Bluefin

Recently, I gave this place a shot and was pissed at myself for spending $ 150 for two of us. That’s triple of what I spend at the local sushi place, which I actually find to be even tastier, plus you get more food. Couldn’t believe the $ 50 sushi plate was a nothing-​special California roll and a handful of so-​so sushi.

Had a late night dinner here two nights ago and though the fish was super fresh and tasty… The employee rudely told us we need to leave the restaurant now because it was late (it was only one hour past closing time). We didn’t even finish our food. That is really bad service.

If you’re not a senior citizen, expect to be treated like crap by the waitstaff.
Food quality was excellent. Such a shame the Hispanic (?) waiter’s poor attitude cast a shadow over our meal. When he brought out the nigiri, he mumbled what each cut of fish was as if it was such a huge burden and annoyance for him to wait on us.
Water was not automatically refilled, even though we were completely out. We had to flag down a waitress and ask.
For the price, we expected to be treated with some level of respect… and to be using something other than cheap disposable chopsticks.

Very nice sushi restaurant by the ocean. The chefs are all Japanese and very friendly. They give quite authentic services and taste. I recommend you to sit at the counter since you can enjoy the chefs cooking and talking with them. We could have the counter seats even on Saturday morning without any reservation.
It’s also kid-​friendly since some chefs have small kids for their own so they really understand the situation.

Freshest sashimi selection, excellent dessert; friend & I shared the green tea crème brûlée & wasabi panna cotta.
Everything was overall excellent, slightly on the pricey side
Slightly upset by the rude Hispanic server who kept wanting to take my unfinished plate away.

Ambiance: calm, cool décor. Nice ocean view.
Service: attentive
Food: omakase was great. The kanpachi really stood out. Mirugai is also noteworthy.

Came here for lunch with my coworkers for my boss’ birthday. We came right when they were opened and left about ten minutes after they closed because we didn’t realize they were closed in between lunch and dinner. They were really nice about it and didn’t rush us out either! Really cute place, it’s like a fine dining for sushi. We ordered tons of food to share. The sushi is really good and fresh. It doesn’t have that stinky fishy smell either. Presentation of each dish was also really pretty and presentable.
Their mixed drinks were very refreshing and had the perfect amount of alcohol in it. I loved their margarita. All of our food didn’t come out all at once which is a good thing because we wouldn’t have room for it on the table and it would be too overwhelming. Everyone in our group really liked the food and we’re happy we chose to celebrate her birthday here! Sushi is on the pricier side but it’s worth it for good quality sushi

nice view, good food, good breeze.
came here for OC restaurant week and the lunch menu enticed me. sat at the bar, watching first hand the quick hands of the sushi chef preparing nigiri and sushi rolls.
started off with halibut carpaccio with radishes. it was thinly sliced and nicely laid out. it was a bit sweet and delicious.
second course was a kaiseki bento. It had fried crab claw and a stuffed crab topped with cheese, miso cod, steamed broccoli, tamago, fried tofu with carrots and black fungus, 4 rolls of rice, tuna and red snapper sashimi. it was a pretty bento and filling as well.
for dessert had a delicious bowl of green tea ice cream with a soft green tea mocha and sweet red beans. it was enough sweetness to end a good meal.
service was good. this place is pretty small… besides the bar, theres probably only 7 tables.

Fresh fish with a side of awkward, rushed service.
I came here for because my friend (who had researched many of the 2016 OC Restaurant Week offerings) determined they had one of the best $ 20 restaurant week menus. For that, she was spot on. The lunch special was a very good deal.
1^st Course:
Shrimp, Orange, Apple Salad — I didn’t taste this.
or
Halibut Marinated with Kelp and Turnip Carpaccio Style Salad — Wonderful lightly marinated halibut topped with thin sliced white kelp coins and thin turnip coins. The subtle crunchiness of the fresh kelp gave the fish some added texture and life when eaten together. Loved it.
2^nd Course:
Chef’s Sushi Selection — 4 pieces of Fish, 1 piece of Fhrimp, 5 pieces of California Roll. I only tried one of the California Rolls which was topped with a sweet mustard sauce. Their California Roll is good.
or
Kaiseki Bento Box — Marinated and cooked Japanese Sea Bass, Breaded Snow Crab Claw, Pork Cutlet with Cheese, Mixed Tofu Ball in Broth, Sashimi and Rice. The sea bass was a little overdone, the crab claw good, the panko pork cutlet was about what you’d expect it to be, the tofu ball in kelp soup was interesting and the sashimi was fresh and so very good. The sashimi came with one piece of their sashimi roll, two pieces of tuna and two pieces of white fish. Both the tuna and white fish were melt in your mouth good.
3^rd Course:
Green Tea Ice Cream with Green Tea Mochi and Red Beans — Strong green tea ice cream with matching mochi and red beans always makes for a good dessert, here is no exception. Even though it’s very simple, all of us loved it.
The fish and seafood here are very fresh and had me wondering what a dinner omakase would be like. That’s is the purpose of restaurant week, to get your curiosity going, right? Restaurant week value? Very, very good.
The décor is elegant, white, modern, simple.
The weirdest thing was the service. Four days have passed and I still can’t wrap my head around what happened. We were towards the tail end of our main course and it was near 2 p.m. They close at 2:15 p.m., there were other patrons still in the restaurant dinining and there was no one waiting for a table. One of my friends finished before us. While the rest of us were still eating sashimi, the server brought out all three of our green tea ice cream desserts at once… While we were still eating our main lunch items!
Bring me a piece of cake early, no problem. Bring me a cookie early, no problem. Bring me mochi early, no problem. But ice cream? We still had 10 minutes of regular eating to do before we would come close to hitting the ice cream, by that time it was ¾ melted. Who brings out ice cream early? Were they trying to rush us out? Was it just a case of a server thinking we were farther along in our meal than we were? Why would any restaurant do that, especially a high end sushi restaurant? Your answer is as good as mine.
I’ll sum it up with what I started with… Fresh fish with a side of awkward, rushed service.

I’ve had sushi at Bluefin in the past. Recently I went for restaurant week and ordered the salad and bento box. The quality and freshness of the food really stands out. The shrimp and tomato salad had so many distinct flavors. From sweet to tangy. It was surprisingly good.
I’ve grown up eating Japanese food. The best bento box I’ve ever had was the bento box at Bluefin. All of the food had unique delicious flavors with various light sauces on them. Everything was cooked just right. The baked crab was great, even the cucumber was good! The sea bass was moist and tasty. The sashimi was very fresh. The service was good from when we entered and were seated right away, to when we got our check.

Came here for lunch with my mom, had the omakase ($ 45) and really enjoyed it. Bluefin definitely has delicious food. My mom doesn’t eat anything raw and it was nice that you can request for cooked omakase. The sashimi was very fresh and the sushi selection was so good. There was warm abalone which was one of my favorite dishes of the meal. It was easy to bite through and had such a subtle flavor, I loved it. The omakase also had a couple cooked items. Another standout was the cooked snapper. So light and tender it was just melt in your mouth delicious. For dessert there was a chocolate like cake/​brownie was a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. The chocolate was really fluffy and not too overly sweet. My husband had the bento box and everything was so beautifully placed and everything in small portions and so much variety. It definitely looked like a fun experience making your way through the bento box and discovering all the little surprises. I did have some of the chawanmushi and the steamed egg was a bit too bland. Overall, I really enjoyed my lunch experience here. Would definitely come back if I’m ever in the area.

From January 18 – 31, Newport Beach Restaurant Week offers prix fixe menus for over 50 restaurants from Newport Beach, Corona del Mar and Newport Coast. My brother and I were indecisive on what to have for lunch, but a sudden craving for sushi made our decision easy. Since we’ve had Sushi Roku at Fashion Island before, we decided to venture into unknown territory.
We arrived at Bluefin with a few expectations from word of mouth through friends. With the option of a three-​course menu for Restaurant Week, my brother decided to jump into the choices with his appetizer, Grilled Cajun Scallops. The dish was like a miniature entrée with white fish, shrimp, scallop and mussels topped with a tomato salsa.
Since the offerings didn’t have much appeal to me, I ordered off the main menu and sushi list. I started with the salmon ponzu carpaccio. Beautifully presented, the salmon sashimi was topped with chopped onions, green onions and bonito flakes. Seasoned with ponzu and basil pesto, the buttery texture of the salmon complemented the oils of the dish.
For my brother’s entrée, he received the Chef’s Sushi Selection. The plate arrived with five pieces of nigiri and a small roll of Albacore Dynamite on the side. I wish I knew what all the pieces were, but our server did not give any descriptions. However, that was a pretty solid lunch omakase!
I, on the other hand, picked my own selections. For nigiri, I felt adventurous and decided to try Sayori (Needle Fish), Kohada (Shad) and of course, my all time favorite, Uni (Sea Urchin). Kohada was very firm, but it tasted like a mix between mackerel and sardine, which has a very prominent flavor. The Sayori was surprisingly a great choice. A light, white flesh, the Needle Fish was bursting with sweetness and deserves the bare minimum to really pick up on the nuances of its umami.
In addition, I also got Hotate (Live Scallop) sashimi. Seasoned with lemon juice, yuzu kosho and a bit of salt, the scallop was firm and tasty. I wished there was less citrus to enjoy the sweetness of the scallop, but it was good nonetheless.
My brother and I shared the Ankimo, which was topped with caviar, a gochujang miso sauce and gold flakes. That was a bit unecessary, but brought a pop of color to the dull taste. My brother preferred the firm texture, but I thought it was rather bland and didn’t have the creamy texture I was looking for. Unfortunately, this was not what I was expecting for $ 22.
We also shared the Vegetable Roll with gobo, micro green, asparagus and avocado wrapped into a cucumber shell. The roll was a nice palate cleanser and was a game changer to this meal. It brought something to my attention that I didn’t notice before.
Finishing up the meal, the Restaurant Week menu ends with a Gâteau chocolate cake served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh berries. The Gâteau was fluffy and rich in chocolate without the silky mouth-​feel from a flourless cake.
To conclude, the game changer was not the positive variant I was expecting. The way in which rice is prepared to complement sashimi is incredibly essential. However, Bluefin’s was glutinous and lacked the vinegary taste to bring out the fish’s umami, which left something to desire from the meal as a whole. Although satisfactory, it could have been better.

Had the opportunity to try this place out thanks to them participating in Newport Restaurant week.
Upon entering, you’ll instantly notice that this place likes to engage with their guests as there were far more seating at the sushi bar than actually tables. No more than 7 tables actually. If you don’t like people standing in front of you, observing your reaction to food then you won’t enjoy sitting at the bar. If you don’t mind the sushi chefs being 3 feet in front of you or don’t have any awareness in your surroundings then the sushi bar will be fine.
Tofu soup: 4.5÷5 this soup is amazing. The single edamame bean itself was extremely flavorful. The pieces of seaweed gave the soup a lovely salty (but not too salty) flavor.
Sashimi salad: ⁵⁄₅ loved everything about it. The sashimi was fresh and the sauce below it had a creamy kick to it. I would order this next time.
Chefs choice sushi: ⁴⁄₅ our chef used fresh wasabi and WOW, goodbye any stuffy sinuses. The wasabi was too much for me but appreciate him using fresh wasabi. The cut of fish were very tender, but wish I was able to enjoy it more rather than chugging my water.
Duck: ⁴⁄₅ I wish the fat on the duck was rendered down more as it was quite chewy. However, the duck meat itself was well cooked. The mash potato was creamy but lacked seasoning. I could of passed this as store bought potatoes flakes.
Green crème tiramisu: ⁴⁄₅ delicious and light way to end the meal. I wouldn’t want anymore than the small slice of the tiramisu unless there was more fruit. I dislike the taste of old cream lingering in my mouth. The red bean ice cream was two thumbs up.
This place is a good solid 4, a bit over 4 on particular dishes. Nice spot to take a date — if the price won’t surprise you, the awesome food will!

This place is amazing! Right off of highway 1 in Newport Beach!
Toro Tartare with caviar — melty tuna fat with gold flak garnish
Lunch omakase for $ 45, 5 courses
Bluefin bento for $ 35, craziest bento I have ever seen!

Pleasant décor.
Narrow seating similar to Sushi Studio and Sushi Gallery up north.
Good lighting and pleasant ambiance.
Not very well maintained bathrooms.
Sushi quality is fresh and clean.
Sushi rice is also very clean and isn’t too sweet.
Rolls are limited in selection but quality wins over quantity.
Salad greens are crisp and in season.
Calamari is small but crisp but I’ll pass on it next time.
Mango flan was refreshing.
Chocolate cake was moist.
Raspberry sorbet was very good.
Sushi menu offers great select cuts but I didn’t see swordfish. Kitchen menu also offers some interesting dishes that I’d be curious to try but it’s not really pressing. Sake menu looked selective, though I don’t drink sake much.
I can’t seem to write anything interesting about this place. Sure, the sushi is good and yes the dining area is bright and welcoming. Chefs seem friendly and service is fast. At the end of the meal, I was satisfied, but not wow’d.
I understand why this place is so popular and I’ll give it 4 stars but on a personal note, I can’t say that this place stands out. It’s a pretty good place to get sushi and has a distinct Newport Beach/​South OC feel.
Maybe I need to come back a few more times to really «get it» about this place, but for now, 4 stars for the sake of this review and how it may serve others, but personally, a solid 3.

No wait. We arrived at 12:30/1pm on Sunday. We sat at the sushi bar. The sushi chef who took our order immediately made it for us. He was friendly.
I had the spicy tuna cut roll and my boyfriend got the albacore dynamite cut roll. I ordered both without soy sauce (no gluten here!) and they were still fantastic. The albacore dynamite had a spicy mayo looking sauce on it which was amazing!
We also ordered the scallop with garlic lemon sauce appetizer. It came out at the same time as our rolls, but I didn’t mind. It was a small portion, but incredibly delicious.
The ginger was very fresh! I usually don’t eat the ginger at sushi places, but this one was fantastic.
If I’m in the area again in the future, I will return.

I come to Crystal Cove a lot but I have never been here for sushi
The place is small with a few tables and a nice size sushi bar.
Behind the bar is a really nice water feature
The bar is limited with lots of sake and wines but their Japanese whiskey collection is first class
18 year old yamazake single malt whiskey and the vertical of 12, 17 and 21 year Hibiki
There is also tequilas and a few others
We went for sushi only. No rolls, no tempura– just sushi and ate it dressed how the sushi chef made
Everything was fresh, exquisite and delicious
My favorites were the uni, the king salmon, the fatty tuna, the mackerel and sardines
This place is awesome

Fabulous Sushi and Omakase is to be had in Newport Coast!
Bluefin has become the default Sushi den in Newport Coast over the last few years and thanks to the critically acclaimed chef Takashi Abe, it most likely will be for a long time to come. A bright and open dining area along with an immaculate bar welcomes you in and the view of the pacific is a pretty fantastic back drop. The service is solid for the most part, but could use a bit of polishing at times as glasses tended to remain empty at inopportune times.
On my last visit I ordered the Sushi Omakase at a very reasonable $ 65.00 which features a chef’s selection of 13 different nigiri as well as a hand roll and dessert. Each cut of seafood was incredibly fresh, delicate and absolutely delicious. The Toro, Tuna, Salmon and Yellowtail were all mesmerizing in their own unique way and I found myself using very little (if no) soy on each piece to allow nuances to shine through every bite. This is Japanese cuisine for the ages folks.
As a novelty I ordered the Barracuda Sushi for the table which was almost like a whitefish as it was clean, soft and offered a supreme mouthfeel. I had a little trepidation while ordering and basically did so as a dare to my companions, but I would be happy to order Barracuda again tomorrow, it was wonderful!
My only word of warning is that you can find yourself surrounded by douchebags of the highest order thanks to its Newport Coast location which is no way the restaurant’s fault, but still… be advised. Name dropping, leaving the keys to exotic (and possibly rented) cars on the table and leering are commonplace in this area of south county and there isn’t much that can be done about it.
I could not have been happier with my dinner and gladly place Bluefin on the top shelf of OC Sushi offerings along with both the heralded Nana San and consistently (and well earned) award winning Sushi Noguchi. Bravo Bluefin!

NEWPORT BEACH RESTAURANT WEEK REVIEW 2015
LUNCH MENU ($ 20)
APPETIZER
*Tuna, halibut, salmon sashimi salad
Beautifully plated and the sashimi slices were fresh and delicious. I especially loved the dressing that accompanied the dish. This was certainly the highlight of the meal.
MAIN COURSE
*Grilled swordfish with soy-​butter
Tender and perfectly cooked. My only complaint was that there wasn’t enough of it!
*Chef’s sushi selection
An assortment of sushi and sashimi prepared with care. The fish was very fresh and between the two entrees, I think this provided more substance.
DESSERT
*wasabi pana cotta green tea ice cream
I loved the creamy and velvety texture of the pana cotta and the green tea ice cream added a bit of grit to the sweet ending.
SUMMARY
The meal was tasteful in both the dinning environment as well as quality of food; however, the prix fix meal was not filling. Luckily, I was going to an afternoon potluck so it was not a problem. It’s an upscale modern take on Japanese, so I guess patron’s will need to take that into consideration when visiting, but great food!

I came here for lunch and the place filled up fast. It’s a small restaurant with a couple tables for 2 or 4 and some bar seating. I ordered from the restaurant week menu — 3 courses for $ 20, which was a good deal. It took 20 – 25 minutes for the food to start coming, which was quite long. While waiting, my green tea was refilled multiple times, which was nice.
I started with the scallop spring roll. The presentation was good, and the mango sauce and mango pieces complemented the dish well. There is one piece of scallop inside each wonton, though I think maybe 2 pieces of scallop would make it better. I would order this dish again! Very flavorful. Then, I had the chef’s choice of sushi. All the sushi had wasabi on it, so if you don’t like wasabi, make sure you request no wasabi. Everything on this dish was okay. My favorite was the salmon; it tasted the most fresh and flavorful of the bunch. Everything else tasted average. For dessert, there was orange mousse with vanilla bean ice cream. The presentation was very nice, and it tasted good too.
For sushi, it wouldn’t be my top choice, but I’d still like to come back to try the omakase.

delicioso!