Wasa Sushi

This place was quiet and quaint when we went in. I didnt get the awful service everyone was talking about in prior reviews. In fact, we go the opposite and definitely were tended to well.
We sat at the bar, and its a simple menu with an ecclectic flair. Hubs really was craving Uni, Amaebi, and Mirugai all which was lacking on the menu. I think if you want simple rolls and sushi, this is the place. but if you are looking to be more adventurous (like were) you might have to head else where.
The sushi chef was obviously trained in Japan. His nigiri style was very Eastern and the rice was not clumped together. It was light and airy with the perfect vinegar balance. Its a true artform to get this right, so we tip our hat to the sushi chef for this.

best value for the quality of sushi. excellent service and nice atmosphere. always able to get be seated right away. favorite rolls are the spicy scallop and spicy yellowtail. (hand or cut roll).

Do not come here if you have a time constraint because the service is ROUGH. I came here with my co workers and honestly, our water was not refilled once. Also, they only have one sushi chef and bc he’s overwhelmed, he’s super slow. Also, they forgot my sashimi salad and I had to get it to go. They definitely need to hire more people.

Happy Hour at WASA is much more do-​able than dinner, which can get a little pricey.
HH is 5 — 6:30 p.m. It changes periodically, but always includes a beer & sake special and discounts on selected rolls, handrolls, «sushi treasures», and appetizers.
Side note: if they have any sort of «chef’s assortment”//sample kind of dish that includes mini portions of sushi and appetizers — GET IT. It’s always well priced and gives a good array of bitties, both hot and cold.
Favorites:
Seared Yellowtail appetizer
Crispy Shitake Mushrooms
Spicy Tuna Tartare
Hamachi kama (collar)
Fried rice with spicy tuna on top (i forget the name but it’s great!)

I’m only giving this place 2 stars because our service was HORRIBLE!
The sushi there is good, some of the better sushi I’ve had but the service really killed it for me. Also, I would stay away from the Balboa Roll, its bad in a horrible way. I have never in my life returned food but I had to get rid of this roll. It’s that bad.
On to the good part, their Catalina roll is delicious and very refreshing. Their crunch roll was decent, though our «crunch» was kind of stale. Their assorted sushi dinner was a yummy surprise. I LOVED the little salad that it came with. The ginger mustard dressing was not overpowering yet tangy and very good. I couldn’t stop eating it. Their salmon and tuna was fresh and perfect and so was their octopus. Like I said, the food here is really good.
Now on to service: HORRIBLE! I can give them some leeway since it was Sunday night at 7 when we came in, but my leeway stops when we’ve been there for 30 minutes and there is not a server in sight, in the entire restaurant, to take our order even though there are only 2 other tables there that are all parties of 2 and the sushi bar is mostly empty. I had to track down the waitress just to get a refill on my tee, three times. Once we finally did order it took another 30 minutes or so to get our food. The place was not busy by any means! Once we got our food no one checked up on us, I had to track the waitress down to return my horrible Balboa roll and get my delicious Catalina roll. They also forgot 2 drinks and we didn’t get 2 of the items we ordered. Oh, and they tried charging us for something we didn’t even order.
This place has good sushi and you should definitely try it. I will have to go back another time and hopefully service will be much better.

It’s a small world!
Of course the one time I decide to travel down to South O.C., I run into someone I know. And it happens to be at one of my favorite sushi places.
Wasa is amazing. They never compromise on quality. The service is amazing. And the sake list is great.
Nestled near a Lucille’s bbq and a few other places, this place may be difficult to find, but it’s worth the search.
The sushi is impeccable and delicious. The rolls are great. And the appetizers and other plates are just as delish.
Really worth checking out!!!

My husband and I have went here tonight. The waiter welcome us in and let us sit in the sushi bar. The sushi chef says hello to us. We have order sear albacore tataki, eel, salmon, tuna, yellowtail and three different kind hand roll which the sushi chef made exactly what we want in it. The waitress and the waiter was really nice and always refill our drinks and always ask if we need anything else. The sushi were really fresh and very good.
It is really pricey to eat there. But, the service and the sushi was good. I would go there again for the food and service.

SO SAD! I went there today and they got rid of their half off happy hour deals! If it weren’t for that deal I wouldn’t come here much.
The service varies drastically. Overall I think it’s kind of crappy. It’s not a big place and the servers are not very good. The Sushi Chefs seem nice, but I don’t sit at the sushi bar that much since I only get happy hour deals.
Their happy hour deal is great! I can overlook a lot of things because of the great deal. I think this place is pricey for what it is and it’s only mediocre at best. Normally some stuff taste a little old like the Albacore. It use to taste better but I think they are getting cheaper and cheaper, which means skimping on quality!
With the deal I would say it’s a stupendous deal and you are a fool to miss out! But now that it’s gone, I walked out. It’s not worth it and the service is bad. I took my best friend here and she was furious. She thought the prices were on the higher side for what it is and service was bad. I laughed at her suggestion of take out! ^_​^
Now I don’t think I will be back. They really aren’t what I call sushi, also some of their fusion flavors are pretty rancid! I had the Tangy Miso Scallop I think and I almost vomited from the flavor combo. The only reason I come here now was the happy hour deals for the regular stuff, other than that… they aren’t worth it. Don’t get me wrong I am always willing to pay loads for great sushi but this place is definitely NOT that.

Wasa is in a new shopping center in Lake Forest. The second you step into the restaurant, you’re greeted by the sushi chefs. There’s plenty of tables and seating around the sushi bar. Definitely a plus if you want to bring your friends.
We were greeted and seated right away… we chose to sit at the sushi bar.
What we ordered:
— Sayuri Nigori Sake ($ 12, pink bottle, unfiltered Sake): creamy, light and sweet.
— Spicy Tuna cut roll ($ 7.50): Basic spicy tuna with cucumber and spicy sesame seeds.
— Rainbow cut roll ($ 10.95): Good presentation, good fish, but a little too much rice. The «california roll» overpowered the fish, and the rice didn’t taste too much like sushi rice.
— Assorted Sashimi Platter ($ 20, 2 pieces each: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, octopus, albacore, scallop, clam): OMG for this price, we got sooo much sashimi. Very nice presentation and the fish was fresh and tender. My faves were the scallops and salmon (so buttery and smooth… mmm).
— Dessert-​3 Plum Martini ($ 6): One of the best desserts ever! A martini glass lined with sliced strawberries, berry sorbet with plum sake jello on a bed of diced strawberries, and garnished with a stick of chocolate pocky, sprig of mint, blueberries and raspberries. How can this dessert only be $ 6?
Summary: Fast and friendly service. We got our food right away. One thing about Tabento (our regular sushi dig) is that sometimes you have to wait a looong time to get your sushi. Fresh tender fish, a bomb ass dessert, and decent prices. They have something for everyone; if you have more «western» tastes (get specialty treasure rolls), if you have more «eastern» tastes, get the assorted sashimi combination platter.
They also have lunch specials and happy hour ½ off hand rolls.

I ordered some stuff to go. Please refrain from judging this little piggy. This is what I got:
— Lake Forest Roll (as recommended by Lauren B.) — it’s spicy tuna with crunchy flakes on top and eel sauce over that…
— 2 Rainbow Rolls
— 1 Dragon Roll
— 1 Crunch Roll
— 2 orders of Salmon Sashimi
— 2 orders of Yellowtail Sashimi
— 2 orders of Seared Albacore Tataki
Total came out to be about $ 101. Yeaa it’s a little on the ridiculously pricey side…
The lady on the phone was really nice and got my order right the first time… she repeated it back to me and was efficient, that’s more than I can say for a lot of other restaurants taking To Go orders.
Decent tasting sashimi and great rolls (my fave being the crunchy roll). Try some things off the Wasa Treasures menu if you want variety. They have plenty of options.
This location also has happy hour on weekdays from 5 – 6:30pm (not sure about other locations though) — you can get their more basic rolls like spicy tuna roll, crunchy roll, etc. for 50% off.
edit: came back again for a sitdown dinner and had to bump this place up to 4 stars. The sashimi was really fresh (even though the portions weren’t large) and the service was impeccable. This is the best Wasa location I’ve been to. I felt so welcomed and cared for, I will definitely come back again despite its high prices.

Your typical California sushi restaurant. Good food at a reasonable price. Though I still prefer the Irvine location, I enjoy coming here during lunch or early evening for a quick bite.
Try the sampler plate and the tempura green tea ice cream. A nice cold Asahi also goes well with the sushi.

They only reason I went here is because my friend works here so I got hooked up.
It is your typical california sushi restaurant, looking modern and posh. However, nothing special or different but nothing horribly bad.
Of course, the service was nice since they knew who I was with. hehe! :)
But, if you go to this location try the lake forest roll, since you can only get it in lake forest. LOL: D

Pricey Westernized gourmet sushi.
The interior has a modern spartan look. Our waiter was very attentive and helpful.
The gimmick here is they combine sushi with ponzu, miso, and ginger sauces. This results in some innovative dishes. However, these flavors overwhelm the any sort of subtlety that you expect from sushi, and it can make it a gooey sloppy mess.
Prices are above average: the specialty rolls set you back $ 15. Portions are nothing special.
Wasa food is good, but I felt that they were trying too hard to appeal to Western palates, and at the price I’d rather hit up something more authentic. On the other hand, if you were to introduce someone to sushi, this might be the equivalent of a ‘kiddie pool’ to acclimate them.

Like most restaurant locations in Irvine/​Lake Forest it resided in a nice tucked away plaza, with Jamba Juice and a local surf shop being it’s desirable neighbor. Parking isn’t that much of a problem unless you make it so. While entering the premise, the place is clean and well kept while the waiter and waitress that served us (Larry and Tydi), were definitely wonderful people. The warm hospitality combined with the delicious food, made me fuzzy inside.
Their rolls are amazing, from the California Rolls to their Spicy Tuna Rolls. Even their pricey version of the Rainbow Roll was definitely worth the wait. Did I mention that there was tasty Steak Ribeye, with Martini Jello… fricken alcoholic Jello! It doesn’t get any better than that. Also the price is fairly reasonable, not too pricey and the portions are quite manageable. Overall, if I had to come back than I’ll do so at the expense of being in the area, since I’m getting lazy to drive with the price hike of gas.

We’ve eaten at the Irvine location for quite some time now and always enjoyed it, but it has gotten croweded (long waits and slower service). What can you expect when it’s so good, the Market Place is such a draw and the populaiton so dense right there?
Good news for me another location, now in Lake Forest! I’ve got to get my fix at least twice a week. The atmosphere is great, the staff and chefs friendly, and the food as good if not better than the Irvine location.
Favs: Seared Albacore w/​Crispy Onions, Spicy Bamboo Roll, Wasa Treasure — Tuna Sashimi w/​Wasabi Cream, Fried Rice w/​spicy Tuna
Give Wasa a try, I don’t think you’ll be dissapointed.