Wasa Sushi

I ate here over a year ago and had a bad experienced. Vowed not to come back. Then a friend recommended we go and said that they had improved. He was right. They are friendly and courteous and the Sushi Chef’s know what they’re doing. No exaggeration: I’ve eating here 7 times for lunch in the past 3 weeks.

My boyfriend and I officially declared our Tuesday’s «Wasa Tuesdays» now. The sushi here is always consistently fresh. We always sit at the bar, and our chefs are always super nice, servers do a good job and you can’t beat their lunch special hand rolls… $ 2.50!!! I always get the udon combo with hot soba instead and the 4 piece sashimi. Consider me a regular!

I come here often during the week. Hide is my sushi man! He does his best to make sure I am happy and full! The fish is really fresh, never frozen. This is the difference between most places and if you are a sushi guru, you know you want fresh! They have great happy hour specials as well. Not a whole of sushi roll choices like most people are looking for, but it is guaranteed quality.

It’s been half an hour and we’re still waiting for for our sushi. There are three sushi chef but they are not very fast. The waitress did give us edamame on the house.

Apparently they close before their posted time, even though the sign stated OPEN. We were there at 8:40. The host, Natalie, was very clear that they close at 9, but last call was at 8:45. I didn’t realize that means you close at 8:45.

Love their new Poke Bowl option. Good food and reasonable prices. I come here often with family and friends. One of the better sushi restaurants in Orange County. I recommend Wasa.

The sushi was delicious. A special roll with fried potatoes on the outside (Tornado) was a special treat. Really enjoyed the potatoes around that roll. The Catalina with soy paper wrap and seared albacore on top was refreshing — tasty!
Parking was pretty easy to find for a Friday night. Not a lot of seating inside but we were fortunate and got seated within 10 minutes.
Hot tea isn’t complimentary but goes great with sushi.

The fish quality was the best.
Their fried chicken was the bomb.
Go there before 6 30.
Happy hour. Happy munch. Lol
Their Toro was better than steak.
Bit pricy but worth trying.

Love the scallop nigiri with Ponzu sauce here! Every time I am here, I’ve always find their food to be delicious!

Came here for the first time yesterday and I loved it. We made it in time for Happy Hour, which was an amazing deal! Draft beers for $ 2.50 and sushi rolls for $ 3.50. The sushi was good and we even received Happy Hour pricing on the wrong roll we ordered (our mistake). The restaurant looks very elegant and cozy. The one thing I would say is that since it was Happy Hour, it was VERY busy so we waited a bit before the hosted seated us and the waitress didn’t come by as often, but the service was still good. Definitely recommended and coming back!

Wasa Sushi.
GREAT quality & GREAT rolls. It is not ultra expensive sushi place (which I enjoy)
The service can be slow, and the waitresses tend to forget one or two things from our order, EVERY TIME (I do not understand why) But overall, the food I eat here, makes up for the waitresses forgetting some food items… sometimes haha.
Here are some recommendations:

Been coming to Wasa for over 10 years, no excuses but finally giving my review. The place has changed ownership so certain items are still available but not on the menu (Garden roll — crab, asparagus, lettuce, avocado/​sometimes all wrapped in soy paper, drenched in yummy dressing).
Their signature sushi items are what draw me back. The unique flavor profiles of the garlic ponzu, ginger citrus, creamy miso and creamy wasabi are a fun diversion from the same old sushi. I do find that the flavors of these sauces are a bit tamer than they were before.
Another oldie but goody is the sesame chicken. Call me predictable but this is no teriyaki chicken, the meat is succulent and plentiful but the sauce is a taste explosion. My kids fight for the left over sauce so they can soak it up with their rice. (Yes, they take after their mama)
Can’t forget to mention their happy hour has $ 2 drafts, and discounted rolls. Can’t ask for more…

Came here on a Friday night and no waiting at all for the bar, SCORE! Everything we order was good. Plus they have fresh wasabi! Great food & great service! Belly satisfy !!!

Great service. food is pretty good.
The resturant is nice and has a small eating area.
Try and sit in the center of the resturant… our luck was we got put in the corner next to a lady that talked the whole entire time we were there. Other than that it was a-​ok.

I had three hand rolls. Spicy scallops. Spicy tuna. And salmon skin. I sat at the bar. There is no wait on a Tuesday night. The servers are extremely nice. They had excellent recommendations. I enjoyed the sushi it was good quality and prepared and a fast way. I look forward to coming back again

Was looking to do something a little extra special for dinner with my kids and I. We all love sushi and was hoping to have a great experience at a place we hadn’t tried before. Alas, that was not the case.
Overall, I thought the service was a little slow and it was one of those experiences where you feel a bit like you are intruding on the employees’ party. We were seated immediately and the hostess and server were friendly enough, but it seemed more like the staff’s focus was elsewhere.
What was most disappointing to me though was the food. Having been married to a Japanese American, I’ve had a fair amount of Japanese food from a variety of restaurants. For the record, I’m not some Sushi snob. I like fresh and flavorful and other than that, I’m pretty easy going. With their food, the kids and I agreed that everything just had an odd flavor. Certainly every chef has their preferred recipes and wants to put his or her spin on even the most classics of dishes, but everything we ate had an unusual flavor to it. Nothing was very satisfying. I felt like it was one of those places where the dishes are altered just for the sake of being different and not so much because the changes enhance the flavor.
I don’t think I’d go back. Many other local Japanese restaurants to try!

Eek… I got the spicy tuna don and it’s not mixed with mayo like it normally is. It’s basically a deconstructed version of a spicy Tuna cut roll with some tempura flakes and a ¹⁄₅^th of an avocado. Idk if that’s what I should have expected, but I didn’t. But the aftertaste that was left in my mouth was not pleasant. I would not order again.
I also got the salmon cut roll and it was extremely mushy and it did not taste fresh.
The one upside was that The portion given for the for the spicy tuna don was large and I can eat it for more than one meal, if I had to.
also I felt like the hostess was giving me a little attitude!

I’ve tried this place once a few years ago and had a really good first experience with them. Then pretty recently, my bf suggested that we have our anniversary dinner here. To be honest, I was pretty hesitant after reading some of the comments on here but ended up giving is a second chance anyway.
We arrived at the restaurant around 7pm last Friday and was told there would be a wait, which was expected. We went next door to BJ’s to have a few drinks while waiting. And sure enough, within 30 minutes, Wasa called us to let us know that our table was ready!
The host sat us at the sushi bar in front of Hire. Our server quickly started us with some hot sake and beer. My bf offered our sushi chef some beer too! We wanted the «omakase» which is the chef’s choice. We asked him to give us each one piece of each sushi so we could try a lot of different ones. Each and EVERY sushi he made for us was absolutely delicious! I think my favorite ones were the halibut, sweet shrimp, the blue fin tuna, and of course, the uni! He even made us fresh wasabi (not the ones you buy in tubes at the store) and gave us extra sauce that went perfectly with each fish. Throughout our meal, he was constantly cracking jokes and made our evening quite entertaining. We had sooooo much fun, my cheeks were hurting by the end of the night.
Thank you Wasa Sushi for the wonderful experience. We will definitely be back!

How I heard of this place: Around the corner from UCI (University of California Irvine) is my sister’s favorite sushi establishment: Wasa.
Type of cuisine: «Japanese. Seafood. Sushi Bar.»
Ambiance: Every posh outdoor mall should come equipped with its own sushi bar. The Market Place in Irvine, its desert sand exterior, tall, one-​story establishments set in a fancy strip-​mall resembles something more out of Hollywood films than suburbia. We parked our car and walked up to Wasa, where large planters hosted growing trees immediately outside the restaurant. Upon entry, the extensive sushi bar, complete with three chefs greeted us with smiles and exuberant welcomes. We seated ourselves at the opposite wall in booth seating accompanied by chairs at one of the six linen-​covered tables. Making ourselves comfortable, we perused the menu for the day’s selection.
What I ordered: Both my sister and I wished to enjoy the bounty of the sea with the chef’s special assortment of sushi ($ 18): tuna, salmon, albacore, halibut, yellowtail, freshwater eel, tiger shrimp, spicy tuna roll, and sashimi ($ 20): ahi tuna, Atlantic salmon, albacore, halibut, yellowtail, tiger shrimp. Our meals were each accompanied by miso soup and a house salad topped with a ginger dressing. My husband, hungry as the caterpillar, started with the Halibut Ginger ($ 14): thinly sliced halibut, sprouts, and masago served with ginger vinaigrette, and completed his meal with the Salmon Teriyaki ($ 17): flame broiled Atlantic salmon with house teriyaki sauce.
What I loved: The freshwater eel: always my favorite! I thoroughly enjoyed the salad, the teriyaki salmon (of which I had a miniature sample). The sashimi was so fresh that the rubbery texture was unnoticeable, giving a melt-​in-​your-​mouth quality to each cut. Wow. (My mouth is watering as I remember the meal…)
Why I loved it: Friendly staff, highly qualified sushi chefs and a clean atmosphere of serenity and peacefulness. Contentment in action.
Cost: Average to high ($ 15 — $ 20 per lunch entrée)

Receive a comment from Paul P. Saying that my rating is a bit harsh.
Reasoning behind the single star :
Rude customer service and the most recent time I’ve tried to dine there with my child
The hostess complete ignore us. The food was not up to standard either.
Walked in. Had to wait for 10 minutes for the hostess to get off the phone to be sitted (even if there wasn’t much customers).
Jacqueline, our waitress was nice and friendly — thank goodness. Love their miso black cod… Super yummy.
Happy hour is a wonderful deal!!! Love their selection.