Oishikatta!

Can you really know happiness without tasting amazingly delicious sushi?

I think not. An eloquently cut piece of the freshest fish, glossy with a light coating of shoyu, draped over a dab of freshly ground wasabi and a bed of seasoned sushi rice. How can you eat that and not feel happy? It's impossible.

Hence my current state of sushi bliss...and all thanks to Ikko in Costa Mesa. Their freestyle approach to sushi is one of the best I've had...even compared to Hawaii. I love how their dishes are so thoughtful...from the order that they serve your dishes, to the temperature of the fish to the finishing touches: a sprinkling of sea salt and coarse black pepper, a squeeze of yuzu, a grating of ginger...and did I mention they use blow torches! I love any restaurant that uses power tools.


Tako (octopus suckers) in ponzu with ume. Don't they have an eerie resemblence to the goat eyes Andrew Zimmern ate on Bizarre Foods? They were crunchy and yummy!


Red snapper sashimi with ume-marinated seaweed. Sounds weird...but so yummy! The snapper was so tender, and the seaweed gave the right amount of tang and crunch. Very crisp and clean!

Mackerel sashimi with 3 oils...the red one is from...beets! This was James and my fav dish of the night. The mackerel had a sprinkling of sea salt that melted into the fish, which was incredibly velvety. The oils and aged balsamic were the perfect complements.

Ankimo (monkfish liver) covered in a dashi-flavored sauce with sherry vinegar gelee. Who knew gelee existed outside of Top Chef? The ankimo slices were generous and creamy. If you haven't had ankimo, this is a must-try. It's slightly fishy, but the vinegary gelee helped to off set that.

Orange clam...and orange it is. We ordered this seared, and it had a very light clammy flavor and was pretty meaty. And eating orange food is fun.

Crab and Gorgonzola gratin...seemingly strange. But James and I love cheese, so we had to try this. The gorgonzola was not at all overpowering. This was actually more like a very thick crab chowder. Cheesy goodness.

Nigiri scallop sushi. Very sweet. The gari was also good... sweet and spicy.
Nigiri amaebi (sweet shrimp). James's fav because it's 2 for 1 because the heads are served later. I refused to eat the eggs!

As promised...the other halves to our amaebi bodies. Mine was fried, and James had his in miso soup. James said a clear sign of freshness was the brains being in tact, which he happily gobbled up. I had to fat cancel the brains as well.

Toro 2 ways: raw and seared (with a blow torch, of course!). The sushi chef brushes each piece of fish with their specially seasoned shoyu. The tables are sans shoyu...but don't worry, you don't need it. I liked the raw...call me a purist, but James liked the smoky flavor imparted by the blow torch. Both were fatty and delicious!

Kanpachi (wild amberjack). I believe this is also known as small yellow-tail. It has a firm texture similar to the amaebi.

Last one...finally! Hamachi...one of my fav's. Very fatty and smooth. Look how shiny it is!

Strawberry shaved ice with pineapple/plain swirl yogurt at Milk+Honey at The Camp. And you thought we were full??

I'm pretty sure I spent part of my retirement fund at Ikko tonight, but who says you can't buy (or eat) your way to happiness?