Restaurant Review #7: Noma, Santa Monica

Noma is a friendly neighborhood sushi place without any Los Angeles pretentiousness. It is clearly popular without being crowded. The sushi menu is pretty basic, and they have quite a few hot dishes for your non-sushi eating friends. No omakase is explicitly offered, and I have not tried requesting one in an attempt to consume something more innovative, but it's probably worth a shot. I am perfectly content to dine here when I just want a lot of basic and almost consistently very good sushi rolls, nigiri, tempura, and miso soup.

The marinated albacore salad is a daily special appetizer that I highly recommend. The combination of flavors in the fresh fish and the ponzu sauce is mouth-watering and addictive. Fortunately, this is a generously sized dish (8 pieces and lots of grated daikon) so you will almost be satisfied (I always crave more). Unlike many albacore salads, it doesn't have any lettuce. I also always enjoy their yellowtail nigiri.

The prices are reasonable and generally a great value considering the high quality of the fish. It should be noted that when I ordered a mixed sashimi plate (which is less expensive than ordering individual pieces of sashimi) the fish was of a notably lesser quality. This is a tragic flaw in an otherwise cherished restaurant. Another drawback is that service is sometimes quite slow if you sit at a table. For fast service, sit at the sushi bar.

On cold nights, green tea is complimentary, refilled often, and much appreciated.

I tried to have a party here but they said they couldn't handle a party of 10 on a Saturday night. The restaurant is big enough for this (maybe we could have had to sit at 2 tables though) so I'm not sure what the problem was. The person I spoke to didn't speak English well, so it was hard to clarify the situation. Maybe they just didn't want to deal with a group that large. Needless to say, I was disappointed, and had to take my party to the much more accommodating but rather pretentious Sushi Roku.

With reasonable prices and a comfortable atmosphere, Noma doesn't have to have the best sushi in town to be an enjoyable meal.

Noma Restaurant
2031 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, California 90403
310-453-4848
Map
Website

On Eating at the Sushi Bar

Eating an interactive meal at the sushi bar is a dining experience unlike any other. In no other situation (that I can afford or have heard of) does the chef prepare custom dishes for you (or tasty morsels of fish, as the case may be), right before your eyes, and then watch you eat them while eagerly anticipating a pleased reaction.

Personally, I find the whole thing to be a bit daunting. For me, eating at the sushi bar is always a catch-22*. On one hand, you have access to the best and freshest fish the restaurant has to offer, including items that may not be on the menu or that you may not have known existed. On the other hand, having the chef stare at you while you eat is not the most relaxing experience. Also, for the budget-conscious, this type of dining is not really an option. Given a menu and a table, I generally spend $30 on a sushi dinner, including tax and tip, so ordering enough of the chef's finest to get full is not much of an option.

Generally, I like to eat at a table in order to have a private conversation, not have my reactions to the food observed, and to know how much my selections are costing me. Sometimes I just want a California roll (or some unexciting equivalent that I am not allergic to), and sitting at the sushi bar makes me too self-conscious to order such a thing. A discussion with a sushi chef at The Hump, whose name was Musumu, revealed that while in Japan they do not generally eat rolls other than cucumber, pickled plum, and tuna, many Japanese visitors to America (and residents, I presume) love all the different varieties of rolls. Lesson: ordering a California roll is not blasphemy in the eyes of all sushi chefs.

My desire to sit at a table and not necessarily eat the most exciting things available may brand me a sushi heretic, but I find the experience more relaxing. Under the right circumstances, though, pulling up a stool at the sushi bar can be quite a treat. I particularly enjoyed my experience at The Hump.


For more on how to enhance your sushi experience:

Escaping the Teriyaki Chicken: Amy's Guide to Sushi Etiquette


Advanced Sushi
This is a link to an excellent article on how to have a great sushi experience. It also contains a guide to sushi etiquette, a list of restaurant recommendations, and a cheat sheet of less common fish offerings for the aspiring sushi aficionado. It's long, but a very worthwhile read.



* A book I am fairly convinced I will never read, having tried and failed twice to get past chapter seven.