Tsuri

Bro. Don’t remember owners name but we went before they had a liquor license accidentally on the first night my lil brother was in town and we ate like fucking kings thanks to that guy. Toro is his thing so just let him do it. «Rolls» we had were all phenomenal and unconventional. Sexy roll or whichever w the crispy garlic Is the shit. Didn’t have a bite of rice the whole ducking night except for 1 under a fat slab of buttery toro. Which is boss, cut carbs wherever right, bc I felt like 100 after, even tho I’d eaten a ton I felt light. powerful. Anyway, kinda date spotty. I will go back w the bf soon bc I think they got a liquor license now aka u can have a civilized sushi meal lol. Anyway ¹⁰⁄₁₀ pretty much even without a crispy kirin

I like it, nice selection with some interesting specials. Really nice dragon roll and the Salmon and Torro was really great. Shame they didn’t serve alcohol but the license is coming soon they said. So great news!
Looking forward to trying their lunch special.

Sam might be the smartest server ever. He didn’t need to ask if my wife and I were eating here tonight for the first time. All he did was take our order: four rolls. He knew.
It was a tepid order. We needed to be bold. Tsuri isn’t the kind of sushi place where you hide second-​rate cuts of fish inside rice and the same old ingredients. Black Sea Salt and Truffle Oil are good on anything, so why not sashimi? The Hama-​Toro Special and the Hamachi Jalapeño were singular Sam-​recommended delights. The HYE is small, two pieces, but the flavor and texture is phenomenal. Definitely get sashimi (they’re listed under «Tsuri Special»)
We stuck with the sexy roll based on other recommendations here. We were rewarded; soft spicy tuna and garlic chips can coexist!
Finish it off with a scoop of green tea ice cream and you’ve taken advantage of the best sushi restaurant outside Little Tokyo. Congratulations.
More tips: No alcohol (yet) and $ 5 valet parking across the street. Seemed to get busy around 8:30−9.

OMG literally it melted in my mouth!!!
Everything was so fresh and service was fast.
Get the fresh sushi guys! Highly recommended.
Toro was super fresh and uni was just perfect!
They know what they are doing and great atmopshere. It was pretty busy on friday night so come early.
Best sushi in LA —

So as of this writing they do not have a liquor license. No worry for me, but know that now. They expect to have it on June 21.
The food is ok. They definitely are a roll place. The non-​roll dishes, like the crispy sweet onion tuna or yellowtail sashimi were nothing that great. However, the rolls are pretty tasty!
The staff varied. The waitress got confused easily and often did not talk. The waiter was engaging and pleasant, but still always ready to leave the table. Nobody else noticed us, but these two took pretty good care of us. I giggle, as I was trying to order more and the waiter chatted with my friend, then left.
But they also brought over some yummy sesame ice cream. Who knew such tasty treats could occur. Seriously, sesame ice cream– and it was yummy!!! Hahaha.
I didn’t leave hungry.
Parking in the area, well, good luck with that. They do have valet.
So enjoy!!!

Still one of our favorite sushi spots in la! Always great service, consistent, and knowledgeable.
Thank you!

Everything we had was amazing and fresh. Hye, toro medley, and uni were my favs.
Great service and cute, casual ambiance.
Will def go back. My new favorite spot.

Had a beyond confusing dining experience at Tsuri last night.
Came in with a party of 7 and the restaurant was mostly empty. Even though we all ordered at the same time the food came out so sporadically — 2 people ordered tempura but the identical plates came 20 minutes apart from each other. My roll didn’t come out until well after everyone else in my party had finished eating– I sat the entire meal like a sad hungry dork. When my food finally came — the staff was unapologetic but polite and understanding when we requested they remove the roll from the bill.
When it came time to pay the bill I had enough time to pray to every single God in this universe that they would acknowledge my table before I finally had to stand up and wave them over like a lunatic. when the checks arrived– the tip was automatically added which is fine but made a lot of sense considering the lackluster service we received.
The food was good and I would consider ordering to go from Tsuri in the future but highly doubt I will ever be dining in again.

I’ve been to many sushi spots and i must say that this place is is pretty up there.
grab a seat at the bar and get the omakase (chef’s choice) and i guarantee you that you will not be disappointed of you sit in front of CHEF KT! Super talented and super nice guy. He really sequenced our sushi perfectly to where each item had its own best trait stand out. you really don’t need to dip the sushi into soy sauce because Chef KT already made sure that it’s not need (the only exception are to those who need need the burning sensation in your noses -«sinus therapy») i know that some Chefs aren’t really conversational but I love that he checks up on you time to time to make sure that you are enjoying the experience.
UNI! OMGawwwwd– after one piece from the omakase– i had to order it again and then again X) it was euphoric!!!
there is one thing lacking– Tsuri does not have their alcohol license yet. I cannot wait to pair up another great dining experience with some Sake~~!!

Came to Tsuri for dinner to satisfy major sushi cravings. Cute little spot on Melrose that’s versatile and great for date night, dinner with friends, or even a family dinner. We sat at the sushi bar and opted for omakase (2 apps and 10 pieces of sushi)! The sushi chef was sweet enough to sub out certain items for me since I don’t like oysters/​clams/​squid/​that variety. Can’t name each item that we were served but there was a lot of variety and enjoyed everything overall. While it may not compete with some of the top tier sushi places in LA, it was fresh and delicious especially at a very reasonable price point.
The appetizers were surprisingly substantial. BF and I had different apps since mine were subbed, but I had jalapeño yellowtail sashimi for one and spicy tuna on crispy rice for the other. Both were heavenly, with the respective fish fresh and flavorful. The very heavy drizzle of mayo-​based sauce on the spicy tuna crispy rice affirmed that the joint is Korean-​owned (even though I was able to tell from all the Korean being spoken! Haha). The nigiri cuts were all good and fresh enough, but the rice could definitely be improved. It’s a bit on the mushy side.
We also added an order of their specialty HYE nigiri, which is minced yellowtail with truffle oil. So delicious but can be a little mushy compared to the traditional sliced sashimi.
Will be back but next time I will try some of the rolls! They have a huge list of specialty rolls that sound unique and delicious. Super friendly sushi chef and waitress.

Tsuri is a pretty decent sushi place for its price point. They serve both rolls as well as more traditional nigiri, and have an omakase menu for $ 45, about the same as Sugarfish.
The food here tastes good, but it isn’t very authentic. This isn’t a problem at all for the rolls, which are inherently inauthentic and looked amazing. I would come here again to try them for sure.
For the omakase, the major pro is that for the most part, despite some issues, the sushi and appetizers taste good, especially at the price point. I got a delicious oyster in ponzu and wasabi octopus with bluefin tuna for my appetizers, 10 pieces of nigiri which included uni, chu-​toro, and scallop, and snow crab miso soup. The slices of fish were nice and large, and by the end of the meal I was definitely stuffed. My girlfriend isn’t a fan of shellfish or uni, and they were kind enough to substitute multiple items in her omakase for fish.
Some issues though: The fish was very recently frozen, you can even see them thawing frozen fish right behind the counter. Just about all fish, even at the best sushi restaurants, has to be frozen at some point for safety purposes. However, there were still bits of ice in some of the fish I had, especially in the wasabi-​octopus. Not sure if it was deliberate or not, but it was still a bit disconcerting.
The sushi rice is a bit too soft as well, and just a bit off in general. This was especially noticeable in their specialty HYE sushi — The flavor was good, with the taste of truffles, but since it was made with minced fish the texture overall was very mushy.
Finally, the miso soup was surprisingly bland. They were generous with the portions of snow crab, but the soup itself lacked depth. Also, the miso soup was spicy, which is a dead giveaway that this is more of a Korean restaurant than a Japanese one.
On the omakase alone, it’d probably be 3 stars. However, including their rolls and their very attentive service pushes it up to a 4. If you’re not too concerned with authenticity, the rolls, appetizers, and more creative dishes here will definitely be enjoyable. Even for the omakase, the fish quality, price, and quantity were excellent. But if you’re looking for a very authentic sushi experience, there are some other more suitable options in LA.

newly-​crowned favorite sushi spot in LA.
if you’ve read my reviews, you’ll see over 50% are dedicated to 2 types of cuisine — mediterranean and sushi. I’ve broken-​down my sushi into 3 categories;
A) blow-​your-​date-​away-​with-​the-​overpriced-​menu-​that-​serves-​dry ice-​with-​every-​item
B) reasonably priced sushi, perfect for take out, but not a place you’d go on a night out
C) AYCE place, praying they don’t put too much rice, eel sauce, or spicy mayo on your food
Tsuri doesn’t fit into any of these categories. if anything, it has the best of what I mentioned above while creating its own concept. the ambience is nice without being stuffy, definitely a great spot for a first date or a night out with your friends — they’ll be blown away by the food. and while a trip here won’t break the bank, it’s good enough to price out any amateurs. in fact, for the quality of the fish they’re bringing in, it’s a steal. my guess is they’re keeping their prices extremely competitive because they’re new and need the word of mouth.
I happened to find this place a couple weeks ago. my friend and I were literally in the car Unilocaling new spots to try; we were hungry but refusing to go to the same places we always hit. since then, I’ve been back twice. all three trips were incredible. here’s a breakdown of what I’ve had… so far.
1) Chutoro nigiri — medium fatty tuna. rich, buttery, fresh, and super tender. the chef even finished it off with a nigiri sauce like Jiro did on Netflix! I didn’t say it, but I was thinking it…
2) Crunchy onion albacore — seared albacore sashimi with a kick-​ass garlic ponzu sauce, topped with perfectly crispy, fried onion strings.
3) Kirala roll — I’ve never had anything like this. chances are you haven’t either. a roll made of… shishito peppers? yup. I was a little skeptical, but it works. the texture is different, but the spiciness from the peppers is countered by the fresh yellowtail, bonus points for making the truffle oil work.
4) Hye — finely minced yellowtail belly with black garlic truffle and pickled wasabi. just… get it.
5) Baked lobster roll — some purists might sneer at this roll, but it’s one of my favorite things to order. maybe it has to do with the fat kid that lives inside me. unfortunately, each place I’ve tried it is usually a disappointment; too heavy, too little lobster, bland. I’ve probly spent a car insurance payment trying this item out at every new sushi place I go into, but Tsuri nailed it. blue crab california roll topped with langostino lobster in a creamy, oven-​baked dynamite sauce. your non-​sushi eating friends will love it, if you can manage to push them off the chicken teriyaki. you’ll love it too.
6) Salmon sashimi — the staple and litmus test for any good sushi chef. thick cut, fresh, and delicious. even better with the pickled wasabi.
7) Yellowtail jalapeño sashimi — the brainchild of Matushisa Nobu, and done very well here. tuna and jalapeño complement each other perfectly.
8) Blue crab handroll. Blue crab. sweet sushi rice. yummy.
that’s it for now. if you’re still not convinced, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. the staff is nice and super attentive, and Chef David is a class act. if you have a chance, go when it’s slow and sit at the bar — chances are he’ll whip you up something off menu. for us it was Amberjack tuna nigiri that had just come in, and it was amazing. I was too full to order the Toro flight, but after looking at your guys’ pics, I’ll order that first next time!

Store owner Please read this now !
Hello. I’m eating lunch special at Tsuri today.
Please please consider how you guys cook rice.
I ordered chirashi today, and the rice is incredibly mushy for sushi rice. This is extremely disappointing and anyone who loves sushi would not accept this.
Rice is second most important part of sushi. Please fix this asap.

WOW. WOW. WOW!!! I most certainly was not expecting the phenomenal experience I just had.
For such a new sushi place, this HUGE diamond in the rough carries such a big array of the more exotic and premium grade fish. Last night, I got multiple orders of the most dear part of fatty tuna. I have never been served this part of the tuna, ever, bc restaurants never sell or give it away, seriously. Of 100 lbs, maybe 15 is of the richest of the richest belly fat. And I got just that. The marbling on that baby was tear-​jerking. Melting in the mouth doesn’t even explain.
Truly amazing service. The owner, David, is super sociable and offers you sushi to try for kicks. And this is super premium quality fish… KT, my chef, was STELLAR (and such a charmer)! He’s so crafty and super quick. He busted out variations of my favorite fish and did awesome plays of tastes and textures– all while carrying a good conversation and taking care of all the other orders. What a champ.
Tsuri is so unbelievably reasonably priced, I almost don’t believe it. These guys really just love sushi and want you to love it too. I’m telling you, for this quality, other places are charging waaaaaay more; and, trust me, I’ve eaten more than my fair share of sushi from too many places to count, charging fares that make you want to whimper.
Tsuri doesn’t have the fish cases on the bar. I think this is a growing trend and I actually like this bc the glass cases are actually pretty tacky. I like being able to see the chefs work without all the busy clutter or fish being thrown in and out of cases that are see-​through refrigerators-​naw means? Haha sorry…
The servers probably aren’t THE best, but you can tell they’re really trying and want to make sure you have what you need.
Anyhow… My experience here was unbelievable. I ate for three hours. THREE. The only reason I left was because they were closing… This is definitely the place to try to exotic fish that other places charge excessively for. And, most definitely the place to become a regular! Kudos, Tsuri, for a job well done! I’ve found my new go-​to sushi place :)!
What’re all you sushi fanatics (and amateurs) waiting for, go! You won’t regret it!

What a good sushi restaurant on Melrose. Came to Tsuri during lunch hour and wasn’t disappointed on the quality and the cuts of the fish that were served. They have a great lunch menu and for the price. You’ll be leaving the restaurant happy and full.
SUSHI:
Lunch Chirashi Bowl $ 15. This bowl is consist with beautiful cuts of medium fatty toro, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, bonito, spicy tuna, blue crab, and Ikura. With were all fresh and melt in your mouth delicious. One of the better chirashi bowl out there and I do eat a lot of it.
Sushi Lunch Special $ 13. What a deal on this one as well. 5 pcs of nigiri and you can choose either one of the 5 different rolls, or 3 different types of sashimi and 2 different types of sashimi salad. My wife went with the alba abla roll which was fantastic. It had spicy albacore inside and freah albacore outside top with cripsy onions and drizzle with ponzu.
Golden Eye Snapper: Saw this on the menu and had to get this. One of my favorite fish to get. The fish has a fatty texture and just simply melts in your mouth. Perfectly made and no dipping require.
Overall a good place and I’ll be coming back in the near future.

The quality of sushi and price would easily make this place a 4.5 star in my book, but the atmosphere was distasteful enough to knock it down 1.5 stars.
I came here on a weekday lunch with reservations (get those OpenTable points!) but there was really no need for reservations as the restaurant was completely empty except for us. We each got a lunch combination special. I personally got the sushi combo and was very impressed by the quality of sushi — everything was melt-​in-​your-​mouth good.
While the food was good, I was not a fan of the atmosphere at all. The blasting Kpop made you think that you were in a café in Koreatown versus a sushi restaurant on Melrose — it just was not fitting. The owners are also Korean (nothing wrong with that, especially with sushi that good), but they were speaking amongst themselves in Korean about us (the ONLY customers) in an improper/​informal way (basically, if you were at a Korean restaurant, you would never refer to your customers like that, even if it’s among yourselves). It’s a little off-​putting to hear that, especially when we could understand what they were saying. Is this okay since they didn’t treat us directly in such a way? I don’t know.
Anyway, while the sushi was good, I would not return because of the poor atmosphere.

Amazing sushi and service!
We were a group of 10 people and we couldn’t have reserved a better place. This place is super underrated; it seems like not many people know about it but to be honest I’m glad. I’m a little bit selfish with sushi .
We ordered almost everything and the menu, but my favorites were:
1. The jalapeño roll
2. Dragon roll
3. Shrimp head
4. Spicy tuna rice cake
Outstanding service and free ice cream if you check in!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE. (Sorry, exaggerating here…) hahaha
I wanted to have a nice girls night with my friend to talk and drink a little (they don’t serve alcohol) and stumbled into this little joint. We called ahead just in case there was going to be a wait but luckily we got seated right away. The place was pretty small the sushi bar is in the middle like my friend said the bar isn’t high up so it doesn’t intimidate you and it’s almost eye-​level with the chefs so it was an interesting experience.
We ordered the toro medley first. FIRST THINGS FIRST. TORO. TORO. TORO. and… did I mention TORO? hahaha It comes with Tuna, chu-​toro, o-​toro and seared toro… I ALMOST CRIED EATING EACH PIECE. They did an excellent job differentiating the toros. haha You can actually SEE the difference and TASTE the difference.
The HYE was recommended by the chef and I do not regret ordering that what so ever. It was very soft, like a cloud.(in a good way) hahaha
The oyster uni ikura concoction. that’s basically heaven on earth.
Kanpachi was extremely fresh, well they did tell us that was one of THE fresh items at the location.
The staff were very friendly and very accommodating to the customers.
My friend and I enjoyed our dinner even without alcohol haha
I need to come back soon… VERY soon.

Not going to lie that the manager tipped it over to a five-​star rating! The service here was fine, nothing to rave about, but the manager was very amiable. The sushi here is quite delicious and innovative. I am talking about explosive flavors!
— sexy roll: loved the garlic chips and the spicy tuna here
–kirala roll: quite interesting and very flavorful. I am a huge fan of shisito peppers
–HYE: loved the chopped up toro here, but not a fan of the saltiness of the sea salt
–scallop sushi: almost topped of Sugarfish’s. Delicious and lightly flavored
–albacore: never been a fan of this guy, but boyfriend loved it
–spider appetizer: also never liked these bad boys, but boyfriend loved the crunch and the juiciness of the crab.
–oyster shooter: this was fresh and very delicious tasting.
Overall, I can’t wait to come back to enjoy fresh sushi with the fun manager!
***btw, USC won! haha***

My new favorite sushi place in LA! I made a reservation for 7:30pm on Friday and my table was ready for me upon arrival. There’s a lot across the street that is $ 5 with validation.
I ordered the salmon sashimi and it was so fresh! The alba alba roll had generous helpings of albacore and was adorned with a nice light sauce. We also had the bluefin tuna sushi which was also fresh. The sushi chef was very kind and offered us a sashimi dish on the house so we were able to try out another delicious fish.
Tsui doesn’t have a liquor license yet so don’t be surprised when you can’t find the alcohol menu.
Great prices, good portions, and friendly staff!