My Besh friend alerted me to the awesomeness of Yama Seafood in her recent write up, “Yama Seafood L.A. Fish Market is a Godsend for the Sushi Addict” on L.A. Weekly’s Squid Ink blog.

While The Astronomer was away for an out-of-town wedding this past weekend, I made elaborate plans to finally watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi while indulging in pristine sashimi from Yama. What better way to spend a lazy Sunday, right?

Yama ain’t much to look at from the outside, or the inside for that matter, but the people who run the three-decade-old market are super-sweet, and the fishes are as fresh as billed.

I made my way to the fish counter upon arriving at Yama. Three people were ahead of me in line, and it took a solid 20 minutes before I was served because the sashimi here is sliced and assembled to order.

There’s no menu, little signage, and just a bit of English spoken at the market, so I gestured and nodded to indicate the type and size of fish that I desired. I was only buying sushi for one, so two small fillets of salmon and yellowtail were more than enough to satisfy.

To round out my meal, I also picked up a tray of inari, a California roll, and a seaweed salad from the prepared foods section of the store. The grand total was 20 bucks—not bad at all.

The seaweed salad was standard fare, slick green threads that tasted of sesame oil.

The salmon and yellowtail sashimi were unquestionably fresh, cut with enough care, and really hit the spot. This wasn’t the stuff of Jiro’s dreams, but it didn’t need to be.

It’s been years since I’ve eaten a California roll, and this one was solid with a good amount of mayo, a smattering of tobiko, and plenty of creamy avocado. Best of all, the rice was fresh and springy—this was definitely not one of the sad, hard rolls found in your grocer’s sushi section.

And finally, inari, because I love it and because I needed a filler upper.

I’ll be back again. And again. And again.

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Yama Seafood
911 West Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91775
Phone: 626-281-8045

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