Sushi Chitose

I tend to write reviews (the few times i do) when passionate one way or the another. Today is one of those days. Initially I was thinking the sushi was great at this place. And I think it still is. But the action of the service has changed my mind. I was towards the end of my dinner, just ordered an extrA 3 pieces when I was asked if I could move to make room for a group of people coming in. If they were waiting I would understand but they were nowhere in sight. I seemed to be inconveniencing them. Not a very good feeling to have. Felt like they wanted to get rid of me? Could it be because I’m not white or Asian?
I was about to repent on my evaluation. But i have to say they have no honor. They forgot my last order. I may not eat eat it. They may give me stomach poisoning. The sushi kind. I am really afraid they don’t want me around here.

Amazing authentic quality sushi. No trendy rolls hear but sushi prepared expertly, fish that melts in your mouth. The omakase is on point (chef’s selection, $ 45)! Get it every time. Also, the baked black cod is a must have it is the best fish I’ve ever had, we ordered one for each of us… And then more.

This place has some of the best sushi in the South Bay! Delicious, affordable and the staff is very friendly. The first time we came, we sat at the bar after a 15 – 20 min wait and the 2^nd time we couldn’t get in because it was a Saturday night and we didn’t have reservations so definitely make reservations if you want to eat here.

One of the best sushi spots in the South Bay hands down! The freshest and best! I will return here many many times!

Cute little restaurant next to a liquor store in a too-​small-​to-​be-​a-​strip-​mall, with an inevitable fight for a spot in a lot that holds no more than ten people who know how to park. But $ 45 for omakase?!? Count me in!
The appetizers all look great, and we couldn’t resist the Monkfish Liver. Creamy and bile-​acious,
Now check out the first course of omakase. The Hama Oyster is fresh and gigantic! No need for appetizers with this much omakase.
We had a huge assortment, staring with leaner tuna and ranging from beautiful cuts of yellowtail and amberjack to a sweet scallop and fluke with uni.
Just when you think you’re going to burst, you get an amazing blue crab hand roll followed by a really soft sea eel.
The meal finishes with Black Sesame Ice Cream, which you literally have to forcefeed yourself because even the biggest stomach runs out of space!
The ice cream is a standard scoop, but it’s probably the only thing I would describe as standard. The sushi snobs say otherwise, but screw the snobs, Sushi Chitose is a fantastic deal!

Simply put, I was raised in a Japanese community full of Japanese corporate employees, Japanese from Hawaii and mainly authentic Asian food.
This by far is the best Sushi Restaurant in all of the South Bay.
Chef Gen and staff are full on Japanese from the service to the days fresh picks. Love it.
Lastly, not only is this the Best Nigiri rest in South Bay beaches, Chef Gen San is well known in all of LAs Japanese community.
There’s no hype here, you go if you love fresh sushi. Onolicious.

You go because it’s a tremendous value– the usual omakase (which, honestly, just means the same menu for everyone in this case) is superbly priced and for the money, I have absolutely zero complaints. The uni in particular was unexpectedly creative– nom!
That said, quality of the fish isn’t going to blow you away. For $ 45 I’m very pleased, but there’s much better out there if you’re willing to pay for it. Salmon, ahi, and yellowtail were all about as expected at the price, although the deep fried sweet shrimp head (make sure to ask for it deep fried, not as soup) was very, very good.
Service ranged from okay to very, very good over the course of the night, and so long as you remember to make a reservation a few days in advance it’s well worth the visit.

Went here for lunch, not too contemporary or appealing from the outside. Place is small and only one waitress during lunch. Sushi was good, fresh and decent。 Monkfish liver was not as good as most other places I had, way too mild or light so to speak. Aji came out with a bone but that didn’t border me. Overall it’s a great neighborhood sushi joint I can go frequent if around the beach.

I know this place have great reviews, but I’ll give my reasons.
Most non-​Japanese sushi lovers are layman at best. First: too much soy sauce. Second: too much wasabi in the soy sauce (if you put too little or any at all you are eating it wrong also). Then there the special rolls, the ginger, and the way most of us eat. And even if the lovers know their etiquettes, the subtlety of good to great eludes most people; the freshness, the cuts, and the technique.
And since I am a layman at best, the foods are good but price does not equate the taste.

Alright
Insanely good sushi. I’ve had a good amount of sushi on the coast now and this is easily the most authentic down right sushi I have ever had. No ridiculous roles with tons of sauces that mask the flavor, just straight super fresh sushi served by an extremely friendly and polite staff.

Go and ask for HIRO!!! It seems all the sushi chefs are named Hiro there. Specifically ask for «Kuni» that guy is the best.
Traditional sushi and some rolls. This is a great place to go and have some fun and enjoy dinner.

Omakase dinner had great sushi all the fish was fresh and good we didn’t have reservations but got there early at opening 530 and they sat 6 of us. Pretty standard Tuna salmon albacore uni shrimp.

Soooo disappointed. We picked the top tier $ 60.00 a person omakase and it was just meh. Very tiny pieces of fish; the sushi rice kept falling off, which is always a big telltale sign of subpar quality.
Omakase usually has a wide variety of preparations, from fish in different sauces and dressings, hot seafood of some sort etc., in addition to sushi. We got one thing that had some sauce and one small bowl of soup. The rest were very small INDIVIDUAL pieces of OK sushi.
I mentioned to the sushi chef that we didn’t get any toro but would like some. He gave us one piece of toro sushi each and then added it to the bill, on top of the omakase charge!
With one beer and one or two bottles of sparkling water, omakase and an extra charge for toro, the bill was about $ 200, including tip. We left the restaurant hungry.
Chitoise says on their website: «Omakase translates as «putting your trust in the chef,»
Put your trust in a different chef,

A stylish little Japanese Sushi/​Sashimi restaurant that’s right next to a rather plebian liquor store. It’s classy right next to hootchie, but that is neither here nor there because when you enter Chitose, the clean modern/​ancient rectilinear lines dramatically emphasized by the long Sushi bar, warm natural wood paneling, tasteful Hanga/​Japanese woodblock print reproductions possibly by Ando– Hiroshige who was a master of the art in the mid nineteenth century. French Impressionist painters such as Monet decorated his home with Hanga at his home in Giverny while Toulouse Lautrec’s many Moulin Rouge posters have techniques that are reminiscent of Hanga lines & flat colors.
Conversely, there is no noticeable French influence on the food at Chitose. The food on the menu hues closely to the traditional Edomae (eh doh mah eh) Nigiri (née ghee ree) Sushi style. Nigiri meaning grab something by hand. I ordered 4 kinds of Sushi & they come in Ni Kan (two Sushi pieces). When the order came to the table, the Sushi came in the order of Hirame/​Halibut, Kanpachi/​amberjack, Hotate Gai/​scallops, Zuke/​marinated Maguro/​Bluefin tuna.
The Sushi chef had placed them in the order of flavor from light & subtle to more strong & fatty. This kind of nuanced approach to any cuisine is a sign that culinary awareness is going on. Since I like a bit of a spicy gastrique on some of the white meat fish & shellfish, I asked that they be dressed with a smidgen of Yuzu Kosho-​/​Japanese citrus & chile paste that awakens the delicate flavours & adds an earthy citrus scent.
All the Neta (neh tah) or food items placed on top of the Shari/​Sushi rice was quite acceptable in flavor, texture, ‘melting’ properties, but I feel that I have had more IKI (ee kee)/liveliness, vitality at other restaurants such as Imai in Gardena & Mako in Little Tokyo. I felt that the Shari was a bit cold although it doesn’t have to be piping warm. Also even more critical, the rice felt slightly dry & hard as though it were day old rice which I’m sure it was not. The Japanese rice vinegar mixture in the Shari didn’t seem to have a pleasant, Kombu Dashi/​kelp broth perfume as I have witnessed at Imai.
The Asari no Miso Shiru/​clam Miso soup had a nice, positive Miso/​fermented soybean paste flavor that added meaty Umami to the sea flavours imparted by the clams boiled in the Miso soup. The clams were large so their shells peeked out of the surface like being in a marine tide pool. Miso is a source of plant protein & has antibacterial properties so drinking Miso soup has some medicinal qualities. Food as medicine, a very venerable East Asian concept which we Americans are just starting to be aware of.
The Tempura, although it can not obviously compete with the Tempura specialist, Hironoya in Gardena, was pleasantly fried. The outside crust was crispy while the inner section seemed a bit amusingly creamy. There were two shrimp, Kabocha/​Japanese pumpkin, carrot, broccoli.
For a traditional Edomae Sushi restaurant run by ‘authentic’ Japanese, the prices at Chitose are rather moderate. We got away with $ 79 for two people, tax and tip included although the other guest had only 3 orders of the Nigiri Sushi. Service was crisp, functional, efficient by the waitresses, but our waiter seemed far more good natured & quietly hospitable. To me it’s not quite 4 Unilocal stars where I’m a fan, but definitely more than 3 stars…3++ Unilocal stars due to certain idiosyncrasies in the Shari listed above.

I just found my favorite sushi restaurant in South Bay!!! I used to go to OC a lot and Ohshima in Orange has always been my go-​to authentic nigiri sushi restaurant. I’ve been trying to find a sushi place that’s good and has a reasonable pricetag near where I live… and I finally found it! Having dined at so many sushi restaurant in LA, Sushi Chitose is the only restaurant that’s comparable to Ohshima in both quality and price.
My boyfriend and I went on a Saturday night and were seated at the sushi bar right away. We decided to try the $ 45 omakase and we were blown away by how good the sushi were. My favorite was the mackerel. I normally don’t like mackerel because of the fishiness but their mackerel sushi wasn’t fishy at all! It had a great texture and was very delicious. I also loved their scallop, uni, and ankimo appetizer. Lastly, their sesame ice cream dessert was super yum too. I could tell that they used real sesame and not artificial flavoring. The aroma from the sesame was really good and the ice cream was very creamy!
I am so glad I found Sushi Chitose! My bf and I will definitely come back to try their $ 60 omakase!:)

$ 45 omakase is well worth it. I thought it was much better then Kantaro which offers a similar price range. You don’t get as much food but the fish is much fresher and ambience is actually a sushi bar versus diner-​like. We were all more then satisfied at the end of our meal.
Ample parking.

This place is one of my favorite places for sushi. Everything here is amazing. The fish is so fresh that it practically melts in your mouth. I’ve gotten their omakase before which is very good. Their scallop sushi is the best piece of sushi I’ve ever had. This place is small, intimate and kind of hidden away but a must try. It looks like a whole in the wall kind of place so you wouldn’t think twice about trying it, but it is by far one of the best places I’ve eaten.
It’s also very reasonably priced. I would for sure be a regular at this spot if I was looking to have some good sushi. I cannot say enough good things about this place. Once again I highly recommend trying the scallop sushi. You will not be disappointed here.
Overall this is a must try place!!!

Had the Omakase and forgot to ask for the premium, but for what it was, it was a good tasting menu. One of my favorites of on this menu was the scallop sushi which was really fresh and sweet. Another must try is the black sesame ice cream!
Everything here always tastes fresh and delicious. One of my new favorite sushi spots.
Would definitely recommend for a date night… and don’t forget to ask for premium like I did!

The sushi is really fresh. Chefs and waiters are friendly.
My friend and I sat at the sushi bar and pretty much let the chef take charge. He suggested what we should try and how to eat it exactly.
Everything was really good. It’s definitely pricey though but you get what you pay for.
It’s a pretty small place but it’s nice and cozy.
I would def recommend this place.

I came here to try their Omakase meal. It was $ 45 per person for the basic and $ 60 for premium. You get about 14 pieces of sushi, miso soup with shrimp head, tamago, and end your omakase experience with the black sesame ice cream. I would recommend that you come here really early or get reservations in advance, it can get packed really quick! We sat at the bar area because it was better lighting and we could get to see the sushi chefs at work! The service was really good, no complaints. The fish was really fresh! The pieces we got in order were…
–Hama hama oyster
–Tuna
–Yellowtail
–Salmon
–Red Snapper
–Amber jack
–Shima aji
–Sweet Shrimp
–Scallop
–Roe
–Blue crab handroll
–Uni
–Unagi
So many different types of fish we got to try. I loved every piece! I was glad I was able to try different types of fishes that I’ve never tried before! What a great first experience for omakase and not to mention what a great deal! I highly recommend this place to try omakase!
PS free parking lot!