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The first time I ever heard about KazuNori was when I interviewed former Top Chef contestant Jamie Lauren. She and her partner Jessica have a business called 2 Jewish Girls, where they serve the best matzo ball soup you’ll ever have.
When I asked Jamie about her favorite restaurants in LA, KazuNori came up. Then, one of my coworkers also happened to mention KazuNori, saying that he really liked it. I was with my family in Little Tokyo but the sushi joints we wanted to try were either closed that day, or opened too late. Because we were craving Japanese food, but something different than sushi, I had a lightbulb moment and we headed over to KazuNori in DTLA.
But before I get into it, here’s a quick intro to KazuNori. It’s operated by the same owners of the famous LA chain Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa: Kazunori Nozawa and his longtime friend Jerry Greenberg. After operating for four decades out of Sushi Nozawa in Studio City, in 2008 they opened their first Sugarfish location, and since then it’s been a domino effect.
With 10 locations in LA, the goal was to make sushi more accessible to Americans. Sugarfish has become a permanent fixture in the LA sushi scene. Walk into any Sugarfish location and you’ll see crowds of people dining in. Don’t even get me started on the crazy wait times for takeout at the La Brea location.
In 2014, Kazunori, Jerry and Tom Nozawa (Kazunori’s son) took on a new business venture and opened the doors of the first Kazunori at their DTLA location. Since then, KazuNori has expanded into 4 different locations across LA: Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, Mid-Wilshire and Westwood. If this was not enough, they also opened another location in NY.
At KazuNori, they truly believe in the experience of savoring the roll and appreciating all the nuances, which is why the hand rolls are served one by one. According to their website, they spent over $50k in order to find a rice cooker that achieved perfection.
This review is for their first and original location in DTLA, which had a more no-frills approach in comparison to their newer locations.
After we sat down, the host gave us a breakdown of the menu. It took me by surprise that their famous cut-rolls that are so omnipresent on Instagram, are only for takeout. But it makes sense since the hand rolls are more delicate and meant to be eaten right away, whereas cut-rolls can be better kept in a container.
When I ate the hand roll, the first thing that struck me was the seaweed. It was crisp and warm. The amalgamation of the warm rice, the freshness of the fish and the rice vinegar made for a perfect sensory experience. My top favorite was the bay scallop. The flavor just oozed everywhere and it didn’t need any added soy sauce.
For the other fish, I loved taking a bite and then dipping the hand roll into the soy sauce. Besides the fish, their signature rice was the best part for me. It was lightly warmed, vinegary and slightly sweet, all designed to enhance the fish and the seaweed. Adding a bit of soy sauce, I got a terrific combination of sweet and savory.
My two other favorite fish were salmon and toro.
They were so good and just like the host said, it was hard to not eat more! My dad, who has never been into handrolls, is now a convert after trying KazuNori. When I heard about KazuNori, I thought, what’s so special about handrolls? But yes, they are that good!
If you’re starving, go for the 6-hand roll set. Even though it doesn’t look like much, the rice will slowly fill you up. Don’t forget to take your time to appreciate all the nuances and flavors of the hand roll.
I’ve never been particularly impressed by Sugarfish, but KazuNori exceeded all my expectations. I can’t wait to go to the other locations. Anyone would think that it would be impossible for a chain to be consistent in all their locations, but after taking a cursory glance at the reviews from different locations, this is exactly what people praise Kazunori for: consistency and quality.
The parking situation at the DTLA location was surprisingly very easy. There’s a parking structure right next door and they only charged us $5 for the whole time we were there, which was over an hour.
Locations: DTLA, Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, Mid Wilshire, Westwood.
Have you been to KazuNori?
