sake pours, but I'm still not sure - and that illustrates the problem.
My wife also had to keep following up on her drink request. Eventually one server brought it, and several minutes later another server arrived with the same drink, apparently unaware that she had already received it.
We were seated directly beside the service station, which also made the meal feel hectic. Restaurants are obviously busy behind the scenes, but part of a special dining experience is that the guest shouldn't constantly feel that chaos.
Several courses into the meal we noticed we haven't even been given a linen napkin. When I asked, they said they had run out of the regular linens and gave me a paper napkin instead. I've honestly never experienced that during a tasting menu before.
The unfortunate part is that the actual food was very good.
There are excellent ingredients here: high-quality fish, Hokkaido scallop, uni, A5 Miyazaki wagyu, fresh wasabi, caviar, etc. Many of the flavors were genuinely delicious, and the presentations were ambitious. But execution matters tremendously with omakase.
My biggest issue was how the nigiri was served. Instead of the chef making each piece and serving it immediately to each individual, he assembled the entire nigiri progression and served all of the pieces at once. By the time the sushi reached us, the rice was already cold. The scallop hand roll had the same problem. It sat long enough that the nori was already soft rather than crisp.
That may sound overly particular to someone who doesn't eat much omakase, but temperature and texture are fundamental parts of sushi. Warm or body-temperature shari paired with cool fish is completely different from eating nigiri that has been sitting on a plate.
We could also see the chef and assistant working directly in front of us, and their coordination didn't feel particularly polished. There were forgotten components and audible corrections. At one point the chef struggled while plating the uni, it fell into another component, and that same piece was ultimately served to us after just witnessing that.
There was another moment where the chef displayed a traditional sharkskin grater for fresh wasabi, but the chef openly joked that he was too lazy to grate it traditionally and used a normal grater instead.
That wouldn't bother me by itself. What struck me was the disconnect. There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on showing diners the Japanese ingredients, specialty tools, premium fish, rice, wagyu, ginger, and wasabi (and how expensive things are). But the deeper elements of omakase - precision, timing, restraint, temperature, pacing, and quiet coordination - weren't operating at the same level.
I've had several omakase experiences in Japan, so perhaps my reference point is different. I'm not expecting a $190 restaurant in Woodland Hills to recreate Ginza. But I don't think things like cold nigiri rice, soggy nori, confused beverage service, missing linen napkins, or disorganized pacing are unreasonable criticisms at this price.
Here's my analogy for Aji Mori as a Formula 1 team. They have the budget and engineering to build a very fast car. The expensive components are there. But the driver and pit crew matter too. You can flaunt how impressive the car is, but if the pit stops and race execution aren't there, you aren't going to win.
Aji Mori has the ingredients to become a good omakase. The flavors and product quality are already there. What it needs now is refinement in execution and service.
I wouldn't rush back for the omakase in its current form, but I'd genuinely reconsider in the future if the execution improves.