Sushi Karen Japanese - Culver City

Sushi Karen is a wonderful small sushi restaurant. I didn't even know it was in the area as if is easy to miss off the busy street of Washington blvd. We were glad to stumble upon this sushi spot The sashimi is fresh so don't skimp out on the nigiri. The Spanish mackerel, tuna, uni, and kanpachi were all fresh and tasty. The scallop was also sweet and delicious. The sushi lunch combo is also quite filling.

I am a very snobbish person when it comes to sushi but all in all this is a pretty uninspired joint full of uninspiring things. Fine place, nice people, classic mid level sushi joint. The nigiri is fine, but I don't love their rice, it's cold and blah, the lunch specials are fine, nothing to blow you away. I had their jalapeño yellowtail once, they cut the jalapeño too thick. The uni is always Santa Barbara's best, but you pay a premium. I think 20 bucks for 2 pieces of nigiri. If you are feeling uninspired this could be your spot. The better option is the awesome Uzumaki.

Went here because of the great reviews. I got there early and perhaps things weren't quite rolling. If I lived in the neighborhood I might walk here for a sushi fix but I don't feel it is worth going out of your way to get there. Fish was solid, but not OMG gotta go here. Place was clean and service was perfectly fine. As I insinuated above, if you are already in the neighborhood and hungry for sushi, go there.

The staff were very nice and there is a neighborhood you can park behind to save on parking fees. However, I thought the sushi was pretty normal, nothing crazy to go out of your way for. If you're in the neighborhood or on a lunch break, definitely perfect for your sushi fix. Prices were regular and they have to-go available. Very fast, like 10 minutes. A nice small restaurant that is a bit of a hole-in-the-wall. Very low key and cozy.

Service here was whack!! First of all, there was only one server while this sushi restaurant is small, she was scatterbrained, loud, and obnoxious. When the server came we had already filled out the little sushi sheet, we handed it to her and asked her for some hot sake. About half an hour later we finally got our hot sake and then she asked us if we were ready to order, I reminded her about the paper we had already filled out and she said they were working on it. Right after I watched her hand it to one of the sushi chefs. She must have forgot. Also, maybe I've been spoiled, but our hot sake came in a hot glass bottle with the twist top still sealed and a towel held by a rubber band around it to keep from burning our hands along with two IKEA shot glasses. I've never seen sake be served so ghetto. Can I get a legit sake set please? Anyhow, the server continued to race around and yell around the dining room and then took an ungodly amount of time to bring our bill as well. It's sad to say the food was great, but I won't be back solely for the bad service and the ghetto sake presentation.