Hamasaku Prepares a Creative California-Japanese Platter

The new Hamasaku in Los Angeles, just west of Century City, is not your normal mini-mall sushi restaurant. True, it is wedged into a corner of a modest mall on the north side of Santa Monica Boulevard. Once inside, the parking lot and the neon outside are all but forgotten. This is a surprisingly smart restaurant, comfortable and serene, without the usual glare. The crowds at the bar and in the two small dining rooms look decidedly well-heeled. Among them, I spot a few famous faces.

The food is billed as California-Japanese, so along with traditional sushi and tempura, you can get the dynamite (this one with shrimp, scallop, mushroom and king crab) or beef carpaccio with smoked tuna sauce, and the house Caesar salad or the ever-popular Chinese chicken salad. There’s an arresting appetizer of meaty Japanese shiitake mushrooms stuffed with a mild chicken mousse with a sweet chile-fired sauce that seems more Thai in inspiration than anything else. Almost everything is splashed with ponzu or some kind of sauce. I think the quality of the fish is such it’s a shame to disguise it with sauce.

The owner is Toshi Kihara, who cooked with Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison and the original Spago. The more creative items appear in “Chef Hiro’s special platter” (for two), which is wonderfully wacky looking. Some of the tastes are delicious; some of the ideas strain for effect, like the organic tomato hollowed out and stuffed with tuna tataki. The menu proposes some interesting-sounding main courses and they’re substantial enough to make dinner all on their own. Especially good is the rack of lamb with a perky salad and miso almond sauce. Still, in the end, what we crave most is sashimi--yellowtail, uni, well-marbled toro, which are all excellent.

Next time I just may try that Iblastini, which is described as a green tea sake martini, and order a menu that’s full-tilt fusion.

BE THERE

Hamasaku, 11043 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 479-7636. Open for dinner Monday through Saturday; for lunch Monday through Friday. Dinner appetizers $5.25 to $14.50; dinner entrees $17 to $21.50.