Sasabune is a high-quality sushi restaurant tucked in Glendale, offering a variety of à la carte and omakase options. There are multiple Sasabune locations, but they’re all independently owned. I highly recommend experiencing the omakase, regardless of the tier. It seems like you’re enjoying a few dishes, but I can almost guarantee that you’ll leave the restaurant feeling full.
The Premium Omakase
I had the opportunity to experience the premium omakase menu. The dishes are prepared in a way that you don’t need soy sauce, as each plate already comes with its seasoning – it’s intended to be enjoyed as is.
I had a great premium omakase experience overall – the dishes were prepared nicely, the service was excellent, and I enjoyed the flavors throughout the meal. It is highly recommended that you do a sake pairing. For $200, I think it was worthwhile considering how curated the plates were. It is a bit on the higher end, but for Los Angeles, it’s quite alright.
It is highly recommended that you make a reservation via OpenTable. Otherwise, you can walk in.
It’s not just sushi, but flavors of the ocean.
Don’t we love the happy face? I was a big fan of the abalone.
This is a scallop served with a potato sauce. I am absolutely in love with this presentation – you’re presented with a closed shell. When you open it up, you’re greeted with floral (totally edible) and a giant seared scallop in the middle.
Here, we were presented with a tuna nigiri and ootoro nigiri (fatty tuna). You can taste a world of difference between the two.
The shellfish dish was quite interesting. Grilled mussels, oyster, and a sawagani. Sawagani is a Japanese soft-shell freshwater crab. It’s tiny and deep-fried, so you can literally eat the whole thing. I recommend eating it piece by piece. This was actually my favorite part of the dish.
You can never go wrong with sweet shrimp.
The best part of the sweet shrimp is that its shell is repurposed for a miso soup – served halfway through the meal as a palette cleanser.
The eggs dish – Santa Barbara uni, Hokkaido uni, and ikura. The biggest difference between the Santa Barbara uni and the Hokkaido uni is that the Santa Barbara is sweet, while the Hokkaido is savory (saltier). I’m a bigger fan of of the Hokkaido uni because I’m more of a savory girlie pop.
The Handroll Experience
The best part of the omakase is that you get a tableside handroll experience. The sushi chef will roll the cart to your table and prepare the handroll fresh, which means the nori sheet is as crispy as it could be! How cool is that?
After the meal, we were offered ice cream. Great way to end the omakase experience!
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Sasabune Glendale
101 N Brand Blvd UNIT 220 (3rd floor)
Glendale, CA 91203