MATSUDA

I'm currently house sitting for a friend on the Studio City side of Laurel Canyon/ The Hollywood Hills and I was feeling a little penned in. I decided to go get something to eat. Now, in my short 7 months living in LA I've realized that if there is anything Hollywood-ers hate doing it's going over the hill. So, I had no idea what was good in Studio City. Being the certified owner of a fancy android phone i figured I'd just pull up "Places" (an app that comes standard, with the DROID anyway.) I was very near (150 ft ) a sushi retauarant named, MATSUDA (11837 Ventura Boulevard).  In reading the reviews provided i noticed they were mainly praise for their great service, prices and "one of a kind Albacore" role. I am relatively new to sushi and never had I eaten "Albacore" before, but never one to shy away from a new dish i made my way the 150 ft to the right and sat down inside.

ALBACORE

The place looks exactly like every other small sushi restaurant in Southern California. Tucked into a strip mall with a light up sign and alot of windows. There is a sushi bar and about 10 tables. I sat down... and ordered the Lunch combo, Salad, Miso Soup, and two rolls (Albacore Role and Eel Roll) for 12 bucks?! i cant complain... but i wish i had known what i was getting myself into. My salad and soup came out within 2 minutes. They were pretty standard. The salad had some Peanut/ Satay dressing.  The Miso soup was fine... there were 3 or 4 small pieces of Tofu in it. I dont really like Miso Soup so i wasn't sweating it. Dashi just ain't my bag i guess.

SALAD = PEANUT-Y / MISO = DASHI-Y

Just as i finished the salad and had a sip of the Miso my sushi came out. Believe me when i say that the sushi itself looked like... Sushi at any other place...

FARTHEST: ALBACORE

NEAREST: EEL ROLE

Im not sure if it was just because it was lunch but I was severly underwhelmed. I guess i was also paying 13 dollars for all of this so i should really just stop whining. But once a spoiled brat, always a spoiled brat. And to be fair I had been eating at places that were recommended to me by people whose opinion i trust, not ... my droid. But im not going to take a long time on this... The albacore... was weird. I did not like the consistency. For my money the best sushi's are the ones that mix textures and flavors and use the wasabi and ginger to accentuate those tastes. I was using them to cover the taste/ texture and just get it down, i could only finish four pieces of the Albacore. The Eel on the other hand i really liked but an eel roll is pretty hard to screw up. So, i guess the moral of this story is - Never Again.  I wasn't a fan and probably won't go back, unless  extenuating circumstances present themselves ***. So save your money and go buy 10 Chocolate Croissants from Homeboy Bakery.


***I'm clawing myself down Ventura Bouelvard being chased by Zombie Communists in some post apocalyptic future and MATSUDA's "OPEN" sign is glowing in the window