Shibumi

Great service! Not so many people. Everything seems to be very smooth. They have a huge list of Japanese whisky. We had sake pairing that worked very well.

An incredible dining experience. Shibumi, to me, is doing some of the most impressive, thoughtful, restrained, and delicious Japanese cooking in all of America. I'm lucky enough to live in the neighborhood and dine at Shibumi semi-regularly. While they made a hard pivot to a prix fixe, tasting menu coming out of the Pandemic (I asked why and they said it was to making ordering ingredients easier to plan for and to ensure they could keep the ingredient sourcing at the highest quality), I've actually, never dined at Shibumi in that way. You see, they actually have a "semi-secret" more approachable, set menu that consists of a protein (I've had olive-fed wagyu beef, wild yellowtail "buri", kurobata pork jowl, etc as examples), a soup (usually using a variation of their incredible house made misos), their house made tsukemono pickles (I've had interesting variations of these like lotus root, radish, turnip - all delicious), and a special koshihikari rice. The meals range from $30-$80 and, to me, are some of the most satisfying I've had in Los Angeles and beyond (rivaling the best I've had in Japan). They are seemingly simple, but confoundingly complex in the way the flavors compliment each other brought about through the deft cooking with the highest quality ingredients. If there is one knock on Shibumi (and this is hard to fault them) I imagine some people come in without looking into the menu, concept, etc and end up having a large prix fixe menu and end up having a mismatch of expectations and end up disappointed in a way. I hope that one day Shibumi can bring back an option for larger, a la carte menu, to let diners, like myself choose exactly what they want the night they dine, but until I will continuing to make my way to Shibumi as often as I can rationalize it to have their incredible little set menus.

Tokyo Bites ? Chef David Schlosser’s Shibumi is an unconventional choice serving set menus that are more izakaya and kaiseiki than seafood-centric omakase most Japanophiles may be familiar I myself was intrigued by the menu’s addition of ‘Chinmi’ translated as rare tastes or small intensely flavored delicacies often paired with sake One of my favorite chinmi is Bonito shuto from Hakone but I was excited to see what would be featured here The set menu or Emperor’s Set started with four chimni served with a small glass of sake: ikura, uni shrimp, miso ginseng, and persimmon The chinmi add-on had four more as well as another pouring of sake : aged scallop, seasoned mushroom, fermented tofu, and finally bottarga or karasumi (salted roe) Appetite stimulated and taste buds awakened, the next five courses continued the feast and included Hokkaido snow crab, seared saba, sashimi Bonito, tempura, and Wagyu Each portion size is modest but by the time the rich and unique desserts arrive, I was completely satiated For many, the style, nature and especially the price point will make this meal a secondary choice but for the right clientele it’s absolutely sublime and I for one appreciated and savored Chef Schlosser’s vision and execution ? Chinmi $40 - rare delicacies, 4 types: aged scallop, seasoned mushroom, fermented tofu, and bottarga or karasumi (salted roe) / Emperor’s Meal $225 per person ~ hassun: fresh ginseng miso, 1 year aged smoked persimmon “hoshigaki,” cured salmon eggs “sujiko” first of the season, Santa Barbara spot prawn served with uni, served with sake / pike mackerel bo-zushi, wrapped in boterra konbu / silky egg with “dancing” maitake mushrooms / tempura - shrimp cake “satsuma age” / sashimi - Japanese bonito “modori katsuo” and 4 year aged “shoyu koji” / grilled sanuki olive wagyu fresh wasabi / green fig, white bean manju rolled with kinako - roasted soybean powder / koji ice cream / roasted green tea ?Shibumi (Los Angeles, CA)

Unfortunately I do not like the food. I was really looking forward to it. If you're looking for Japanese food, please don't come here. I do not consider it is Japanese food. It's more like Asian fusion dishes. Also, maybe they want customers to pair with alcohol, lots the food are very salty. Even the miso soup. Way too salty. We had set c and it is sadly so mediocre. Very disappointed. It is not like hard to swallow bad but everything is only okay or so so. Nothing surprise or good. The combination and balance just off. If I need to rate it, only got C or D grade. Please choose another restaurant. Please save your money. Definitely not worth it. This place is a overrated. We spent $500+. Not acceptable with this price. Definitely overpriced.

The staff were nice and friendly. Service was not great, I expected more. Once they attempted to pick up my bowl when I wasn't finish. For a Michelin star restaurant, I thought they'd be trained better. We also found a small piece of napkin in our drink. The bartender even dropped a bottle of wine or something but the shattering of the glass was enough to scare me. The orientation and presentation of the plates were not consistent. It also seemed like they just doing whatever. The chefs are not Japanese and honestly having seated at the counter and seeing their work, I was not impressed. Finally, the food was just okay. Nothing left a memorial experience to me. If you like pickles, you might have a chance here.

Every time, a pleasant surprise. Superb care in every dish, but not gimmicky. ... A year later, as good or better. Never fails! No small thing: the rice is superb. As good as Tokyo.

I wanted the most was the marijuana tempura, it wasn’t on the menu, after I asked, thankfully they made me one anyways.

I can imagine someone who really hates this place - most likely because of its soft point in service. But Fortune was with us last night, and we had a wonderful dining experience. First thing first, try to be seated at the counter - which is well lit and more importantly, where you can enjoy an all-night performance by Chef Schlosser. We tried the dineLA menu (most of the items seemed to be not on the usual menu) and it was amazing. To start, the octopus had an unusual springy texture, whereas the plum sauce made the sashimi stand out. Next, the veggies were treated with great delicacy and ingenuity, and the two tofu dishes proposed two contrasting and interesting answers to the question of what tofu can be. We really loved both entrees - freshly smoked salmon is rarely offered by any restaurant and I would be missing such a tender texture for a long time; meanwhile, there's nothing much to say about the crispy pork tonkatsu - you won't get filled up with it even if you eat it up. The meal concluded with decent desserts, and before we went, the chef invited us to taste some special items like year-old dried persimmon and ginger. In all, it makes sense to me that this place has been rated Michelin One Star. I would like to add two remarks: One, there was a wonderful collection of traditional plates and bowls, each being quite unique. Two, in my mind, a good Japanese restaurant must serve good rice, but I feel that's not usually the case - fortunately I wasn't disappointed this time.