I ended up at Shima sort of unplanned because the wait at Gjelina was way too long, but I’m glad that I did because I need to get out of my comfort zone more often. I’ve said plenty of times that I’m a “bad asian” because I don’t like sushi, but my 5 years here in L.A. helped me a little bit in trying it – slowly, but surely. Shima is a quaint little spot, but decorated simply and clean. A few interesting oversized photos on the wall, but the sushi bar is the first thing you notice when you walk in. We sat there – I love being able to see the food being made & I always like open kitchens because to me that means they aren’t hiding anything. I didn’t go upstairs, but they have tables up there – it reminds me of someone’s modern summer home in the mountains or something. Anyway, our waiter was so nice, telling us that everything we asked about was very good – which didn’t really help, but I appreciated how kind he was. The first thing I noticed was the small piece of sage that was tucked into the napkin of the place setting… a very small touch, but appealing to the eyes & nose (the 2 senses you actually eat with first.) I couldn’t stop smelling it while we decided what to order. Anyway – because I’m a little scared of the “real sushi stuff” we ordered black edamame, cucumber salad, the spicy tuna roll, miso black cod, seared ahi tuna & something else with black truffle (I can’t remember!) Everything was really light, tasty, fresh and clean. The dish that I can’t remember I didn’t try, but I did take a piece of the black truffle & ate it with the seared tuna (which was sliced thicker than I normally am OK to try) but I actually had 2 pieces and it was really good. I had never had black edamame before and it has a light buttery taste which was really good – I guess not many other places have that kind so that was a nice treat. Overall a nice spot, it’s not one of the cheapest, but it’s not so expensive that I wouldn’t go back.
*They don’t seem to have a website that I could link to, lo siento!
Shima| 1432 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice | 310.314.0882
