Utamaro Sushi Izakaya plus Element Palmdale

Utamaro Sushi Izakaya

plus Element Palmdale

Front room of Utamaro Sushi Izakaya.

Today's assorted sushi menu.

Chicken cartilage was quite decent.

Hotaru-ika (firefly squid) sunomono.

Shima-aji, hotate, toro, madai, sawara, uni, hotaru-ika, akami, sumi-ika.

Food infuencer hard at work.

Hotate, toro, madai (scallop, fatty tuna, golden eye snapper).

Sumi-ika, aka cuttlefish.

Overhead.

Uni and ikura, dashi soy.

Tamago sushi.

Deep fried shrimp ball with tartare sauce, much lighter than the Chinese version.

Food infuencer hard at work, part 2.

Eggplant, red miso, white miso.

Spicy tuna poppers. Decent enough.

Food infuencer hard at work, part 3.

Inside the main dining room.

Element Palmdale, suite upgrade.

Kitchenette.

Bedroom.

Bathroom.

Filtered water in the kitchenette.

Catching up with Emily over dinner at Utamaro Sushi Izakaya. Omakase sushi is really assorted sushi pre-set, but quality was pretty good for the price. Hotaru-ika (firefly squid) is in season, the chicken cartilage wasn't bad, the miso eggplant was a bit plain. Deep fried shrimp ball was much lighter than the Chinese version. Spicy tuna poppers probably represented the meal: solid enough to draw a crowd, but overall not memorable. A good enough meal, but definitely need to make a reservation-- and to do that you have to call, can't make one online yet.

Night's stop was at Element in Palmdale. A bit spartan but overall quite modern, and more than nice enough. Kitchetten and living room with desk were good places to work, and filtered water at the sink was a nice touch. Note that as of this writing, the EV chargers on-site are J3400 (NACS, aka Tesla) only.