Like Jonathan Gold, I’m entranced by ethnic restaurants that are like one finds in their native countries. They are hard to find. On the West Side, only Sichuan Impressions is anything like a real Chinese restaurant. And in spite of dozens of sushi bars in Santa Monica, only The Brothers makes one that feels like back home in Japan.
Now things have changed for Santa Monica, and an authentic Japanese izakaya has opened up near 5th and Wilshire — Shirubē ("broth by the sea?"). An izakaya is a Japanese drinking house, which means it serves a number of small plates to share while you drink lots of alcoholic beverages.
As many of you know, I was raised by Japanese people and my kids speak Japanese partly because we had a Japanese housekeeper when they were growing up, and partly because Spencer lived in Tokyo for 12 years and then taught Japanese literature here; and Matt, my oldest child, is married to a woman from Tokyo.
Needless to say, everyone in my family was excited to find Shirubē, to schmooze with the Japanese staff (many of whom don’t speak English) and Spencer was excited to discover that this restaurant is part of a chain in which the original was in his neighborhood when he lived in Tokyo, and was one of his favorite hang outs.
The four of us had an exceptional meal there (at about $60 a person) which started off with their $40 sashimi plate (there is also one at $80) which was an A+. Then we moved on to the duck breast, with braised green onion, Yuzu soy sauce, and togarashi (spicy red pepper sauce). Translating these sides doesn’t help, you have to taste them. The next dish, smoked black cod with shishito Japanese peppers, potatoes, and tomato confit, was truly a gourmet dish.
We then passed around a Kinoko Udon, a large bowl of wonderful noodles with mushrooms, enough for four of us. Finally we had the wagyu steak, with roasted potatoes on the side. One order was enough for each of us to have a few pieces of the rich beef cooked on the rare side of medium rare.
It was a delightful dinner, the service and the sake were excellent, and we had a really good time. We strongly recommend it. Since it gets pretty crowded, if you can get the private room (for 6) it’s a good idea.
Shirubē Santa Monica
424 Wilshire Blvd, 90401
(310) 393-2533
Merv Hecht’s latest book “The Instant Wine Connoisseur” is available on Amazon.
