KazuNori by Sushi Nozawa – LA
Billed as "the original hand roll bar," it's exclusive to LA and NYC (for now)
When famed sushi chef Kazunori Nozawa retired in 2012, his restaurant Sushi Nozawa closed, and three new restaurants were born: a premium space called Nozawa Bar, the moderately priced nigiri chain Sugarfish, and “the original hand roll bar” KazuNori, designed to offer rapid service of affordable hand rolls. Eleven years after the first KazuNori opened, there are 11 locations – seven in LA, four in NYC – and the tiniest hint on its website that it may (like Sugarfish) expand to Orange County, where ROL Hand Roll Bar has opened several locations building upon the same concept.
At KazuNori, the menu and experience are stripped down to utter simplicity for the sake of streamlined, tipping-free meals. After you grab a paper menu card and a pencil, then sit at one of the roughly 20 counter seats, you have several choices: order hand rolls and pre-marinated sashmi plates (salmon, shown) a la carte, or in classic Nozawa style, pick a set menu with chef-selected fish. KazuNori offers sets of three ($15), four ($19), five ($24), or six ($28) hand rolls – each identified beforehand – plus a Nozie chef’s special option ($29) with best-of-day picks that chef Nozawa would recommend.
We went with the Nozie, and as is typical of modern Nozawa restaurants, the tube-shaped rolls combined warm, sweet sushi rice and crispy nori paper with cool and perfectly seasoned fish – unmarinated melt-in-mouth toro tuna, sea bream, and juicy lobster – plus grilled eel, mentaiko-sauced ankimo (monkfish liver), and unexpectedly amazing Yamaimo, which combined spicy-salty mentaiko with a fresh, crispy block of raw mountain potato. Additional rolls, including Ko Ika (shiso squid), crab, eel, and salmon, were individually delicious; we could have ordered any of them again.
While ROL has diversified enough to feel distinct from KazuNori, the latter’s unimpeachably high ingredient quality, contrasting temperatures, and decidedly authentic Japanese flavors are worth experiencing. We hope that an Orange County location happens sooner rather than later, but are glad to have LA options fairly close to home.
Stats
Price: $$
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2014
Addresses
3465 W. 6th St. #50
Los Angeles, CA 90020
213.338.2284
421 S. Main St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213.493.6956
Additional locations in LA + NYC
Instagram: @kazunorisushi