The word in Japanese for hand rolls is “temaki.”
I’ve always thought of temaki as the sushi equivalent of a hot dog. Which is to say: It’s portable. It tastes as good on the go, as it does sitting at a sushi bar. It’s relatively simple to make, and even more simple to eat. Depending on what’s in it, it can be messy. And it gives a lot of satisfaction for not a lot of money.
Temaki is a fun food. And as complex as the ingredients in the hand rolls at The Bar may be, they never lose that edge of mildly silly pleasure.
In a part of the city where sushi bars are as ubiquitous as taco stands in other hoods, The Bar is a happy experience, with food that’s good (and often better than good), served in a setting so unique, your first impulse may be to call friends and have them join you. There’s no bar like The Bar in town.
And I don’t mean that simply in terms of the food. The Bar is only a bar — there are no tables. And it’s not a straight line sushi bar, which is the standard. It’s a circular bar, a score of seats surrounding a phalanx of chefs, all busy spooning rice into a slab of seaweed, then layering on undeniably fresh, generously proportioned amounts of tuna, yellowtail, salmon and the like, along with, perhaps, a smattering of truffle, or uni, or nikkiri sauce (which is sweet soy sauce).
The hand rolls are served one at a time, no matter how many you order, allowing you to luxuriate in the flavors of every culinary twist, turn and subtlety. There’s sake (hot or cold), along with wine or beers. But the selection is small.
This is not a sake bar like Ototo over near Dodger Stadium, with its dozens of options. This is a destination for temaki — happy-making food, served in a happy-making setting. Though it’s easy to eat here in a matter of minutes, the nature of the food made me slow down. I wanted my rolls to last. They were so clean, so simple — I wanted to enjoy every bite.
The full name of the restaurant needs a bit of…
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