For the last couple of weeks I have this high rush of sushi craving in my system. Just a couple of days ago I was at Shima Japanese Restaurant for dinner. A great Japanese restaurant with a Zen like ambience, but rather pricey for the sushi that they serve. The food presentation isn't as great as most modern sushi restaurants I have eaten prior, (i.e Ki Sushi in La Jolla). The portions are smaller but as I read in an article recently, in the Japanese culture people would only eat to 80% to their stomach's full capacity. The term for this diet is Hara hachi bu which means “Eat until 80% full (literally, stomach 80%)". This is one of the reasons why Japanese are the one of the healthiest human beings in the world. Photo below was retrieved fro http://www.presentationzen.com.
The only meal I had today was dinner. Ask why? Well I skipped breakfast and lunch due to working with a client in Hollywood and then had to make my way to Brea to consult another. That left me no time for a quick meal and I wasn't in the mood for a quick fixing at the drive-thru. I find myself at Ichiban sushi restaurant in Brea, Ca, the sign outside says celebrating 23yrs in business. So I thought this place must be known for something great. I ordered the shrimp crunchy roll as my appetizer and then I had to custom order an entree that they did not have on the menu which was fish katsu. This was the same dish I ordered at KI Sushi in La Jolla a couple of weeks ago. My first impression of this restaurant was it has a charming personality for being opened for 23 years. As I was eating my edamame, my crunchy roll came out and let me tell you, the food presentation was not what I would expected at a sushi restaurant. This goes the same to my salad, rice, and the fish katsu. The sushi chef had to take my fish katsu from the waitress and set the plate himself or else my waitress would've just given me the 3 pieces of fish in a basket.
As I am sitting there enjoying my dinner trying to stay positive about the place since the food did not look overwhelmingly attractive. It dawned on me that the 23 years of this establishment being in business. It may have contributed to why their food is served in a simple less fancy way. That is when I started to appreciate the place and as customers were walking in, sushi chefs at the sushi bar were very inviting and greeting them by their names. The history of this restaurant may have kept its vintage charm by keeping its personality since the first day it opened. While exiting the restaurant, I looked at one of the walls and it had signed photographs of what seems to be celebrities, sports athletes and public figures. After all this place does have a history, charm and good o'l sushi food.
-Timothy Pham
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