In English: “We’ll eat”! And so we do. Probably around once a month or whenever we get around to it. Ari-Ya is a wonderful sushi bar in the heart of vibrant West Hollywood, on Santa Monica Blvd. almost next door to Celebuhangout Pinkberry. I was a late starter to Sushi – Asian food (other than Cantonese) didn’t really exist when I was growing up in the UK, so on my trips to Japan I’d always opt for french fries at every meal.

Only after I’d lived in LA for a while did I try sushi (at the behest of a friend who insisted on it), and I randomly chose a restaurant that was very close to where we were hanging out. Back then it was called Murakami (of Murakami Salad fame), but of late it’s been renamed to Ari-Ya, yet has the same menu and some of the same staff.

The sushi spectrum runs from the incredibly exotic to grocery-store style mass produced stuff, but neither suit me very well. I like good mid-range sushi served in a relaxing environment with plenty of vegetarian/vegan options. You will not find that in LA at anywhere better than Ari-Ya.

The thing I like best about Ari-Ya is the consistently high quality of everything they serve, the quick and polite service and the best sesame tofu salad I’ve ever eaten. They have a couple of vegan options that work well, and can be surprisingly filling. We usually order the edamame to start with, which is usually a large enough portion to last through the meal along with one or two Tofu Seaweed Salads along with two orders of Veggie Maki Roll.

Veggie Maki Roll

The Veggie Maki Roll has lovely crunchy avocado, mini carrots and asparagus in just the right proportion to be readily soaked in wasabi-infused soy sauce. Two orders are a pretty healthy size.

Veggie Maki Roll (two orders)

The Edamame looks, and frankly tastes, the same as everywhere else, but I like the fact that they steam it to order so it’s always very hot when it gets to the table. I can’t stand cold Edamame. 

Edamame

But, for me, the highlight of the meal is the amazing Tofu Seaweed Salad. They do an amazing job of preparing a deep salad (and by deep I mean that it’s not just a bunch of lettuce padding out the bottom of a salad with a wafer thing layer of the good stuff on top).

The sesame dressing, perfectly cooked (but stone cold) tofu along with just the right amount of seaweed and other greens makes the salad absolutely delectable. The pictures kinda do it justice, but not really enough:

Tofu Seaweed Salad

And a close-up:

Close-up of YUMMY salad

It’s also nice to round off the meal with a (predictable) Japanese beer — I usually order Asahi as it comes in big bottles so it works out cheaper. However, be aware, that this and all other “Japanese” beers are brewed in Canada by Molson. Not that I’ve anything against the Canadians, but the beer is brewed there so it can legally say “Imported” on the label, thus intentionally misleading the purchaser who probably genuinely believes the beer just arrived on a boat from Yokohama Harbor.

Ari-Ya is a nice way to spend your time of an evening. One secret is that it has a parking lot at the back — only five spaces, sure, but it usually has one or two spaces available, and can help with the horrendous WeHo parking debacle.