Tokiwa Sushi

I guess apologies are in order. I promised an entry months ago, and here my blog sits, unused and unloved. I suppose I'll take the time now to metaphorically run back into the loving arms of my food blog with a bouquet of roses and a "I'm sorry, I never should have left you" speech. Okay, so that joke was lame, but I'm rusty.

I'm going to write off the cuff about a new sushi place in Moorpark that I visited last night with my friend Hector. Tokiwa Sushi is on New Los Angeles Ave, in the same plaza as the billiards, which in turn is across the street from the amazing Cafe Firenze. Now, on to the juicy details.

As soon as you walk into Tokiwa, the first thing you will notice is that it is quite small; there are about 6-8 seats at the sushi bar, and only about 6-7 tables inside. I should point out that this is not to its detriment at all, because the great thing about being a small restaurant is having the advantage of providing a more intimate atmosphere. The decorations are mostly what you would find in a sushi bar, but for some reason the lighting and the paint on the walls come together and create a really relaxed ambiance. I guess it's hard to explain, but just know that this place exudes warmth and relaxation.

We were promptly seated and had our drink orders taken literally about 2 seconds after our cheeks touched the seats. Our beers came almost as quick as they were ordered, which was a pleasant surprise, even if the place was a little slow that night. We were handed the sushi checklist along with a pen, and soon begun our trek to sushi heaven. The list is pretty expansive, full of the usual fare and quite a few interesting originals that were created at Tokiwa. After studying the list like it was some alien being, we eagerly put in our order and waited excitedly for our food.

Now, another thing I want to point out that I absolutely loved about Tokiwa was how they staggered the serving of the food. It's common for a lot of places to just bring out everything at once and make you feel really overwhelmed, especially at sushi when you tend to order a lot of food. Nope, not here. We received two pieces of sushi nigiri and one of the rolls, and once they saw that we had finished those off they brought the rest of the order. I can see some people being a little irritated at this, but I personally loved it. I hate when I have a mountain of food in front of me, it makes me feel like I'm at a Nathan's Hot Dog competition and I need to beat Kobayashi at stuffing everything I can in my face.

The food itself was great. The albacore sushi melted in my mouth, with the right amount of sauce and green onions to top it off. I also ordered red snapper, which was the perfect amount of firmness without having that fishy taste you can get at some places who don't restock their fish regularly. The octopus was also the right amount of chewy with a great flavor that mixed well with the soy sauce. Hector ordered a Tokiwa original called the Kookoo Roll, which is a spicy tuna roll with salmon on top which is sprinkled with black pepper and then hot sealed. The roll was amazing, and normally I'm not a fan of salmon, but the flavors were stunning and the boldness of the black pepper really gave it a kick. It was smoky too due to the roll being hot sealed on the outside, but it matched perfectly with the pepper and the fish.

Another thing I noticed about Tokiwa is that they seem to serve their sushi in a traditional way. Most sushi bars in Japan do not offer you extra wasabi or ginger, because the wasabi is already between the fish and the rice. Tokiwa also does not give you wasabi or ginger, which means you are eating the fish the way the chef intended it to be eaten. If a certain cut of fish works better with a sauce, the chef himself includes the sauce on that fish (as is what happens with albacore sushi). Again this might irritate some people who like to mix and match and customize their order, but I am a fan of eating food the way it is served so this was perfect for me.

Overall, Tokiwa took me by surprise. The quality of the fish is outstanding, the service is friendly and extremely attentive, and the atmosphere really makes you relaxed and helps you enjoy an evening out with friends or someone special. It definitely looks like Moorpark is beginning to get a lot of quality places to eat at, and I encourage every sushi fan to try this place out. I may have to work Tokiwa into my regular sushi rotation of Tomodachi and...Tomodachi, haha.

Visit Tokiwa's website (http://www.mytokiwa.com) for the complete menu as well as their operating hours. Support local restaurants!