Hiwa Fusion

I love this place and I miss it!!!

Thanks to the crew at Hiwa. Valerie at the bar was very nice, made nice conversation and took good care of our large party of 30.
Uni Spaghetti — never had it before and I loved it. It was rich, tasty and delicious and had plenty of mussels. All the food was very good. Short ribs were tender, calamari crisp but not rubbery, ahi poke was awesome.
The place has an older crowd (over 30) so it’s pretty mellow. Saturday night they had a DJ playing ‘90s.
Good place to hang out with friends and eat some tasty asian grindz.

I came for Happy Hour the other day which, unlike what a previous Unilocaler stated, is only until 7PM. We arrived and were the only customers in the restaurant, which was red flag #1.
My friends and I ordered the garlic fries, Hiwa wings, tacos, and Hiwa burger. The garlic fries were a sad pity of an excuse for garlic fries, as they were LITERALLY fries sprinkled here and there with minced garlic (
). The tacos were dry and flavorless while the wings were unmemorable such that we didn’t finish (
). The only saving grace of the night was the juicy Hiwa burger and the potato chips it came with (
).
Now, we’re finished with our food and drinks and hound our waiter down to receive our check, because this place is so unbelievably busy and all (not). We receive the check and were about to pay when something doesn’t seem right… lo and behold, we were charged non-​happy hour prices for all of our happy hour food. We flagged down our waiter and he brought us an adjusted receipt. We are about to pay AGAIN when we review the receipt again and discover that the waiter only applied the hour discount to the food and NOT to our drinks. As such, we flag our waiter and he brings us ANOTHER receipt, which was correct this time… third time’s the charm?
Overall, the food was bland and the waiters either dishonest or dumb, you decide.

I really like Hiwa and their Happy Hour. Their HH from 3 PM to 9 PM is… awesome.
Their Hiwa burger is a deal and their Ensalada de Ahi (not on the Happy Hour menu) is also reasonably priced at $ 7. Don’t be afraid to check out the regular menu, even during Happy Hour.
Beer selection is good, but not great (Bootleggers Palamino Pale, Shock Top, Blue Moon, etc.). Their HH price is $ 4 a pint, though I have recently been charged only $ 3. They also have a decent selection of tequila.
My food recommendations (for both regular and HH) are:
Hiwa Burger
Chips (potato) n dip (cooked perfect)
Hiwa wings
Ensalada de Ahi
I continue to go back and am pleased. Giving it 3.5 stars and rounding to 4…
A fan.

I’ve never tried this place before even though I live in Cerritos!
Came during a Friday night and it was empty! I was thinking to myself «uh oh.» Complimentary salty edamame. My friend ordered the Crab & Uni Spaghetti and I ordered the Pork Chop with Mushroom Rissoto. Both dishes were delicious! The pork chop was tender and juicy! I’m always scared the restaurants will overcook pork chops but this was beautifully done! The mushroom rissoto was creamy and satisfying; also came with some steamed broccoli. My friend said the spaghetti was creamy and really good, so yay!
At the end of the night around 10 P.M., the DJ started spinning his tracks… I guess this place turns into a club/​lounge? It was really awkward for guests still eating their «romantic dinner»… can’t even talk over the music! LOL. sigh*
I would give this place 4 stars if it wasn’t for the sudden change of atmosphere: from romantic candlelight dinner to hip hop lounge/​club while couples were still eating their dinner! LMFAO!

Yes, I am a fan! Huge fan of their Crab & Uni Spaghetti! So deliciously satisfying. I will be back for more!
Came here for a midweek dinner with a huge party and had no problems with seating. Staff was really organized and prompt with attending to us.
Had a bite of almost everyone’s dishes and it was sooooo good! Such a great find and highly recommended for asian fusion!

We made it for their happy hour chicken wings and appetizers. We ordered the adobo, lemon & pepper, sweet & sour flavor chicken wings along with their garlic chicken noodles. I really liked the garlic chicken noodles, the adobo chicken wings, and the slaw the comes with the wings.
I forgot her name, but our server was really nice. Maybe it’s just me, but I really didn’t mind that there wasn’t a lot of people there. I liked that they had a live DJ playing while you eat and chat with your friends. :)
It’s a little far me to go, but if I’m ever in the area again I wouldn’t mind going again for some garlic chicken noodles (it’s yummmies). :)

This review is for happy hour only…
Happy hour, which is from 3pm — 9pm… it’s more like happy six hours. The first time we came here we ordered the kalbi sushi, chicken garlic noodle, ensalada de ahi, and the tuna tartar. oh and the tacos because it was Taco Tuesday ($ 1.00)…The food is so tasty and delis, we’ve come back a few more times, just to find out the last dish we had tasted, they’ve manage to improve on it.
Fave dishes:
Kalbi sushi spring roll
Chicken/​beef garlic noodle
Ensalada de Ahi
Tuna Tartar
LA Wings
This place is definitely a jem and worth a try… will be back!

Love this hidden gem! Kind of out of the way for me since it’s in Cerritos but I just happened to have a meeting nearby so I stopped in during Taco Tuesdays and the deals and drinks were really good.
However… the number one winner for me, enough reason for me to drive all the way back there is there UNI and SEAFOOD SPAGHETTI! OMG to freakin die for! I love uni and I love seafood. They have lots of uni mixed in the dish and it was a kick too. So good! It is a must try!

I feel sad that this corner of the shopping center cannot seem to find it’s identity. I came here and thought I walked into a straight up tijuana bar. I ordered a gin and tonic which proved to be really strong. Here’s the thing, I like strong drinks but I expect there to be a least a splash of gin. I hate going to bars that just make really strong drinks to A) get you drunk so you order more drinks and B) make strong drinks so you order their shitty food,
I ended up getting the tuna tartar and it actually wasn’t half bad. It had a nice spicy kick butttttttt would I go back JUST for that? Nope.

My friend threw a party here in which selected dishes were provided for an hour; although it was more like until the containers ran out if past the hour. I’m not sure what the specific arrangements were with the restaurant but as a guest of the party, it was pretty decent. From the beginning, I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’ve never heard of this place.
The dishes provided to us were calamari, chow mein, and a few kinds of sushi. I was quite impressed with the chow mein which had tasty pieces of flavorful meat in it. It could have been short rib. All that was missing were some veggies thrown in. The sushi and calamari were pretty typical; nothing bad about it. I didn’t taste it myself but some friends were raving about some sauce that was provided.
The servers were pretty attentive, refilling our waters and clearing our plates. The house DJ was awesome, playing the jams.
I did notice this place is still opened to regular diners while our party took up a good part of the restaurant. They do offer a full bar with drink specials up to a certain time. It was 2 for 1 Patron shots when I was there. I’d recommend this place if one wanted to hold a party in a club-​type atmosphere.

Came in on a whim to celebrate my friends birthday knowing that I could only stay for just a second since I brought the kiddies. We got seated and was quickly tended to by the hosts and our server. The entire party of more then 12 was already seated and munching on appetizers when we joined in. Perfect, I’m just in time to order dinner.
I wasn’t trying to linger and needed to get outta there as quickly as I came. So, ordering an entrée with all the fixins wasn’t in the agenda. I gazed through the menu for something small so I thought the Galibi spring rolls sounded like it would hit the spot.
Our food came out and everything was looking great. I took one bite and asked for my check and a box. To be honest, the roll wasn’t that good. If you like hot or warm meat, you won’t find it here (just FYI). It was cut up like sushi. Not the best thing since I took it to go. It was a bloody mess when I reopened the box not too long after I left. Maybe this is why our server was hinting @ getting something else. Dumb me for not reading between the lines. Anywho, I’ve seen so many great reviews regarding the other food they serve, so shame on me for trying to cheat them on this review.
Regardless.
BRAVO to Hiwa! I’m glad they found a home here because I remember my butt bustin’ days as an overnight club promoter shakin’ my money maker at this EXACT spot when it was the O bar. All the restaurants that occupied this space had a hard time and it seems as though things are looking up. Weekly specials, music, and events will surely help them out. Good for them!
I have no bad feelings towards HIWA & wouldn’t mind coming back if the tides call for it. It also helps that the service is awesome!

Came back for dinner tonight and tried the Cowboy rib-​eye steak with mashed potatoes and veggies. Also tried the pineapple coconut cake for dessert (divine!).
The bread they served before the meal was too hard but other than that I enjoyed my meal. I might be a bit generous with my star rating but there is something I really like about this place — I just feel so relaxed and comfortable when I’m here. So they get bonus points for a quiet atmosphere that I like.

They now have TACO TUESDAYS!
-$ 1 yummy tacos
-$ 3 Margaritas!
amazing!