Good Choice Sushi By the Sea

Poke ($ 11) is made with tuna and salmon served atop greens and topped with tobiko, onions, and avocado with some fried won ton chips. The author is very picky about poke, being from Hawaii and growing up on authentic traditional style poke. This poke is one of the closest to authentic poke in Orange County. It has the deep rich color from the shoyu with just the right amount of sesame oil and onions. Avocado is not necessary but it just wouldn’t be California without it. It is also a good portion for the price to share or to be part of your meal. Rating: 4.3÷5
Big Eye Tuna Nigiri Sushi ($ 6) is one of the best tuna for sushi. With its beautiful deep red color, it lovingly hugs the rice. The bite is luxuriously smooth and just melts in your mouth. Rating: 4.5÷5
Japanese Red Snapper Nigiri Sushi ($ 6) is not one that comes to mind when ordering sushi, but it will definitely be on your mind once you taste it. It has a soft, almost velvety texture. The chili pepper dollop adds a spicy kick. Rating: 4.3÷5
King Crab Nigiri Sushi ($ 9.50) is just amazing! The sweet buttery flavor of the king crab works perfectly with just a hint of wasabi. No shoyu necessary for this one. Rating: ⁵⁄₅
Ama Ebi Nigiri Sushi ($ 7) is one of the best sashimi/​sushi around. Unlike sea shrimp, which is normally cooked, ama ebi is served raw. The texture is similar to raw lobster with an unexpectedly sweet flavor. The head and sometimes the shell are fried and served later. They are like chips with a shrimp flavor. Or it might come omakase-​style in a bowl of miso soup. The miso (mustard or head fat) from the shrimp works well with the soybean miso soup. Rating: ⁵⁄₅
Salmon Nigiri Sushi ($ 4) has the perfect orange color with white fat stripes. It has a silky texture and a sweet flavor that just melts in your mouth like butter. Rating: 4.8÷5
Oyster Shooter ($ 6) contains a freshly shucked oyster, quail egg, and spicy ponzu. The ponzu adds just the right amount of acidity. The oyster is slightly briny yet creamy and sweet. The quail egg adds a nice richness. Rating: 4.8÷5
Whole Spanish Mackerel Sashimi ($ 18) is beautifully presented. A telltale sign that the fish is fresh is the crystal clear eyes. The mackerel is meaty with a soft bite but the flavor is very mild. If combined with a little bit of seaweed, it gives it just the right amount of salt balance to push the sweet flavor of the fish forward. The seaweed also adds a crunchy texture to the bite. After you finish your sashimi, the head and bones will be fried for a crunchy treat. Rating: ⁵⁄₅
Matsuri Roll ($ 16) has tempura corn tossed in Japanese chili powder and eel sauce on the outside and sautéed garlic, butter shrimp, avocado, cucumber, spicy mayo, and wrapped in soy paper on the inside. This is definitely a first to see corn on sushi, but it works. The corn adds a sweet creaminess while the spicy mayo stokes the fire for just the right amount of heat. There is a lot going on in the dish with flavors from sweet, spicy, and garlicky along with crunchy and soft textures. Rating: 4.5÷5
Takoyaki ($ 5) are three octopus fritters with a crispy exterior and a creamy, custardy interior. It is beautifully presented with takoyaki sauce and Japanese mayo. The best part is finding the tako (octopus) inside. The takoyaki has just the right amount of salty flavor to balance with the sweet takoyaki sauce. It is one of the most ingenious street foods around! Rating: ⁵⁄₅

It was not bad, not great. Awesome service. I was there before their grand opening perhaps they were just getting the hang of things? It wasn’t memorable either way.

Fantastic place sushi, never disappointed with any of the food here. The staff is very friendly and the chefs are very knowledgeable on the menu. Highly recommend to anybody!

There is no choice when you want Seaside Japanese sushi in South County, just here.
Park in the back on the south entrance. Follow the sports bar noise and go 1 shop over.
The first thing you will notice is the hot towel they give you, then the traditionally fermented soy sauce, not that Kikkoman 5 gallon bucket stuff most places use. Sitting at the bar you’ll notice how low the separating fish case is. Very little separates you on the chefs. You can clearly see the entire display case.
Most beach cities are filled with young chef’s who never spent a day in Japan studying with a master. Doing roll’s with deep fried everything and lack the care of service that comes from tradition. Most sushi restaurants are actually owned by Koreans, neither is the case here. Owned and operated by traditionally trained Japanese sushi chefs. These sorts of tradition come out when they describe their clams being from Hokkaido and what market they buy their tuna from.
The outdoor seating is nice so long as the rowdy neighbors aren’t ruining a good sunset. Sure they are reserved for this establishment, but being just as loud and still nearby doesn’t do much.
Sit at the bar and watch the attention to detail as the chef’s do magic with the fish we’re used to along with some more exotic varieties. Like I mentioned before you don’t find a bunch of oversauced and double fried rolls as they let the rice and fish speak loud and clear to our stomachs and eyes. Omakase is great as you take a journey of waves between flavor profiles. The décor is clean, not too local, not too traditional, but I wasn’t a fan of the bathroom being outside and with a key. I like it better than the Laguna location which is a little more casual in service and décor.
I love their honeymoon shot as they ensure there are no shell bits, they are liberal with the caviar and the uni is fresh and creamy. Served in shell is nice. Sumo roll is good, but way too much rice. The poke salad is very traditional, not like all this new wave chipoke stuff you see around. Liberal use of ponzu and sesame seed oil, not a gang of generic seaweed either. Their tempura batter is extremely light. Their crab meat in the rolls is not that imitation pink junk they use all white blue crab meat, which you can taste the difference as they don’t need to over mayo it.
5 for service, 5 for the food, 5 for the view/​ambiance, 4 for décor, 4 for value.

Fantastic place to get premium sushi! My wife and I have been going to the Laguna Niguel location for many, many years and this was our first visit to their beach location.
This location has a few less items on the menu than the LN location but I’m told most of the chefs work both locations so they usually know how to make anything from the usual LN menu. Plus, this location has a more «adventurous» menu with a TON of new things to try!
Everything was absolutely fantastic, from the view, to the music, to the service, and most importantly the food.
The location is still relatively new so the traffic is usually pretty light in the daytime and evenings on weeknights, so go here while you won’t have to wait for a table!
This is the best sushi in Orange County. Period.

Awesome Awesome Awesome. The start of dinner was a little rough, our waiter looked like he was having a real rough day. But after that the the Sushi Chef was great! Great/​fresh fish. Great conversation. We will be back.

Second time eating their sushi I ordered via door dash. Food was still warm. Ordered garlic soy beans, crunch roll and volcano it was all very fresh and nicely decorated for take out. Will definitely eat there again. Yumm

Bad choice by the sea. The 5 star reviews here are overstated and is a testament to how the Orange County people don’t know what good sushi is. This restaurant is a solid 3 star place. A bit disorganized, orders are lost and sushi quality is just average. Service is slow and kept forgetting orders.

Can I give this place 6 stars, because it certainly deserves more than 5. Everything from the ambiance to taste and quality to service was top notch.
Fresh oyster half shells, wide variety of rolls, Japanese craft beers, and attentive service will bring me back again. I haven’t found a place that serves Kiuchi Brewery and Hitachino in OC!
Our server Ryan was rooting for the same team as I was a pleasant touch! Their huge tv adds to the experience.

Visited their other location a few weeks ago and loved it! Learned they have this location (which is brand new I believe) and can not tell you how amazing the entire experience was. Not only was the taste of the food SO good but the way each dish was nearly perfected on the plate was so well constructed. The service was top notch, our server making conversation with us and making sure our water glasses were filled and made sure to check on us. The sushi chef, a cute Japanese man was so polite and funny at the same time. Watching him put together the dishes was our live entertainment. He took a Spanish mackerel and fillet’ed it, cut it sashimi style and using the skeleton of the fish used it for presentation. The couple who enjoyed it got to end their sashimi with the head and bones of the fish battered and fried. Talk about an experience!
We had some takoyaki (octopus fritters) miso black cod (perfectly marinated and grilled butter fish) shush into peppers (they do something wear it was finger licking good) big eye tuna sushi, yellowtail sushi, king crab sushi, oyster shooter and their matsuri roll which had sautéed shrimp with tempura corn on top!
Prices aren’t overpriced and you get the best bang for your buck. And dining next to the sunset is an extra plus. We will be back!

The best sushi in southern orange county. Every dish is unique and delicious.
The hand rolls are awesome and they have my very favorite poke bowl in the entire world.
Great views of the ocean.

Great sushi spot!
Clean restaurant, fresh great-​quality food, friendly and professional staff. Came here on a Tuesday night, a few other diners out on the patio. Very quiet, but great experience. They’re 3 months new and still working on their liquor license but this is a great little gem that deserves your business!

First time visit on 12÷23÷15. The food and service were great! Fresh, good attention to detail and nicely presented. The service was friendly and welcoming. The prices were reasonable.
At the time of our visit, they didn’t have a liquor license, so no beer or saki, but I believe they are getting that soon.
I recommend highly!

Pleasantly surprised. 3.5 stars to be fair.
Pros — easily seated, friendly wait staff, fresh cuts of fish. Authentic, Japanese owned
Cons — less variety, but I suppose that is ok as long as they keep it all fresh.
Conveniently located as well, right by the beach

Always great sushi! Love the new location. Ocean view!!! Super service, great people!

I have yet to find better omakase in Orange County! It is a must if you are an adventurous eater. The view of Capo Beach is just an added bonus!

I went here on Thursday and back again on Saturday. The sushi is amazing and the guys behind the counter were awesome. The only down fall is the male server. I ordered edamame to start and never got it. Server watches and waits for sushi to be ready instead of tending to customers. At the end I waited for 20 minutes to get my check.
Awesome sushi, awesome sushi chef, server needs some work.

This place has 5* potential… once they have the liqour license the atmosphere may be more traditional and complete. The entire staff was friendly & super attentive. Water served from a sliver vase, topped with lemon, perfect! I am vegan, so I ate the veggie sushi and added avocado and sesame seed on top. Was overall satisfied and would come back again forsure. The garlic edemame was a hit aswell with the bf had got the baby lobster roll and liked it. Seating outside on the patio and the comfiest chairs youll ever find lined up around the sushi bar, very comfy!

Fantastic sushi with amazing customer service. They offer a wide variety of selections. They offer great suggestions to help you fit your tastes.

I live in Laguna Niguel and have been a fan of their original restaurant in Laguna Niguel forever. Our office is right upstairs from this new location, which makes us so so happy!
Ocean view, great sushi, great people. What’s not to love?
And the fact that they are open for lunch is awesome!