SUGARFISH by sushi nozawa

Yum. I’m always more than happy to go to Sugarfish. The fish here melts-​in-​your mouth and all the nigiri is delicious and not too adventurous haha.
Definitely get one of the set meals rather than ordering all a la carte. I usually opt for the TRUST ME then order extra albacore. TRUST ME begins with edamame, tuna poke (very well sauced), two plates of nigiri, followed by two hand rolls (toro and crab). The rice here is warm and pre-​sauced and so delicious! As the name suggests the sushi here has a sweet taste. Some sushi purists or those that dislike sweeter tastes may dislike the sushi here. Although not cheap by any means, Sugarfish is great bang for your buck in the sense that you are getting high quality fish at a reasonable price (especially compared to the high prices of omakase elsewhere).
There is always a wait and they never take reservations. Park on the street or in the lot for a fee.

I am normally a big fan of Sugarfish, but this location was kind of a miss for me :(
I felt suuuuper rushed the whole time as the waitress tried to take my sushi plates before I was even finished with them — I literally had to gulp a few pieces down before they snatched them away! The waitress even seized my edamame plate though I was only 50% through with it.
My friend and I opted for the the dineLA dinner menu at $ 39, and I was not impressed. The only differences between this menu and Trust Me were the sweet shrimp and scallop over the usual halibut and snapper — it may be worth it to pay the extra $ 7 for just those two substitutes; however, the sweet shrimp was really lacking in quality (I also don’t think it was a good idea to save to serve it last), and the sushi/​rice ratio was not in balance today.
I’d say you’d have a better experience getting your 16% service charge’s worth at the Santa Monica and Marina del Rey locations!

Food is great. Line cooks are not focused. They are more interested in telling stories to each other. So food comes out late. We didn’t receive the lobster hand roll, we paid and left.
I know this is a more bang for the buck but unfortunately service has declined and the employees/​staff lack the professionalism to keep the place from looking like a high caliber establishment to a chuckEcheese.
Management needs to tighten the reigns and give the respect that this place deserves.

I was back in LA from New York for just one night so a friend and I of course went to Sugar Fish. The Nozawa Trust Me is hands down better than any deal I’ve found in New York and probably in all of La too. 12 pieces of nigiri, 2 sashimi, 2 hand rolls, and edamame is so much for only $ 40. The fish taste like butter and when we were finished I wanted to order more even though I was stuffed. I’ll be dreaming of Sugar Fish until my next visit back to LA.

What a wonderful night out. First, our server Matthew was incredible. Knew the menu, great personality, and his recommends were great. Now… the food.
Portion size of sushi is healthy and the quality is top. The sushi chefs here got serious game. Favorite was the Albacore belly sushi and salmon, and salmon is not my go to fish for sushi. Great sakes as well and the small, intimate setting is loud but not too loud, hip but not hipster, and the mood is just right for a great dinner.
Worth trying if you are in Santa Monica.

Tiny, dark restaurant with a simple, straightforward menu of fish, rice, sake… maybe a few other things but that’s what I focus on.
At 9pm on a Saturday night the wait was only about 30 minutes for a group of three. Once seated, our awesome server patiently explained how everything worked and our food started hitting the table shortly after orders were taken. The $ 32 «trust me» dinner with about 9 different components was the obvious way to go + a bottle of dry sake. The food reminded me of the sushi I had in Japan, which doesn’t ever happen here in the land of overly sauced, over the top rolls. I love the slightly warm (not hot), loosely packed, perfectly seasoned rice. This was some of the best sushi rice I’ve tasted. The fish was room temp, melt-​in-​your-​mouth quality, smooth, sweet and awesome. They were out of halibut when I visited, so that piece was replaced with a big ol scallop — score. Each bite was delightful. The toro and crab hand rolls wrapped in slightly crunchy seaweed at the end were such a great way to end a fab meal.
The pacing was nice and each dish came out before we could wonder where the next was, and never before we were finished with the first. I didn’t feel like I had to eat more quickly, which I thought was a nice touch. I wish we had an OC location!

I love both the Downtown and Brea Sugar Fish locations. The quality of food is consistent, staff is very friendly, and ambiance is great. The only downside is that you most likely have to wait at least an hour.
For the Brea location, the restaurant is pretty small. Parking lot is right next door, $ 3 with validation. The restaurant has bar seating and table seating. Most people pick one of the 3 options from the menu:
TRUST ME /​LITE (small) $ 19
TRUST ME (medium) $ 27
THE NOZAWA (large) $ 37
These combos come with appetizers (Edamame & tuna sashimi), different types of sushi, and hand rolls. The difference between the combos is how many sushi pieces and different types of fish they give you. I usually get really full from the TRUST ME. But if I’m really hungry, I order these which are a MUST & you will not be disappointed:
–UNAGI
–TORO SUSHI
–ALBACORE BELLY SUSHI
–LOBSTER ROLL
A lot of the sushi pieces come already with the sauce (it tastes like ponzu sauce, which is very tangy, but yummy!). The gratuity is included in the bill.

Given the amazing task of HAVING TO SPEND $ 150 on sushi all in one sitting is like a DREAM COME TRUE TO ME… But if I have to do it at SugarFish, then it’s a slight nightmare…
I knew prior to walking through the doors of this rather popular sushi joint, that their speciality is their rice. Alas, I cannot eat rice… But fiancé and I were gifted with $ 150 so we decided to go in with the MISSION of spending every cent that day.
Fiancé had never been before but when he checked out the menu prior to going, he was totally underwhelmed because of the lack of diversity on their menu… And when we got there and sat down, he immediately asked our server if things can be prepared without rice (he didn’t believe me that they are super SNOOTY when it comes to their fluffy, sticky white stuff… Oh that sounded gross!).
Of course, our server responded EXACTLY how I knew she would: «no, we serve our sushi a specific way here…» In a very very PRETENTIOUS tone of voice. Fiancé wanted to get up and punch her (partly because of her rude demeanor but also because he was actually pretty hangry).
It wound up taking us about an hour and 20 minutes to eat $ 150 worth of sushi. I wound up just ordering the sushi and take the fish off the rice (what a waste of food) and fiancé ordered 5 salmon rolls and a lobster roll, ha ha ha!
When we had $ 25 left to spend, fiancé was about to throw in the towel, but he wound up ordering one more roll, and I once again ordered more eel (the least bland of all the offerings on the menu)… And finally, MISSION COMPLETE… However, I was still hungry! When you don’t fill up on the sticky stuff, you’ve got more room to fill for sure!
Alas, I left hungry while fiancé left feeling as if he wanted to vomit. He should have vomited on our server our of spite, lol!
I will never ever ever go back to ANY SugarFish establishment in or around LA ever again. I made this mistake once before and told myself then that I would never go, but I mean if I HAVE TO spend $ 150, I won’t say no. Ha Ha Ha.
I truly wish we got a gift card for Crazy Rockin” Sushi… THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MONEY WELL SPENT (and the servers there are so appreciative of my food allergies and business… SugarFish servers should take lessons).
PS: the fish was fresh and some was pretty melt in your mouth good, but I cannot look past the snootiness of this restaurant… To raise it one star because of relatively good seafood.

Came here unexpectedly, parking is either lot (validated for $ 5 or $ 8 I forget) or street parking. It’s on La Brea, so it can be pretty hard.
It’s kinda dark inside, it’s good for a date or intimate setting, i guess. Come early for dinner or make reservations?
You can order each sushi a la carte or you can do their pre-​set menu thing. The TRUST ME platter is small, medium or large. I ended up getting the small and ordered some other sushi as a la carte. All the items in the platter is super fresh. I also liked that the items come out in a timely manner, even though it was pretty busy (dinner time), I didn’t have to wait long at all for any of my food items.
Taste is super solid, Im not gonna sit here and talk about how it’s so amazing or so much better than those mom n pop sushi shops all over LA. The cut was fatty and nothing tasted «fishy»; fresh taste indeed though.
Overall, a good place for dinner. That warm rice though, took me like 2 pieces to get used to.

I love this place! It’s amazing! Very fresh & appealing dishes. I always get the Trust Me. Very filling. The reason I have them 4.5 stars is because when I asked for more ponzu sauce, they say ‘No. The chef will not give out more, only what comes with it.”
I think that’s a bit ridiculous, hence why I gave a little less than 5

One of my favorite place! All the employees are the best! Very friendly and professional!

Amazing sushi every single time!
Gets super busy so be prepared to wait if you don’t have a reservation.
Order the Nozawa, its the only way to go

If you’re not fishy about fish, do the right thing and go with the chef’s tasting option. When I visited, I enjoyed a delicate set of sashimi «courses» that was capped by two hand rolls.
Everything was delicious and something you’d expect to find in a hyped sushi restaurant like Sugarfish.
I’m not going to fool anyone by calling myself Mr. Foodie, but I would strongly recommend against drowning anything here in soy sauce — as it will absolutely mask all the flavor of each sauce that compliments these pieces.
Knocking off a star because I was hungry half an hour later (but that’s probably a personal problem).

Sugarfish oh Sugarfish! You know, I had Sugarfish a few years back during DineLA in Calabasas and I wasn’t too impressed with the food but for some reason this time around, I really enjoyed my experience. We came during lunch time but came a slight bit earlier just to avoid the lunch time rush and I’m glad we did. It was empty when we arrived but we started to see the people trickle in during our meal.
So right when we arrived they sat us at our table, which is VERY small for 3 guys, but it was very modern and clean. The hostess/​waitress explained the menu to us and highly suggested we go with the «Nozawa –Trust Me». The other options were the «Trust Me» and the «Trust Me Lite». Depending on how hungry you are, they will suggest the best meal package for you. You’re also able to order a la carter but this makes it a lot easier if you can’t decide on what you want so we decide to take the easy road.
The meal comes out separately like courses to a meal and this is the order ours came in:
Organic Edamame — very salty outer but you can taste the freshness. I had 2 and was ready for the sushi already.
#1 Tuna sashimi — one of my favs. The tuna had a nice creamy texture we couldn’t explain but it was delicious!
#2 albacore (2-​pc) and salmon (2-​pc) — they both were good but I LOVED the albacore. I believe I tasted ponzu sauce in it and it was just the perfect amount to blend together in each bite.
#3 yellowtail (2-​pc), snapper, scallop (2-​pc), halibut –I believe out of this batch, my least fav was the yellowtail. They said the yellowtail had the lemon in it it I twas kind of plain to me. The one I REALLY tasted the lemon in was I believe the halibut or snapper. One of those two knocked our socks off and we couldn’t stop talking about it. Which ever one that was was AMAZING!
#4 toro hand roll — when presented to us, they said to eat right away while crispy. They weren’t lying because it was perfectly warmed and the seaweed was crunchy BUT once it was in your mouth it almost dissolved just leaving you with a seaweed taste and no chewy texture. It was rather unique yet pretty amazing. I’ve never had Toro but they explained it’s the belly fat of the fish. It was pretty good!
#5 blue crab hand roll — I’m a huge fan of blue crab. I get it at every sushi restaurant I go to and I was sold once I knew this was included. It taste the same as anywhere else, but once again, the seaweed did it’s amazing trick of dissolving in my mouth again. I need that seaweed!
So overall, I was highly impressed with the food, the service and the restaurant. The only problem I had was, the ice green tea had this weird like «fishy» taste/​after taste to it and it kind of bothered me a little. While drinking it I mentioned it to my coworkers and they didn’t know what I was talking about until after we left. Later they begin to taste it. I’m not sure if that was suppose to be there or if something was wrong. Next time I’ll just order water but everything else was 100%!! They also add 16% gratuity to all meals which I kind of like; I don’t have to do the math.
Highly recommended!
OOOOO
5 out of 5 Afros

Needing to write an update because Sugarfish really does deserve 5 stars.
Came back on my birthday this year and had a FEAST!!! We ordered almost anything under the sun, along with my complementary Birthday Trust Me.
They are now allowing to substitute another roll for that awful Bluecrab roll.(see previous review below)… WIN! So I opted for another toro.
First time trying scallop. It was a lot better than I expected! Had the halibut, snapper, albacore belly, regular albacore, tuna, & yellowtail. Multiple orders to be exact. and the SAKE!
Like I said, we had a FEAST fit for Japanese Royalty!
Now that is my kind of sushi experience!

This place has quickly become my favorite sushi spot in LA. I prefer this location because the wait time is a little less than the downtown location, but I’ve been to several locations now and the food is delicious, the fish is equally fresh, and service is top notch.
— I always recommend the «Trust Me», you get a good portion of food, the salmon, halibut, and yellowtail are stand outs to me, as well as the toro handroll.
Definitely make this a stop on your food tour through LA.

Honestly I will never understand what the fuzz is all about.
Fish: it’s normal. The cuts are weird, uneven and simply too thick. I ain’t complaining about getting more fish but def not a sushi style.
Rice: warm. Not like body temperature warm but way to warm which makes it taste weird and definitely not traditional.
Wait time: long. If you read my reviews, I’m ok waiting for good food. So you understand why waiting is not worth at this place for me.
Ambiance: clean, simple. Gets a little loud but not too bad.
Price: it’s average. Not too bad for omakase.
Conclusion: I woul only go back if it’s free and after wasting one hour persuading my party to go somewhere else.

I’d seen several Youtuber’s recommend the sushi here and since I was in the area I thought It’ll be interesting to check this place out! Coming from Hawaii, I’d like to think we have pretty tasty seafood, but I was honestly more curious to see how L. A’s matched up.
Let me start off by first saying that this establishment definitely holds themselves to a high standard. I don’t recommend coming if you are extremely hungry, in a rush, or bringing younger kids here if they are picky eaters, nor is this restaurant for large family parties.
The simplicity of the menu is a clear indication that Sugarfish crafts their food with the same passion and techniques you see when you visit a sushi restaurant in Japan. Less is definitely more. The fish was high grade, soft, and melted in my mouth. I had to control myself from eating everything since I was sharing with two other guys. Every bite of their sushi is an experience that you have to savor. Don’t rush. If you’re running late I advise you to eat somewhere else because the sushi here should be appreciated and not overlooked. Everything from preparation to delivery. The timing and execution were on point.
I was pleasantly happy with the service I received here. The staff was very attentive and made sure we were all doing well. When I left i wasn’t full, but I was satisfied. I love that feeling. Highly recommend stopping in here if you’re in the L. A area.

I heard nothing less than amazing things about Sugarfish, so during my California trip I made sure I had time to give this place a try. My sister and I decided to come during lunchtime to beat the dinner rush. It was such a great idea because we were seated immediately (it didn’t last long though). Once we were seated, our waitress greeted us and went over the menu. My sister and I decided to go with the «trust me» option. If you haven’t been here before, the «trust me» option is a preset menu by the chef.
Organic Edamame: the beans were cooked good and nicely seasoned, but it was nothing too special.
Tuna Sashimi: the tuna was fresh and had a great flavor, but it kind of got too salty for me after a couple of bites.
Albacore Sushi (2 pc), Salmon Sushi (2 pc), Yellowtail Sushi (1 pc), Halibut Sushi (1 pc): all the nigri were fresh and didn’t have any fishy taste to it. The ratio between fish and rice were also spot on.
Toro Hand Roll: at first glance, it just looked like a pile of mush wrapped up in seaweed. But after my first bite, I couldn’t stop eating it. The seaweed was a great offset to the mush by giving the hand roll a good crunch.
Blue Crab Hand Roll: I didn’t expect anything amazing, but this hand roll was surprisingly delicious. The crab was moist and full of flavor.
The service here was also spectacular. The food came out in a timely manner and our waitress was very attentive. I also liked that we weren’t rushed and given the time to enjoy our experience. If you don’t opt for the «trust me» option, then I highly recommend you to give their fish a try. You will get nothing less than finest quality.

The rice! The fish! The flavor!
It definitely lived up to my expectation and to all the hype. I thought I wouldn’t be full, but it was so filling. I ordered the ‘trust me’ and my friend ordered the larger one. We ended up sharing the additional 4 rolls that she got so it worked out perfectly.
They were also very accommodating. I had read many reviews beforehand so I knew the blue crab handroll had mayo in it. I do not eat mayo (yuck). I let the server know before I ordered and he told me not a problem– that I could substitute for any of the other handrolls with the exception of the lobster. I ordered the yellowtail.
Everything from the edamame to the ginger and wasabi was delicious and fresh. I cannot wait to go back!
FYI-​I parked in the lot across the little side street. It’s typically $ 7 for valet or $ 3 if you are going to Sugar Fish. Make sure they validate the ticket before you leave. They do not seat you until everyone in your party is present. We got there around 6:15pm on a Thursday and were seated right away.