Sake House Miro on La Brea (on the same block as the way overrated Umami Burger) is a great izakaya-like sushi joint. It’s centrally located, easy to get to and never too crowded, although a reservation would be recommended if you have a large group of people. They greet you enthusiastically when you come in, and the wooden tables and seats are cozy and inviting. They have a $4.95 special on a huge (100mL) can of Asahi, as well as specials on Sapporo, and plenty of sake, wine, and soju cocktails to choose from. In fact, many people come here for the sake, however the tapas and sushi are awesome too. The garlic butter albacore nigiri ($4.50) is great- definitely order at least two because they come only in pairs. The butter fish is another popular menu item (6.95). Their rolls are pretty standard, but you can never go wrong with a Caterpillar (9.95) or Dragon roll. They also have Korean-style short ribs (10.95), tataki style beef (6.95), and skewers of all varieties (4.50). We ordered the spicy tuna on crispy rice (4.50), believing it would be similar to the beloved baby crispy spicy tuna at Katsu, and unfortunately it was more like eating spicy tuna on a cracker, but the tuna was still delicious. As far as sushi houses go, this place gets my vote for atmosphere. It has that bar-y/izakaya vibe (or a 1960s Tokyo back-alley vibe as they say on their website), which inspired me to order a nice, warm bowl of miso soup and a large beer. The staff are friendly, always right near by to help, and the clientele seem to always be in a celebratory mood. There’s all kinds of weird movie/Star Wars memorabilia adorning the small restaurant. All diners receive complimentary cucumber slices with some kind of amazing tangy dipping sauce. Definitely a regular sushi spot for me.

Sake House Miro
809 S La Brea Ave.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Bored & Hungry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.