Maizuru

We absolutely LOVE this place. You might not think too much of it as you walk up, but let me tell you that they don’t need loud décor and rock n roll blaring on the speakers to make good sushi. I can tell you that if my 5 and 6 year old request this place BY NAME to go have their special dinners (and they are the only kids their age I know that enjoy sashimi), then there is something special here. We really don’t go anywhere else!

Sea bass misoyaki is very reminiscent of the one from Nobu’s! So yum! I also love the miso salad dressing!

… I’ve been coming to MaiZuru since 05′ — for lunch, FAM outings, and dates with my wife.
Unfortunately, after my experience this past Friday (²⁄₁₂), I doubt I’ll be back.
It was a busy Friday night — and we sat by the bar. Our sushi chef was overwhelmed and it was obvious it affected his service.
We usually order the «Chef’s Sashimi» and sub for Yellow Tail — something that is CLEARLY spelled out on the board behind the bar so we weren’t trying to customize anything to be difficult.
Needless to say, the sushi chef (I know his name and I even took a pic of him but after taking some days off to calm down I’ll just do without the specifics with the hopes that this review compels BETTER service in the future) rushed into our order, ignored my wife trying to tell him to sub for Yellowtail after her saying excuse me for over 4x — even our patrons sitting next to us knew he was rushing. I even had to stand up just to get his attention to ask him to sub the yellow tail and he looked annoyed and irritated.
5 minutes in, he served us a drenched sashimi plate — with too much sauce it hid any real flavor and the presentation looked awful.
The other order was a shrimp double roll — and by then the Chef ADMITTED he was being a jerk and apologized for earlier by serving us 2 additional shrimps. Ok, Whatever.
Keep your shrimp and attitude — save it for someone else.
Disappointing. I hope you learn from it.

With rolls averaging $ 14/​roll, even the buy one get one 50% off could not make it a good deal to me. I do like the idea of half rolls, but price is around $ 6 – 7, so still overprice for its quality.
My friend and I went in for lunch after viewing the beautiful pictures of salmon & hamachi sushi on Unilocal.Upon arrival around 11:30a, we were seated immediately at a table since there was only one other party in the restaurant. A little odd that they have a laminated half roll menu and then a paper to go menu on the table for ordering. We couldn’t find the sushi on the menu so we asked if we should move to the sushi bar since we wanted sushi. Server said we could ordered sushi at the table too so we did. The hamachi was not what they looked like on the Unilocal picture. Didn’t tastes fresh at all. The salmon belly was better, but not sure if that’s was worth $ 10.
The restaurant was completely full by 12:30p and we saw some pretty lunch bento boxes and the stir fried noodle on hot plate was gigantic, likely can feed 2, if not 3, people. BTY, hot tea was $ 1.5 each. Going with the water next time, if I ever crave sushi and I was stuck in that plaza. I will also stick with the lunch bento/​dishes instead of roll/​sushi.

Clockwise from the center: Spicy Garlic Edamame, Gyoza, and Shishito Peppers.
Garlic Edamame: Great flavor, a bit heavily dressed with sauce. Would’ve enjoyed a more curated flavor with the garlic rather than tasting the special sauce on it. But still great! Order comes out with a generous amount of edamame. Definitely a bang for your buck appetizer! Recommend!
Gyoza: Absolutely delicious! I may be being biased because the service here is always phenomenal and because this is my first time have Gyoza in a restaurant but no complaints on this end. The wrapper was light and crispy with a gentle sear on either side and the filling was flavorful without being overpowered by the dipping sauce on the side.
Shishito Peppers: These babies would’ve been hands down the best Shishito Peppers I’ve ever ordered but they were undercooked for my taste.

I tried this place once and I will give it another try. The service was very good, the sushi is average, they have a lot of overpriced rolls drenched in eel sauce, which I don’t like, some of the rolls look weird and non-​appetizing. The fish cuts were very thin and small on the rolls. I was here with a large group so I got to try a variety of rolls none of them were something that I would go back for. However reading other reviews from my friends on Unilocal I am willing to give it another try and maybe go for the poke bowl or sashimi.

+ Who doesn’t love sushi?
+ Friendly staff
+ Fast service
+ Good prices (when you take advantage of their promotions)
This place appears to be the same (company/​owner?) as Niko Niko in the Woodbury Town Center on Irvine Blvd. and Sand Canyon. The menu is the same and one of the items is called the Niko Niko roll.
The sushi and food is great here. Prices are a big high for the complete rolls ($ 10 – 14) but if you take advantage of their promotions (buy one, get one 50% off) you can score a good deal on a lunch/​dinner.
Our order came quickly and nicely decorated. Nice to know there’s another version of Niko Niko on the other side of Irvine.

I love this place for weekly lunch stops. Every single time, it is consistently good fresh sushi and traditional Japanese bento. And, best of all they have Ono sashimi. Texture is like butter! The same friendly and attentive staff have been there for years, which says something. If you go, I highly recommend the Misoyaki Seabass and BBQ pork as options in a bento. Perfection.