L.A. is already full of world-class sushi, but a Los Feliz newcomer is combining some of the city's biggest names both in and out of the sushi-bar scene—so you might have to use some muscle to snag one of its 14 seats.
Sitting along the neighborhood's busy Hollywood Boulevard stretch, Sōgo Roll Bar is a straightforward new hand-roll spot from the forces behind Sherman Oaks gem Sushi Note, who've teamed up with An Eastside Establishment, the brains behind some of the city's most popular bars and restaurants, including Sōgo's new neighbor (and one of the top wine bars in L.A.), Bar Covell.
If you haven't been fortunate enough to witness the care and ease Kiminobu Saito employs to gingerly slice and tightly pack his nigiri, rolls and sashimi inside Sushi Note, now you can find him behind that 14-seat sushi counter at Sōgo and serving up a more streamlined menu of hand-roll combos.
Photograph: Courtesy Sōgo Roll Bar/Ren Fuller
Expect three hand rolls for $14, four for $17, five for $22, and six for $28, scaling from simple salmon, snapper and toro varieties to a set that includes scallop and gravlax. If you prefer to pick and choose, the à la carte options include the likes of lobster, bluefin toro, yellowtail, scallop and more—ranging between $4.50 and $7.50 apiece—with a few sashimi small plates to choose from as well.
The prices and selections are competitive with L.A.'s hand-roll scene, which has seen a number of new additions in the last few months: there's the new KazuNori in Mid-City, the new HRB: The Hand Roll Bar Experience in Downtown and Seaweed Hand Roll Bar in K-town. Still, none of these feature rolls by Saito—nor the rest of the teams who've brought Sōgo to life.
Given the commendable wine program at Sushi Note and the wine prominence of An Eastside Establishment's Dustin Lancaster and Sarah Dietz, we're surprised there's not even a basic program to pair with these surefire-hit hand rolls—but seeing as Sōgo is only launching with lunch service to start, we've got our fingers crossed for the future. In the meantime, we'll be drooling over these rolls and snagging one of those 14 seats.
Photograph: Courtesy Sōgo Roll Bar/Ren Fuller
Photograph: Courtesy Sōgo Roll Bar/Ren Fuller
Sōgo Roll Bar is now open at 4634 Hollywood Blvd, serving lunch from 11am to 3pm. Expect dinner service within the next few weeks.