Sakana-Ya

Sad this place is closed (probably cuz the outrageous prices — I had bought/​used a Groupon). Here’s my previous post & pic collage on Instagram:

This is a very long and overdue review… I would give them not 0, but negative stars if I could. We walked in on the Grand Opening Day loving it and walked away vowing to never ever come back. A group of 6 of us are huge sushi lovers, but the quality of our former favorite sushi joint went significantly downhill, therefore, we’re always in search of a great ayce place. We were so excited to try this place out and it had great potential to become our number 1 spot since it served white tuna; not many places offer ono. At the beginning, the service was exceptional; Chi, the owner, personally greeted and served every table and boasted about unlimited blue fin tuna, so we put in our orders for round 1. We arrived at 5:30 and left at 9pm.
Appetizers came out quickly and everything was delicious including the 2 special rolls that Chi personally recommended. We were enjoying ourselves tremendously and that’s when things started to go downhill. After 30 mins, we just sat there while the tables around us were all being served party platter portions. We asked for Chi to check on our order and she says it’s coming out. After another 30 min wait with no food, we noticed that she greeted new customers and checked on old customers while completely walking by and ignoring us; we sat in the middle so you can’t pretend we’re not there. There are 5 medium tables and 6 at the bar so this place is quite small, so we didn’t understand while we were the only table not getting food. At 6: 30, they keep bringing out appetizers, but still nothing from our first round, so we asked again and they bring out 2 pieces of squid and octopus, then disappeared again. The servers felt so bad for us, they kept apologizing and bring out more appetizers. Keep in mind that while this is all happening, other large tables around us were served platters after platters of sushi and rolls; we noticed the smaller tables were not served their food either and left after 30 min. Every time we saw a large platter, we thought finally, but nope, it fed the table of 10 next to us. About another hour, we still weren’t getting any food, so I called Chi over to cancel our orders since we haven’t gotten anything and she brings us 10 pieces of bluefin and 2 scallops. For the next hour, they tried silencing us with more appetizers and returned the order list stating it’s complete or they’ve run out of sushi. Uhh, we haven’t gotten 95% of what we ordered and the table next to us got platters of Rolls that they did not order but was given by the owner, so they offered it to us, but we said no thanks. Finally, they kept saying they’ve expedited our orders, but we decided to cancel the rest and walk out.
You know what’s the worse part? The owner didn’t even apologize genuinely for not serving us food. She stated that they didn’t anticipate so much demand on the grand opening day so the long wait and food running out is expected; however, the irony is that her family and friends took up 95% of the place and got their food all the time. Wow, I was so speechless and furious at that point, but I had to take an urgent phone call so I had to step out. When I came back, we paid the bill already with a measly 20% friends and family discount, but that is not acceptable. Since its already paid, there’s nothing I could do.
So friends, family, acquaintances, Unilocal readers, etc. heed my warning if you still want to eat here; expect the ridiculously long wait and empty stomach because food will «magically» run out while appearing on tables with large groups. As a result, you’ll pay more for all you cannot eat and mediocre service.
Because of this horrible experience, we’re not eating at their new establishment down the street called Fire Crab either which is a shame because we refer a lot of people to our favorite businesses. Even if they get some customers, history will repeat itself; their poor business ethics and the way they treat their customers is the reason why they closed their previous business.
Btw, I just heard they eliminated ayce and are trying to rebrand themselves as quality sushi. That just proves that they couldn’t keep up with the market and demands. Not to sound mean, but when you open a business, you have to have good service and work ethics, because even one dissatisfied customer may be detrimental to your entire business; 20% of your loyal customers make up 80% of your revenue. So the reason for the negative star is because we didn’t even get to try the sushi, which was why we were there.

Within the category of AYCE sushi, Sakana-​Ya is probably the best of it’s kind in Orange County.
Sakana-​Ya launched several months ago as an AYCE restaurant, but after aggressive advertising with Groupon, the demand became more than the chefs could handle. As a result, management decided to change the business model from AYCE to a regular sushi bar. Ever since that day, business has slowed down to nearly a full stop. Recently, after considering customer feedback, Sakana-​Ya is offering AYCE service once again. I don’t think too many people have noticed yet, because I was the only customer at the sushi bar on a Friday evening.
Chef Alan is a soft spoken man who served me that night. He was engaging and personable. After chatting about his experiences as a sushi chef, I would consider him as a master of fusion-​style and contemporary sushi. Alan actually started from the bottom of the kitchen line, performing basic but important tasks such as chopping vegetables and making Japanese rice, before he was promoted to shadow a Japanese sushi chef, where he was trained in the craft of preparing traditional Japanese sushi. He’s passionate about his job, based on the fact that he continues to learn about various aspects of contemporary Japanese sushi from reading books and researching. Alan later spent several years at numerous fusion sushi restaurants where he developed his skills in avant-​garde Japanese cuisine. By working at AYCE restaurants like Sakana-​Ya, Alan hopes to improve his speed in preparing sushi.
Customers who are seeking «favorable fish to rice ratio» might be disappointed with Sakana-​Ya, because the rice portion in the nigiri is standard, unlike at Korean sushi restaurants (i.e. Sake2Me, Monster Sushi, Sagami-​Tei) where fish is laid on only a pinch of rice. When the rice quantity is so small, there is no opportunity to appreciate the flavors of vinegared rice.
Some AYCE sushi restaurants fail to add vinegar to the rice and instead just use plain short grain rice, which is not the way to make sushi. The taste and mouthfeel are noticeably different. On the other hand, chefs at Sakana-​Ya prepare rice the traditional way, by flavouring rice with rice vinegar and salt, and serving nigiri with the rice slightly warm.
Sakana-​Ya is the first AYCE sushi restaurant I’ve been to where the chef dabs a small amount of wasabi on top of the rice ball before laying a piece of fish on top. This is vital because wasabi holds the fish in place and the small amount is just enough to add a hint of pungent flavor. At places like Sake2Me, this traditional process is ignored because their emphasis is on speed. Furthermore, all the fish at Sake2Me are pre-​cut several hours before they are served, which causes the fish to be dried out (that’s all covered up with sauces later on). On the other hand, Chef Alan only slices fish to order at Sakana-​Ya.
There are two items on the menu which help distinguish Sakana-​Ya from other AYCE restaurants: truffle salmon and ikura. The truffle salmon is unique and exquisite. No other AYCE restaurant serves this. Chef Alan sears salmon and then applies black truffle oil to add an earthy taste and a rich oily mouthfeel. The salmon had a semi-​buttery texture, which is hard to resist.
The taste of Sakana Ya’s ikura is different from other AYCE restaurants. It is marinated for hours in chef’s special seasoning that contains mirin. There is a sharp sweet rich taste to the salmon roe, it’s not just salty. Moreover, Sakana Ya’s roe are slippery and each egg is separate, unlike packaged ikura that many sushi bars use which tends to be hard and sticky.
Finally, Chef Alan dresses the nigiri with care. He garnishes fish with complementing toppings and if sauces are applied, only small amounts are added directly to the fish, not drizzled over multiple pieces like at Korean sushi restaurants. There is no additional soy sauce or wasabi required.
Sakana Ya does have its limitations for AYCE — the menu does not include an extensive variety of Japanese fish and the restaurant does not have an alcohol license or TV — but their fish is generally fresh (shipments twice a week) and the sushi preparation is as close as it gets to what can be found at casual American sushi bars.
Sakana Ya could be a hidden gem for those who are able to look beyond the term «fish to rice ratio».

AYCE sushi for $ 24.95!
My friends and I were in LA earlier during the day and we were in the mood to stuff ourselves full of sushi. I’m not too familiar with any AYCE sushi restaurants in LA but I suddenly remembered that there was a AYCE sushi bar near my boyfriend’s house. We were a bit iffy about coming here because the reviews were low but we settled on this because we didn’t have any other choice. But it ended up being AWESOME!
My group came in around 8:15 pm on a Saturday night. We were the only people there … but it worked in our favor because it was like having a personal sushi chef that night. I came here with my boyfriend and his guy friend so we ended up ordering like 8 rolls during the first round LOL. All of the rolls were amazing! Beautiful presentations, good portions, lots of sauces, nicely cooked rice, and very fresh fish. What more could you ask for ?! In addition to the rolls, they offer more traditional nigiri and hand rolls. My friend offered the chefs a shot of sake and they gave us complementary calamari on skewers.
Our waitress, Nina, was very adorable! She was very attentive and she pretty much hung out with us while we ate because it was pretty slow that day.
I will definitely be back!

This is my second visit. I came here with a group of friends to have all you can eat sushi. I was surprised how good the quality is of the sushi sashimi for a all you can eat place is.
The service was very friendly and keeped coming to our table to see how we liked the food if we needed rifills and so more. If you love sushi and good service this is a must try place. For sure I will be back here with my friends to have a sushi meeting every week now.

Came here to redeem my Groupon. Wasn’t too impressed with the food, not even with the discount.
It was ķinda empty during dinner time so that’s the first sign that there’s trouble.
Food:
1) fried dumplings $ 6: came with 4 very small fried dumplings. It didn’t taste good enough to warrant such a hefty price for such small dumplings.
2) mixed tempura $ 6.50: totally not worth it for what little it came with.
3) Caterpillar Roll: $ 11: for it being so slow, I was surprised that the chefs did not make this fresh. Instead, the rice tasted gummy which meant that the insides of the rolls were previously rolled and prepped and all the chef did was add the topping.
4) Poke Bowl: What a disappointment! This came with very little poke and TONS of rice. They didn’t even bother to take the seawood out of the wrapper and just handed it to us when they brought the bowl out.
All in all, would not recommend this place. GooGooRyeo is a much better place to eat at next door, though it’s KBBQ and not sushi.

This place is definitely a hole in the wall that you should definitely bookmark and try! I’ve been to many sushi places, but I have got to say this place is one of my top favorites!
I found this place on a stroke of luck, I went to a sushi bar close by on my lunch break, and upon entering the workers apologized to me and said their sushi chefs have not yet arrived, it was 4pm. Since they were very nice I won’t put the stores name, but I was still craving sushi and drove by this place and decided to try something new.
Upon entering, there was greetings from the sushi chef, also from the really friendly waitress, her name is Nina, I believe. Throughout our meal the waitress came every few minutes to check if we needed anything!
Their sushi there, is amazing. The fish is tastes to fresh, everything from their sauces, to their seaweed, just amazing. I will definitely be coming back! Must try this place!

went there due to a Groupon… food was so so… service was so so as well… one of the girls were on training… so things were kind of slow… although they were really nice when helping out…
it did bother me that their posted hours on the store, does not match their real hours…
and their open sign at the door… if tall people don’t pay attention, there goes a big bump…

Truffle salmon was so melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious that I ordered it 3x during my all-​you-​can-​eat sushi experience. SO GOOD.
I almost ordered the squid karaage 3x, but had to settle with 2x, because my tummy was getting full, and I didn’t want to put any more grease into it or have to pay extra for leaving 3 pcs of food unfinished.
Also amazing was the hurricane roll.
Just thinking about these dishes is making me drool…
I almost forgot, they have free wifi, in case you’re running out of data: P

Pros:
*Great service
*Decent prices (we were using a Groupon, but even without it things were reasonably priced)
Cons:
*Awkward atmosphere (we were the only people in the restaurant)
*Food quality was not the best (fish was room temp and rice was slightly hard. I don’t want to make it sound horrible, it just wasn’t great)
Overall: I think this place is struggling to survive in a tough location. I wish them luck.

Went in from the famous Groupon… I’m not going to lie, it was a totally weird experience. For one, there was no one in the restaurant. Two, our waiter greeted us and gave the whole «we are no longer an AYCE restaurant speech» — then went over all of the GroupOn rules which made things even more confusing. I got the impression that they got burned with Groupon and couldn’t keep up with their new customers.
The food was great but the overall experience bummed me out. I hope this place gets it together. It does have potential!

Had a great time at Sakana-​ya for the first time. Overall high quality fresh fish. Toro and salmon sashimi was melt in your mouth fresh. Toro was buttery and fresh. Tsunami Roll was pretty to look at tasted even better than it looked. Hurricane Roll was spicy. If you like it spicy the Serrano chili and peppered tuna is good.
Service was excellent. The sushi chefs on duty welcomed us and gave us some complimentary sashimi sample of Escolar and also even an appetizer tuna poke. Tried it because of deal on living social, now I think I found my sushi neighborhood joint. Definite must try for sushi lovers. I haven’t tried Sakana-​ya when it was all you can eat but I like the Sakana-​ya it has become. They are waiting for their beer and wine license. Can’t wait to try it with some sake!

They aren’t offering ayce sushi anymore but they did honor my groupon for it. The quality of the sushi is good. Especially the sashimi. My favorite was the truffle salmon. There was a glaze of truffle oil and it was lightly torched, delicious. Another one of my favorite was the peppered salmon. It was peppery and had a balance of sour and a little sweetness from the ponzu. Service was attentive and friendly. I wish they had ayce still:/ I’ll come back for sure for the truffle salmon though

They are no longer offering AYCE; however sushi and sashimi is still fresh and delicious. Their blue fin is super good and their fish cut is thick. Definitely worth coming back.
Service is wonderful. The staff and sushi chefs are fun and knowledgeable.

Came here cause we had a living social. It was Labor Day so the place was completely empty as in we were the only customers. Customer service was awesome! We got spider roll, sashimi and earthquake roll. It was good and I would come here again.

After being turned away last Saturday when they ran out of food and reading the increasingly downhill remarks on the restaurant, I wasn’t expecting much, but called ahead and made darn sure their was food this time around before I waste another trip. I feel kinda bad for the people who only got to try their appetizers on the groupon, because the actual sushi was delicious. I should know, I packed away 6 different rolls and tried the different types of sushi.
I enjoyed the Bentley, Lava, and Caterpillar rolls. Their albacore and hamachi sushi were very buttery and the slice of fish was generous. I loved the garlic edamame too! The batter for the calamari roll wasn’t that great though, it was too thick and bready. The Hawaiian poke was just ok as well.
The wait staff was quick, attentive and politely held their judgement as I inhaled my food because I was very hungry and the food was so good. I’m pretty sure that if I could fit food into my lungs as well, I would have continued to try the whole menu, but I will be back: D Sorry no photos to post, I was in a food trance and there was a professional photographer taking food pictures there already, so I figured his pictures are going to look better than what I could manage with my phone.
I completely understand how others felt burned by their experience, especially after a long wait. Seriously, give it another try before you write this place off as poor food and service. Given another chance and try going during non-​busy hours (call ahead), the food will actually redeem your opinion of them.

The ONLY reason I came here was for ALL YOU CAN EAT sushi on GROUPON. So when I arrive STARVING and my friendly waitress advises me they are no longer allowing AYCE — I was immediately in a BAD MOOD. But seeing as I was STARVING I decided to use my groupon towards my meal. ($ 30 for $ 15). I ordered 3 rolls and 2 orders of salmon. Shrimp Tempura for an appetizer. All very very good! The Tempura badder was light and crunchy, the rolls were a good size and fresh tasting. The salmon sushi was a healthy portion for the price, and melt in your mouth good! The waitress was friendly. From reading the other reviews it sounds like they don’t know how to handle a crowd. When I came: Monday 8÷18÷14 at 5:15pm there were no other people in the restaurant and we were served our order very quickly.
My first thought after being told about not honoring AYCE was that I was going to get a refund from Groupon — but truth be told: the sushi was so good — I will come back.
Obviously they lost 2 stars for not being able to handle their bizz — otherwise — really good sushi. Oh, and prices are all average: rolls $ 10 – 15 and sushi $ 3-​$ 5. I didn’t take a look at any of their other menu offerings — other than the appetizer, which I think was about $ 10.
One more thing: I checked in on Facebook and I think they may have removed my tag… I was only complaining about them not honoring AYCE — actually warning others as I originally posted the groupon deal!

FYI …
Grouponers that bought the AYCE for $ 15… Sorry they are no longer doing AYCE! But they will use it towards your bill. (I’m sure they will hike their prices up haha)
With that said, I’m glad I was able to get a refund through Groupon after reading all these reviews! Dodged a bullet.

If I could give this place 0 stars I would but the only thing I liked here was the waitresses. The waitresses were actually really nice. But besides that I will probably never ever come back here again. The wait was CRAZY LONG. Like at least an hour for our first roll… not to mention they were out of literally everything. Also the food was very very mediocre. I would never pay $ 26 for average AYCE sushi, id recommend driving alittle farther to Tustin and going to Sake 2 Me. So trust me don’t bother coming back here, maybe if the food was good I would tolerate the wait. but this was just a very bad experience.

The sushi here is top notch. Better quality than most non-​AYCE place in SoCal and hand down the best AYCE! They have Blue Fin Tuna all this month. The only other place you can get this high quality is Goyemon in Vegas. Try this place and you won’t go to any other AYCE anymore. Expect a line of 1 – 2 hours for years to come.
Update: this place in no longer AYCE