Shamshiri Grille

Memorial Monday at 5 p.m. -- odd day and time to choose Middle Eastern food. But hungry for garlic and tabouli I was so I headed out to a cafe my friend Lori had taken to me once. Of course it was closed, but she had also recommended Shamshiri, which was right across the street (on Westwood, near Santa Monica) so I took a chance.

I ordered the chicken shwarma platter with tabouli salad and a glass of chardonnay. Fast and friendly service. My only compliant was that I had to ask for water twice. But the waitress made up for it by explaining to me how to eat the mint, onion, radish and butter platter that was provided. Strangely enough, you put all four of these inside a pita. Quite good. Though I couldn't have enjoyed it as much as the lady next to me who ordered a whole additional red onion and chopped it up for her and the man she was with--wow!

The tabouli was so-so, not better than anything I had bought in a Michigan grocery store. But as I haven't had it in months, it tasted good. The chicken shwarma platter could have served two people -- it will indeed serve me twice and I couldn't even fit all the left-overs in the to go box. It came with grilled onions, orange peppers, and a tomato. The hummus was divine and had some pine nuts on top. I'd never had tahini sauce before, but really enjoyed it. A humungous pile of white and yellow basmati rice. The chicken was good in fits and starts--some pieces were dry and some pieces melted in your mouth. Since there was enough to pick and choose the good pieces, there were no complaints.

Lowdown: I ordered one of the cheapest dinners on the menu -- at $8.95 for two meals worth of food I'm not complaining. (Dinners ranged up to about $20--I can't imagine getting MORE food, so something about them must be better.) Still, I missed the overwhelming garlic sauce from Sunnin--look for a review on that place soon.

California Roll Factory -- knock-your-socks-off rolls

Not to be confused with the California Factory Roll....a great little "dive" sushi bar on Santa Monica and Barry. I've become quite a regular and I've met other regulars. And if you need more proof that you should check it, just drive by on a Friday or Saturday night -- the place is packed before any of the other sushi places on this block. You get great big messy rolls with anything you want. If you can't find something you want on the menu (which is highly unlikely as it is two full pages in 6 point font), you can special order. I've been there at least 10 times, many with the intention of special ordering something just to take advantage of the opportunity and each time finding something interesting on the menu that I try instead.

My favorites:

• Ginger salad
• Tuna sashimi with garlic sauce (if you ask, they'll give you a half order for $6)
• Philadelphia roll (salmon, cream cheese and onion)
• Erika roll (scallops, crab, and something else)
• Yellowtail collar

My new favorites:

• Seared albacore -- absolutely HUGE pieces that melt in your mouth 5 times over
• Chupa Cuba (I knowI got this wrong, but it comes with loads of garlic sauce)
• Lil K (always get it with no spicy, want to try it with cream cheese added)

More favorites--this place just keeps getting better:

• Donut roll (substitute yellow tail for the tuna, you essentially get 4 pieces of yellowtail sushi, some spicy shrimp to pick at, and a bed of rice.) The special sauce accompanies this well.
• Crunchy roll (everyone I know that goes here raves about this, I'm starting to catch on.)

The absolutely low-down: Despite the shared containers ginger and wasabi, you get decent chop sticks. For an added treat, be sure to try something with the "special sauce" -- or just order some on the side. If you're on your own and not REALLY hungry, you might actually have to try to hit the $20 minimum bill for credit cards.

Cinch

This rather pretentious place on Wilshire at 15th was much improved by great conversation. We opted to "go tapas" and I didn't order so pardon the inaccurate descriptions -- spicy tuna roll (way to normal for the atmosphere of this place), a tuna tar tar (yummy, but we had to ask for more chips), something else scrumptious, and a tofu sampler (which I didn't try as there were three vegetarians and one non-meat dish). I think the boys went home hungry, but we drank and talked and had a great time. Despite the snotty attitude of the first waitress, the second seemed willing to let us sit in the dining area for as long as we wanted without ordering much beyond some wine and mohitos. After all, it was a Tuesday night!

The lowdown:

• Would I go back? Not unless someone else was paying.
• Did I have fun? Definitely, but people over place.
• Would I recommend it to you? That depends...Do you like pretentious places? I obviously don't, but can be led to them unknowingly and get the most out of it.

Sit your tushi at Isshin Sushi

If you can brave the teenie-boppers of Westwood and find a parking spot, Isshin Sushi is a great place to get sushi for a great price. Sushi chef “RJ” took his time to put things together--results in slightly slow service, but excellent food. You get what you wait for. Although the resaurant decor may have been better placed in the Denny's next store, the sushi bar was cozy. There is also a covered patio that looked like a nice place to sit. Complimentary treats from the talkative chef make sitting at the sushi bar the best place to be. On this given Saturday there were plenty of seats to go around.

My menu:

Started out with yellow tail (not the best I've had in L.A., but good) and blue fin tuna (very good).

Talked into the live scallops on the promise that they would not squirm around in my mouth, I found a new favorite. RJ made them for me in two different ways: the first one was beautifully presented and absolutely delicious. The second had and a special spice of some sort--it looked a little like the green brains inside of shrimp, but I trusted my chef. Although I enjoyed the first scallop best, getting to try something unique without having to know my sushi well enough to ask for it was quite a treat.

Complimentary tuna jerky was passed to all of those at the sushi bar.

Although the sushi was superb, I was extremely hungry, so I ordered a few rolls to fill myself up. The salmon roll was plain and simple. With 8 small pieces, it was well worth the $4.25. Finally, the filler, a scallop roll—with mayo and a little bit of those orange eggs. I think he may have added just a touch of spicy for me as well (which I’ve never been able to get a sushi chef to do).

Complimentary watermelon slice for dessert.

All of the above with a healthily large glass of white wine; bill total: $35 + tip.

http://www.isshinwestwood.com/pages/roll.html