If you grew up in West LA, then you have probably been to Hide Sushi at least once. It opened on Sawtelle Blvd in 1979 and has been serving sushi and cooked Japanese food at reasonable prices ever since. Hide has always been cash only and has an ATM machine on the premises. For as long as I have been going there, Hide has had a wait to be seated at dinner. They have a dry erase board for diners to write their name on and hungry customers frequently check the board to see their position in the queue.
I have been going to Hide Sushi for roughly twenty years; I wouldn't eat sushi when I first started going there. They have a parking lot and my family went so frequently that the parking lot attendant would ask about anyone who wasn't with us on that visit, especially my grandmother. So I have an affinity and history with this restaurant.
On a recent visit I opted for the teriyaki and sashimi combination. This came with miso soup,rice, tsukemono (pickled greens) and sunomono (cucumber salad). I opted for the beef teriyaki and the salmon sashimi and added an order of two pieces of inari. The hot soup arrived quickly in a lidded bowl, along with the sides of tsukemono and sunomono. These sides are nothing to get excited about. The beef teriyaki comes with a great version of teriyaki sauce, with just the right element of sweetness. The teriyaki is served with a salad with the traditional ginger salad dressing.
The salmon sashimi was fresh tasting and nicely cut. The number of slices is greater than expected.
The inari (fried bean curd wrapped around sweet rice) look like little footballs. For me, they are a great dessert because of the sweetness, although they are really part of the meal. They are listed on the menu as six to an order, but you can order them in multiples of two.
The salmon sashimi was fresh tasting and nicely cut. The number of slices is greater than expected.
The inari (fried bean curd wrapped around sweet rice) look like little footballs. For me, they are a great dessert because of the sweetness, although they are really part of the meal. They are listed on the menu as six to an order, but you can order them in multiples of two.
If you go, plan on bringing cash. Your party must be complete in order to be seated and expect a wait. They turn the tables quickly so this is not a spot for a long drawn out meal. Their cooked food and sushi is a good value. They have a parking lot with free validation, although it often fills up and street parking can get tough on this stretch of Sawtelle, due to the large number of Japanese restaurants.
Hide Sushi: 2040 Sawtelle (between La Grange & Olympic), West LA. Phone: (310) 477-7274. No website.
Hide Sushi was where I first ate sushi. It was probably 1996 or 1997 and I didn't even know how to use chopsticks yet, so I picked up the nigiri with my hands.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes still do that depending on the spot. I think part of the appeal is that the fish is quality, the price point is right and the interior never changes. Some of the waitresses and busboys have been there since your 1997 visit...
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