Expected to love this place but was disappointed. Went solo on a saturday around 530p, sat at bar. They said something about a big party coming so there was no special omakase that night. I was sad but seeing a nice nigiri selection on the a la carte menu I was still excited. Went with miso soup, cucumber salad. 8 individual nigiri selections incl live scallop, and a red crab roll. First course soup and salad - both great. Then all sushi at once. I know some spots do it this way but when I'm at the bar and spending $10-$30 a piece I prefer to savor one or two at a time. I also like when the chef adds their little touch to each piece - a dash of yuzu, salt, etc. Here all fish arrived plain - unexpected given the pics others have shared here. Fish was high quality, but given the other options in the area I wouldn't go back. The highlight of the meal was actually the waitress -- she was fantastic and on it with the service. read more

Great sushi! Chef Masa is iron chef and has great experience. try omakase. Highly recommended!!

The freshness of the sushi is something that no where else would be able to beat. The restaurant is located inside the Fairmont Miramar Hotel. I went with my friend who is in a wheelchair, and they were so kind and accommodating. They had us seated in the cozy, wheelchair accessible room located next door, and it was such a great experience. The waitress provided us with such great service. Pricey, but excellent quality. read more

Soko Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Santa Monica, California

Soko Sushi is the latest restaurant located inside the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows Ocean/Wilshire in Santa Monica. Limited street and valet parking available. 'Soko,' literally means storeroom in Japanese. Over 2000 years ago, Japanese fisherfolk would wrap their fresh catch with fermented seaweed and salt and store it in darkroom to preserve freshness called 'Narezushi.' This sushi restaurant pays tribute to the Soko but now with refrigeration and advance techniques chef Masa Shimakawa, is skillful and artful in the presentation and quality. The 'Soko logo with the infinity symbol pays tribute to the timeless art of making and enjoying sushi.' This small restaurant has 7 seats inside and 6 seats outside in the hotel lobby corridor. Interior decor mainly features playful art of two faces, which represents the two brothers and fishermen that pays tribute to the fishermen of Narezushi. The menu is very limited and currently only open for dinner. Service was attentive. Mostly ordered Sashimi and Nigiri. Everything ordered was indeed fresh and of high quality, but a tad spendy for the minimalist quantity. The uncomfortable tight seating indoors; it felt like a claustrophobic fish bowl and super busy lobby corridor, no windows or ocean view from inside or the lobby. I am a frequent diner at Nobu Malibu, Matsushisa and Katana and the sushi here at Soko is at par. I do prefer a larger menu selection and the expansive space seating with the unobstructed ocean views. If you can't make it to Nobu Malibu, don't need to dine with an ocean view and want high quality sushi, I recommend the Fairmont Miramar's Soko Sushi! read more

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This is the best sushi place in Santa Monica!! The food was delicious, I loved the twist the chef did, the place is very intimate and you feel like in Tokyo ambience was very nice and fun and the service was great read more

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Top quality fish. I am extremely picky when it comes to sushi and this was a great place. A little pricey but that's to be expected inside of a Fairmont. read more

Plating was nice Food was good Chef's special was a great $90 option.....but cost twice that The sushi portion of the meal was great, the rest was just not up to par read more

I came all the way back here because this roll was possibly the best thing I have ever had, ever. I don't normally care for uni but I like Masa's toro uni roll and ...this incredible thing. Don't sleep on the more bespoke selection of white fish too like engawa. The quality and elegant simplicity of masa's creations are always better than the best. read more

Soko Sushi - Soko Himitsu Roll -toro, uni, ikura, caviar ..gold. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Santa Monica, California

Don't think, just order the omakase. It changes seasonally and is a great value for the quality.

Tiny sushi bar, sushi quality is just OK for LA and very expensive for war you get. You are sitting near the exit area of a hotel so not super appealing. Would rather spend that $ at Matsuhisa. The positives: Good selection of sake and great service. read more

Worst omakase I have EVER had!!!!! The chef seemed uninterested and nothing was nicely sliced, tuna looked like a piece of stew meat. And the bill was NOT equal to the fish. The female server could not have been nicer though. read more

Exceptional in service, freshness of ingredients, and overall presentation. The omakase is pricy af but it is to be experienced at least once. Donna as a waitress brings authentic charisma and kindness. In a sea of good servers in LA she ranks in the top 3 for me. read more

I love this little gem! Tucked away in a corner, off the lobby of The Fairmont hotel in Santa Monica is this sushi boutique with maximum of 20 seats. Chef Masa is back there working hard and creating his magic. I'll be back for more and so should you! read more

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If you book, make sure it's not the communal table. It's literally in the middle of the hotel lobby hallway, directly next to a high-traffic door leading outside. Guests were walking past the entire night, some drunk, while cold gusts of wind hit us every time the door opened. The sushi itself was good but not amazing. Hard to judge when the atmosphere was so poor. I'm sure the experience at the counter is entirely different. read more

The sushi is incredibly great quality and prepared beautifully. However, it is criminally overpriced. $10 for 1 piece of salmon is a bit extreme. The chefs are both incredibly friendly and we had a great experience. Other than the price point, it was a good time. read more

Masu is very skilled and personable. I had a lovely solo omakase here and it was beautifully plated, every bite was absolutely delicious. I appreciate the quality and beauty that went into it. Everyone was nice (the waitress was a little star struck by another guest at the bar with us and very chatty, which stung a little, but It's in a hotel, so...) - Music selection could be fine tuned too, but I'm probably in the 2% of nerdy folks who want a flow with sound. The food was so creative and the art selection fun and modern. The best piece of art is a little hand painted fish across a sign on the furthest right wall though. So detailed and gorgeous! Normally I like Morihiro and this was an enjoyable change of pace. 5 stars! read more

A tiny hidden gem inside the Fairmont in Santa Monica. Worth a visit even if you are not staying at the hotel. The sushi was inventive but authentic. The service was friendly and helpful. I went two nights in a row and had to force myself not to go a third. You will not be disappointed! read more

Decent though not spectacular food, good service but if you don't get a seat at the bar terrible ambiance, in the hallway of a busy noisy hotel by the entrance. read more

If you want a nice sushi dinner I highly recommend sugarfish which is practically next door. This place costs 3x as much: maybe I'm uncultured but it really wasn't a special dinner for what we were paying read more

Quite possibly the worst sushi I've ever had. Still trying to figure out why the fish on the sushi were all tough. This is the first time I couldn't bite a piece of sushi in half, I literally had to stuff the whole piece in my mouth to chew it because it was that tough. Miso soup was terrible,, couldn't finish it. Giving two stars instead of one though because the service was good. read more

Truly exceptional meal! We went to visit Chef Masa and he did not disappoint, everything was beyond delicious! Soko Sushi has a very intimate and authentic atmosphere, centered around your experience with the Chef. I highly suggest doing omakase & letting Chef Masa send out his choice of delicious appetizers, sushi and sashimi. We started our meal with a chilled sesame asparagus salad with cherry tomato and golden pea shoots, so flavorful & refreshing! The perfect start to the meal. Next was ankimo, marinated with seaweed & cucumber, just perfectly prepared! Next was zuke sake or marinated sea trout, I can't remember exactly, but it was so tender and flavorful, the marinade was perfectly salted! I loved the ikura and crunchy mountain yam with it. Then we had the bluefin tuna platter, with different cuts of hon maguro, chu toro and o toro & toro taku roll. We also had a variety of delicious nigiri & sea eel. OMG, everything cut perfectly, so fresh and tender and just melted in your mouth. We finished our meal with two rounds (one wasn't enough after tasting!) of Japanese uni with toro, quail egg & tobiko. The best uni I've ever had & I've had a lot of uni! It was the perfect ending to the meal. The cocktails were great as well, I loved my Negroni, my friends had some tasty sake as well. Thank you Chef Masa and team for a truly exceptional meal, we will be back very soon! read more

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Excellent excellent excellent! This is the best sushi I've had in Los Angeles and by far the best experience at a sushi restaurant. Chef Masa and his crew made it feel as if I were in Japan. This is a spot for genuine sushi lovers. You may think that the food is overpriced but you're paying for quality. This isn't your run-of-the-mill sushi spot, this is the highest quality you can get. What a treat!! read more

Great little sushi spot, really fresh fish, great service. Didn't even know it was there, will be my new go to place!

Soko is Japanese for storeroom and Soko Sushi is a small sushi bar, seating 8 at the Fairmont. It could be intimate but our experience was ruined by another guest who was loudly-- telling long boring stories to no one in particular about other restaurants he ate at. His volume was more appropriate for a hundred person lecture hall than a 10x10 room. Halfway thru the meal, a heavily perfumed woman came in. What could have been quaint and intimate was spoiled by loud and reeking. Okay, on to the food. The Japanese cucumber salad was delicious. They use real wasabi, not horse radishes dyed green like 99% of the sushi bars Most of the sushi was bland and tougher than it should be. A major problem was the o-toro tuna that should melt in your mouth, but was chewy. Obviously, this didn't live up to the hype and wasn't worth the price. The crowd and food at Japanese Sawtelle is better read more

While much of the sushi was good to very good, the whole experience was basically ruined by the check. 4 people eating moderate amounts of sushi, only one toro order, and only two people drinking moderately. Over $500? No way, not for this quality. Save your money and time and go hit somewhere that will achieve the same quality for half the price... read more

Best meal we had in Santa Monica! Unique experience inside the beautiful Fairmont Miramar hotel. I am a sushi lover and this was the BEST sushi I've ever had. read more

Absolutely incredible quality of fish and topping it off with an incredibly friendly group. Our new favorite Santa Monica sushi spot!

Wow, I went there for the first time and was expecting great sushi and the food was beyond my expectations. The fish was so fresh and we had butterfish that just melted. I live in Northern California, but I will definitely fly back down just to eat at Soko Sushi. The service was impeccable and Chef was catering. read more

Second time here. Sushi is so fresh. Excellent quality. Masa the owner and chef so kind and thoughtful. Love the intimate nature.

Everything From Master chef Masa Shimakawa was absolutely amazing. From the fresh Japanese cucumber salad, the yellowtail nigiri, down to the Toro roll!! To any sushi or seafood lover, stop in and experience Master Chef Shimakawa's excellence!! You will not be sorry!!! read more

This is the first time I felt compelled to write a review. Top 5 dining experience of all time for these jaded foodies. The omakase from Chef Masa was thoughtful and masterfully executed and the service from Donna and Brian was first class from start to finish. A real local gem and we can't wait to experience it again. read more

Sooooo good, creative, tasty, and beautifully plated. Sooooo expensive. $300 for two of us. Won't be back, but did enjoy the experience!