Grace F.
Yelp
Sora is located on the second floor, above Savta, in the farmers market area of The Grove. It's on the exterior corner, facing 3rd and Fairfax. The handroll bar area is small and intimate, which I like. There's also outdoor patio seating, but I enjoy getting the handrolls directly from the chefs behind the bar. We were seated immediately and our server, Angel, was super attentive and had such great energy! My friend and I ordered everything to share:
We started with the yellowtail sashimi jalapeño ponzu appetizer, which is a crudo type of situation. I loved yellowtail's slightly sweet and buttery flavor, paired with the citrus in the ponzu and textural variety of the jalapeño. A very tasty dish. 9/10.
The first handroll was the shizuoka salmon truffle signature temaki. You could really taste the truffle. 8/10.
The seared toro signature temaki was good too. It was served with soy sauce, yuzu paste, and garlic chips. The yuzu flavor cut through the fattiness of the toro very nicely. 8.5/10.
We also got the black cod miso signature temaki (came with eel sauce and phyllo). Love a miso and black cod dish. It was warm, buttery, and flavorful. So good! 9/10.
We tried the toro truffle jalapeño signature temaki as well, which comes with cucumber, cilantro, truffle oil, and wasabi. This one was really good. The toro and truffle oil were fatty and rich, and the cucumber and cilantro added freshness and brightened up the overall. 9/10.
The scallops signature temaki (with ponzu, masago, toasted panko, eel). Super fresh. The masago and toasted panko added some nice texture and the ponzu added a light zest. 8/10.
I've been checking out a lot of handroll spots throughout Los Angeles, and I like to compare everything to Kazunori as a baseline (warm rice, fresh fish, simple and classic handrolls). But I do enjoy more adventurous pairings and flavors. Sora has the classic temakis like salmon, tuna, and yellowtail, but they're generally spruced up a bit with a bit of an extra something (jalapeño, crispy shallots, eel sauce, crispy onion, etc.), which I like. They also have more interesting items like The Trio (Santa Barbara uni, toro, and caviar) that I would love to try next time. They don't do set menus like a lot of other handroll places, but a la carte gives more freedom for options.
Overall, a great experience. Delicious handrolls and friendly staff - a great time :)