Any old sushi place might have worked in the Arts District. The up-and-coming neighborhood is well-stocked with a number of cuisines, from Italian to Mexican to barbecue, so basically, all a sushi joint had to do was show up with decent nigiri.

Yu-Or-Mi, a sushi, sake and Japanese whisky bar just across from Esther’s Kitchen on California Avenue, not only understands the assignment, but does the extra credit work.

“We wanted to stand out from the crowd with something that you couldn’t necessarily get anywhere else,” says Johnny Lee, who co-owns the restaurant with Melissa Robinson. “We didn’t want to do an all-you-can-eat, where you just stuff your face. … Our No. 1 thing was to focus on quality—to bring freshness, and not just drown things in spicy mayo.”

That focus is evident from the top of the “shareables” menu. The plate of crispy Brussels sprouts ($9), finely chopped with almonds and glazed in a kurozu reduction, has a perfectly balanced taste and figuratively melts in your mouth. The yellowtail ceviche ($14), with cilantro, cucumber, red onion, serrano chilies, teardrop tomatoes and a yuzu-lime dressing, also nicely demonstrates the kitchen’s commitment to bringing big taste without depending on condiments or deep-fried heaviness. In fact, practically everything we’ve tried from “shareables”— especially the wasabi-crusted rock shrimp tempura ($9) and tuna tataki ($15)—could be a calling card for Yu-Or-Mi’s stylistically varied, consistently thoughtful approach.

And that’s only the beginning. Chef Virakone Vongphachanh—“we just call him ‘Chef V,’ that’s the easiest way to go,” Lee says—delivers everything from sashimi to ramen in the same fresh, delicious style. I’m a big fan of the kitchen’s sizzling stone rice bowls, available with braised tofu or your choice of land-or-sea proteins ($13-$17), loaded with seasonal vegetables and topped with a perfect fried egg. Another favorite is the miso butter salmon ($22), served with grilled asparagus and greens and tender well beyond imagining.

You could also enjoy New Zealand lamb chops ($20) with garlic Asian broccoli and shiso pesto, or a fine chicken teriyaki ($20) with baby bok choy and shimeji mushrooms, before you even begin to consider the nigiri, sashimi and specialty rolls. Try the chef’s nigiri platter ($30) for a sampler of tuna belly, sweet shrimp, king salmon and snapper, or swing big for the chef’s sashimi platter ($60) and let Chef V knock your socks off with an 18-piece seasonal assortment.

All these terrific bites are supported by a deep selection of premium sakes, including the clear, dry Kurosawa Ginrei and smooth Shibata Black, and Japanese whiskys ranging from the mild, subtle Suntory Toki to the robust, 15-year aged Shinobu. And if you’d like to get an idea of what both the bar and kitchen can do without deep investment, you can’t go wrong with the restaurant’s happy hour—3 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday—which offers modest peeks into all of Yu-Or-Mi’s strengths: an $11 omakase roll, $5 beef or salmon gyoza, a $5 carafe of hot sake and more.

One last thing: The restaurant’s name comes from a hilarious Rush Hour 3 scene featuring Chris Tucker and Chinese actor Henry O. It’s a “who’s on first”-style routine, as ancient a gag as a whoopie cushion (“Who are you?” “Yu!”). But it works, because the two actors commit to it. That, too, is Yu-Or-Mi. Every last aspect of this place is wholly committed to leaving you happy.

YU-OR-MI SUSHI BAR 100 E. California Ave., 702-473-5200. Sunday-Thursday, 3-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 3 p.m.-midnight.