The Hump, Santa Monica, CA

"One of the best sushi bars in LA, but at a price."

Name: The Hump
Type: Sushi, High End
Good for: Sashimi
Location: 3221 Donald Douglas Loop, Santa Monica, CA[Google it!]
PPP: $20 lunch special, $120+ Omakase Sashimi Dinner
Overall vibe: One of my favorite sashimi places
Anything bogus: Bill easily soars, killing/serving live fish puts off some

The Location

One wouldn't think of the Santa Monica airport as having anything more than perhaps a sandwich place or a coffee cart, but in fact houses one of the finest sushi bars I've ever eaten at. Located on the second floor, The Hump is actually part of Typhoon (a Pan-Asian place I will review later), as you have to go down to it to use the restroom, in addition to the title on your bill, which you may wish to get framed and hang on your office wall to show off "that one crazy sushi dinner."

The Atmosphere

After walking up a few flights of stairs (or taking the elevator), you arrive on a landing that seems dropped on top of the roof of the rest of the building. The runway spreads out from below, and prop engines buzz (sometimes loudly). On clear days, you can clearly see Century City to the northeast. There is a large patio, though I've never seen people out there. I'm actually somewhat curious what it's used for.

Pulling open the heavy glass door, we were greeted by the host who asked if we would prefer to sit at the bar, or a table. I highly recommend sitting at the bar, and is required for ordering Omakase. If you are squeamish about seeing fish gutted and shrimp cut in half and twitching around, this may not be the place for you. This is one of the most hardcore sushi places I've been to, and have seen quite a few things that have made me wince. More on that later.

The Food

I have been here for lunch dozens of times and usually order the lunch special. Priced at $20, the nigiri lunch features tuna, albacore, salmon, freshwater eel, yellowtail, whitefish, scallops, and 8-piece spicy tuna roll. The special includes miso soup and a salad with a vinaigrette dressing and diced cherry tomatoes. My friend usually orders the chirashi bowl lunch special, priced the same and features the same fish as the nigiri special, though it also includes tamago.

The miso soup is fairly standard if not a little bland and you get a decent portion similar to other Japanese restaurants. The dressing is tart and the lettuce is crisp and fresh.

While waiting for our lunch specials, we usually split a sashimi plate. I'm fixated on their bonito sashimi: 8 strips served with eel sauce and roasted garlic chips. A dark red meat, bonito is of the mackerel family and is seared, giving it a tender texture in the middle and the slightest crunch on the furthest edge. Another excellent plate to share is the albacore sashimi, served with rock salt and the faintest hint of lemon juice. Asking the chef what he recommends for the day is always a good idea; he knows his stuff.

Some of the different dishes I've tried here include whale sashimi, flying fish, ankimo (monkfish liver), blue oysters, kampachi, and live sweet shrimp.

I had heard about whale sushi for a while and my buddy and I had requested that we be notified when they'd have it again. While we never heard back from the chef, we did come in one day to find that they had some. When asked which way whale is best served, our chef said sashimi was his favorite. We ordered it so, and were served with six slices of what looked similar to beef. However, it was unlike anything we'd ever tried before. It's red meat, all right--but still with some sorts of oceanic overtones. It had an almost beef-jerky or at least slightly smokey, aftertaste. It was good and we were glad we tried it, but I probably won't order it again, mainly due to moral conflicts. There are rumors about a sushi from horsemeat but I have yet to see evidence of such a thing.

The live sweet shrimp deserve mention as they are pulled from a tank and sliced in half at the abdomen, their upper bodies placed upright on a tray and their tails shelled and placed on beds of rice. Their antenna twitch occasionally, and more than a few people have been put off by the sight, including me. One fascinating thing about the tails, when you bite down on them, they twitch in your mouth. This has only happened a few times, but enough to make me tense up before biting down. I do have to say that they taste fabulous. The thoraxes, having ceased moving after several minutes, are taken in the back and deep-fried and brought out again. They are to be eaten whole, though this is where I've drawn the line. Several friends have told me they taste very good, but I have yet to be brave enough to eat the fried heads. Something about chewing on their eyeballs, perhaps.

Where I had to draw the line was when I found out The Hump serves live lionfish. My father had a fishtank of them in his office when I was growing up, and I've looked at them as pets rather than food. It'd be akin to eating the family parrot. I watched as the chef donned thick rubber gloves and fetched out a lionfish from a tank, slammed it onto the counter, then made several deep cuts into its body, slicing sashimi. The odd thing was that the lionfish's head was still gasping for air, several minutes after most of its body was stripped away. By the time it was served to a customer a few seats down from us, it's gasps were less frequent and stopped altogether about ten minutes later. This cause the couple sitting next to them to get up and leave. After dinner, my father and I were walking downstairs when we bumped into that couple coming out of Typhoon and asked them why they left. "That was simply disgusting," the woman said. Her husband nodded, "I had no idea they did that to the fish. It was too much, even for me." I may someday try the lionfish sashimi, but other than the fact that they're poisonous, I have too much of a personal attachment to them. If you've tried it, by all means, please write in and share your opinion.

The Hump offers a variety of cooked dishes, though I have yet to come here for anything other than sushi.

The Service

The sushi chefs are very friendly and give you all the information you want on the various dishes being prepared, even if it's someone else's order. The host and hostess have been very cordial and professional, and their waiters and bussers are quick to serve, refill drinks, and clear plates.

Anything Bogus?

It's difficult to to find fault with The Hump, as it's one of my favorite sushi bars. I will say that even coming here for lunch, me and my buddies have rarely left for under $25 (splitting even one sashimi plate brings the bill to about $40). I have only dined at The Hump once for dinner, and it was $350 for two people. An amazing experience, mind you, but at a price.

One issue we had was when a group of us came here for lunch to send a coworker off in style. He asked for sake and our servers brought each of us a bottle of sake (priced at $30 each). We promptly sent them back. We were also told that the lunch special wasn't going to work for us as there were too many people, so we foolishly agreed to a group Omakase, which I would not recommend. Everyone ended up getting about six or seven pieces of sushi and the bill came out to $985 for 12 people. Since we all chipped in for our friend, it came out to about $90 per person. For lunch. The one good thing about this was we got to see what a 5-foot marble slab of sushi looked like. And thanks to my trusty cellphone camera, so can you:

5-foot long marble slab of sushi for a lunch celebration. Cost: $985

As far as the killing of live animals; let's face it: all animals are killed in order for you to enjoy them. It's more a matter of whether it's done on some ranch somewhere or right in front of you. It's also a matter of humanely ending an animal's life or making it suffer. Seeing fish gasping for 20 minutes and shrimp twitching for 10 didn't do much in the way of enticing me to eat them; but that's just me.

Summary

If you're not strapped for cash, The Hump is an excellent place for an expensive lunch or special occasion dinner. Those who find the killing of live animals while you dine would best eat elsewhere--or at least at a table away from the bar.

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