Aiming to Please : Regulars get the royal treatment at Edo Sushi Nagao. But the delicacies there will delight novices as well.

Who has the best sushi in town? Could it be Ginza Sushi-Ko, where the tab often exceeds $150 per person? Or Matsuhisa, an eccentric La Cienega celebrity hangout where half the dishes look as if they were pulled out of a spaceship’s galley?

Personally, I’m not inclined to speculate. Sushi is the essence of simplicity, and at its best, fresh and competently crafted, it’s one of those foods that doesn’t need analysis. But when one local critic solemnly proclaimed that the best sushi in Los Angeles might be found in a narrow Tarzana haunt called Edo Sushi Nagao, I had to see for myself.

Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to compare it with Tokyo’s legendary Tsukiji fish market (as the critic did), but I’m already planning my next trip.

On my first visit, at 9:30 on a Saturday evening, the place was packed (two chairs shortly opened up at the 16-seat counter). It was fairly obvious Nagao-san has a regular clientele--at least half a dozen people leaned over the bar on leaving to ask him whether his house had sustained any earthquake damage. For the record, he gave a resigned shrug. Nagao’s way of getting personal is to serve up a beautiful piece of mackerel or striped bass without being asked. He knows what his regulars like, and he likes to please them.

A first-time customer would be well-advised to order with confidence. Call it Japanese modesty, but until a sushi master knows you, he’s not going to feel all that comfortable feeding you. I had to ask more than once for certain dishes, until the chef was sure that was exactly what I wanted. Once he was sure, the dishes arrived at something just short of light speed.

This is actually a modest place on many levels. It’s not long on atmosphere, apart from a plastic replica of Godzilla with an “I Love Edo,” button pinned to the monster’s lapel (Edo is the old Japanese name for Tokyo) and a colorful samurai painted on the front window, which obscures any outside view and makes the place seem even more intimate than it already is. It’s a smoke-free restaurant, by the way.

The waitress who takes your drink order will ply you with a simple, satisfying bowl of o-mi-o-tsuke , Japanese slang for miso soup. I’d advise trying something simple like aji (jack mackerel) or toro (fatty tuna belly) before plunging into one of Nagao-san’s ornate salads or imaginative hand rolls, which are all clearly favorites with his regulars.

Nagao-san prepares a moist, almost wet style of sushi, lacquering the top of the fish with various sauces and occasionally sprinkling white sesame seeds over the individual pieces. This means it is served essentially ready to eat, and that further embellishment with wasabi, soy or ginger is often unnecessary.

The mackerel is superb, but Nagao-san’s rice sort of crumbles as you pick it up, so watch it, unless you want a front full of sauce. Uni , or sea urchin, is another great favorite here. Nagao-san’s version has the salty, almost bleach-like tang you expect from good sea urchin, not to mention that famous custardy texture.

The menu is dominated by hand rolls--partly cooked, partly raw creations that people would find downright curious in Japan. We tried the sunshine roll and the midnight roll, both large concoctions with rice on the outside and the filling left to the chef’s imagination. If I recall correctly, the sunshine roll is stuffed with fried calamari, a mayo-rich crab paste, cooked asparagus, gobo (the crunchy root of the burdock plant) and a handful of daikon sprouts.

The midnight roll substitutes crab and avocado for the calamari, and it’s painted with a dark soy paste. Lots of other delicacies are listed on the English-only blackboard menu behind the counter, anything from baked yellowtail cheeks to raw cockles to chawan mushi --a delicate custard filled with chicken, enoki mushrooms and a very un-Japanese clump of broccoli. (“We don’t get many Japanese customers,” Nagao-san admitted.)

I’ve had a delicious salmon skin salad here, made with more salmon than vegetables. I’ve also sampled nuta , an oddball seafood salad where octopus, jumbo clam and mackerel sit astride radishes, cucumbers, daikon sprouts and a penetrating yellow soybean paste. Grab the broiled butterfish if the chef hasn’t run out. It’s amazing the way it melts like butter in your mouth. For those made squeamish by raw sea creatures, you can order solidly Japanese-American fare such as chicken teriyaki.

As for me, next time I come, I’m planning to order as simply as I can. But maybe Nagao-san will recognize me, and then he’ll probably just know what I want.

Where and When Location: Edo Sushi Nagao, 18760 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana. Suggested Dishes: Aji , $3.25; salmon skin salad, $4.50; chawan mushi , $3.50; broiled butterfish, $4; nuta , $5.95. Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Price: Dinner for two, $20 to $45. Beer and wine only. Parking lot. MasterCard and Visa accepted. Call: (818) 344-9689.