While standing outside of ROKU Sunset, a gorgeous new Japanese restaurant/lounge in West Hollywood, I couldn’t help but notice how stunning everyone was.
I like looking at pretty people. I’m into that. I made my way into the brand-spanking new space, managed by Innovative Dining Group, which has taken both sushi and steak haunts to a new level in Southern California. All four bars in the space were teeming with quite-possibly the most conventionally attractive people I’ve ever seen. The drinks weren’t bad either. I had a Matcha mule—which tasted just like a Moscow mule—that knocked my socks off. The bar staff was hustling, and wait times were much shorter than I thought they’d be.
There were a couple fun twists. There were karaoke rooms in the very back of the space, and people were loving em. You could hear strains of drunk women singing their hearts out from several feet away. Made me smile. Ryan Cabrera was there, and I was shocked that I a) recognized him and b) know who that is. His hair is as magnificent as I remember. Ed Westwick of Gossip Girl fame was also there, and he was living. When I walked by him he was laughing harder than I’ve ever laughed in my life. More smiles.
The food. My god the food at this place. I kept coming back to the baked crab hand roll. By the end of the night, the two men working the station didn’t even wait to take my order. They just rolled up two of em and handed them to me, smiling. I’m an indulgent person. But they were this great mix of street-food salty and elegant freshness. High low. Loved em. I also had several helpings of various nigiri sushi. They were as tasty as I’d hoped, and boy were folks clamoring for them. With a little patience, though, you were rewarded with possibly the best sushi in L.A. Worth it.
There were also servers walking around with various bites. The Sashimi was my favorite, and there was luckily a staffer walking by seemingly every time I started craving some. Fresh and clean. The smoking area was full of fun folks. There was a Glitter-Guts style photo station where increasingly drunk revelers made funky poses and smirked at each other. The DJ played some fun stuff, including a Sam Smith and Disclosure cover of Hotline Bling. I liked it better than the original.
I fought and won the battle against smoking cigarettes, but I still stood around and talked with people outside. For a place this glamorous, people were surprisingly unguarded and fun. Felt very comfortable. As I finished up my last mule and called my Lyft, I felt a twinge of regret. I could tell the party was just getting started, but I didn’t want to be trapped on the west side as Friday night traffic picked up. I’ll definitely be back, though. Birthday 2016?
