The Bar Handrolls by Seabutter has an unusual but successful take on quick serve sushi
by Richard Foss
Sushi has spread around the world, spawning distinctive regional and national styles in places as diverse as California, Thailand, Peru, and the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Though the flavors vary based on local ingredients, the form and experience are usually similar – an unhurried procession of seafood atop rectangles of vinegared rice, elegantly crafted cylinders that are cut to display the geometry of the layered ingredients, and sometimes cones of seaweed with rough cut seafood inside.
Those cones, known as handrolls, are the ancestor of most sushi, which began as a street snack enjoyed by customers at 19th century Japanese fish markets. They’re less fussy in their presentation than the items that evolved later, a throwback to their working class origins.
When I saw that a restaurant called The Bar Handrolls by Seabutter had opened near Wholefoods in El Segundo, my first guess was that some Japanese traditionalist had opened a place that celebrated the cultural roots. I assumed decorations of glass fishing floats, nets, and the other bric-a-brac of a fish market. Nothing could be further from the truth – the interior was sleek and modern and according to one of the servers, the owners are Ukrainian. As for the food, it’s a mix of Japanese traditional flavors and modern ideas, and despite the name there doesn’t seem to be one of the simple cones of fish on the menu. (I can’t be certain of that last statement because I haven’t tried everything they offer, and some things with similar descriptions have slightly different presentations.)
On my first visit I opted for a four-roll set menu with fillings of salmon, spicy tuna, scallop, and blue crab. This seems to be a popular combination at lunch, and the people on both sides of me were having it too. Within a few minutes of ordering the first roll arrived, a cylinder packed with large pieces of richly fatty salmon with rice that was still warm from the cooker. It arrived in a cradle designed for the purpose, with no plate – once you pick it up, you’re going to eat the whole thing. Within a moment of finishing the last bite, the scallop roll arrived in the cradle. Both were simple seafood goodness, no frills or fancy presentation.
The spicy tuna was a departure from this pattern, with genuine heat not from wasabi, but from hot sauce that the server described as sambal, the Indonesian pepper sauce. I’ve had sambal and this isn’t it – it was a mix of Sriracha and ponzu sauce. I prefer wasabi heat to chili heat in a spicy roll, but it was OK. The final roll in the series, the blue crab, was the best of the bunch, with plenty of fresh crabmeat and not much else.
I happened to be at a seat with a good vantage point to watch the process in the kitchen, and the fellow who was putting together the rolls was obviously in the zone. With no customization allowed, no attention to mere decoration, and almost everything made according to a template, his movements were practiced and almost machinelike. A freshly made roll arrived at my space at the counter about every five minutes, and though I never felt rushed, I was done eating and out the door in about half an hour. The price was moderate, at $22 for all four, and I enjoyed the experience so much that I came back with a friend a few days later.
We decided to order a la carte with a seaweed salad, a “Seabutter spoon” of stacked seafood, and a trio of fancy rolls. The seaweed salad had the simple-is-best approach – some places amp up the spice with chili or add mushrooms or other items, but this was all about the moist crunch and natural flavor. That was the opposite of the approach to the next item to arrive, a soup spoon stacked with layers of minced raw tuna with green onion, salmon caviar, and sea urchin topped with both ponzu sauce and a dash of sesame oil. I like all of those things, but there was a little too much going on here, and stacking them in a spoon make it an all-or-nothing situation. You have a mouthful of contrasting flavors, where I would have preferred two small bites so I could sort out what was going on.
The Seabutter handroll that I also ordered had the same seafood with wasabi and sweet soy, and was much more successful. I had ordered the two similar things assuming that anything named after a restaurant says something about their style, but in this case I didn’t learn much. Wasabi and sweet soy is about heat balancing a sweetness that can be cloying, ponzu and sesame are about sweetness and nuttiness, and both can work when done well.
The truffle mushroom roll took a more back to basics approach, with the musky fungi flavor nicely enhanced with what tasted like a little sweet sake. The menu didn’t mention wasabi, but there was some of that there too – a bit more than I would have preferred, but manageable. The Miss Crab roll was also simple, just blue crab and scallop accented by a wisp of masago and a sprinkle of sesame. We were also pleased with the C.U.T roll, made with caviar, uni, and toro – uni and caviar both have sharp and pungent flavors, but in this case the sweet sauce moderated it pleasantly.
The final item we tried was the curiously named H.Y.E. roll, which contained nothing with those initials – our server explained that the name was Armenian, but said he didn’t know what it meant or why. It actually contained yellowtail belly, sesame oil, minced truffle, kizami wasabi, and sea salt. The use of kizami wasabi was surprising at this price level – most “wasabi” in moderately priced Japanese restaurants is actually horseradish with green food coloring, but kizami is the real thing that has been marinated with soy sauce. You can taste the difference even with a small amount, as is the case here – not only is the texture different, it’s less hot than horseradish and has a slight sweet aftertaste. Here the oil and truffle were in balance, and each bite of the roll brought savory flavors, sweetness, and balanced heat.
Like the previous experience here, the rolls came out in measured intervals, each arriving a minute or two after the previous one was finished. It was a relaxing and unhurried meal, but one that took less than forty minutes from start to finish. If you’re looking for an enjoyable workday lunch or pre-theater meal, or just have a busy schedule, it’s a superb choice. Handrolls by Seabutter is an interesting concept that works more often than not, and if you are open-minded about sushi roll experiences, I suggest giving it a try.
Handrolls by Seabutter is at 720 S Allied Way. Ste. B in El Segundo. Open daily noon – 9p.m., parking lot, beer, wine, and sake served. Sound level moderate, no reservations accepted. Phone 310.737.2765, menu at thebar.sb.
