Sushi Imari

Best sushi of my life. And I eat a lot of that shit.

Incredible sushi, great service, and wonderful environment. They have really cute and positive pictures and signs on the wall that makes you happy. Definitely recommend it to friends and will be coming back. Thanks!

Came here because of the highly rated sushi place on Unilocal.
Boy did they not disappoint. Free appetizers and dessert is definitely a good touch, every costumer digs that.
Ordered the marilyn monroe, really refreshing, multiple types of raw fish in there, but all very fresh so you don’t feel like you got too much flavor in your mouth, i normally don’t like soy paper, but man it was good. The wango tango, the ingredients are good, mango adds a bit of sweetness to the roll, but i don’t really like the imari sauce, i think it was because they added wasabi in it or something. Also got a roll that was california on the bottom with fried scallops on top with eel sauce, that one was my favorite.
Oh and their butter pecan ice creak is good
I would definitely come back, but i heard they’re about to close down, because the owner of the building wants to sell this plaza :(

This review is only for pickup.
Ordered a crunchy roll and an eel cucumber roll. I didn’t really like either one. There was a lot of rice, and not much eel or shrimp.
I want to give this place another chance at some point though bc of how many good reviews it has, and I just noticed all the sashimi pictures and they look really good.

I was looking for a great sushi place and I think I found the one! WOW! The quality of the food is so great and the service is amazing! Will definitely be back very soon~

WOW! I eat a lot of sushi, and this place is BOMB. Definitely worth the drive! The service is amazing but their food is even better. I was really impressed with this place! I’m for sure coming back ~

Service: A+
Food: A+
All the servers are so friendly and accomodating, and what makes it even better is the food! Super yummy. Would come down again definitely.

One of the best sushi experience we’ve ever had. Sushi were delicious, the service was excellent and the servers were just plain wonderful. We live in Georgia but looking forward to come back, with friends in July…

Quickly Unilocaled a sushi place near UCI and came across Sushi Imari. I believe it was a Friday evening that I came by right before the dinner rush. We were seating fairly quickly.
Sushi Imari is located in a strange place for a restaurant near a gym and some repair shops right off the fwy. The interior of the restaurant was very cozy. The tables a tucked and arrange close to each other so you could be an uncomfortable distance close to the party next to you.
The servers really make and effort to attend to everything you need.
We ordered the garlic edamame, sake bomb roll, salmon sashimi and another roll on their special.
The garlic edamame was a little too salty but great for snacking before your meal. The salmon sashimi tasted really fresh, I definitely recommend this. The chef was really nice and even gave us extra pieces of sashimi. The other two rolls were both good as well. At the end of our meal they also gave us ice cream on the house!
Super friendly service and good food too!

Yay! Came here with a friend after picking up our graduation cap+ gown. Yes the time is getting closer and closer~ :3
We were here at around 12 on a Tuesday, and even though this place looks pretty small, there was still space for us to sit. The hostess brought us over menus and told us which fish were fresh today. I wanted to try what a fresh fish was and chose the yellow tail: D
Yellow Tail (2pc) — Usually if it melts in your mouth, then yes, you can say it’s fresh. And fresh it was! The only thing is they automatically put wasabi underneath, and it was something that I didn’t expect haha xD But yes. Fresh. Melted. And put on a fancy plate haha xD
Sunrise Roll– Albacore and ponzu sauce? Count me in! I was trying to find a stinky roll but unfortunately this was the closest that I could see (maybe they do have one?) but I really love the tart of the sauce that meshes well with the albacore. I finished most of this one haha: P Ate through most of it because I’m a fan of their albacore xD
Snoopy Roll– This is a nice name haha. I think it’s referring to Snoopy sitting on top of his roof? IONO): But this one had shrimp on it and had a small part of hot sauce on top of it so this is spicy. I wasn’t really a fan of this roll because it didn’t really have too much going on in it (rice + shrimp base) but it’s still a nice roll regardless.
TLC Roll but it was under the Imari special and this was a really filling roll. It had tuna and spicy ponzu sauce + eel sauce. The inside had shrimp tempura + spicy imitation crab. This was about $ 13 but it had so many ingredients in it that went well together. The sauces were more sweet than spicy and the seaweed made the roll more. refreshing LOL (less heavy).
The total came out to be about $ 50 but if you pay cash you get 5% off the bill price (yay!). My friend and I got really full after the 2^nd or 3^rd roll, so these rolls do fill you up quickly! :) We also got some complimentary onion rings as well (2 pieces, 1 each) which was devoured quickly. Service is generally good, although there may be a minute or so that you won’t have a server available.
Twas a good place to eat sushi. Me likey. (:

I came here today with two of my friends who were craving sushi for the first time. Firstly, it is located in a discrete plaza with auto body shops and I almost didn’t turn into this plaza because I didn’t think it would be here but it is!
Anyways upon arrival we waited about 10 minutes for a table (partly because we were also waiting for a friend) for a table of three during lunch hour which isn’t bad at all. The staff is very friendly, quick, and accommodating. They gave us free onion rings while we waiting for our sushi.
Their menu is quite funny to read because all of the names are interesting and different. I couldn’t really decide on which sushi to get because I wanted to try new things but I was also so hungry that I wanted to stick to the things I liked. All of our rolls looked scrumptious and definitely put me into food coma. I will definitely come back to try their toro (that I heard is heaven in your mouth and melts when you eat it) and other rolls as well.
The price is very fair and if you pay in cash you get 5% off your bill!

We tried to come here once before but the wait list was a little long that particular night so we left. Gave it another try tonight and there was no wait. We came around 8PM so the dinner rush probably died out already.
It’s not a very big place with not more than 12 tables and the sushi bar I would say? Pretty clean inside though so that’s a plus!
The waitress will let you know what their fresh fish of the day are. Tonight was bluefin tuna, amber jack, and uni! I was really in the mood for some uni tonight, so score!
It was nice that they give you some complimentary appetizer and complimentary dessert.
This place isn’t completely authentic Japanese sushi if that’s what you’re looking for. If you like different options from cooked entrees to soups, rolls, and sushi then this place would be good for you.

I finally get to try this place for lunch with some of my new coworkers. The place is kind of small so I could see why there would be a wait during the lunch rush. The quality of fish here is definitely fresh and the Bento boxes are pretty good.
Bluefin Tuna — fresh and melts in your mouth
Amberjack — Perfect chew with the right amount of rice
3 item Bento Box (Chicken Teriyaki, 4 piece sashimi, and California roll) — Chicken was lean and cooked well. The sauce was very tasty. California is creamy, the way i like it. The sashimi in the box are just ok.
The rest of my table hand rolls which looked very appetizing but with the amount of food I already had there’s no way I could fit anymore. I definitely have to go back and try all their other specials.
Waiter was very nice and attentive. He even brought us a free plate of onion rings.

My boyfriend and I came here for a postponed Valentine’s Day meal and we left with our stomachs smiling and pockets still full. This place serves delicious sushi at a reasonable price, is what I’m sayin’.
We shared a chirashi bowl, an order of Uni, a Seafood Dynamite roll, and a 007 special roll. Everything was made well and the portions are good too.

Stopped by for dinner and ordered a few rolls and sashimi. The rolls were average and weren’t that memorable but the sashimi was pretty good! I recommend the salmon belly which was melt in your melt buttery goodness. You can order each with two pieces or five pieces. The server was nice enough to bring us an extra piece because we had 6 in our party. They also gave us free gyoza because he wait was pretty long.

I wanted to like this place because it’s run by fellow Koreans, but it’s not a sushi place I would come back to in a hurry. In fact, the fact that they offer service items (onion rings, gyoza, and vanilla ice cream dessert) and excellent service makes me wonder if they know the quality of their fish is subpar and that they need to compensate in other ways. Therefore, even if I want to give this place a higher rating, I can’t bring myself to because the fish, which people should come for, ain’t impressin this Korean.
The yellowtail sushi was mediocre. The sweet shrimp was amazing, but when is it not? They also only give the option of a fried head, whereas other places incorporate it into a miso soup. They did not have uni nor squid available, because according to them, it was not fresh and so, they had returned it. I was a sad camper but in place, we ordered three rolls.
The rolls were all reaaaalllllyyy plain. No single roll hit the spot and the fish on the rolls were really skimpy minus the eel, which we Koreans know is fairly cheap coming preseasoned in the soy-​based sauce it comes with.
I walked out full, but not satisfied. If I wanted ayce sushi quality fish, I’d rather hit up those spots for the same price but more food and variety.

What’s with the long waits here? I don’t understand.
Sure, they give out free appetizers and desserts and the service is great, but the food is average at best. We got free onion rings, and green tea ice cream.
Carpe Diem (Aldo) — in (spicy tuna, cucumber) out (tuna, yellowtail, shrimp, avocado, halibut salmon)
I’m a little picky when it comes to my sushi rolls. I don’t like it when it’s served room temperature. The sashimi was okay too.
Seafood Dynamite Roll — in (california roll) out (scallop, mushroom, tuna, salmon, octopus, shrimp)
This sushi was more to my liking because it was a bit chilled. I expected a flavor explosion because everyone raves about this seafood dynamite roll, but it was just average.
I would come back to get it another try, but only if I don’t have to wait.

My favorite sushi place in OC! I’m super picky (aka not a real sushi eater) so there’re a ton of things I don’t eat. But they’re super flexible with ingredients, as I asked the server to substitute the avocado with cucumber on my sushi.
My friend and I came around 6:30 on Friday night, and we waited around 15 minutes to be seated. The servers are extremely nice and kept us updated on how soon we were going to get a table. They gave us complimentary onion rings in the beginning, which is delicious because it’s more like an onion tempura than a fast food onion ring. It’s light and crispy and tastes good with soy sauce!
We ordered the Crunchy Roll ($ 7.25) and Seafood Dynamite ($ 12.95) — they have been my favorites/​go-​tos in the past. The Crunchy Roll actually has a mouthful of filling (crab imitation + cucumber substituted + shrimp, balanced with rice and tempura flakes). The tempura flakes don’t look like a lot, but it still has that great crunch to it (and tasty with eel sauce)! I guess that’s a good compromise.
The Seafood Dynamite took at least 15 minutes because they had to bake it, but it’s definitely worth it. It’s kind of like a lot of seafood (with savory/​umami flavor) on top of california rolls. From what I remember, the seafood would be hot so that the katsuobushi would be squirming. However, tonight when I ordered it, there seemed to be a lot less katsuboshi than what I expected and it wasn’t moving… so not as hot? I was a little disappointed with that experience — it looked a little sloppy too because of the lack of that ingredient. But unless I find a better place for my sushi fix, I cannot underrate this place!
When we got our bill, we got a 5% discount for paying in cash! They also gave us some very yummy green tea ice cream. It looks very green and pretty, and it’s very flavorful and icy. I think it’s a good refresher for my breath after eating lots of fish and mayo. Also, I’m so glad we beat the rush that day… the restaurant isn’t really big so there are usually a lot of people waiting outside for their turn.

Great little Japanese restaurant in Costa Mesa! No reservations are taken, but do come early and expect a small wait due to limited seats inside (bar and tables). Sign in on the sign up sheet outside with # of party and if you prefer bar or table seating. They will call you when ready.
The service is exceptional. There is a lot of workers in relation to the number of tables in the dining area. There was always someone walking by that you could get a hold of. Drinks were offered as soon as we were seated. Ordered water and hot tea. Hot tea says $ 1 on the menu, but it’s actually free!
Ordered the Chirashi Bowl ($ 17). It came with miso soup, complimentary gyoza, and complimentary scoop of green tea ice cream! The Chirashi Bowl was a good portion! Lots of variety of fish. But the fish could have been cut better. They cut it thin and long… Freshness of the fish was okay, not something you get from the fish market, but good enough!
I would recommend this place for the value! It’s a great restaurant that offers great service! Also, the rolls looked awesome! I will be back to try the rolls!

Very pleasent first visit! Craved sushi, wanted to try something now, lots of good reviews on Unilocal so we decided to give it a shot!
All the rolls we had were delish. Definitely getting the scallop roll again. The Carpe Dium and the Sunset roll were both good options. The Salmon Skin roll could have been better.
Would have removed a star since they put the wrong sushi roll on our table twice before they brought us our simple spicy tuna roll but the waiters meant well and were very attentive otherwise. Our waiter Bin was also very friendly.
We got not one, not two, but three complimentary items! Onion rings, pot stickers, and mini scoop of green tea ice cream to finish the meal! That was a nice touch. Will definitely come back to this location again!