Kasen

A solid, traditional Sushi experience can be found in the most unlikely of strip malls.
One would be forgiven for having concern as they pull up to Kasen. Located in an old and somewhat dirty strip mall in the middle of Fountain Valley’s suburbia there is no indication that a traditional Japanese Sushi experience could be had within 5 miles in any direction but Kasen proves a book shouldn’t be judged by it’s cover. The moment you walk into the restaurant the interior warns that this is not the type of place to order Rolls or Poke, and then the hostess warns you verbally.
The focal point of the restaurant is the Sushi Bar and the Itamea, as it should be. The menu is abbreviated and simple but considering that Omakase is the point, that actually make sense. Since I visited at lunch time I decided upon the Sushi Combination that sports a hot bowl of Miso Soup and 8 pieces of Sushi.
If nothing else, Kasen is a must visit for any lover of Japanese cuisine for their Miso Soup alone. It is easily the best I have had outside of Japan. The loose but deeply savory dark brown broth has an intense Miso flavor and the cleanest of finishes. Sure there is Seaweed and the requisite Tofu chunks in the mix… You won’t care. This is nothing but a broth thing, baby.
Soon after the supremely delicious soup was devoured the Sushi assortment arrived and features 4 separate pairs of Nigiri. The Tuna arrived purple-​flesh-​fresh and the Itamea is not at all stingy with the cuts as the meat and rice ratio was 1:1. The Salmon was equally as clean tasting with that warm fattiness in the background that provides Sake it’s renowned mouthfeel. The Shrimp was just as… You know what? Every piece of Nigiri was a masterpiece in it’s own right. Even the Rice was on point with the perfect amount of vinegar and served room temperature so as not to distract the Sashimi.
If you are a traditional Sushi lover — this is close to as good as it gets in the States folks.
Yes, the check stung a bit as it always does with this genre but there is no argument that the quality warrants the extra coin. Figure $ 20.00 after tip for lunch and probably double that for dinner. As my first plate of Sushi after coming back stateside from the land of the rising sun I have to admit I was genuinely impressed.
One of the best Sushi Den’s you will find in Orange County can be found in Fountain Valley. Yes, I said Fountain Valley.

It’s been so long but I want to go back and do the omakase. It was my first and only visit so far and so it wasn’t recommended to do the omakase
I went w a friend since we both crave sushi all the time and this place was literally a block away from his house. He did his research on this place and I definitely did not, oh well
Came in and asked what we wanted. Didn’t seem interested in us or anything but we sat at the tables. Brought out tea (wish they would give us water but I didn’t even ask, didn’t know it was a tea only) and a darker miso. I’m not sure what it was but I liked it!
We both ordered the deluxe chirashi and boy was it delicious! Came w tamago, squid, octopus, salmon roe, mackerel, tuna, toro, salmon on top of seasoned sushi rice. Usually they have uni but it was a rainy day and she told us it was bc of the bad weather so that was a little disappointing. So good despite that! Just writing this review makes me a little hungry for the chirashi and maybe even the omakase.
It doesn’t end here! Ask about the dessert options. I ended my meal with red bean ice cream and it just topped off the meal perfectly.

This was what I needed. The real deal sushi just like back in the day in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. Enjoyed every bite of our chef’s choice sushi lunch. Not cheap but worth it.

Traditional sushi place
No teriyaki, tempura or Udon… just sushi and sashimi
Simple menu, friendly staff
I got sushi combination…10 pieces… the fish was very fresh, toro was highlight…$ 35
My husband had fresh water eel sushi plate…6 pieces on sushi rice with embed thinly sliced shiitake mushroom… good flavor, eel bit on dry side…$ 15
My husband also had chirashi sushi…$ 30…basically same as sushi combination pieces minus salmon roe (had squid and octopus in addition) on bed of rice
(Written by husband)

Ive been going to Kasen since I moved to OC… this is by far the most authentic edo style sushi restaurant with no rolls.
what non-​japanese doesn’t know is there are different types of sushi places here in the US. Authentic places do not serve rolls and they are more quiet type of place.
If you are not japanese– they might be cold to you since they suspect you are not familiar with how to eat sushi properly. people might say who cares? but in japan, it is a must thing.
this place is to enjoy the best freshest ingredients. try their seaweed that he places on the saba (mackeral) and you will know what I’m talking about.
most people who bad mouth this place probably doesn’t know what fresh and real sushi is all about.

(Edited: this took place in 2014, for some reason the post didn’t publish, and sat in my queue for almost 2 years)
Wow!
Went in with the gf last night after hearing so much about the quality here. Stepped in, and immediately noticed the place being full of Japanese patrons. Hoping to avoid being booted, i uttered three words to the server: «sushi bar. Omakase.»
Those 3 words changed my life for the better.
First came out 10 pieces of sashimi EACH for the both of us. Salmon, scallop, aji, chutoro and the amaebi. Upon trying the salmon, I was immediately impressed with the freshness and texture of the fish, moreso than any other place I’ve had omakase. The itamae’s knife skills were excellent!
Then came the really delicious stuff: ikura, toro, deep fried shrimp head, and at least 4 other pieces im forgetting to mention. In total, we each had roughly 20 pieces of sashimi and sushi, an appetizer, tako salad, and the deep fried shrimp head. Also had a large Asahi.
When the bill came out i was expecting at least north of 250. My eyes nearly dropped out of my sockets when I saw it was around 150! I felt like I had ripped them off, so I tipped generously. Seriously, we each had 20 pieces of great quality sushi. Unbelievable. I’ve paid much more for much less at some other spots doing omakase, and this seemed like an absolute bargain.
Service was fantastic. Price was well worth it. Definitely 5 star experience.

Authentic Japanese! Rice was awesome and fish was fresh. I have been to many sushi/​sashimi places, and this is one of the best in Southern California.

Bad service, horrible and racist attitude sub par sushi.
Avoid at all cost there are so many other authentic sushi establishments in Orange County.

The best sushi experience in my life so far. Ate like kings, and it was $ 200 per person including tip. Great motivation to work, make money, and go back again.

Notice how every good review is from an Asian person. Just take a look. Unbelievable that they do this to paying customers who aren’t Asian. You guys will pay.

Went in the curtained front door and we were confronted by an unsmiling woman who just stood in front of us and coldly stared and said nothing. When I said hello, she replied, «We’re all booked up tonight», though the place was empty except for a few people eating at the bar. To be fair it was Fathers Day and restaurants were crowded, or probably would be later on, but no smile, no apology, no other words, just cold eyes and a totally hostile demeanor. This now seems to be their standard behavior pattern towards people who are not Japanese. While parking we noticed the same person graciously greeting an earlier customer and she was welcoming and all smiles. Well, maybe they were friends…

I don’t think this place deserves more then 3 stars to me on the cuts or quality or presentation of the fish. Kicking myself why i always want to try new places due to Unilocal reviews but there’s nothing special about this place. Ohshima in Tustin n Sushi murasaki in Costa Mesa remains my two favorite sushi joints!

I love this place. They have a wide selection of fish and everything is soooo tasty! Be prepared to spend $$$. But, you get what you pay for here. You won’t regret it!
Some of my favorites are:
–Toro (definitely melted in my mouth)
–Uni (soo creamy and sweet)
–Ebi (I don’t usually order it anywhere, but here it was so fresh and sweet)
–Crab
–Maguro (another thing I don’t usually order, but here it is an exception)
I had a lot of things that I don’t normally order at other places here. The quality here is just so good and fresh!

The Skinny: Pretty above-​average sushi place in OC. Try it out if you don’t mind spending a little extra for «traditional» sushi.
Environment:
Very small place that reminds me of a family owned sushi bar. The restaurant is in a plaza that is usually pretty dead, and the sign is pretty hard to find. However, when inside, it feels pretty cozy. We came here on a random Sunday night so it wasn’t too busy. I wonder how it is during busy lunch hours or on Saturday or Friday nights.
Service:
You don’t really rate too much on the service for these kind of places. The waitresses try their best to be as knowledgeable as they can, but the language barrier is definitely a… barrier. It’s nice to see a sushi bar being run by Japanese staff for once, though. Around this area, it doesn’t happen often anymore.
Food:
Your menu is pretty much limited to pre-​set specials. The sushi pieces here are very fresh, and even though it’s slightly pricey, you get what you pay for. We had a Chirashi bowl with one of the pre-​set chef specials and it was amazing. We are both lovers of uni, and the uni here did not disappoint; it was very creamy and melted in your mouth like butter.
Overall: ⁴⁄₅
There’s not many sushi places that are worth recommending in the OC area, but this place is one of the nicer ones to try out. It’s a smaller, hard-​to-​find place, but that just likens it more to a hidden treasure.

I don’t know if you order omakase you’ll get the same dishes I got. Based on the Unilocal photos for this restaurant, it seems like we got the authentic chef’s special because I haven’t seen any photos of the type of dishes we got. Just FYI, we did have a native Japanese (who is a regular here when he’s in the US) order. The only thing I heard during the ordering process was «omakase,» which means chef’s special. Regardless, the dishes kept coming out!
The mushroom and abalone dish was superb. The texture was perfect. The taste wasn’t too strong, but just enough to get your taste bud salivating for more food.
The sashimi dish was average for my standard. However, that uni! *drools* Perfectly sweet and creamy.
Ankimo was great. It’s one of my favorite dish to order and it was up to par.
They’re really good at refilling my hot tea and making sure it’s always hot.

The sushi here is really good but I’m not sure it lives up to the hype or the price.
When I called to make an omakase reservation, the woman on the phone asked me if I had eaten there before. I said no and she told me that I was not allowed to do omakase on my first visit — that the sushi chefs would ask me a lot of questions during my first dining experience and then for my subsequent visits there, I could do omakase. Uhhhhh? Ok??? Very strange.
We arrive at 7pm and there are only 3 people sitting at the sushi bar. I guess I didn’t need reservations after all. The gentleman sitting next to us tries to order off the dinner menu and was denied kitchen food. «Sushi bar is for sushi only,» says the waitress. Apparently they run a tight ship? Does it really matter when there are only 5 people in the entire restaurant?
We sit down and I start ordering my favorite nigiri pieces: kinmedai, mirugai, engawa, amaebi, uni, hotate, etc. Mitz, our sushi chef, knows I mean business. He starts recommending different things and we agree. Mitz didn’t ask us any questions… was he supposed to?
Bottom line — Kasen serves simple, traditional, fresh fish. They have a great variety. The rice is executed perfectly and I really like the smaller nigiri portion of rice they serve. For all the great sushi joints in OC, Kasen comes up a bit more expensive. Omakase was about $ 100 per person.

I am VERY impressed with the quality of the neta (fish toppings) that they offer here at this restaurant. I wish I can afford to come here on regular basis. However, the price indeed is in $$$$ categories (and they worth the price tag IMHO for the quality that they represent).
As recommended by other Unilocalers, I called ahead to make reservation for sushi bar dining and during the call, they reinforce the fact that they do not make American style rolls, they only offer traditional Japanese style maki. Perfect. That is exactly what I want to try out. Show up promptly at 6pm, noticing there are already guests eating inside which indeed seems like regular. I was informed that sushi bar was omakase but indeed I was ordering anything at my will.
To begin, I received a nicely cooked scallop with mushrooms served cold, full of flavors. One of the best cold appetizers that I had for a while. I then started with sushi courses, with my favorite Tai with skin on. I usually prefer white fish (in US, as the Maguro here are less desired to me) to start to see how good the quality is and they do not disappoint. Perfectly cut and the skin was quickly seared (as you can see in the picture). Rice was in the right portion and the rice were sticky, moist and able to hold together. I have also tried their engawa, which was slightly thicker cut than my usual engawa @ Nana san but it actually have more flavor as there are more oil coming out from the meat. Delicious! Konbu white fish had hint of kelp in the fish, which they don’t do it often here in US. Salmon was nice cut too and I tried Abalone, Aji and aoyagi. No complains at all.
What impressed me was the Toro here. Like I mention previously, I do not eat Toro/​Marguro often in US, even they claim it is blue fin. The taste is simply pale compares to Hon Maguro in Japan. However, this place they have one of the most amazing Toro here. I saw the chef took out the whole piece of marbling meat, nice, square-​ish shape, just like a fine piece of steak, beautiful (They uses Toro from Spain just like my other favorite restaurant Kabuto serves too). It ain’t cheap but it is definitely worth the order! Ask them to make Toro Tekka roll too. Heavenly.
If you are into authentic sushi like me and not into decors or funny names, this is the place to be but again, this is not a cheap place and the quality truly reflects it. I am glad the owner chef takes pride and holds the standard high.

Summary One of the best Sushi place in Orange County.
As you probably can figure by reading other review, this place only offers traditional Nigiri sushi and chirashi. They are really good at what they do which is gives you great quality sushi.
Do not expect following.
— Any Americanized sushi or other dishes —
(if you don’t know the differences, you might want to go to Korean owned fancy sushi restaurants around your home. This is a sushi place not Japanese restaurant which means no teriyaki, no tempura or any kinds. Just traditional SUSHI ONLY
— «Customer-​is-​right» customer service —
(Their service is fine. but they are not here to treat you like a king. I don’t think they really care if you complain how they treat you. If you like, you go. If you don’t, they don’t care if you come back. If the service is important for you, this place might not meet your expectation.)
— fast and quick meal
(This is a small restaurant, but they only have 1 or 2 chefs. They expect you to sit and stay to eat. You can’t expect to have your meal 10 minutes after you order.)
Go here if you…
— Tired of Americanized sushi but eat Edomae (traditional) sushi.
— Actually want to taste how fresh fish (not Ponzu or mayo) taste like
— Go for the quality not the budget
— Enjoy lay-​back and a long nice meal in a quiet place.
— don’t care the service but care only the food.
If you are not sure, try lunch first and check if you like their food and come for dinner.
Tips: their Jo (premium) Chirashi is the best in town. and they have been serving it for over a decade. It means something.

I would have considered giving this place 5 stars if they didn’t run out of uni, apparently, weather conditions are not optimal hence the so called shortage, sadness.
I am surprised to find this gem of a restaurant in the middle of Fountain Valley. Definitely unsuspecting since this plaza is basically dead, all I remember seeing here was a Chase, a pizza joint and a swimming pool supply store. They open at 6pm on Sundays and when I got there at 5:50 and slowly started seeing cars trickle into the lot, I knew I was onto something.
At 6pm, we got seated promptly (made reservations). I don’t imagine this place is at all ideal for large groups, 4 would be the max I would recommend. I didn’t venture to omakase, which is only offered at the bar but opted for a seat instead. My friend and I both got the chirashi sushi dinner ($ 30) and split a sushi platter that comes with 10pc of sushi ($ 22).
The chirashi had a variety of fish on top and it just looked very colorful to eat. Surprisingly, I was full eating just the chirashi (I guess it looks small but the rice under all of the seafood goodness could be to blame). I think there was a slice of toro in the mix, which ended up being the most delicious of them all. I knew this would have been taken to the next level if there was just that sliver of uni with it.
While we started on the chirashi, we also had soup and a seaweed dish brought out. Eventually the 10pc came out which comes with shrimp, tuna, salmon, eel, and I think yellowtail. The salmon was hands down my favorite– so buttery and perfect in texture, the tuna was a surprising second and I don’t even like tuna!
All in all, I enjoyed my dining experience. I guess it is considered a splurge and like I said probably for the 3^rd time, I wish there was uni! I wonder if they even replaced it with some other premium item… otherwise, I kind of feel jipped.
Service was great, it’s not a huge restaurant so it’s difficult to be ignored. They give you a wet hot towel right when you sit down, no idea if this should be used at the beginning or not. I’ll come back, but again, not until I have researched if weather conditions make it easier to harvest uni.

Service is best described as indifferent; however, the sushi is fresh, so I will award maximum points. The sushi lunch special for $ 20 includes 8 pieces of sushi plus tamago that all taste super fresh. Of course, it’s chef’s choice; so, I am glad that the chef chose to include toro. So delectable. Even the aji (I think) and uni, both of which I usually do not prefer due to fishy taste, we’re pleasing to my palate. The difference between the uni here an elsewhere was quite noticeable; it tasted of the ocean, as if it were there 2.5 seconds ago. The texture was creamy.
Check this place out for quality of food and not for ambiance.