On October 2 & 3, South Coast Plaza sponsored a two-day food tour for a dozen L.A. and Orange County food bloggers designed to showcase five restaurants and a single premium food shop. Clearly, not every bite at South Coast Plaza was life changing, but here are my five favorite tastes during the course of our gluttonous walking tour.

Okinawa native James Hamamori was the longtime chef at Asakuma in Brentwood, but left to pursue his own interests in Orange County. He now owns three Wasu Sushi restaurants throughout the county, but his crown jewel is undoubtedly Hamamori, a white jewel box on the third floor of South Coast Plaza with decorative blue accents. During our journey, Hamamori was the only chef to score two dishes in my Top 5.

Silky Hokkaido scallop sushi was lavished with a cluster of bursting Osetra caviar, a dusting of Himalaya pink salt and a light squeeze of lemon.

The broiled freshwater eel sushi was absolutely luxurious, a nearly caramelized eel fillet topped with a molten slab of Hudson Valley foie gras. The finish: a spritz of citrus-sweet orange zest.

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