Kantaro Sushi

Another discovery by my son; Kantaro Sushi. He has never been there but he claimed the reviews were great and it was close to home. They only offered Omakase which is "Chef's Choice". One must  have reservations in order to dine there. This little restaurant is located at a strip mall in Torrance.

We got there shortly before 7:30 p.m. and found the Chef at work. The place had a few tables, not all full and we were greeted and seated by the sole server, a very charming and polite woman. There was a sign that explained what Omakase meant.

We split a large bottle of Asahi Beer, now that I know it is the perfect drink that goes with sushi. Our first course was a plate each of Sashimi. This was the most impressive presentation I have seen. A large Black Snapper with Tuna and Monkfish Liver. My son and I were not fans of the monkfish liver. Both fish were delectable. Our server informed us that later, they would fry the Snapper since half of its meat was still attached to one side.

Our first sushi arrived: Toro from Spain which I absolutely loved. I could have eaten 10 pieces of that alone. The other was also delicious, Amberjack from Japan. The next plate had a piece of Halibut from Korea and Mirugai (giant clam). We were warned by our server not to put any soy sauce on these, just some lemon. We took her advice and we did enjoy them. Then came a plate with my favorite item, Uni from Santa Barbara and another favorite, Ikura, Salmon Roe. My son told me he was not particularly fond of Uni but before I could ask him to hand it over, he ate it!

After my favorites came more wonderful stuff. Mini Chirashi (means scattered) mainly sushi rice with a variety of chopped vegetables and fish. This pretty presentation had a shrimp in it and we were instructed to place the shrimp's head on a little plate. We were then asked if we would want it on our soup later or did we want it fried. The answer was pretty much a no-brainer....FRIED of course. The next course was our old friend the Snapper but this time he was fried. One word; Yummy! Then came another surprise, the shrimp head. I normally do not eat shrimp heads or suck their heads but this was an exception. It was so crunchy and delicious, we both loved it. We were nearing the end, the Hand Rolled Salmon Skin together with Tamago, egg stuffed with apricot. This was very different and interesting but edible. Just as we thought we were done, they served us Miso Soup which was a nice finale following all that food.

Dessert was not exciting for me. Ice cream which was included in the Omakase had only two flavors; Green Tea and Red Bean. I dislike green tea and am not too fond of red bean. This Omakase is an experience and not to be missed, however, there is one drawback. The carpet is quite dirty, its cream color shows all the black spots all over. They really should do something about that. They have been in operation for 27 years and it shows. If you can get passed ignoring this, you'll love this place. For your information, they do have an A from the Health Department.

Kantaro Sushi is located at 1542 W. Carson St. in Torrance, California.