Sawa gets your adrenaline going from the moment you set out to book a seat. Reservations are rare and competitive, and finding the actual restaurant (which is more like a secret eight-seat sushi vault inside of a Little Tokyo parking structure) takes some serious problem-solving skills. Once seated, you’ll feel like a pampered poodle as you eat your way through the 18-piece omakase. And while the mostly traditional Edomae-style nigiri are very good, the real highlights are the cocktails, or rather, the cocktail pairing option. For $45 you can pick any three from the menu and let the masters behind the bar course them out alongside the omakase.