Tune in Tokyo: Irori Japanese Restaurant

Life finds a way of taking over and the next thing you know a month and a half goes by! I’ve had a few dining pleasures - and a few pains – so I’m going to try to do a quick roundup in the next few posts. I’ll start with a to-die-for sushi restaurant I tried recently for the first time.

It has been years since I’ve had a life-altering dining experience but, after eating at Irori Japanese Restaurant, I’m a born again sitting-at-the-sushi-bar lover. Amen! For me, sitting right in front of the chef played second fiddle to the intimacy of dining “a deux” at a table. I didn’t like the idea of sitting next to my dinner companion and bumping elbows with the stranger next to me. But now I get it: the sushi bar has absolutely nothing to do with you — it’s all about the chef and the fish — and both were outstanding at Irori. One of the friends I went with has been friends with the chef for 10-12 years so he knew exactly what to order and how. Everything we received was remarkably fresh, the best cuts of fish and prepared uniquely. We had two types of salmon (white and pink), albacore, yellowtail with jalepeno (to die for), live sweet shrimp (sooo good — just don’t linger on the fact that the thing had a head and was alive a second ago. Chef Masa also served us the shrimp heads deep fried but, nooooo. I gave mine to my friends who loved it.), some other whitefish, a blue crab handroll and a couple other things that I can’t remember now. The scallop dynamite was a great appetizer. If you dine here, be daring. Save the cut rolls and teriyaki chicken for another place. The nigiri, sashimi and chefs are the real stars here.

Two things to note: Irori is easy to miss but it’s around the corner from a Sav-on and next door to a hair salon in the Villa Marina Marketplace. Also, no shoes allowed at this place! Leave them in the little cubby holes upfront. The tables and sushi bar have a cut-out area for your legs and feet to hang down so you’re not sitting cross-legged.  

Irori Japanese Restaurant
4371 Glencoe Ave Ste B-4
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
Phone: (310) 822-3700