Tuesday night I checked out the Nozawa Bar at SugarFish Beverly Hills. 10 seats inside a tiny back room, with 2 chefs and 1 server waiting on you through 2.5 hours of a 20 course omakase meal. I had been wanting to give this place a try, and was excited to have a good reason – a belated birthday gift for my dad, since I missed the actual day while I was in Europe.

Each plate was more beautifully crafted than its predecessor, and in such a small space it we had a courtside seat to watch the chefs create each one. Chef Fuji started us out with some delicious Jellyfish, which I’m pretty sure I’d never had before, and from there things only continued to get better. The Uni was so fresh, the Scallop was one of my favorites, and the Needlefish was something completely new to me and that I’d love to have again. I loved each course that used Shiso Leaf, especially the Codfish Shiso Handroll (not pictured). And the sweet Tamago, with a savory shiso and fish surprise in its center, was the perfect finish to this memorable meal. We were stuffed, so there were no ‘encores’ for us – just a palette cleansing sorbet and green tea.

Chef Fuji took pictures with each of us, 1 with our cameras and 1 with his own so that he could post them all to his Instagram…classic!

Arigato , Chef!!