Shiki Japanese Restaurant

Never judge a restaurant by it’s location… Second time I’ve eaten at a restaurant situated behind a gas station. Loved everything about Shiki. Imagine a very tiny Benihana– they only had 2 show tables while the rest was dining room & sushi bar seats. Very clean & friendly & felt very authentic.
Their yellow tail sashimi was really good. May be in my top 5, if not top 3. If i remember correctly it was 7 pcs for ~$ 15.50. Excellent! Opted for their «Super Crunchy Roll» which was a normal crunchy roll BUT had eel on top, hence «super.» It was «super» good! Dragon roll was a great dish, too. Overall great meals & experience! Don’t mind the location, the taste is what it’s all about! Will go back if I’m ever craving sushi in this part of Anaheim.

My immediate family members and I eat Sunday night dinner at Shiki about every other month. We usually called a few days ahead of time to book for party of eleven-​non Teppan only regular dining. Similar to Benihana, Shiki offers Teppanyaki dining whereby all guests sit around a grill and the food is cooked in front of the guests while doing tricks and involving participation from the guests! It looks like fun and the guests really enjoy themselves. Anyway Gerard the owner usually greets us and moves from table to booth to table, greeting all customers one by one with a friendly hello and/​or a handshake. I met another fellow Malaysian there named Kathy-​she is a waitress there. She’s very nice so it feels like home for me. Customer service there is exceptional… and if you sign up for email list, on your birthday month you get $ 20 off on your meal there, that is before tax and tips.

Absolutely terrible experience. Once you get by the five heroin addicts that hang out near the front door. You get to go inside. The manager made no accommodations to try to get us a seat at the Tappan table. So he put us in a booth then you find out that you’re limited as to what you can order. Don’t get the softshell crab a $.50 piece is bigger than the crab. It was supposed to be a special occasion with good friends getting together. Next time we’ll just head right to De Taco at least then we know what we’re getting. Very disappointed!!!
In response to your terrible reaction to this post let’s clarify something the woman outside when I walked in was wearing torn leggings a half shirt and was clearly under the influence of methamphetamine now you may not know what that’s like but I have a lot of knowledge in that area and I after to walk away from the front door because the group of people that I was with were nervous to go by her. Secondly why did I order another Softshell crab was because I wish I would’ve gotten a photo of the first one so I ordered a second one just so I can take a picture and share it with my friends. If you would’ve offered when we came in to have a sit and wait for an open table we would’ve I spent $ 148 on basically Udon drinks and sushi. If you look at your menu you have to admit that the items on there are not eligible for purchase while you sit in a booth and the two pages are dedicated to the Tappon portion of the restaurant.. And then dealing with you interrupting me while I’m trying to explain why I had a concern top the cake. The friends that I wore with completely agreed in my impression of your restaurant. I’ve spoken to other people that I know in the area and they have had negative experiences as well. I’m willing to post my phone number for anybody that would want to ask me more in depth about my experience there. Many of the points you cannot argue. Your portion size of the softshell crab was well after any interaction that you and I had at the front counter initially. Things completely progressed in a negative way. I appreciate the fact you’re trying to save face but I am entitled to my opinion and yet the friends that I were with had the same opinion as well.
And as you didn’t listen to me earlier in the evening and didn’t listen to me later in the evening it wasn’t that I said it was her birthday she just lost her father. It was our way of taking her out to try to change the date for her. It wasn’t her birthday never would’ve said that it was clearly something far more important but he like you did many times you didn’t listen!!!

I have driven by this place for a long time and always said i would stop in. Well finally we stopped. Went in for a bite to eat. We sat at the Sushi Bar. We got our drinks and ordered. The drinks came out quick. The food came out and looked good. the Japanese Burrito is really good. We also got the Tiger Roll. We never got our water but had our drinks. All in all the place is good. I would recommend this place for Sushi. It is good. The service could be a bit better and make sure you have water and keep your drinks full. Other than that the evening was good. The price is good and comparable to other Sushi places.

The food okay, but you should beware of your bill if you come with a lot of people because when they add the gratuity in the bill, they calculate it on a post-​tax basis where it should be based off the pre– tax. So they are getting a few extra dollars out of everyone. I should not have the pay the gratuity off the states money and should be done before the tax. I would have no problem if the tip was calculated right, but if this restaurant does this to a lot of people when they have big parties where gratuity is included, they are making money that should not be entitled to them. This should not be a standard practice and I’m pretty dissatisfied about this billing practice they have here.
I don’t recall you ever re-​doing everyone else’s bill including mine because I paid the wrong amount and noticed after the fact. It’s not a big deal over a few dollars, but it’s just the principle of it and I won’t be back.
I just remember you re-​Doing the lady’s bill who’s husband birthday it was which was not me.

Gerard, the owner, is incredibly nice. I went to high school with his son, and he recognizes me every time and he always makes sure me and my table are taken care of. Great sushi chefs and quality of fish. Highly recommend this place if you’re in the area. I always make sure to order the «trust me» roll, which is a chefs pick and different every time. Always leave satisfied!

Favorite sushi place in OC. I have been to many but none are as good as the rolls I’ve had here. The trust me roll is always a good one if you aren’t picky. I love the Tiger Roll and can always rely on the Crunchy Roll to be fantastic.
Also they’ve got all the live PPV events that play on the TV in front of the sushi bar now! Can’t go wrong going here to have a good time:)

Service is excellent, the staff was awesome and the food was delicious. My boyfriend, boyfriends mom and I all took sake oyster, smelt egg and quail egg shooters for the first time and Lisa (one of THE BEST servers) took our photos while we took the shooters. She got some really great photos that made us all laugh so hard. The staff really made the night that much better.

The owner Gerard and staff are super friendly and the food is great. Sorry to say that the last few times we went in the service had not be the best so we have not gone back in the past 6 – 7 months.
There are too many other places to eat out at that if you are being treated bad you take your business elsewhere.
When you can see your food on the counter waiting to be served to you and not one server is bringing it. Yet the rest of your party is eating, that is a problem. Not sure when or if we will go back.
Don & Stacy

This place is SO GOOD. came in for my sisters 21^st birthday and everything was perfect. Hibachi table cook was off the chain. Food was AMAZING! They were very accommodating to our vegan requests and once they found out it was my sisters birthday, Gerard was so kind and brought out complimentary dessert and gifts for our entire table. Next time I’m back in the Newport are we will definitely be returning!

I’ve always had great service here. It’s so nice when to staff and owner recognize us as regulars. For some crazy reason my young kids can demolish several rolls of sushi like nobody’s business. We’ve always gotten dirty looks from other sushi restaurants when we bring our sushi loving children but are always welcome here! Great service, great food!

Please read before going to Shiki BEWARE:
Shiki’s servers are great and the food is good. But my family and I have been coming here for years now. We always come for celebrations for every family member and recommend so many people to come here. All of the other servers are AWESOME but the owner of the place, Gerard, is extremely rude. He knows us and all of our family members by name and knows we come in basically every week.
At Shiki, you get a $ 20 off coupon for your birthday which you can use within a month of your birthday, but they supposedly recently just changed it to within a WEEK of your birthday. Although it was a week and 2 days after my mom’s birthday, we thought we would come here and Gerard, the owner, would just give it to us because of all of the business we give him and we bring to him. However, he REFUSED to honor the coupon for us. He literally told his server to come and tell us instead of talking to us HIMSELF. We asked the server to bring him over and he finally came over all nervous, refusing to honor the coupon and didn’t even care when we explained that we are regular customers and we did not know the coupon changed from within a MONTH to WEEK. I’m not bashing this guy just because he didn’t honor the coupon, I mean we come here all the time and spend all of our money here. I am bashing this guy because he does not understand the value of his customers. He lost LONG TIME regular customers over $ 20. We will NEVER be going back here again because he exposed his stinginess and rudeness towards customers. Do not go here and give this rude, stingy man business!

Wow. Let me just start out by saying this is not a sushi joint to go to. Teppan maybe because I haven’t tried it but definitely not sushi. My girlfriend and I came in around 6pm, and it was dead, but as it hit 7pm people started strolling in. Definitely a big place, ambience is decent looking, more like a white guy tried to turn his restaurant into a Japanese one. No biggie.
Now let’s get into the juicy part. What we thought were servers turned out to be a busser. Older Asian women who barely spoke English were servers. We ordered a «Lobster Roll» LET ME TELL YOU, it is NOT A LOBSTER ROLL! Our old Asian server had the audacity to tell me it was a baby lobster. Oh please would you go to this place and order it if you don’t believe me. I work at kabuki, look me up and I’ll tell you what lobster is inside a lobster roll. We then had to DEMAND our server to really take it back because I’m not paying 15 bucks for crawfish. We also ordered the Tonkatsu dinner and jeez it came with salad soup and rice. The salad looks like they put the dressing on and stored it in the freezer and brought out whenever they were served. pork was subpar for 16 bucks. We also ordered the «WINTER ROLL» it definitely felt as if they put that albacore in some winter temperature. Its texture was like steak not albacore. And the sauce? Oh forget the sauce it might make you question when the albacore was prepared.
Last but not least, the owner did walk by to tell us that he is sorry but I was just trying to be nice so I let him off the hook. Our Asian server said that the busser who I thought was our original server didn’t know how to serve. Reality check, she didn’t do anything but take our order! The «busser» dropped off our food, asked how it tasted, and got us our check. Duties sound familiar? It’s a server. And then as soon as we get the check after our busser let her know, she brought our check saying he doesn’t know how to serve so stop asking him. Ha! What a joke. This place does not deserve 2016 best sushi restaurant.
Sushi here is a no no. They probably save every part of the fish and try to sell it even if it goes bad and dump it with ponzu or something and serve it. Teppan maybe, cause I haven’t tried it. Wow. And this is my first ever review. Gordon Ramsey couldn’t even save this place.
To our busser, young man you need to find a better job. If they fire you, directly message me and I’ll hook you up at a job where they’d actually pay you. I’m a server, and definitely notice another fellow server when I see one.
SUBPAR back-​of-​house food, OLD sushi,
Ain’t never coming back. And let me just share this information. IDK how the owner put all the bad reviews on «Not Recommended» review section but I hope this goes up on the wall that they have here. Embarrassing. If they put his review on there too I will go through Facebook where it won’t be hidden. Thanks for reading it might just save your life before trying this place.

My boyfriend and I decided to try this place after looking at the good Unilocal reviews, but we were severely disappointed!
First of all, the happy hour is ridiculous. It’s not even worth it. They advertise $ 2 Nigiri and $ 2.50 appetizers, but fail to mention that it’s $ 2 and $ 2.50 PER PIECE, for nigiri AND appetizers! How is $ 2.50 for one piece of sesame chicken even okay?!
Onto food:
— Lobster Roll: At $ 15, it was one of the pricier rolls on the menu. It tasted fine, and I liked the sauce, but they served us crawfish instead of lobster. We told the server, but she never admitted to it being crawfish, instead saying it was «baby lobster.» Excuse me, everyone knows the difference between crawfish and lobster! We are not stupid! They comped the roll, but it still doesn’t make it right.
— Winter Roll: Basically a spicy tuna roll with albacore, onions, and a garlic sauce on top. The description made me order it instantly, since we usually love rolls with those ingredients. However, the albacore was definitely not fresh, which ruined it completely. The entire roll was cold and just did not taste fresh at all.
— Tonkatsu: The only tasty item we ordered, but, once again, did not look fresh. Normally when you fry a pork cutlet to make tonkatsu, it’s completely crispy all the way around. This tonkatsu seemed like it had been made earlier and then microwaved right before serving it to us (the bottom was soggy). Even the salad didn’t seem fresh. The dressing was almost congealed on top, like they had dressed the salad and left it in the fridge.
And now, service:
An older woman greeted us and took our orders, but the majority of the time, a young man took care of us. He checked up on us periodically, always asking if everything was alright (I think he could tell that we were unhappy). To my dismay, we found out that he wasn’t even a server; he was just a busser! I almost wanted to talk to the owner and tell him that his busser was making us feel way more taken care of us than his servers, but I didn’t want to make the night worse. We wanted to just give him the tip ourselves, but we didn’t want to get him in trouble.
OVERALL:
Go somewhere else, seriously. There are a ton of other sushi restaurants that are worth going to.
** The extra star is for THE BUSSER and his service!**

Me and my girl went on a Saturday night. It got pretty busy with all the people waiting for tepanyakki. We sat at a normal table and got seated right away.
Great staff. Everyone was very helpful including the bussers.
We ordered the stuffed mushrooms and calamari which come in affordable quantities. Really good.
We ordered the dragon roll. Which actually came out looking like a dragon. Spider roll had 8 pieces of course. Tiger roll was yummy. Again the presentation very good.
For desert we had fried or tempura banana with green tea ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup. Soooo good!!!
This was our first time going. We will be back :) I recommend checking Shiki out!

My boyfriend and I were craving teppanyaki so we looked on Unilocal to see what the best one around the area was. Then we found shiki which had the best reviews so we decided to come in.
When we first walked in, it had a nice relaxing atmosphere. Unfortunately we were not able to be seated at the tables for teppanyaki due to people having reserved ahead of time, but the owner accommodated for us. We were given the option of ordering the food even though there were only seats at the dining tables.
I ordered the combination dinner with filet mignon and chicken. My boyfriend ordered the lobster. The filet mignon and chicken were yummy and seasoned well but my personal favorite was the lobster.
So if you’re looking for a place with good food and good service then come here because they’ll treat you really well.

Best sushi in the OC, in fact they have won best sushi in the last two years. Happy hour specials 12 – 2 and 5 – 7 mon– thurs.

Dinner for the son’s birthday. Teppan table service was quick and efficient. Chef was amusing and talkative through out the meal. Owner/​Mgr. stopped by and was friendly and professional.
We all had different meals and for the most part everyone was very pleased.
My scallops, however, we rubbery and over cooked as was the sukiyaki steak I ordered.
Overall the experience was a good one and I would recommend this out of the way place.

So about a year ago my family and I had dinner here to celebrate my son’s birthday. We’ve been back a couple of times for dinner — but not more than 5 – 6 times. Well, we went again this past week for his birthday, and all I can say is «wow!» There has never been a restaurant where I felt more welcome. The servers (yes, plural) that waited on us were awesome. Glasses always full. Finished plates moved away quickly. Everything was fantastic.
I know it sounds like I’m blowing smoke here, but I honestly feel that when you come across a business (restaurant, store or whatever) that has truly exceptional service and products (food in this case), it is important to promote that business. I usually do this by word of mouth when friends or family ask for recommendations. In this case, Unilocal is my option.
To begin, we gave my son the choice of wherever he wanted to go for dinner to celebrate his 8^th birthday. He chose Shiki. Not a big surprise… they cook in front of you, it’s entertaining and the owner is always very kind in offering some little gift/​toy for the kids. So when he picked Shiki, I was pretty happy because of all our previous experiences. It’s close to home. It’s reasonably priced. And the food and service is usually excellent. In this case, it was just as I had remembered but better.
My son has numerous food allergies, which is a huge bummer for him and us. Dining out is sometimes tough because employees don’t always know ingredients. In this case, our chef was awesome about cooking food separately. The main server was awesome. When it came time for dessert, she brought my son sherbet (which is egg free). We didn’t even have to ask. She did it on her own. I am so grateful. Sadly, some places act put out when you ask about ingredients or ask for special items/​preparations.
The owner once again gave my son several little birthday gift surprises, which he loved. The owner, even had us take a family photo which he emailed to us. What else can I say?
When I left, I was asking myself — why don’t we come here more often? We definitely will.
To sum up: warm, friendly, excellent service, entertaining, great for families with kids, great staff, excellent food.
Again, I know this review is all positive, but we truly had nothing negative to say. It was beyond my expectations. I’m sure some people can find something negative… good for them. They probably hate rainbows and puppies too. All I can say is this is an outstanding place to have dinner (and I’m sure lunch). As a lifetime resident of Orange, I’m happy to have this place in our town.

We’re on vacation and Japanese food was our pick for Saturday night dinner.
We all 3 Unilocaled our way to the decision of… SHIKI.
We arrived 30 minutes early… dinner serves at 5pm.
We took some photos and decided to play a game of Uno while we waited.
The landscape is stunning and authentic.
As we enter I couldn’t help but notice the glow…
In the lights
In the wood
In the other guests
The staff
Ourselves…
We moved from our table to the grill only to realize maybe that wasn’t were we wanted to sit… so they graciously moved us again.
We began with a few appetizers and hot saki.
Everything was so beautifully presented.
Next arrived our soup and miso salad.
Dinner was served plate after plate as we had bowls of rice and a sauce on the side, with sushi rolls and salmon sushi… as well as a huge fanned platter with sesame chicken, teriyaki steak, tempura shrimp, tempura veggies and more.
The food was amazing. The flavors wonderful and the staff worked together creating the buzz of a bee hive.
The highlight of the evening was meeting Gerard. We’d read on Unilocal how he’d frequently stop by your table on any given night… and I had secretly thought why not us… Why not tonight.
I spent 25 years working in restaurants and never have I witnessed an owner dance around with such passion to making sure you experience the «ART» of dining.
Well done Gerard.
To you and your entire staff. Thank you for giving us a memory to last a lifetime
Lela B.