My husband and I finally tried Tsuji No Hana for the first time last night and really enjoyed ourselves. At 7PM on a Saturday night, there was no wait yet, so we were immediately seated at he sushi bar in front of sushi chef Suzuki. Being a bit of a sushi purist and snob, I was a bit weary that the food might be good since there was no wait. However, at about 8PM when we left, the place was pretty full.
The specials were written up on a chalk board behind the sushi bar and we ended up ordering most of them. We had salmon belly, albacore, red snapper, sea urchin sushi, all which were very good and cost us between $5 and $8 for an order of two generously sized sushi pieces. We even tried the spanish mackerel which is typically prepared cooked and terrible. Here they prepared it raw and it tasted very fresh. The jalapeno yellowtail carpaccio was $15 for about 6 pieces. It was also good but the peppers were a bit overpowering for me. The person dining us tried the oyster shooter which prompted us to do so as well. Quite tasty for only $6. To finish, we had a spicy tuna hand roll and a spicy shrimp hand roll, each for about $6 each.
Overall the food was good and fresh, and reminded us of a lot of the sushi places in Studio City. The best thing about the experience was that Chef Suzuki would steer us away from any selections that weren't good and recommend better choices. I think this makes a huge difference in your dining experience overall at sushi bars. All in all, we paid about $80 for the two of us, and left quite happy. Our favorite sushi place of all time is still Sushi Zo in Palms, but for the price, this place is quite good as a stop-gap close to home while we save up to splurge for Kazo-san's Omakase.
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