RAW DEAL ANOTHER COMBATANT ENTERS THE VALLEY'S SUSHI ARENA - ARMED WITH 99-CENT PIECES.Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic THE SUSHI sushi A Japanese raw fish delicacy that may be a vector for parasites–eg, Anasakis, which often affect sushi made from mackerel caught in early spring Endoscopy Edema, gastritis, erosion Clinical Myalgia, abdominal pain Radiology Thread-like larvae may WARS on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. have a new combatant. We've seen half-price sushi and all-you-can-eat sushi. Now it's 99-cent sushi and you can enjoy it at newcomer Sushi on Time in Woodland Hills. I'm not sure what the name Sushi on Time suggests, at least from a sushi bar Noun 1. sushi bar - a bar where sushi is served bar - a counter where you can obtain food or drink; "he bought a hot dog and a coke at the bar" customer's point of view. That's because the competent sushi chefs here appear to deliver one's sushi requests about as fast as other sushi bars do. Perhaps it means takeout sushi is always ready when you get there. I noticed several people coming in and picking up plastic bags of takeout food during two recent visits. Incidentally, the chef-owners here founded the California Sushi Academy in Venice and promise Sunday sushi-making classes at this location starting Aug. 18. Anyway, as far as the 99-cent deal goes, it means 99 cents per piece, not 99 cents for two pieces. And among those sushi items listed for that price on the restaurant's sushi list are some of sushi-dom's most popular: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, albacore albacore: see tuna. albacore Large oceanic tuna (Thunnus alalunga) that is noted for its fine flesh. The streamlined bodies of these voracious predators are adapted to fast and continuous swimming. , shrimp, eel eel, common name for any fish of the 10 families constituting the order Anguilliformes, and characterized by a long snakelike body covered with minute scales embedded in the skin. , whitefish whitefish: see salmon. whitefish Any of several silvery food fishes (family Salmonidae, or Coregonidae), inhabiting cold northern lakes of Europe, Asia, and North America. , scallop scallop or pecten, marine bivalve mollusk. Like its close relative the oyster, the scallop has no siphons, the mantle being completely open, but it differs from other mollusks in that both mantle edges have a row of steely blue "eyes" and and egg. The price jumps up to $1.75 per piece for squid and octopus; $1.95 for mackerel mackerel, common name for members of the family Scombridae, 60 species of open-sea fishes, including the albacore, bonito, and tuna. They are characterized by deeply forked tails that narrow greatly where they join the body; small finlets behind both the dorsal and ; $2.50 for salmon roe; and $3 for sea urchin sea urchin, spherical-shaped echinoderm with movable spines covering the body. The body wall is a firm, globose shell, or test, made of fused skeletal plates and marked by regularly arranged tubercles to which the movable spines are attached. , giant clam and jumbo scallop. The quality of the sushi here seems to equal the competition's. Generally, it appears to be as fresh as anyone's. And the rectangular-cut slabs look about average in size. Consequently, a total sushi bar experience here pretty much measures up to those that cost quite a bit more. It's really nice to leave any sushi bar these days satisfied with both the food and the bill. At Sushi on Time you can go all out and not spend more than $20 or so per person before tips. That price includes beer or sake. The philosophy here is spelled out on the menu. It suggests that sushi eating has become restrictive in the past 100 years with too many rules and that if you go back to the 17th century in Japan, where sushi was being enjoyed in Edo, which later became Tokyo, it was, as the world's first fast food, more open in its ways and manners. ``We customize, harmonize and specialize in sushi,'' is Sushi on Time's operative slogan. That means No. 1-grade fresh tuna comes forth for the announced low prices. You can be impressed, as I was, with hand or cut rolls of spicy tuna, spicy yellowtail or spicy scallop at $1.99 each. If you prefer soybean soybean, soya bean, or soy pea, leguminous plant (Glycine max, G. soja, or Soja max) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Asia, where it has been paper rather than the usual nori no·ri n. pl. no·ris An edible, dried preparation of red algae of the genus Porphyra. [Japanese.] (seaweed) wrap, it's 50 cents extra. They do cold soba nicely, and the albacore salad ($3.95) comes forth with a generous supply of thickly cut, deliciously moist albacore perched on a mound of baby greens in a piquant dressing. The tiny, one-room cafe features a nine-seat sushi bar and a handful of tables. Service is quick and attentive. But don't expect some of the amenities you get at the higher-priced sushi bars - like hot towels as soon as you're seated and complimentary dessert endings. Which makes a lot of sense when the margin is just a few cents. So let's face it: This is basically good, no-frills sushi eating. And a very thin profit line. But remember, it's war. Even if you're On Time. SUSHI ON TIME Food: Three stars. Service: Three stars Value: Four stars Where: 22140 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills. Hours: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays, from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, for dinner from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sunday. Recommended items: Regular sushi (tuna, yellowtail, albacore), spicy cut or hand rolls (tuna, scallop, yellowtail), albacore salad, eel and avocado roll, cold soba. How much: Regular sushi from 99 cents to $3 per piece, hand or cut rolls from $1.99 to $6.95, most other items under $7. Lunch combination specials $6.25 and $6.95. Beer and wine. Major credit cards. Wine list: Sakes, beers and sonju are the beverages of choice. Reservations: Taken for table dining only. Call (818) 340-6260. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: Chef Yuji Matsumoto, left, slices at Woodland Hills' Sushi On Time, which offers low-priced, delicious rolls, above. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion