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 explanation. It’s properly The Bar: Hand Rolls by Seabutter. Seabutter is a trio of sushi bars — one in Westlake Village, one in Laguna Beach, the third in Beverly Hills. Over the years, I’ve heard uni referred to as “seabutter,” though I can’t find it carved in stone online.
Wherever it comes from, it has an elegant ring to it. Though in this case, it does make for a verbose restaurant name. The Bar will do just fine.
Though hand rolls don’t take up the whole menu, they certainly dominate it. There are 24 in total — 13 “Basic” and 11 “Original.” The basics range from cucumber and avocado, to ume shiso (pickled plum), to to-the-point seafood — salmon both spicy and not, yellowtail with the same pair of choices, scallop and blue crab, and spicy tuna crunch — which seems pretty snappy for “basic.”
But then, the originals are even snappier. If you’re a regular in the Land of Sushi Rolls — which can, indeed, be radically over the top — they mostly seem familiar, though often with a twist.
There’s one with truffle-flavored soy and aromatic meiji mushrooms — an exercise in aroma on top of aroma. Another features seared salmon with artichokes and, yes, more truffles. If you feel over truffled, try the seared jumbo scallops with sea urchin. Or perhaps the CUT hand roll (caviar, uni and toro). The Double T is toro and truffle. The USC is uni, seared scallop and caviar. There is no UCLA. My guess is there’s no “L” to go with what could be uni, caviar and avocado.
If you don’t want to bother yourself with having to choose, there are six Set Menus. The $18 three-roll set is a simple, very satisfying option — spicy salmon, spicy tuna and spicy yellowtail The spice in the “spicy” is pretty mild; heat doesn’t overwhelm a very understated threesome.
And, of course, there is more. Though not a lot of more. The four appetizers run to sunomono salad, seaweed salad, an uni shooter in sake, and a “Seabutter Spoon” of toro, uni and red caviar. There are four dishes served sashimi style. And four donburi rice bowls — three with fish, one with wagyu beef.
But really it’s the hand rolls that are dominant — ones that everyone seated at this circular bar are inhaling.
To get back to the image at the beginning, for me this is a high-end hot dog parlor, with a wide assortment of condiments and dogs of many meats. Unlike hot dogs, the temaki satisfies without gorging. It’s a meal that makes you feel you’ve done something good for your body. Which a Dodger Dog or a Pink’s never does.
This is not food to be mindlessly swallowed. These are dishes to think about with every bite.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
The Bar: Hand Rolls by Seabutter
- Rating: 3 stars
- Address: Valley Stores Center Mall, 4383 Tujunga Ave., Studio City
- Information: 818-918-3898, www.thebar.sb
- Cuisine: Japanese Hand Rolls
- When: Lunch and dinner, every day
- Details: Sake and beer; no reservations
- Atmosphere: A single, dramatic, brilliantly conceived and executive round counter — like nothing else in town — with the chefs creating clever and tasty hand rolls right in front of you.
- Prices: About $35 per person
- On the menu: 4 Appetizers ($5-$18), 4 Sashimi ($9-$15), 4 Donburi ($15-$22), 6 Set Menus ($18-$55), 13 “Basic” Hand Rolls ($4.50-$14), 11 “Original” Hand Rolls ($7-$19), 5 Mochi ($3)
- Credit cards: MC, V
- What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.
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