It was pretty good. I like the inside outside options. Food was pretty good and somewhat affordable for 3 people $108 (only 4 beers). Service was decent. Cozy lil neighborhood place in Venice. I would go back for sure. Food- 7 Atmosphere- 7.5 Service- 7.5 Overall exp- 7.25 Drawbacks...not overly impressed by any sushi or rolls. read more

Why is it that every time I eat here I have a run in with a rude waitress or a snotty hostess that tries to seat me at the worst table in the house? Because there are bad tables here that make you feel like you are eating in a hallway. Its crowded which to some might make it hopping. To me, I'd be a little less annoyed if the food was better and the prices went hand in hand with the overall experience of the meal. read more

Expensive but good food. Bomb oyster shots! That is all... read more

My favorite sushi bar in L.A.! It's so casual and friendly, I feel at home! What makes a sushi bar great? Creative chefs, fresh fish, friendly wait staff, outdoor patio, raging sushi bar, bamboo sake, and of course roots rock reggae. read more

A go-to for sushi in Venice. Hama is a Venice mainstay for a number of reasons: location on the Traffic Circle, the efficiency of service, the freshness and quality, the prices lower than, say, Nobu (decor more casual than Nobu, too). Usually I reserve a table, but there have been times when out with friends and hungry, we drop in and order sushi/sashimi at the bar. I have memories of a fantastic birthday spent here. Look up to review the local art rotating on the walls. Surf videos are projected on the bar side, which i personally find more pleasant than other bar-screen broadcasts or flickerings. read more

I want to start off by saying that their cheesecake is amazing! You have to try it. It's deep fried with a side of Chocolate ice cream. It is a must try. However I wasn't super impressed with my sushi. It's really expensive too. $19 for a roll of 8, I have had better sushi for half the price. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I was looking for. I will end this with saying I will be back there for dessert but that's it. read more

Food: Good sushi but not the "AAA." I felt the nigri was just "OK" with some pieces being, well, subpar. We got the sushi platter for $32 and it did not seem like $32 worth of sushi, more like $20. We also shared their special lobster hot dish thing--sorry, I forgot the name. It is a creamy lobstery deal with mushrooms, cheese, etc. and it was very good, but also very small. Price: Overpriced. For two people it cost us $55+ and I just felt like we could have gotten a lot more somewhere else for that kind of money. I probably should have ordered rolls separately. Service: Quite good. Everyone was friendly and the place seemed clean. Atmosphere: Unique, old-school but hip. Cool images of surfing splashed on the walls as well as hanging colored lights. This place is OK but I won't be going back anytime soon. read more

The very first time I tried sushi was at this place and I loved it! I'm not a sushi connoisseur, but I thought it was so tasty! Nothing bland about it, to me. I particularly liked their pot stickers! They were very tasty. Ok, the facts: -they have valet parking -prompt service -we got seated quickly I should probably stop here. My review might not be fair. I got a free meal because my sister's boyfriend was one of the chef's here, at the time! hehe. Still, when I saw the check it was about $300 for 4 people. That's way too rich for my blood, so I probably wouldn't come here again if I had to pay! Cool anecdote: On our way out, when the valet was getting my car, no lie Perry Farrell (from Jane's Addiction) was standing right behind us waiting for his car, too! I'm a fan, so that really made my day. read more

Wakame Salad was great. Would def come back here for lunch and probably will since I work around the corner. There was a guy at the sushi bar with really great hair. You had really great hair blue shirt guy. read more

Overall - pretty good. As for any good sushi experience, expect to wait between orders if you have more than 2-3 people. The yellowtail belly was the best fish we had. The monkfish liver was just okay. The odd thing that occured was that when my friend and I asked about the monkfish and the fermented soy bean, the waitress told us how gross it smelled and how weird it was as almost to deter us from getting it. The venice roll was pretty good, though too expensive at $18. Nothing spectacular, but probably should have had a smaller group and sat at the sushi bar as any good sushi experience requires. read more

Ambiance is awesome - nice lighting, good music, outdoor covered seating with heaters and projector playing surf videos on the walls. Great vibe! Sushi is good too. Got the Red Devil because we are crazy about spiciness but honestly I think it is a bit too spicy...you don't even taste the fish because you are getting that after burn from the habanero. Bummed they got rid of the sauteed mushroom salad appetizer :( It was my favorite. Please bring it back! Hard to find parking in the area but they do have valet. Overall it's a good spot for a sushi dinner with a nice vibe in Venice. read more

i had the basic tuna and salmon sashimi here a month or two ago. service was fast. Sashimi was good. not bad, not fantastic. not cheap not expensive (per beach prices which are high). sushi had expected taste, and was fresh. based on food this place is three stars. the restaurant differentiates itself and earns a star by offering good service, and various small plates which are somewhat unique in content. the other differentiation is the decor/atmosphere - the covered patio is airy open and this place has occasional events, like sometimes showing films on the wall of the covered patio and similar. if you want to go out to a fun social sushi outing, happy hour or one of their events is sure to be a fun time. if like me, you just eat out every day for every meal and crave raw tuna and salmon occasionally, and don't need the atmosphere or the service there are other sashimi options which provide better value. read more

I have always enjoyed my experiences here whether it be dining in or out. The crispy rice tuna is incredible and they have very fresh sushi and sashimi options. You know it's a good place when the uni is consistently amazing. read more

I've come here so many times for the convenience and left feeling meh everything. The acoustics always lead to a group shouting match and the fish is a C+ in freshness. Our waitress was super sweet but the food was brought out staggered so that everyone at the table was constantly waiting to eat. If a restaurant can't get the service right then u need to rethink ur system. Anyone that disagrees w me about the freshness of the fish should go to echigo for a meal. I think u will realize what a big difference there is when the fish melts in ur mouth. read more

2 stars because I drank sake and the service wasn't bad. But everything else was. Yellowtail sushi was chopped, udon was too sweet and oily, and the tempura was tough, soggy and tasteless. Average to moderate price for sub par product. We will not be coming back and we suggest you blaze some new sushi trails. read more

Food - typical American style Japanese diner. Food is okay but not impressive. Location - good location near the beach. Valet parking available. Service - great! Staff is very friendly and helpful. Overall - recommend. read more

Good stuff, but a bit pricey. Happy hour is the bomb at 5 dollars a plate for standard rolls... They have some more exciting dishes which are worth a try, but again... rather expensive. Give it a shot if you're feelin classy. read more

After reading "The Zen of Fish", I feel compelled to try this place. Based on my readings and perceptions of other sushi places, I have a premonition about 5 stars. Once I eat there (next time I'm in LA), I will have a more thorough review. If you want to get an idea of the place, the book I mentioned above is a great start. Sit at the sushi bar, and order "omakase", and request real wasabi. read more

Packed for a Wed evening, we had reservations for 8:30pm. We were finally seated 15 minutes later. Our server forgot to bring us our waters so we had to ask a bus boy to get them. Started off with the Chobei sake to drink and some garlic edamame. They are oily, very hot in temperature and quite tasty. We ordered 7 rolls for 6 people, which finally arrived 45 minutes after we were seated. My top 3 favorites were the Strawberry, Venice and Shizo (very light and refreshing and I love the lemon hint). Each roll has 8 individual pieces and is $19, so you decide whether or not it is worth that price. While they were super, I can get super amazing for less elsewhere. The other rolls we ordered were the hama, temptation, lobster and red devil which was supposed to be very spicy, but even I, who can only handle mild, was able to handle it with no problem. Enough said. These rolls were average and not worth their price tags. For dessert, we ordered vanilla tempura ice cream and the banana fritter a la mode which I really enjoyed. Nice big screens showing surfing and beaches. Service was nice, but slow. Having been here once is enough for me. read more

One of the best sushi spots in Venice. They ha e a really good happy hour too, 5 - 7, but its only if u sit at the bar.

The fish is unbelievably fresh, the atmosphere is cool and hip without being overbearing, and the best seats in the house are at the sushi bar where you can converse with chefs like Kenny who will create extra-special dishes just for you on request. Don't forget to order the bamboo sake --- served with true flair by the bar-man --- and ask for fresh wasabi with your fish. You will not be sorry. When they yell "Irrashimase!" as you enter, don't duck for cover... it's just the more friendly way to say hello. And upon your departure, exit with a rousing 'domo arigato gozaimashita' and you will be remembered on your return. read more

Hama Sushi. Alright. Fair enough. I waited till my second trip there to write up my review. This turned out not to be necessary. My opinion didn't change. But I thought it might. Alright, I was wrong. I get it. Sorry. Said opinion: Yeah. I'm not jumping up and down or anything, but it definitely is sushi. It's good sushi. It tastes good. It is served in a timely fashion* . The outside dining area is all tent-like. It has big TVs. I love TV. I can't fall asleep without the TV in the background**. The saki is hot. Temperature hot***. *Our waitress was a trainee. She told us in the beginning. I'm a fan of full disclosure. Not a fan of getting my spicy yellowtail long after everything else. But she was a trainee, so... **You didn't need to know that. ***Saki is only hot if you order that way. read more

I really don't know why this place is doing bad on stars. The lemon roll was bomb the tempura was oh so fresh and bamboo sake so good. Oh and the udon nice and salty like I like it. I wish they were open late night read more

I can't say LA doesn't love its scenes. The vibe in this place was definitely hoppin, what whit all LA's beautiful people. And the service was exceptional, along with how quickly they brought our food out. But the food...it was...very...AVERAGE. I could have hit up Sushi Deli 2 in SD, eaten and drank twice as much, and paid half of what I did at Hama. I guess LA has the "Beautiful People" tax! read more

I've been coming here since 1999, have tried many other sushi places, and I must say, this is one of my favorites. I know that it is a Japanese place, but for the longest time, I thought that this place was called, "Hippopotamus" Sushi, since "Hama" in Korean means Hippo. I finally decided to ask what "Hama" meant, and the staff (who are all very nice and friendly) told me that it mean "Beach." I guess that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, I can be a bit ethnocentric and interpret everything through my KA (that's Korean-American) tinted lenses. Ok, enough of a tangent, back to Hippo Sushi. Place has really good food and I've never been disappointed coming here. It's a casual place and a good place for friends and dates. Can get a bit loud, but never had a problem talking inside. You can sit either inside, outside (under a tent), or at the bar (which is outside under the tent as well). If it's really crowded, you can just sit at the bar, order some saki, and just chill till your table's ready. As for the food, the sushi, sashimi, and the rolls are all good. They've got some really good rolls, some of which I haven't seen anywhere else (or maybe I'm just not as traveled as I thought I was). I remember one time around February (around Valentine's), that they were offering the Valentine Roll. Hmmm, sounds interesting... saw the picture and there were strawberries on it. Didn't think that that was going to taste good, but I tried it, and it was surprisingly good. It's now called the Strawberry Roll and it has: shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado and spicy mayo topped with snow crab and strawberries served with a sweet sauce. For parking, you can valet or find street parking. I've always managed to find street parking and so haven't valeted once. You may have to walk a bit (but I like walking, once I walked from USC to UCLA in the middle of the night, which took about 9 hours... but that's a story for another day or another review). read more

I enjoyed catching up with a buddy here. The the sushi was good, fresh, and presented well. The atmosphere was alright. I did like how it was laid out and decorated. However, it was crowded and loud. Now I do realise this is Venice, CA. Overall if you want to go out to the happening sushi spot of Venice stop here. If you want to chat and have a more chill evening, keep on going. read more

Kiara made me feel very unwelcome, she had an attitude for no damn reason! Like if you don't like your job what are you doing there!!? Food is great just her attitude made it a horrible experience. read more

The place is an icon in Venice. Old surfer movies are playing on the wall and the people watching is great. I brought a friend and we enjoyed the sea bass which was a five star dish without pause. Great Sushi and sake options. Wait staff is amazing and fun. I gave it a three star rating because of the price. When two people go have sushi and order one bottle of house sake and one large beer . Sea bass and a roll and two sushi orders. Their bill shouldn't be $130 including tip! That's cra cra. read more

This place is good as far as sushi goes. Not the fanciest or the most pretentious just good fresh fish. I have gone to 2 better places, one in little tokyo the other in Santa Monica. We had a reservation for 4 and were seated in the back room. Our server was prompt and for the most part took good care of us til the end when she got busy and we were waiting a bit to close out. We got a few tasty appetizers and everyone enjoyed their rolls. I got a lemony roll with tiny lemon slices on top. Definitely tangy and zesty. Also got masago sashimi which is a favorite of mine. I would go back since it's a great location and close to friends. read more

Recently stopped in to get a couple of rolls to go, including the delicious Venice Volcano. I love how friendly they are here, and the sushi chefs have just the right mix of skill and humor. Great, authentic neighborhood spot. read more

Solid sushi spot. Plenty expensive, but hey it's Venice...

I've been here many times and had pretty enjoyable experiences but last night it was really poor. The service was terrible. We had to remind them a few times we wanted water, then one of the rolls came out wrong and one of the side dishes came out at the end of the meal about 20 minutes after we had received our rolls. The lobster dynamite was way too mayonnaise-I've had much better dynamite dishes at other sushi restaurants. Overall the experience was bad enough that I probably won't go back to Hama for a long time. Also, I forgot...it's terribly overpriced. read more

The food here is not bad, but it is overpriced. I can get sushi that is just as good or better for less in the same neighborhood. The green devil roll was probably my favorite, followed by the roll with seared ono on the top. But nigiri starting at $7 is just not worth it. read more

More expensive than it was worth. The staff was nice but the food relatively bland.

Location and atmosphere is ok. Service was ok. But the sushi ---- I see people here talking about great sushi quality. For the price, this place has absolutely no quality. Yes the rolls LOOK good, but my wife and I both got sick eating here few days ago. There are many locations in LA, that offer much better quality sushi for this price. Not going back again! read more

Sushi was warm and way to over priced. The rolls were sloppy and not rolled well at all, which made them fall apart easy. The rolls were not presented well and there was no fancy plating and if your spending $14-19 on a roll there should be some presentation. Also it took a very long time to get our check and the restaurant was dead. read more

After living in Venice for far too long, I finally stopped by this much-spoken-of sushi spot. Seriously, so many people hit me up to go here on a regular basis that I am surprised that it took me this long to make it happen. So, let's talk about it. It's nice on the outside. They just put in a new door. No, that's a big deal. It's a very nice door. There are two big rooms - one with a bar and one with a sushi bar. Seating is a little strange, but that's OK. It's Venice. Would you expect it to be like everywhere else? You're basically sitting right next to other tables, as in, literally adjoining. I thought it would be weird, but it turned out to not be a big deal at all. Here's a quick little summary of the food: Shishito peppers - these weren't grilled like they normally are. Instead they are tossed in a pan with garlic butter. They were very good. Spicy. Def recommend. Topped with bonito flakes for a nice touch. Beef Tataki - daily special not on menu...thin strips of beef pounded with a delicious sauce. Jalapeño Yellowtail Sashimi - Highly recommend! - Thinly sliced yellowtail topped with jalapeños, ponzu sauce, and a jalapeño oil sauce. Perfect to start off the meal. Dragon roll - Basically a California roll inside out topped with eel and avocado. Delicious. All of the food was very good. I would totally eat here again and the fish was very fresh. Give it a shot for a very uniquely Venice experience. read more

Picking up a big meal on a busy Saturday night... Wait staff wouldn't let me sit at an open table, so they suggested I take an empty seat at the bar. After another fifteen minutes' wait, the bartender (who said he was the manager) sent me outside. It was freezing. Wonderful establishment. read more

Who says money can't buy happiness? For about $100, you and 2 or 3 friends can eat at Hama and be pretty darn happy. I came here for my birthday last year and come here for dinner sometimes since I live close by. The place is usually pretty packed and the tables are arranged close together but I like the coziness. The kama (grilled yellowtail collar) is so delicious and lobster miso is tasty too. The sashimi is really fresh and I also love some of their specialty rolls. I like spicy foods, so I always get both their green and red devil rolls. The strawberry roll is also very good even though 'fruit' and 'fish' sound odd together. It's yum! They also have a fun Happy Hour on the bar side of the restaurant. They serve a pink sparkling sake that I really like and snacks are $3-7. There are huge screens at the bar so if you have boys in your party, let the TVs entertain them while you catch up with gal pals. read more

Had a great dinner here, our server was friendly, sushi was good, and it's a great location. Next time I was to get there for Happy Hour that seems to be a popular time and they had some great specials! read more