Sushi Enya is one of those many Japanese sushi restaurants that I have always had bookmarked, but have yet to try. After trying it once for my first time, it was so good that I had to come back a second time within a week. Owned by Chef Kimiyasu Enya, Sushi Enya originated in Little Tokyo in DTLA right across from the Japanese Village. Chef Kimiyasu Enya has trained for ten years in Japan before opening up his own restaurant here. The fish is hand picked by the staff at the fish market every day, the rice is polished from brown rice every day and the miso and soy sauce is made fresh every day. The quality and freshness to the fish and food can very well be obvious through the visual presentations of the food as well as the taste and texture of each bite.
You cannot go wrong with nigiri or sushi rolls. They are both good. I have always been a firm believer in appreciating sushi in nigiri form. However, their rolls are so delicately rolled and presented and put together that I was able to appreciate the quality of the fish within the rolls itself. They are not overdressed or over sauced and you can still taste and feel the quality of all the fish within the rolls. Furthermore, these rolls are rolled and cut bite-sized for ease of putting them in the mouth and chewing comfortably. Thus, you can enjoy each piece as a whole without creating a mess!
Salmon Belly, Chu Toro, and Japanese Wagyu.
Each nigiri pair has very fresh and delicate fish slices laid perfectly on Japanese rice. I feel like with this post in particular, I don’t need to describe the texture and taste of each fish. No words can describe better than the pictures itself.
Salmon Belly. Center loin of Scottish Salmon with Yuzu and Soy Sauce.
Chu Toro. Medium loin of Bluefin Tuna, Marinated Soy Sauce.
Japanese Wagyu. Seared premium Japanese Beef sushi.
This was an odd piece of order, but my sister and I really wanted to try their Japanese wagyu. My sister has never tried wagyu before, and I personally wanted to try what a fresh, mostly rare piece of wagyu tasted like in nigiri form. It was delicious, tender, and juicy. Packed with flavors that ooze out into your mouth even before the first bite!
AC Milan and W Dragon rolls.
W. Dragon. Spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, tuna, salmon, yellowtail, sesame, avocado.
Each fish is so fresh and woven perfectly together.
AC Milan. Baked lobster, mayo, tuna, avocado, sesame, Cajun powder.
The baked lobster was very, very, very good. There were generous pieces of lobster that fill up the entire body of the roll itself and you can feel the slight, soft crunch as you chew on each lobster.
Yukizo. Baby baked lobster, mayo, avocado, crab salad, sesame chili oil.
Even the baby baked lobster was delicious! These are my two favorite rolls in my whole lifetime! To make me love eating sushi rolls…. I absolutely love eating here and this is my top 3 Japanese sushi restaurants in the LA region easily now.. The atmosphere and the ambience if semi-casual and elegant, with energetic and cheerful sushi chefs right when you walk in. The lighting is appropriate to allow a somewhat romantic ambience yet ample lighting for good quality photo taking!
I will definitely come back soon to Sushi Enya, but next time, I will try their Pasadena location as this is the only location that offers omakase due to the busy and small location of DTLA. Furthermore…. I go to Japan in two weeks so stay tuned to see many more Japanese blogs in a burst at the end of March!! <3
