Blue Ribbon Sushi Grill - Los Angeles

Had a quick bite here while shopping at the grove. Outside seating is nice on summer days. You get to enjoy the fountain view and train passing by next to you. The food quality is not as great and takes pretty long to arrive. Supermarket quality sashimi and not fresh enough. Overpriced dishes.

The nigiri and sashimi here are definitely of great quality. Their presentation is also of high standards with sushi boats and more. Their place is also well decorated in a japanese style with a modern twist. The price, however, is high in regards to the overall flavors of the food and it is better to make a reservation in advance.

What is most baffling are all the good reviews that I relied on to eat here… Make no mistake—this is not a good restaurant by any stretch of the imagination. The food borders on mediocre to bad and the service was ridiculous. We were enthusiastically seated at 8:40 outside just next to the theater with nice views. The 1st waiter that approached the table handed us an extensive menu and notified us to be aware that the kitchen had a hard close at 9pm and that the entire order had to be in before that. I expressed concern that even if could accomplish that I’d expect the meal to be paced properly. He suggested he fetch the manager. The manager came immediately to assure us that our meal would be paced and we wouldn’t be rushed but had to order by 9… within minutes waiter #2 arrived to tell us he needed our order as it was last call. He was impatient and unable to answer simple menu questions—and when I said that it’s only 8:50 he was clear that he wasn’t walking away without the order. After ordering quite a bit I asked him to put that in but to come back right after as I wanted to read the roll selections and that I would give him that order. He refused and became agitated and answered a couple “roll questions” with a “…and is that it as we have to get this order in?!” He offered up that the “Tiger Roll was the best” and we ordered that! Waiter #3 was a very good waiter—he started by delivering the Miso Soup and the Hamachi sashimi with Serrano peppers. The soup had a layer of grease or fat on top—something rarely seen and the soup was mediocre at best. The hamachi was rather tasteless and the wrong temperature in a nice sauce and was ok (ish). Spoiler alert—that was the highlight of the meal. Then came a sad excuse for Shrimp Tempura—not even up to the standards of the frozen version from Costco served with a white dipping sauce—definitely not fresh cooked. Next came a truly beautiful tray of cut rolls. The Spider Roll was indeed pretty good and the vegetable “futomaki” roll also nice as well as the Japanese pickle and the kampyo maki—a dish that I was pleasantly surprised to find. But all the rolls suffered from the same easily avoidable deficits—cold rice and soft seaweed. Maybe it’s just me, but I expect, (especially at these prices) fresh seaweed and warm rice. The final presentation was equally beautiful but sadly inedible—the sushi. The Salmon was badly cut and “old” (we left 2 pieces uneaten) the Yellow Tail was so poorly and unevenly cut—laced with streaks of fat or tendon that we passed… the tuna was worse than something from 7-11 and I spit out the shrimp. Overall, the worst thing was that all of the sushi had a look and feel and taste of something that was made earlier in the night and refrigerated—like something you’d find in a happy hour buffet of some mediocre hotel’s lounge. Cold gummy somewhat hardened rice. Bad service. Bad food and overpriced. $200+ with no beverage whatsoever. An embarrassment to the original in New York and of no compassion whatsoever. Stay away. It’s terrible. And after about 100 reviews here…. This is my first bad one! It’s sad bc the presentation and hence the photos are so beautiful.

The Blue Ribbon Sushi Was Good But The Outdoor Seating Was Bad Full Of Mosquitoes But The Server Was Nice We Had A Table For 10 People And The Food Was Good The Udon Was Good I Shared With My Brother And The Lemonade Was Fresh And It Was Kinda Worth It?.

Don’t get the truffle fries, such a scam. It’s literally just sprinkles of dry powder that doesn’t even taste like truffle. At least truffle mayo or something…