SO SUSHI BY TAKA & RYO
★★★
Address: 19596 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana.
Information: 818-609-0993, www.sosushi.net.
Cuisine: Japanese.
When: Lunch, Monday through Friday; dinner, every day.
Details: Beer and sake. Reservations essential.
Prices: About $35 per person.
Cards: MC, V.
★★★
Address: 19596 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana.
Information: 818-609-0993, www.sosushi.net.
Cuisine: Japanese.
When: Lunch, Monday through Friday; dinner, every day.
Details: Beer and sake. Reservations essential.
Prices: About $35 per person.
Cards: MC, V.
The first time I tried to go to SO Sushi by Taka & Ryo, I couldn’t get through the door. No, seriously, diners were so backed up, hoping to land a seat in this obsessively popular Tarzana sushi bar, that you quite literally could not get through the door into the largely nonexistent waiting area.
“How long is the wait?” I asked one of the acolytes, trying to work her way in. She said, “I don’t know. We haven’t seen a hostess. We hear there’s a list. We don’t know where it is.”
It was a Sunday night, which is apparently a big night for sushi in Tarzana. Or, at least, a big night at SO Sushi, which has one of the most notable cult following of the dozens of sushi bars along Ventura Boulevard. It has been that way since sushi chefs Taka and Ryo first opened back in 2012, going through SO much detail before they opened, that they claim to have considered 2,000 different names before deciding on “SO” — which is represented by the Chinese character meaning “creative.”
What they also opted for was a notably small space, giving them better control over how much and how fast they have to create their nigiri and specialty rolls. And — bless ’em! — they opted not to go deeply traditional. As in the Nozawa style of No California Rolls, No Spicy Tuna Rolls, No Crunchy Rolls and more. This is a sushi bar that strives to please, to give fans what they crave. Which includes a whole section of riceless sushi rolls, just right for a low-carb diet.
I returned to SO Sushi on a weeknight, early on a weeknight, for as the evening went along, the place filled up, till once again there was a wait to get in. And, as I discovered, since service is very brisk at SO Sushi — the rolls come out at breakneck speed — the wait isn’t necessarily as long as it looks. (You can always go bowling next door to pass the time, I guess.)
Good-sized menu
And though the menu is far from small, it’s not near as encyclopedic as it is at some places or our more over-the-top joints; there’s a place on the Westside that offers more than 100 rolls. Which approaches crazy.
SO Sushi is gracious enough to offer a bit of something for everyone, well-made in every case: superbly crispy soft-shell crab, nicely prepped edamame (both with garlic and without), tofu cold and tofu fried, some of the best pan-fried eggplant in miso, mixed tempura as good as the stuff Nobu makes at the tempura bar at Matsuhisa, but for a lot less lucre. There’s even chicken, beef and salmon teriyaki, for those who go to sushi bars for teriyaki.
But for most of us, there’s sushi, and lots of it. To return to those riceless rolls, wondrous creations, the lead player is called a SO Cupcake (because, well, it looks like a cupcake, made out of your choice of tuna, albacore, salmon or yellowtail — or a mixture of any two — over spicy tuna, crab, avocado and a sliced fish wrap, eight pieces for $14.90 and worth every penny. Do try not to inhale the “cupcakes,” which seem to get better the more you eat. There are a trio of riceless rolls wrapped in thinly sliced tuna as well, variously filled with crab and shrimp tempura, spicy tuna and shrimp tempura, and tuna, salmon and crab. (Do note that sometimes the crab is real, and sometimes imitation. Purists may be offended. The rest of us are too busy eating to think of it much.)
This is how they roll
Beyond that, there are a score of exotic rolls with such exotic names as the Bomb.Com Roll (spicy tuna, spicy shellfish, crab tempura, fish ceviche), the SO Yummy Roll (garlic shrimp atop of a California Roll), and a pair of SO Just Eat Rolls (one with spicy tuna, the other spicy shrimp, and many other ingredients as well).
Of course, there’s traditional nigiri sushi, and elegantly arranged sashimi as well. For those who can’t decide, there are a pair of Roll Lover options, one with three rolls, the other with five rolls, probably best for sharing, though the rolls do travel quite well.
And to wash it all down, there are plenty of cold sakes and Japanese beers. For those who need more, there’s tempura ice cream and tempura banana split for dessert. Though what little bit of purist is left in me, rails at the thought of knocking back all those calories, after a righteously “clean” meal of seafood and vegetables and good tastes at SO Sushi. So, what’s so special about SO? Pretty much everything. Once you get through the door.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Send him email at mreats@aol.com.
SO Sushi By Taka & Ryo
Rating: 3 stars.
Address: 19596 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana.
Information: 818-609-0993, www.sosushi.net.
Cuisine: Japanese.
When: Lunch, Monday through Friday; dinner, every day.
Details: Beer and sake. Reservations essential.
Prices: About $35 per person.
Cards: MC, V.
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