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Ken Namba previewed our sashimi course, presenting massive sea scallops. He prefers to source the shellfish from Baja, and has taken multiple trips to Mexico’s Northwestern-most state to enjoy seafood.

Our deluxe sashimi platter included unadorned pink snapper, snapper with sea salt, seared Japanese bonito with garlic ponzu sauce, assorted radishes and ginger.

Chef Namba slid a thin layer of crisp, salty nori between slices of sweet, silky sea scallop.

Unadorned pink snapper was relatively mild, with a rosy hue and gorgeous skin.

Snapper received a hit of sea salt, which accentuated the fish’s natural flavor.

Seared Japanese bonito with garlic ponzu sauce had a nice savory flavor and crisp accompaniments.

Live Sweet Shrimp Sushi (M.P. = $14) was one of our splurges, and totally worth it.

The sweet shrimp featured a beautiful rosy hue, and a pleasantly fibrous texture. The shrimp must not have had time to go through rigor mortis, and we benefited from their freshness.

The head was available deep fried or in soup. The fried head still had sweet meat attached, not incinerated like some versions. It ended up taking a feelers-first bath in scallion-flecked ponzu dipping sauce.

Timber. My uni toppled. Good thing it didn’t affect the taste. The Sea Urchin Sushi ($10) sported a spicy dab of wasabi and tasted creamy up front, with an oceanic hit in back.

Chef Namba prefers “small” 300-pound bluefin from the Atlantic coast of Africa, as opposed to 500-pound behemoths that are tough closer to the head and tail. He torched the toro and combined with soy, dabs of yuzu and shaved jalapeno to form a fatty, rich and indulgent treat.

He also dressed uncooked toro sushi (M.P.) with soy sauce, which practically melted.

It isn’t normally my style to post menus, but Kiriko’s dessert menu was especially cool.

We finished with trio of house made ice creams, including mildly sweet honey vanilla with earthy red bean and Okinawa black sugar syrup ($4.50).

Gritty black sesame honey combined to form a toasty sweetness.

Kiriko staffers flecked brown sugar ice cream with spicy-sweet candied ginger.

We had a very good meal at Kiriko, but clearly have plenty of other culinary treasures to explore, as evidenced by the basket of fried fish chips on the counter. It was tempting to stuff my pockets with crispy fins and abscond to the parking lot, but instead, we’ll just have to return to Sawtelle.