Review: Agura

I'd been hearing things about a new Japanese restaurant that was built in a fomer church on La Cienega, and whose specialty menu item (or at least the one that stood out the most) was a collagen terrine.

A few weeks later, I stepped through the heavy wooden sliding door of Agura to sample the Japanese fusion menu. The design of the place garnered the lion's share of my interest since it was a mishmash of styles that included a custom-made golden Buddha statue presiding over the sushi bar, traditional Japanese masks, an enormous crystal chandelier, touches of guilding, and tufted leather high-back chairs, as well as three private, screened-off dining rooms where you must remove your shoes.

We were treated to some specialty cocktails like a Manhattan made with plum wine, excellent selections from the sake list, a huge platter of sashimi called the Agura roll, a fabulous albacore-citrus-onion salad, and some main courses from the hot kitchen including fried halibut in Madeira sauce. You can read all about it in my LA.com review, though I will have another one coming out in Los Angeles Confidential Magazine next month.

Review: http://www.la.com/tablehome/ci_13878312?source=rss