HONDA-YA Tustin

Why did it take me so long to finally eat here!!! I had this restaurant bookmarked on Unilocal for maybe a year, and I finally came for my birthday! :)
Everything we ordered was just a party in my mouth!
Agedashi Tofu — almost didn’t get this because this is a pretty common menu item, and many other items are uncommon. Standard dish, tasty.
Saba Miso — omg how is this so good! try it. you will love it. This was the highlight of the meal for me.
Salmon Yaki Onigiri — grilled is the way to go.
Cha-​Shu Ramen — also delicious. lots of bean sprouts, and the egg really makes it even better.
Sesame Chicken — good, but I think there are other dishes I would like better.
Lychee Ice cream — they stuck a candle in it and placed a tiny happy birthday sign on top, and they have a recording of happy birthday playing as they bring it over to you. Never had lychee ice cream before, and this was really good. Also had real pieces of lychee in it.
This is the first time in a very long time that I have had such truly delicious food and at a really good price. My taste buds were in heaven. There are so many other dishes that I want to try still! I can guarantee that I will be back. Maybe next time I’ll sit on the mats on the floor. That looks fun.

The wait sucks but after a night nap and long day, it was open after 10pm so definitely worth going, got skewer fish combo and it was heavenly, I could eat it forever, Spicing, grilled favor and fish cuts were absolutely everything you dream of, I can’t stop salivating. Waited like 40 minutes to sit at the bar and most definitely worth it, service was attentive and fast and the delish food, I was a happy girl.

I love yakatori! I love being able to sample everything on the menu. They have a lot of exotic items on the menu so if you’re feeling adventurous, you can try them all without committing to a full meal of something that you might not like. Isn’t that just the best?! Then you can run home and tell all your friends about how you went to Japan and had the best Izakaya. (They don’t have to know that the restaurant is right round the corner.) You can even throw in a few Japanese words on the menu for added effect.
But really though, all the yakatori were delicious! My friends and I also ordered sushi and they were good, but not as good as some other sushi places in OC.
Overall, I really recommend this place for yakatori. It’s a great place to go with your friends and have a great time. Small group of friends though, not large, the place is pretty small and the wait is kind of long.

Yummy! Was originally going to go to sake 2 me but the wait was crazy so ended up here instead. Ordered a variety of items including the sashimi mix platter, rainbow roll, baked scallop roll ,
Tempura, skewers. All the food was high quality and tasted delicious. The waiters were very busy but managed to keep attentive. Although the bill was more expensive than ayce at sake 2 me I think the dinner was worth it, although maybe not the best place if you want a lot of sashimi. I would def come back again to try their other entrees.

Second time here! Lively, fun, great food! Yum yum yum.
Ramen, sushi, sashimi, specialties! Great beer too!

Got food poisoning. Thanks Honda-​Ya.
Ordered a few skewers and rolls. The food is overpriced for what you get. It’s safe to say I’ll never be coming back.
This place will give you the runs! Stay away!

10÷31÷15 Had dinner for Halloween and it was cute how the servers dressed up in costumes and had us vote for who we thought had the best costume. The food is delish as usual. The wait was about 15 – 20 minutes which is not too bad!
2÷14÷14 Valentine’s Day 2014 was spent waiting for a spot at our favorite Japanese restaurant! We got seats on the tatami mats which made it a little more cozy and a first for the husband! Ordered the sashimi special (5 kinds), the tempura and sesame chicken dinner and off the Vday specials menu, mochi bacon, prime beef skirt, garlic butter shrimp, beef with mushrooms… now as we wait for our food we were sipping on our organic Hakutsuru sake… fruity and smooth…
The food came out pretty fast! And we slowly enjoyed our meal! We even made for dessert and tried the lychee ice cream which was yummy. We ate soo much that we literally rolled ourselves out of this place.

Things you might want to know if you plan to eat here for the first time:
1. No matter what time/​day you decide to come here, there’s always a wait. (Examples: I’ve been here 10 minutes after it opened and there was already a wait. I’ve been here an hour before closing and there still was a wait.)
2. For the portions you get, it’s pretty expensive. DO NOT come here STARVING, or be prepared $$$$.
3. DO NOT come here for sushi rolls. It’s expensive and they don’t taste that great. Go to Orange Roll and Sushi.
4. You can sit at a bar, tatami, or regular tables.
5. Sashimi slices are small unless you get the Dinner Combo one item-​sashimi.
Ok. Now onto the food I ordered!
Yakitori:
Beef Tongue
It was good. Not the best beef tongue I ever had. It was really chewy this time. If you love chewy beef tongue, this is for you!
Garlic Pork Belly
This one never fails. I ALWAYS get it when I come here. The garlic is seasoned perfectly and the pork belly is always juicy.
Salmon Belly Skewer
WOW. MELT IN YOUR MOUTH GOODNESS. SO JUICY. FULL OF YUMMY FLAVORS. What the heck did they add to this salmon belly? The sauce is AMAZING. I ordered another one after my first skewer. Its expensive, but honestly, SO WORTH IT.
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Salmon Carpaccio
Delicious as always. If you love that vinegary taste and marinated raw salmon, this is for you! I order this almost every time I come here! The fish is so soft and a bunch of yummy flavors just go off in your mouth! It comes with raw onion and a small cherry tomato.
Miso Ramen
ok. so this is where I got disappointed. WAY TOO SALTY. Soup was also really dark. The egg noodle was great but I mean… there was hardly any noodle! The chashu was good/​not dry, but not amazing. If you want an egg or other toppings, you have to pay more. It’s very typical. Not sure I’ll be ordering this again. What is a bowl of ramen with hardly any noodles in it?
Service:
It was great. The waitress was super smiley and so thankful… she thanked us a lot for no reason… lolol It was nice to have my water always refilled without asking!

I was really excited to try HONDA-​YA due to its great reviews. Don’t get me wrong, this place is great, but I just think it is a bit expensive and the wait is crazy! The parking here is a little difficult as well.
I went early on a Friday night, and waited for about 30 minutes and got a table in the area where you sit on the floor. Remember to take off your shoes! I thought that was cool and had a very authentic feel to it.
We ordered the Black Cod, Tempura Udon, and a bunch of skewers. Each dish was a small portion. The food was good, but didn’t leave a big impression on me. Also, the Staff was very attentive and friendly.
I would probably come back only if I was really craving Japanese food.

I’ve been coming here for 10 YEARS!
But not anymore. The WORST and RUDEST costumer service ever (not the waiters, The Manager is violent)
He elbowed and pushed me and my friend 3 times on purpose and started cursing in Japanese!(Yes I understand Japanese)
My friend was standing outside in front of the wait list board, he came out and YELD at her: MOVE!
Each time I asked him about the wait he rolled his eyes and cursed in Japanese.
We got there at 9pm, the manager told us there is a 30to40 mins wait. We waited for 2 HOURS!
And there were empty tables but he wouldn’t let us in he said they’re reserved (NO ONE SHOWED UP!), then another group left and he ignored us again and we went inside to sit, then he ELBOWED me and my friend (two women!) three times!
And started cursing us in Japanese!
We got really upset after waiting for 2 hours in Cold, we left the place with teary eyes and headache .
My friends drove from LA and SD, I had a guest from Washington DC and I got humiliated in front of them.
I will NEVER set a foot in that restaurant again.
We’re a huge community here and I will tell everybody about this disaster.

Get ready for long waiting times, because this place gets crowded FAST. And for good reason: the food here is so savory and delicious!
Izakayas are Japanese establishments which serve small dishes and also various alcoholic drinks, so they’re good places to hang out at night with your friends or coworkers. Because each dish is pretty small, you can order tons of different dishes and try lots of flavors without worrying about the size (and price!) being too big/​hefty.
I recommend the buta-​kaku (marinated soft pork belly — so bomb! You gotta try this at least once), corn cream coroquette, calamari, and the handmade crab shuumai. These are all flavorful and my favorites.
Anyways, this is the place to eat if you want to be adventurous and try new flavors, or if you want to hang out with friends while devouring yummy food! Enjoy, and remember to drive safely on the way home!

This place is so bomb!!! It’s the perfect place to go if you’re craving for a steaming hot bowl of ramen noodles!
Food:
Like I said before, it’s bomb. They’ve got a decent selection on their menu and their food is genuinely authentic.
My boyfriend and I shared the takoyaki (octopus dumplings) as an appetizer. The takoyaki’s were okay… It wasn’t as amazing as I anticipated. I think they’re better to get at the OC Night Market. However their ramen bowls made up for the takoyaki’s.
I ended up getting the shoyu ramen (soy sauce flavor) and it was pretty good. It’s very bold in flavor. And my boyfriend got the Q-​shu ramen (thick flavored pork) and it was amazing! (He was nice enough to let me try some of his ramen lol.) It was very rich in flavor. My boyfriend normally doesn’t like to eat ramen in general. However after eating at this place, it had changed his mind. We think it’s better than eating ramen at little Tokyo.
Service/​environment:
First off, this place gets packed real quick! It opens at 5:30pm and we got there at 5:45pm and there was already a line right out the door.
This place is a small hole in the wall so it’s hard to get large groups inside. However they have a cute tatami floor room where it’s more ideal for a group larger than 4.
Luckily it was just me and my boyfriend and we didn’t have to wait for too long (less than 5mins). As long as you don’t mind sitting at the bar. Eating at the bar wasn’t too bad even though we prefer to eat at a table or a booth. We were really hungry and we didn’t mind sitting at the bar.
The service was great, they were quick and polite. And the food didn’t take too long.
Price:
For 2 ramen bowls and one appetizer, dinner for 2 was less than $ 25 (including tax and tip)! This is one of the cheapest (sit-​in) dinners we ever had! This is a great place for quality food at a great price! We love this place and we’re definitely coming back again soon.

Heads up: they don’t take reservations, so you’ll have to write your name in the front and wait. If you’re with a big group, come early otherwise it’ll be a long wait. You can either sit at a table, the bar, or a tatami floor. The tatami floor is awesome and usually goes pretty quick on the wait list, but you have to sit cross legged and it can be uncomfortable after a while.
The inside décor is cool. A cozy Japanese setting, with huge tree trunk beams and columns around the building. The inside is warm, loud, and smells amazing. I wish I could call it home.
I come here every time I visit LA/​OC. I’ve probably been to this location 30+ times, and I’ve been very happy with the service and the food. The servers are quick and open to answering any questions or suggestions.
I can’t list everything I’ve tried, but my top three favorites are:
Sauteed Salmon Belly with Mushrooms
Bacon wrapped asparagus
Uni shooters
Everything else is good too, I haven’t had a dish that I didn’t like. Honda-​Ya — keep on doing what you’re doing!

Unilocal 2015 Challenge #365/​365
OMG writing 365 of these was hard. But I’m finally here at 365! YAY!
So I went to Honda-​Ya with my dear Unilocaler Natasha and I was happy. She had been raving about this place for a long time and she had really wanted me to go. But Honda-​ya is only open in the evenings, which made it hard for me. Make sure you sign in, even if you arrive at 530pm!
Poke bowl– Something that I’ve learned to love from Pokinometry. Their poki bowl has mixed spicy marinated sashimi over rice ($ 9.95). It’s good, and their sashimi is really fresh, but their poki doesn’t match pokinometry’s haha.
Takoyaki– Yesss. This one is way better than the ones that they had at Kopan Ramen. This is octopus balls, in case you were wondering. Eating them warm is a must, otherwise, you risk not liking them as much as the next guy: P
Stinky Roll– Spicy tuna roll w/​seared albacore and garlic butter sauce. YES. THE SAUCE. They have a good amount of garlic butter sauce that is on the bottom as well. The albacore is fresh and mixes really well with the garlic butter sauce :3 Mhm. I like the one from Orange Roll Sushi though, as they have much more sauce in theirs haha xD
Grilled Shrimp– Hehe. I love it actually when they grill it but they don’t add the spicy cajun sauce like they do in Chinese dishes. This one, I suggest you don’t eat the tail or the head, but they are totally edible if you choose to do so!
Soba noodles. Make sure you mix it with wasabi and the sauce. :3 Don’t be me and not know what is going on! xD
There are a lot more things that you can get here, rice dishes, ramen, udon, other animal body parts (tongue, anyone). Heck, there are tons of signs that are all over the restaurant that you can be like EYO I want this! But don’t order everything LOL. Don’t! :P
Natasha wants to bring me back to try one of the other many things that they have here… but iono if I can afford the $ 500 bill that comes along with it: P
Enjoy the food, enjoy the atmosphere! It gets wild and long if you come here during dinner time!
And with that, I sign off for the year 2015. Happy New Year everyone!

Ramen review only!
Great place to fulfill any late night cravings! Since it was a cold day, my friends and I opted for their ramen. They have several different kinds: Shoyu, shio, miso, q-​shu, cha-​shu, nanban.
And they have unique toppings as well! Corn, wakame seaweed, butter, cha-​shu, kimchi!
I ordered the cha-​shu ramen with butter as a topping. I’ve been to dozens of ramen joints, and have never seen this as a topping! The broth was already hot and flavorful, but the added butter made it very creamy — I loved it! I might even carry slabs of butter with me now when I get ramen. (don’t judge until you try it!)
Will be back to try their other dishes!

Love love love.
We came on a Thursday around 9:15pm and had to wait for all of about 10 minutes before being seated (for 2 people). We got a cute little booth by the window. The décor in here is straight out of a cozy restaurant in Japan. The entire experience was great and we’re looking forward to coming back again.
I had heard a lot of hype about HONDAYA and am a big fan of Kappo Honda, so I was excited to try the yakitori here.
This is going to sound so cheesy but we were absolutely enthralled with everything we ordered. Literally, nothing fell short, and we tried a lot of things. Super extensive menu not just of yakitori– everything from ankimo sashimi to cold soba!
Here’s what I can recall (yakitori):
— chicken meatball… our favorite. finely ground and slightly sweet.
— pork sausage
— beef tongue
— quail egg
— salmon belly (special)
— chicken leg with salt
— shiitake mushroom
— asparagus bacon
— pork belly
We ordered seconds of the chicken meatballs, chicken leg with salt, and the sausage. They are so amazing. The yakitori here is that perfect combination of moist yet charred. It’s so easy to go overboard and over-​grill something to its dry death, and you won’t run into that here.
TIP: when you order yakitori, it’s by the SKEWER, not the plate. so if your group is a big fan of something, be sure to put «3» or «4» when ordering.
Other things:
— miso marinated black cod
— stewed pork belly
— yakiudon
^ pretty good, considering that the specialty here is yakitori. Portions were small. Prices were fair
…and finished off dinner by sharing a delightful melon soda vanilla ice cream float C: LEAVE ME ALONE
Service was attentive and pretty efficient. Our waters were refilled. Love the petite tapas style dishes that even allow a small party of 2 to order 10 different things.

Rating 3.5
The yakitori here is really good, especially the meatballs. There is an extensive Yakitori menu ranging from beef, chicken, and seafood. I like Honda-​ya because they have such an extensive menu of food which includes bento boxes, ramen, hotpot, and sushi.
I ordered the Q-​shu ramen which is a pork based ramen and wasn’t impressed by it. The ramen noodles reminded me of the instant ramen noodles, in which they have very similar textures. The pork broth was tasty, and they give you a huge portion of noodles if you order a large size. The pork is also nice and just melts in your mouth. My complaint comes from how much bean sprouts they put in it. You might be saying just take them out, but i had already mixed them in not realizing how much there were sitting beneath the broth. Every bite i took had a good portion of bean sprouts in it. I couldn’t even taste the ramen noodles because all i tasted was the vast amount of bean sprouts mixed in it.
All in all Yakitori is good, ramen is average and had way too many bean sprouts in it. Service was okay, and be prepared to wait if you go on a weekend during dinner time.

Love this place. It does get a bit pricey depending on what you order, but everything that I have gotten here has been good.
The wait is outrageous! Over a hour usually, so plan ahead. Usually we go sign in and then head to a nearby bar to get a drink. By the time we are done, the table is ready for us.
They have ramen, sushi, and yakatori. My favorite is the chicken cartilage. Talk about yummy!
Happy chicken cartilaging!

Honda-​Ya has been around forever, I remember coming here in High School with my friends. There is always a wait and always people drinking sake bombs… Even on a Tuesday. haha!
There is much here to try and so many specials you could eat something different every time you come in. But my personal favorites are the yakitori and probably the appetizers. The soba noodles are pretty good too. The udon is not as good as Tanakaya down the street but it’s decent and same with the ramen, I think their is better places in the area.
But great place to bring friends have a drink or 5. I do love the ambiance of the place and they are opened late.
Stars 3 ¹⁄₂

I came in on Halloween night, when it was not busy and many tables were available. I walked in with 1 friend and stood there for 10 minutes while multiple staff members walked by and did not say a word. We walked outside and saw that 2 groups that came after us had put their name on the waiting list. I’ve been here many times, have never written my name on the list, just walked in and have always been seated immediately. If not seated immediately, I’ve at least been acknowledged and told to wait. This is not like Japanese culture to be so rude. I ended up leaving to a different establishment down the street that was still open and they were much better — service & food.
I hope those 2 parties waiting outside got checked on and eventually got seated. I would not have waited to be forgotten about. The sign says to put your name on the list, and the list is outside. Do the staff even check to see if there are customers outside? Especially when there are a bunch of tables open inside? I understand I didn’t put my name on the list (outside) but when I arrived, there was no one else there, so I went straight inside. Due to previous experiences, I decided to skip the list and head on inside. Never been a problem before.