Located on the border of Palms and Culver City is a tiny sushi restaurant with a big reputation.  If you're a fan of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network, then you'll know which restaurant I'm talking about: Sushi Central.

The seating area of the restaurant may be small, but don't let that deter you.  Grab a seat at the small 5-seat bar if there's an opening and watch the action happen on the other side of the kitchen.

Yokohama Sushi is tucked away between a gym and a Best Buy on Overland. Unless you park in the lot, behind the gym, it's almost impossible to spot.  The Korean-run restaurant isn't going to win any sushi awards, but if you're in the mood for a quick lunch combo and some rolls, it's a decent place to be.

I ordered off the lunch specials menu which has your usual items: teriyaki meats, nigiri, and rolls.  I went with a sushi combo ($15) which comes with 5 pieces of nigiri and my choice of roll. I chose the paradise roll.

The 5 pieces of nigiri weren't anything to write home about, but they weren't bad either. They were just your standard nigiri.  The paradise roll, which has tuna, salmon, and some white fish fared the same.  In a way, the lackluster fish was a blessing in disguise because it'd be a waste for good fish to be covered in a heavy sauce.

Yokohama Sushi doesn't try to be the best of its cuisine, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  It's a place to go with some friends who aren't picky with sushi, grab a beer, and just shoot the breeze.

This week, I figured I'd try the other downtown Culver City sushi restaurant, Kaizuka.  Located on the wedge shaped block right before Culver and Washington meet, Kaizuka is a convenient place for those working in the Sony buildings nearby.  For the rest of us, the downtown parking lot is only a block away.

Kaizuka has an outside patio, where I saw a few diners enjoying the sun.  Since I had no dining companion this time, I chose to sit at the sushi bar and watch what the chef was making.

Even though K-ZO is easy to miss if you're not looking for it, but it's by no means a hole-in-the wall sushi joint.  Located in the same complex as Trader Joe's in downtown Culver City, it's easy to find parking for and a refreshing oasis in the middle of busy downtown traffic.

Upon walking in, you'll see a clean, sleek and modern decor with ample seating at tables, an intersting chain-mail-like curtain shielding some semi-private tables, and a long sushi bar.  I chose to sit in front of one of the four chefs working that day at the bar.

A simple gauge to use at unfamiliar sushi restaurants is to just order the sushi assortment or chirashi.  It brings an array of different fishes to taste as well as lets the diner judge the chef's knife skills.

Sushi Mashiko is literally a small mom and pop sushi shop located in strip mall sharing a parking lot with Ralphs on the corner of Overland and Jefferson.  When I visited, there was construction going on in front of all the stores, so I had to park and walk out before I spotted the door to the restaurant.

I was greeted curtly by the sushi chef behind the counter, Mickey, and his wife.  I sat at the small L-shaped bar in front of him and waited to get his attention.  The restaurant is small with only one chef, so be prepared to be patient during busy times like lunch. There were already two groups sitting at the tables when I sat down, so I decided to order a hot dish while their sushi were being made, figuring I could get something to nibble on while I waited my turn.

Taro's Sushi & Teri is the epitome of hole-in-the-wall.  It's a small restaurant on the south side of Washington Blvd with a couple of tables on the sidewalk and a small bar inside.  Normally, I would be scared of ordering sushi from a place like Taro's, but it was recommended by a Culver City native.

I've read that Taro's is a popular place to order sushi-to-go from, so that was exactly what I did upon my first visit there.  I placed an order of chirashi (rice with slices of sashimi on top) and a side of barbecue beef ribs over the phone as I left work and stopped by on the way home to pick it up.

Sushi Karen is one of those hidden Culver City gems that I never would have known about if not for stumbling upon some Chowhound and Yelp reviews of the place. It's a small sushi restaurant nestled between two large buildings with a modest sign which is easily overlooked. Parking is up to the whim of whatever metered parking spots you can find on Washington. If you're willing to walk a block, you can also park on one of the residential side streets, but be sure to read the parking signs carefully.

This was my second time eating at Sushi Karen and from what I had the first time I went, I trusted sushi chef Yuki completely and asked him to make me whatever he thought I would like.

Yuki-san started me off with a plain tuna nigiri. This is about as basic as sushi gets, but the tuna tasted clean and had a firm texture that could only be had from high quality fish.