A Visit to Jimmy’s…..

My trips to Los Angeles are never really complete unless I meet a good friend of mine for Sushi at Sushi Koy.  The amazing thing about this place is that it really isn’t much of a stand out eating establishment as it really is.  As a matter a fact, if you were to not be looking in the right direction you wouldn’t even know that the place exists.  Sushi Koy is located in a little strip mall in Simi Valley California.  Jimmy is the Chef owner of the place and it’s like Cheers in reverse.  Everyone that walks in there gives a holler hello to Jimmy.  “Hey Jimmy”, “How are you Jimmy”, “What’s fresh today Jimmy”.  Its amazing.  At first I thought it was a few people, but it was everyone.  EVERY TIME!!!!  And I’ve been there quite a bit.  

We always sit at the 8 person Sushi bar so we can watch Jimmy.  We never grab a menu and let Jimmy do what he does best.  We start off with crab stuffed Calamari that sits elegantly in a broth of ginger and soy and it’s sprinkled with scallions and sesame seeds.  It’s a great way to start off the meal.  We had an assortment of sushi pieces that he would place in front of us as my friend and I were talking.  Then he places  in front of me the reason why I came here.     The Margarita.  Fresh tender yellow tail placed on top of seasoned rice is as usual as the next piece.  He squeezed lemon over the fish, sprinkles sea salt over the lemon and tops it off with lime zest.   “Don’t dip this into the soy” Jimmy asks.  “Best to have this as it is”.  You bite into this and you are eating a Margarita.  It’s amazing and refreshing.

 My favorite hand roll is a spicy scallop and roll that Jimmy makes.  The scallop is chopped into ½” pieces and mixed in a sauce that is creamy and laced with orange tobiko eggs  and all rolled up over rice in Nori Seaweed.    This is so popular that he has a huge bowl of it waiting behind the bar.  The other original dish he serves are eye balls.  Well at least that is what he calls them.  Jimmy makes two pieces of sushi.  One tuna on rice topped with a slice of Avocado.  The other is Albacore tuna on top of rice topped also with a slice of Avocado.  Each get wrapped in plastic wrap and made into balls.  When he unwraps them, the avocado represents the pupil in what looks like two eyeballs.  It’s really funny looking.   Then he borders the plate with a wasabi sauce and tops the whole dish with a similar white sauce with the tobiko.  When one is made, everyone sees it and it’s like a domino effect through the whole place questioning it and then ordering it.

Sushi Koy is located at  3977 Cochran St., Simi Valley, CA 93063-2371   (805) 526-3167

Make sure you say hi to Jimmy when you walk in.