saito produces sad sushi

Saito's Sushi
4339 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 663-8890

price: $$$
verdict: not worth my time

i'm still on my quest to find a good silverlake sushi joint. saito is not quite in silverlake anymore, but it is close enough. at least half of the battle is won at this point. now if only the tasting part is met as well......

based on some reviews i read, i came here because it sounded promising. it's located in a strip mall next to a donut shop where beck, the singer/songwriter, use to patronize. parking anywhere close to los feliz normally sucks. even with a parking lot, you'd have better odds winning the lottery than finding parking there because a few doors down is a lavanderia and boy does that place get busy. luckily, i found metered parking right outside so keep your eyes peeled for those.

once inside, the decor reminded me of a dorm room. sparse, no style, really small, kind of dark. we opted to sit at the sushi bar where one lonely hipster sat sipping sake. counting him and us, there were only 3 patrons in the restraunt at 7pm. normally, that should be a red flag. but not for me though. i've eaten some crazy shit at some pretty lonesome, dank places before. the real test is the meal itself and i always give every place the benefit of a doubt.

besides, i liked the fact that the sushi chef is japanese. nice man. the sushi is served on warm rice which i don't mind either. what i did mind though is that the meal itself did not warrant the price. we ordered maguro, albacore, live scallop, uni, salmon skin roll, one spicy tuna roll, and one spicy tuna handroll. the quality of the fish were ok, but the kicker was that a lot of the items were either at MP (market price) or over $8 when you can find the same quality elsewhere but for better price points. honestly, i couldn't help but compare this place to komasa for the price and quality of the fish and i mentally kicked myself for not going there instead. damn you yelp!

to add insult to injury, the spicy tuna is pretty nasty too and i LOVE me some spicy tuna. the texture was SO odd. it was like smushed tuna mixed with edible clear elmer's glue (kids, don't try this at home). there was a spicy kick to it, but the kick was not complex. again, it tasted like tuna mixed with chili oil with a squirt of elmer's glue. ick.

anyways, the bill came out to be over $80 for the two of us with tip included. i wouldn't come back, not because it was horrible, but because it was overpriced for ok quality sushi. there's gotta be a komasa twin somewhere near me that doesn't involve downtown parking and little tokyo wait times. where art thou?