Kihon

Top Notch! Special shout out to Peter for the excellent service and sharing his knowledge of all things fish and sushi. We ordered an assortment of sushi including the Dungeness Crab roll (Baked Dungeness sitting on a spicy tuna roll), the B.S.C roll (California roll topped with baked bay scallops) and several pieces of shrimp and tuna nigiri. The fish was fresh and the service was great. Will be back to try the Ramen!

Finally tried this place after passing by it often and looking at a ton of mouth watering Unilocal pics. It was pretty good overall, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here again. Only if I was in the area and craving sushi. My expectations were set way too high b/​c the pictures looked so damn good. I guess it’s kind of like seeing a girl’s amazing picture then meeting her in person and it’s just not quite as awesome. Somewhere along the lines I have become a big time sushi snob, so now whenever I go to a new sushi place I’m expecting to eat seafood I’ve never heard of and can’t pronounce. I guess we can blame Jiro Dreams of Sushi for this. Anyways, the place is better than the average sushi place. I wouldn’t call it 100% Japanese authentic, but it’s on the authentic side. I think it’s Japanese owned, but I haven’t confirmed that. Yes, that’s important. It had a slightly bigger sushi selection than just salmon and albacore. There were only some «amazing rolls», and not 75 rolls with a picture menu. I run from those places like the plague. Good selection of Japanese sake, beer, and shochu. Service was nice and friendly. Fun bar.

I came here for a small birthday dinner celebration! I had Uni toro salmon and Spanish mackerel. All were delicious. I will definitely be back to try there ramen and some more of there delicious fish. Oh and our server was great.

I came here on a Tuesday night with 4 of my co-​workers. We typically go to another sushi spot but decided to try this one just to venture out.
The place was maybe 25% full when we got there so we were seated pretty quickly. We were greeted by the normal Japanese greeting at sushi places. Our server was very attentive and we got all our food and drinks in no time.
We started with a few appetizers — spicy garlic edamame, cocktail shrimp tempura, and the calamari tempura. All of the appetizers were solid. The spicy garlic edamame had a good spice and garlic flavor to it, neither was overwhelming at all. The cocktail shrimp was nicely fried and the amount of sauce on it was perfect.
The downside for me was the Tonkotsu Ramen. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to a sushi place and ordered ramen, but the menu made it seem like it was pretty special, and it’s hard for me to pass up ramen. Anyway, the bowl literally came with noodles, bamboo, pork, and an egg… nothing else. I was surprised. Many ramen places I’ve been to have some sort of mix of veggies in it, whether it’s corn, seaweed, green onion, or naruto. I also wasn’t a fan of the flavor — it was a little bland for me.
My co-​workers enjoyed their meals (chicken teriyaki, salmon sushi, spicy tuna roll), so I think if I ever go back, I’ll stick to sushi.

Soba noodle wasn’t cook right and they brought wrong cut roll… Servers are nice, clean place, and not too crowded.

My favorite sushi spot in Long Beach! Even though my boyfriend and I live within walking distance from several sushi restaurants in the downtown area, it’s well worth the 15 minute drive for the fresh, high quality fish, and stellar service that Kihon provides.
We ordered the sushi dinner on our last visit, and it was perfect. We’ve ordered rolls in the past, which have all been on point. Fun fact: rolls are named after characters from the Big Lebowski. :) Shout out to sushi chef Peter and our waiter for taking such good care of us!

It’s really good. The ramen and sushi is well-​made, and is immensely filled with great spices that provide flavor. It was so good, that I plan on coming back when I’m not broke anymore. Speaking of which, expect to get a sizeable dent out of your wallet.

It’s so nice to live this close to a restaurant with ramen! Shin sen gumi is always such a drive and long wait… I really don’t have time for that.
Kihon cooks their eggs exactly how I like and the broth has a good flavor. My boyfriend loved it as well.
The service was spectacular.

I get the Maude roll and it is really good. However, the serving size is small, 20 $ for two orders and I am still hungry when I leave.

Love this place, ambience is great, food is awesome, and the price for what you get is reasonable! Love the jalapeño Yellowtail! Braised short rib definitely something to try!

Update: spicy tuna on sticky rice is to die for and sushi specials on the board are a must try. We still LOVE this place — the best in Long Beach, CA. Our latest obsession is albacore belly. Eddie told us to try and he was right on.
The new on the menu is ramen. Noodles are chewy and fresh and the broth is wonderful. They offer 3 different kind for now — we are onto second one — both excellent.

There is a part of me that didn’t want to review this place, so that i could keep this little gem all to myself, but i really wanted to give it its’ due credit.
The décor and location are fairly unassuming, but the quality of the sushi was out of this world. It’s on par with Koi or Nobu or whatever your standard of excellent sushi is.
I tried uni, engawa, hamachi belly, chu-​toro, aji, and albacore belly. All supurb, top-​notch quality.
The chef was even able to make the albacore belly in a particular style (with fried garlic, green onion and ginger) that i am not usually able to find at sushi restaurants. Being prepared to handle such requests is a true hallmark of quality service in my book.
This is not a cheap sushi restaurant, but given the quality, it is by no means overpriced.
Food — spectacular
Décor/​Ambiance — unassuming, but clean
Service — fantastic

Me and my man just tried their ramen for the first time = win! As someone who has had ramen all over from the South Bay, I think this is very good. You can tell their broth is homemade, flavorful, thick, not too salty, their pork is amazingly tender and I like their noodles. Overall has a traditional taste and style. Delicious. I just wish it could be hotter sometimes but that’s just me I think because my boyfriend liked it the way it is.

Nope. Not impressed. I picked a friend up at LB airport and made him promise to take me for Ramen for my troubles. I Unilocaled around town and this spot had 4.5 stars with over 100 reviews. I was a little skeptical given that it was sushi and ramen, as I often find that spots trying to do two things do neither well… still they’re both Japanese foods, plus the reviews were great and the photos looked decent so we headed on over.
We ordered shishito peppers but asked that they be prepared in the spicy garlic sauce that the menu mentioned you could get on your edamame. I don’t know what the regular dish is like at this spot but our version was on point. Definitely give it a try.
Then we had the seared albacore with crispy onions. Usually one of my favorite dishes but this one was lacking. The «sear» meant that the fish was nearly fully cooked and the onions covered the entire dish. I wouldn’t order it again
We ordered one tonkotsu ramen and one spicy miso. I wasn’t a fan of either one. The tonkotsu broth had a better flavor in my opinion but the pork was all fat and I wasn’t a big fan of the toppings. I’m wondering if the egg was tea-​boiled as the white seemed sweet, which was off putting to me. I didn’t finish the spicy miso, which is way out of character for me. Just didn’t care for it.
Oh well, maybe this is the best spot in LB but not in LA or SF Valley. At least the service was good.

We have been coming here weekly/​bi-​monthly for months and have been completely blown away with service, food quality, quantity, laughs and love from each person there. The owner Erwin is dedicated to his craft, chefs, and staff and wow… Peter has never served us the same thing twice in MONTHS! We can’t forget Eddie who never has to ask what we want to drink and always keeps our glasses full. Tōn is the spicy secret chef who delivers the tasty treats you want. We consider this our «home» sushi spot and finally got our family photo together– just in time for Thanksgiving. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Tell them Travis and Claire sent you and you may just find yourself your own new «Sushi home». :) cheers to Kihon!

Our new favorite local spot! Authentic ramen and cooked to perfection! The broth is flavorful, noodle is al dente, portion is great! Love that egg is cooked perfectly and you get 2! Will come back and so glad there’s one now to go to here in Long Beach! Spicy miso and their 16 hour tonkatsu, would come back just for these two anytime!

The only reason i am not giving this place a 5 star for their ramen is because nothing can compare to Dikakuya in Jtown. However, as a ramen aficionado, this place is easily the best ramen in Long Beach.
I got the Tonkatsu Ramen and it was delicious.

I was looking forward to eating here all week and it fell short of my expectations. I was severely disappointed in my food and will not be back.
I ordered uni, black sea bream, and amaebi nigiri as well as the spicy shrimp tempura roll.
Spicy shrimp tempura roll:
This was a very strange combination of flavors: heavy, deep fried shrimp with a salty/​sour mayo on top of the typical light and fresh spicy tuna cut roll on soy paper. They did not belong together in my mouth at all – I had to take off the shrimp and eat each component separately.
Uni nigiri:
Uni was delicious, fresh and sweet, however its rice base was poorly made. The rice was chewy and dense; it should’ve been light and falls apart easily in my house. I could barely taste the uni because I was busy breaking down the rice chunk in my mouth.
Black sea bream nigiri:
I had the same issue with the rice base in all of my nigiri sushi. The fish itself was overpowered by yuzu and salt – I dont even remember tasting the shiso leaf under the fish. Very forgettable.
Amaebi nigiri:
Again, the fish itself was very fresh and sweet, but the rice detracted from the overall taste. Shrimp heads came overcooked, hard, and doused in a weird teriyaki sauce (who thought this was a good idea?).
Total for all 4 items was about $ 43. Kind of pricy for a mediocre meal!
Service was okay. The restaurant itself is very attractive and nice – makes me wish the food was just as good. Although presentation was great! Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be back.

They serving great Ramen!
It’s amazing! Best Ramen in Long Beach area.
Let’s try it, it’s real Japanese Ramen.
Enjoy flavorful Ramen & Great Sushi!

Went to Kihon last night for the first time. What initially caught my attention of this place is the fact that they now serve Ramen. I’ve been wanting a ramen shop in/​closer to LB for ages. (I usually go to fountain valley’s Shin Sen Gumi to get my fix). But funny enough I wasn’t in the mood for ramen so we decided to get sushi. We ordered 4 items and got a little bonus piece thrown in.
1. The yellow tail sashimi with jalapeño and ponzu. I’ve gotten this dish at a number of places and sadly nothing has compared to Nobu’s. But I will say this is a slightly different take on it. The fish was fresh but had a garlic or onion ponzu sauce which added a different flavor profile than I was used to. It was good just not was I expected — ⁴⁄₅
2. The second dish we ordered was the albacore with garlic and truffle oil. Wow. This was absolutely fantastic. Definitely my favorite dish of the night. Very fresh and such amazing flavor. I definitely recommend this — 4.5÷5
3. The next plate to come was the black cod with miso. (I find very similar menu items offered here that they have at Nobu, which is awesome since the price here is wayyyyy more wallet friendly). The cod was perfectly cooked, texture and taste were on point. I might have to take my earlier statement back and give a tie for favorite dish. This was an easy — 4.5÷5
4. At about this point in our dinner we had made friends with the sushi chef and he offered us a little something to try. It was seared salmon with crisp, deep-​fried spinach on it and garlic chips. It was good — ⁴⁄₅
5. We were still just a tad bit hungry so we ordered the red snapper sushi. (Comes with 2 pieces for around 5 bucks). It had lemon, sea salt and a little drop of yuzu pepper? Taste was perfect, but texture was a bit off. Not sure if that is just red snapper though. For freshness and flavor, I’d still give it a — ⁴⁄₅

We went for omakase. Good sashimi, but kinda thinly sliced. I would prefer to pay more and get thicker slice of fish as it is more enjoyable to devour.
I am spoiled by traditional Japaneese omakase with a order of items served, with a bit of kama.
This is *not* the place that I would remember …

First encountered Kihon at the Long Beach Restaurant Week Launch. I was impressed by what they were serving — an octopus appetizer with yuzu kosho.
I returned a few months later for dinner and had a very enjoyable meal. We wanted to take advantage of the small plates/​tapas they had on offer. My favorite dishes were the smoked octopus with yuzu kosho — the item I had tried before.
I also loved the seared salmon with crispy spinach, and the omakase sushi was delicious. I really liked the flavor combinations Chef put together in each bite.
My son loved the crispy rice topped with spicy tuna — although the tuna was not really spicy at all. He also loved the short rib dish.
The restaurant gets busy later in the evening, so if you’re like me, you should go early.

Was not impressed with this place.
Food was mediocre, not many options for specialty rolls, portions were small, and everything was overpriced.
The seared octopus was good but a lot smaller than it looked on the pictures.
Service was good, but I’d never return.

This review is only for their HH (happy hour) sushi.
Happy hour happy tray is the best deal there!
$ 9.95 will get you
++ Spicy tuna on crispy rice
++ Yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño
++ Seared albacore with crispy onion
++ Creamy popcorn shrimp
My BF and I also got a hand roll and crunchy roll that was on hh menu — but I would skip those next time and just get two happy hour happy trays!
HH is from open — 6PM, Monday — Thursday.