Kappo Hana

This is really not my favorite type of food but my boyfriend loves it. Cute, small, mom and pop kind of place. The staff is friendly and the presentation is great.

The food wasn’t very good… the tempura was like eating uncooked batter. When I asked about getting a new tempura order they said this is how real Japanese tempura taste like. Now I’ve been to Japan four times and I’ve never seen a place where they serve tempura that taste like uncooked batter. I order the chicken teriyaki and the teriyaki sauce was very unappealing. The beef sukiyaki was better, so overall I think they’re mediocre

I walked into this restaurant on a Sunday afternoon to pick up udon soup for my husband, who was at home sick. They refused to do a to go order for me because they were too busy. I can understand making me wait longer because they’re busy, but refusing to take it at all??? I guess they don’t need the business. We will take ours somewhere else.

Pros: 4 stars. food is very good, authentic. It is a JAPANESE restaurant, not a Sushi restaurant (more to Japanese food then sushi). If you want food I recommend that you order take out and not eat there. Also, their bentos are delicious. Which leads to the cons
Cons: 1 star. horrible service. They seem under staffed. We went for dinner on a Sunday night, 6ish. We waited to order, maybe 15 min. We flagged down the server and ordered. Few things were not available to order/​sold out. I ordered their bento. My husband wanted to order a spicy tuna roll and he told him that it would take 20 min to make! Then he wanted a salmon onigiri (rice ball) and they told him 30 min to make! Anyway, my husband and daughter got their food. I figured if spicy tuna would take 20 min then mine would take a little longer since it had spicy tuna in it. Not once did the server check on us or tell me that my food was on the way. We finally were able to flag him down (50 min after sitting, husband and daughter are done eating) and he told us that it would be out shortly. No «sorry» or «thank you for waiting.» I asked him if I could get my food to go, my 1 year old was getting antsy. He later comes back to tell me that the kitchen forgot to make my food so they were canceling the order. After waiting 45 min they were telling me I don’t get food because they messed up! WTH!!! He goes to the kitchen and then tells me that they can have it out in 5 min. WTh again? They can make it in 5 min? So we got it to go. No sorry, no comp meal, nothing. Just a thank you for coming. Horrible. Just horrible.

Pretty small restaurant.
Extremely friendly staff.
Tried the bento box, shrimp tempura noodles, and spicy tuna rolls. All highly recommended !!

Too bad Unilocal doesn’t have a two way star system. For Kappo Hana, it’s necessary. The food is fabulous. Their black cod is worthy of tears.
We hadn’t been in years. That service thing but I wanted good Japanese food. I took my daughter, we get there at 1:30 and was told that some of the menu was off limits because they close at 2. We ordered anyway. The food was good, the waitress was terrific.
Promptly at 2, the owner put the check on the table and told me that they were closed. The air conditioner went off which made it very uncomfortable (105+ outside). We finished and left.
I told my husband where we went and he yelled at me. Why did you go there? They treat us like crap. The memories came flooding back in why we hadn’t been in over 2 years. The owner is surly, and that is being nice. Maybe she has enough business without ours.
The memories of the experiences flooded back. A birthday party we had there 10 years ago, great food, crappy service. Sharing the ladies kaseki meal when she was little. How her face lit up as she tasted the delicious little morsels.
I love their food but we won’t be back. I need to be treated with a modicum of respect for you to earn my money.

My wife (Japanese) and I eat here at least once a month. The restaurant is ran by a husband (cook) and wife (waitress) combination. The food is quite excellent and is traditional as you can get Japanese food. THIS IS NOT A SUSHI PLACE! Review the menu online to view the food. If you are looking for recommendations from a white guy, try the Bento boxes or the Kamameshi. The beer and sake is not marked up as traditional restaurants and I enjoy a good drink with my meal. If you want the ultimate Japanese experience and want to impress your wife or date order kaiseki (multi course dinner)– you need to order it a few days in advance (it takes them a few days to make the preparations) and will take 2 ½ to 3 hours to finish the whole dining experience! It is quite worth it and fun!

This is my go-​to place during my lunch time. My mom and I go here at least once a week and the food is great. This is a very authentic Japanese restaurant and I love that every time I go here, the food quality is the same as before; meaning I know what to expect when I come here. Because I have only an hour for lunch, I usually call ahead and reserve a spot and ordered before hand so that once I get there I usually get my food in the first 10 minutes. I love the sagano, Japanese lunch, and the Tsukune bento.
The Japanese lunch comes with mackerel, which is is always cooked perfect in the last 20+ times I’ve come here. It comes with agedashi tofu, which I love. It’s lightly fried and tastes great.
The sagano is good as well. Very fresh and I especially love the fried tempura eggplant dish it comes with.
The Tsukune bento is what my little sister orders. The Tsukune jyu is tender and tasty. Everything on this plate is pretty yummy; just not the healthiest since alot of the items are friend.
Basically, this is a great place to get lunch. But it is a small restaurant and it’s either really busy or really empty so I always make sure to reserve a table 20 minutes before I go.

I finally made it out there. The food was great, I would repeat if I’m in the area. But like some reviewers said, the service can be better, especially from the woman owner/​chef? Her attitude is a big turn off, unbecoming of a Japanese really, ruins an otherwise good dining experience.
I think attitude, good or bad, trickles down. I can see that the servers try to do a good job in spite of their boss, but the boss really sets the tone.
But otherwise the kamameshi and their other offerings are a really refreshing alternative to the same o sushi-​based Japanese restaurants that are everywhere.
— Actually, I’ve known other Japanese chefs like that. Probably their thinking is that, «I pour my heart and soul into making the best food for you, don’t ask me for anything more.»

With my pregnancy I’ve been craving noodles and Japanese food ! So nearby restaurant, there is this Kappo Japanese restaurant that owns by husband and wife and they specialized in Kamameshi dish, is usual to have this type of restaurant where I live that doesn’t serve sushi. So we decided to try the Kamameshi dinner course, which include appetizers, sashimi and egg custard, Kamameshi and miso. The appetizers were good, especually the sashimi so fresh, my husband was really suprise by that, the chicken skewers and egg custard was definitely my son’s favorite dish, we actually ordered twice. Beside the Kamameshi course we ordered the fired octopus, boiled spinach and mushroom as a side dish. Because it is a family owns restaurant husband and wife, if you are in the hurry and don’t have time to eat don’t go there, otherwise you’ll be pissed off and leave. This please require time to prepare because there is only one chef and one waitress and we didn’t mind at all. All the dishes came out nicely and we are pleased with the service, the lady was really nice, she has patient of explaining us what Kamameshi was and because I wanted to order other dishes she even told me maybe I should wait before order some more because it is alot (lol) what kind of owner doesn’t want to sell more, it a kind that care about their customers. Looking forward to try different dish for sure :) !

I’ve been here 3 times to give it a fair shot and don’t understand what everyone is calling «authentic Japanese» it’s bland and very unimpressive. The tempura mix they use is so thick it’s disgusting.

The wife was looking for authentic Japanese food like when we visited Japan, not just «sushi». This kappo restaurant nailed it!
The dinner mixed kamameshi was an 8/​10, we’ve had more flavorful ones. Broiled chicken wings were good. Steak tofu was alright. I order an udon forgot the name but it was spot on! Dat feel, when you’re so stuffed but you want more? Udon bro.
We topped off with a dessert, rice balls with red bean paste. Glad we did because it was good but I was spent, loosen my belt at that point.
Will return

The reviews from other Unilocalers that this store has bad customer service are true. I’ve lived in mission Viejo for 8 years, and last night was my first time at the stop. There was never any advertisement on the shop and it’s a small store that’s not visible from street view. Therefore it’s not very noticeable. Japanese restaurant owners are typically very high on service and being polite and respectful to the questions and requests of their customers. Well, that is NOT this store. Their waitress was not friendly and there was never a sense of welcoming. The female owner/​chef was just rude. I asked how long has the store been here, and she said «10 years, don’t you know that?» and walked away without saying anything else. The food was average. You can definitely get better food and service else where.

Booked the rare Kaiseki dinner. Food was delicious and artfully plated. Good quality for a reasonable price. My new go to place for out of town visitors. Tips: please read the restaurant’s introductions and instructions on their website.

I was hoping to be able to give a thorough review here. This is a small place, but when I walked in, it wasn’t particularly busy. I was craving sushi, and asked the waitress if I could order sushi. She looked confused, and told me this is not a sushi restaurant. Really? Let’s clarify: this IS a Japanese restaurant. They DO have a limited sushi offering. Whatever.
I ordered takeout, and was told the wait would be 15 minutes. Ok, sure, no problem. Then the waitress came back and told me it would be 30 minutes. Unfortunately I didn’t have 30 minutes to spare. Order canceled.

This is a smal ‘mom & pop’ place. It’s a corner shop located next to a bakery.
We ordered:
1. Mix Kamameshi, combo-​sized: tempura, chicken seafood kamameshi and miso soup.
The tempura was okay. I found the kamameshi tasteless/​bland. You get 2 shrimps, cubed chicken, tiny mushrooms and vegetables. It needed more seasoning.
2. Eel Kamameshi, dinner-​sized: appetizers, sashimi, fried dish, egg custard/​chawanmushi, eel kamameshi, miso soup & dessert.
The appetizer & sashimi came together on a tray and they were good! The sashimi was really fresh. The fried dish were two pieces of deep-​fried eggplant and two pieces of fried lotus root with ground shrimp inside. The eel kamameshi was a lot nicer and tastier than the Mix kamameshi. And we love the chawanmushi (egg custard).
We didnt get the dessert at all. and only realized this when I was about to write this review!
3. Kids Boat: teriyaki chicken, fried chicken, tempura & mini ice cream. The kid finished off everything on the plate, so must be good! :)
4. Fried squid tentacles. Squeeze the lemon over the tentacles and they were great! Would order this again next time.
I am just a little disappointed that they forgot our dessert (included in the price we paid for dinner-​sized kamameshi). I only realized this when I was about to write this review.

Sometimes when I’m on Unilocal,and I see a place get tons of awesome reviews and one guy just hates on the place, I usually think that guy is a nutbag. Well, today, I am going to be that nutbag.
I hated this place. I ordered the «Salmon Steak», and what I got was a congealed, slimy mass of something, on top of a good looking piece of fish. I’m not kidding when I say the thing was slimy. It was translucent, like cornstarch or something. This is probably some traditional authentic Japanese thing, but I just hated it.
I’ve never felt that sorry for a piece of fish. I actually pitied it. A Salmon lived his whole life and died just to get covered in goop. It even started thickening up as the dish cooled, resembling mucous. I’m not exaggerating at all.
Then the whole batch of rules this place has, like they’r all insulted because a customer might be confused and ask for some Americanized sushi, or something similar, well, SORRY, didn’t mean to offend you.. .. . Jeez, take it easy though.. . They even had a sort of rule book on the table, asking you to not put soy on the rice, asking you to not order rice on the side of a dish that already h as rice on it.
Bones and waste go in the top left corner of your plate, I wonder if they gave you 7 lashes if you broke any of their precious rules.
I just found it to be completely condescending and arrogant, showing very little respect to the customer. I guess I need to be a sumo wrestler if I want rice on top of rice in this traditional setting.
The chicken meatballs were okay, nothing to write home about, they tasted like crockpot chicken meatballs. My gf ordered some noodles, and they were a bit too sweet for our taste. Best thing about this place, in my OPINION, was the beer, but they don’t make that, it comes in a bottle. The steamed rice was also ok. Would have been better with some soy sauce on it, but I didn’t want to get yelled at like other reviewers here.
BTW, that beer was in the American light lager style… How ironic.
As far as traditional Japanese food goes, yes I do think I know what it is. Maybe I’m spoiled because I live by Little Tokyo in LA, but this place was just a total turnoff. I’ll eat what I want, how I want. If it offends you to have people order non purist food, maybe you shouldn’t serve California Rolls? Maybe we should all sit on the floor instead of in booths? I really, really didn’t care for this place, and it definitely wasn’t worth the price.

Hole in the wall — Check
Authentic Japanese Food — Check
Japanese chef — Check
Quality meats and veggies — Check
Delicious taste — Check
Where did that leave me? Stuffed to the brim.
This restaurant is located in an unassuming shopping center but I’ve learned to never judge a book by its cover (or in this case a restaurant by its exterior).
My friends and I had the $ 55 Kaiseki meal (book at least 3 days in advance). It was a bargain for what we got and extra bargain for the quality and taste. We had 7 courses: appetizer (monk fish liver, sesame tofu, lotus roots), sashimi, broil (black cod, salmon roll, baked egg, tai egg, black bean), fried dish (very fresh tempura), duck hot pot (deeeelliiccciioous), seafood kamameshi, and dessert.
I left waddling out the door but it was a good, satisfying full. The items were fresh and not greasy so I didn’t have the sick-​to-​my-​stomach, gross feeling.
This place warrants a definite second stuffing of my face.

Have been here at least 3 times. Love their Shokado Bento and warabi mochi with brown sugar syrup.
Finally on my 4^th visit, I was able to try their kaiseki. My budget was $ 80/​person.
Things we had on our visit:
Shokado Bento — REALLY GOOD!
Shabu Shabu — pretty good.
Seafood Kamameshi, Chicken, & Beef Kamameshi — Beef would be my favorite.
$ 80/​person Kaiseki — 10 courses. More than enough. I would say stick around $ 60 should be enough…
Will definitely go back again!

This is one of the only authentic Japanese restaurants left in Orange County! Tiny yet the menu is true Japanese food and not Asian Fusion sushi which all you can find these days.