Kami

WHY ARE YOU CLOSED???
This was by far my favorite AYCE sushi place =[ Everyone was so nice and the fish was FRESH! Now to find a new favorite place

One word: Bleh.
I came here today with my cousins expecting to have a sushi feast. We got seated right away because the restaurant was empty. How it works here is that there is a menu in which you order. You can order as much as you want per round, but there is a limit of 3 rounds. There are appetizers, nigiri, handrolls, and sushi rolls.
We were all starving so we ordered a bunch of stuff for our Round 1. We ordered Fried Tofu, Calamari Tempura, Veggie Tempura, Dynamite, a bunch of sushi rolls and a bunch of nigiri. The food started out pretty good. We got our appetizers and it tasted decent. The tempura and calamari were crispy, and the dynamite was still sizzling. The fried tofu was nasty tho… tofu tasted old. Then came the rolls… Every roll had the exact same center (imitation crab) and drenched in the same two sauces. The brown sauce didn’t taste that good… Also, we ordered a salmon skin salad… the Salmon Skin was burnt! It was so black it was like charcoal. The fish in the nigiri tasted funky too… some were even sour…
For our Round 2 we decided to order some more appetizers, salads, and some more rolls. This time, the calamari came COLD. It tasted so disgusting. Salad came with big chunks of tuna… it would’ve been better if they were cut smaller. Rolls were as usual… it was a pool of sauce…
I wouldn’t come back here again. But at least their staff is friendly.

I dont know how this place got such good reviews? Perhaps from people who don’t eat sushi alot? Yes its not expected that sushi from all you can eat sushi is great, but Joes and Kokoro in Aliso is not so bad.
Ordered about 8 rolls here. Whatever you do– do not order the tuna. Had a deep friend tuna roll. The tuna was like whole pieces cooked, almost like tuna from a can. It was sooooo odd. Usually its like raw and mushy/​blended, not here. Ordered the lobster roll, and it was sour? Really gross. Calamari was really crispy– like squid chips almost. Depending if you like crispy or not you will like or hate it. The sushi chef kept tryin to make special rolls and feeding it on us-​maybe it would have been cool if we hadn’t done all you can eat? The rice is packed on like crazy of course. The rolls are really big and cut into enormous pieces. Ordered eel rolls– and that was the biggest ive seen eel cut and put onto pieces of sushi. That can be good or bad?
I wouldnt go again even if i was on a budget.

I don’t wanna review this place cause I don’t want more people showing up, but that would be unfair to their business.
Friday night with sushi this good and no wait WAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! OKAY KALEN CHOCK!
I’m gonna have to update this review because I forgot what my favorite roll was there but definitely get on that All You Can Eat deal. Its about 22 bucks and I promise you will order at least 40 bucks worth of fish & rice. On my glorious first night I consumed 80 bucks worth so yeah you know what it is KALEN CHOCK
I shall return for other types of sushi and what not for further review. cant justify on the first trip… oh yeah and the music was poppin’

I came here to eat a few weeks ago with a bunch of friends. There wasn’t too many people in the restaurant, and the waitress told us to hurry and order because a party of more than 20 people was about to come and their sushi orders would probably amount to double of ours. The waitress was really funny and really nice, which made the AYCE experience that much more enjoyable.
Overall, the sushi wasn’t bad. I felt that a lot of their rolls had the basic California roll on the bottom with different fishes and sauces on the top. The only thing I really really loved was the salmon. It’s big slabs of salmon that tastes so tender and wonderful it just melts in your mouth. We ordered more than 20 orders of salmon! The other rolls were … eh. If I came back, it would be just for the salmon. I liked the albacore, too though. :) The rice under the sushi was really good, too … had a bit of flavor.
All in all, not a bad AYCE sushi experience. They do have rules, though and you can’t leave any leftovers or you’ll be charged! They have specials on different days of the weeks, and have TVs as well.

3.5 stars
It’s ayce sushi for $ 22.95. I went with a big group on a Friday night. The service was a little behind– but in their defense it seemed like the were a bit short staffed on a busy night and we had a table of 12.
The quality of the sushi was pretty good. I would say that this was one of the better ayce sushi places in Orange County. The only problem is that everyone over-​orders and you have to stuff yourself to the brim. (It’s just a natural reaction to ayce!!)
Pros:
Pretty good service, pretty good rolls, and moderate quality fish. Also they have all kinds of drink specials (when the lakers play buy one get second pitcher 50% off) and other sake specials.
Cons:
The miso soup is pretty terrible.

Came here on a whim on a Sunday night. Not too bad of a place. Here are the highlights:
Pros:
— large portion sizes for rolls; recommend ordering no more than two things at a time so you don’t end up wasting any
— wide selection of rolls
— great service; very nice sushi chefs and waitresses
— fun atmosphere with the twinkly lights and hip hop music playing overhead
— loved the power yellow tail (spicy) roll and fresh water eel; rainbow roll was standard – nothing out of the ordinary
Cons:
— AYCE ordering process/​pricing is a bit confusing/​misleading; i ended up paying $ 36.95 or so vs the $ 22.95, which ticked me off a bit.
— even though I had already given him my completed AYCE sushi sheet, sushi chef made me something I didn’t order, and of course, I had to pay for it (i ordered regular yellow tail and he made me the Power Yellow Tail roll ‘you said you like spicy!’, which hiked up the cost)
— located in the ghetto
— rolls seem to contain more imitation crab than the fish the roll is named for
— volcano roll was more temperature hot than spicy, spider roll was ok, didn’t seem to have a ton of soft shell crab in it
— iced tea is totally watered down
— place was pretty empty… only two other parties besides me
Probably won’t be coming back…

My girlfriend found this gem while Unilocaling and said we should go. How could i say no to a woman who wants AYCE sushi (she’s a keeper!) Oh man, Kami blew my mind. It’s been about a week, and im still craving their power yellowtail roll. And i’m not a big fan of rolls. Maybe Kami is now my #1 (sorry Katana :[)
The Skinny:
Man, this place got some fresh fish. The sushi chef, Eric, is pretty talkative, not all that entertaining, but he didnt ignore me so that’s cool. Service is a bit slow, but they had a big party the day i showed up, so its forgiveable. Other than that, Kami’s got my seal of approval, for SURE.
The Food:
The chef does a great job with each cut and he cuts em big, just the way i like it. The fish to rice ratio is just great, not too much rice at all. If you’re really picky, then you might be bothered by the fact that the rice tends to fall apart, but the way i see it, i paid $ 22.95 for fish, not rice. Definitely recommend the power yellowtail roll (super fresh yellowtail, with a dollop of this spicy sauce. So so so good), baby bluefin tuna, white tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, mackerel… Really, any of their cuts are pretty guaranteed delicious.
The Service:
Service was a bit lacking. Two waitresses (one of them was pretty attractive imho) and two chefs. But a huge party, took up most of the restaurant, so they were pretty busy. I decided not to hold it against them, thus they got a full 5 stars. It was cuz the food was just so dam good.
Oh their green tea was also pretty good too. Yeah, come here. No like, do it now. Actually don’t. More for me

DO NOT eat here! Anyone that tells you this place is good either works here, is a friend or relative of someone that works here, or someone that doesn’t get out much.
Sure it’s AYCE sushi so you’re not supposed to have high expectations but come on… at least have food that is fresh. The rice was hard, the sushi smelled fishy. Ick! I’m surprised I didn’t get food poisoning.
Service was horrible. Although the waiter was very friendly, the food was soooo slow. Maybe they figure the longer you wait, you’ve already digested your first round and will not order as much. And they would «forget» to bring some of the items, always assuring you it’s coming. Even after you add it to the next sheets, the item never shows up. If it’s not worth it to be part of the AYCE, then just simply state «Not valid on…»!!! Sheesh.
As of today they have 4 stars. Very deceptive to those that see that as a high rating and decide it’s worth the try. Hope those that are considering this place thoroughly read through all the reviews and think twice before going. And to those that decide to eat here, more power to you.

My friends and I love to go to AYCE sushi places in the OC so we decided to give this place a try.
They offered a la carte rolls or the all you can eat option for $ 23 (that price is for dinner; I think lunch price is $ 18?), which is a pretty standard price. Overall, the selection of rolls here is also pretty standard; in other words, a lot of variations of california rolls and spicy tuna rolls with toppings. The fish quality is so-​so (the blue fin tuna was not especially fresh but the salmon was a stand out). Some of the sushi also had some sauces (ponzu maybe?) that detracted from the flavor of the fish.
All in all, Kami is a good place to go to fulfill your sushi cravings, though not really better than other AYCE places like Sushi Wave. My search for the ultimate AYCE sushi restaurant continues. 3 stars for the food, 4 for the service. Wish I could give it 3.5 stars because that’s really more what it was for me.

bad service can ruin an entire experience for me and thats exactly what happened on my latest visit to Kami Sushi. Friday night at 7pm, party of 10 — we get seated just fine but i knew we were off to a bad start when i have to grab menus for myself b/​c none of the servers bothered to check up on us. i understand that they were busy and according to our main server (short hair girl with tattoos and the only bright spot of my evening) this was the busiest they had ever been since we were seated in the 2^nd dining room which they had apparently never done in the past.
waiting and waiting and waiting for our orders of AYCE, not having any clean plates to give us, no napkins/​chopsticks/​soy sauce/​wasabi/​ginger given to us after numerous requests is just unacceptable to me. sushi came out as it was made which is great but i never received the hand roll orders that i put in plus our wait time in between rounds of food was just ridiculous (at least 20 min wait with absolutely no food at all on our table). i think that if maybe i thought the food was amazing and great quality, i would be less critical and more willing to wait for it but numerous friends commented that the fish wasnt cut well, rice was falling apart, and overall everything was just mediocre.
i get that you ‘re busy and i get that making food takes time — but Kami needs to be better prepared for this kind of stuff. i did appreciate the fact that all the wait staff were very apologetic and nice and understanding about our situation… but until they get some more help to accommodate the crowds, i probably wont be back…
but hey at least on the bright side, laker game days = buy 1 pitcher of beer and get the 2^nd 50% off. pitchers are 11.95 normal price and we had no problem getting those served to us… go figure haha
sorry to disagree so strongly with you, lany p but i just was so frustrated with our dining experience :(the only thing that saved it was the company that i was with :)

100^th review!
We went here for lunch on a Friday afternoon, and boy was it empty. Then again, it was a pretty big space, so it still looked vacant even with 3 or 4 different parties.
Of course, my partner, my friend, and I all went with the AYCE. Why bother getting anything else when all-​you-​can-​eat made-​to-​order sushi is only $ 18.95?
Note: tea is not free, so we went with water. I was sort of miffed about this, since I believe green tea should be complimentary at Japanese restaurants. Oh well.
We were served miso soup as a starter. Not enough salt for my taste buds, and it lacked my favorite part – tofu cubes! Then again, I don’t come to AYCE for miso soup.
We ended up ordering two rounds, since a third would’ve been overkill. We went with a bunch of nigiri, including tuna, eel, bluefin tuna, squid, salmon, tamago (it’s called «egg custard» on the menu), and yellowtail. First off, DO NOT GET ANY KIND OF TUNA! I’m not saying they have a funky taste (they don’t), but the texture was NOT right at all! It was… chewy, to say the least. The colors were off, and it was overall not good.
The salmon was okay; the yellowtail was a bit watery for me; the squid was decent (i.e., it didn’t taste like rubbing alcohol, which is what squid at a lot of other Japanese restaurants usually tastes like). Overall, the quality wasn’t spectacular, but it was definitely passable for made-​to-​order AYCE.
We also had calamari tempura, since I can’t ever resist fried calamari. The meat itself was kind of tough, but I really like how they fry it here. That is, they do it Chinese-​style with salt and pepper. Very small appetizer plate, by the way.
Then, we had a few hand rolls. I ended up getting the salmon skin twice! Yeah, it was that good! The skin was fried fresh and was very crispy. Plus, there was the perfect balance of vegetables, rice, and salmon in it so that I got a bite of everything all the way until the end. So delicious!
We also got a bunch of rolls (the most expensive ones on the menu, of course). We had 4 rolls, including the Gold Dragon, Black Dragon, and two others with shrimp. Most of them ended up tasting the same. Not bad for filler. The only one that really tasted different was the Gold Dragon, since it had spicy tuna in it.
Halfway through our meal, a man came to our table and let us sample a chef’s special, which consisted of three hot pieces of sushi (one for each of us). They were topped with a combination of five different types of fish. Very yummy! Plus, I thought it was a good way to get return customers. Make people feel special by giving them free shit. Ingenious!
Our server was nice, too. She always came around to refill our waters and to check up on us. When we told her we had to throw in the towel, she gave us a few minutes before she came by again and asked one more time if we were sure about being done. It gave me the feeling that she wasn’t trying to shoo us out and actually wanted us to stay and eat more.
The only thing I thought was strange was the music. Pretty ghetto bass for a sushi place. They should try some soothing Japanese music instead. I feel bad for all the sushi chefs who have to put up with that annoying mainstream crap for the entire day.
Overall, the food was good for the price, and we left feeling taken care of and very satisfied. I’ll be back for sure.

Pros:
–Good selection of different rolls and sushi for an AYCE joint
–The spicy tuna crunch roll was pretty tasty
–Affordable price for AYCE
Cons:
–Service was SLOW, SLOW, SLOW! At one point when we were waiting for our order of rolls, 30 minutes passed with nobody coming to check on us. When we finally flagged down a waiter, it became obvious that our order was «misplaced». Took another 10 – 15 minutes after that to finally get our food.
–Music was way too loud. I was on a date and had to almost yell to be heard
–Sashimi is not very fresh. We got tuna and salmon. The tuna was still partly frozen in the middle and some of the salmon pieces had annoying bits of chewy connective tissue in it.
–The miso soup is just sad. :(
I know that this place has a really good rating, and for an AYCE place I do think that Kami stands out, but based on the terrible service and the not-​so-​great cuts of sashimi fish, I likely won’t be back.

Yes

«All You Can Eat Sushi». I know that might not sound most appealing to some when they first hear that. Mainly because AYCE sushi has been associated with cheap, low quality sushi found at buffet lines that some may consider sacrilegious. I want to tell of you now that Kami Sushi is far from that. First, you’ll probably be surprise when you arrive at Kami Sushi to find that there’s no buffet line either. Unlike most of the other restaurants in the AYCE category, Kami Sushi will still provide you that personal touch found in any other regular sushi restaurant with a real sushi chef behind the counter.
Kami doesn’t skimp on the service or garnishing either. As you can tell from the pictures eat plate was well presented and I can assure you that they taste just as good as they looked. The manager, the server, and the chef were all amazing and friendly. We tipped our cups to them several times over for making it such a fun experience to dine there.
Kami Sushi is definitely a hidden gem in Orange County. Don’t like the AYCE stigmata prevent you from dining there. The only different between Kami and any other traditional sushi restaurant is the price, which allows everyone to try items off the menu that you normally would have not order. My recommendation is to leave your skepticism at home and try it out. Also, be sure to go when you’re hungry and ready to eat.

Pros: Friendly staff, $ 22.95 AYCE, happy hour specials
Cons: Sushi quality isn’t the best, but it’s not bad for AYCE
3.5 stars
Went here the other day with some friends for some all-​you-​can-​eat sushi. It’s $ 22.95 per person for AYCE. They have a wide selection of rolls and nigiri sushi. The AYCE price also includes various appetizers. The quality here isn’t the best, but what do you expect for AYCE? They also have pretty reasonable prices for pitchers of beer and sake.
What I was really impressed with was the service and the friendly staff. They were quick to take our orders and one of the sushi chefs even had a shot of sake with us.
Not sure if this place is going to be on the top of my list in the sushi rotation, but I’m sure I’ll be back.

Psttt… you…yes you… I’m talking to YOU… I’m telling you– you MUST; I repeat, you MUST try the Sojutini here. We got the strawberry sojutini here and It is absolutely DELICIOUS! (SEE PICTURE)
My cousin, who is a big eater and lover of restaurants (must run in the family: D) wanted to meet up to get some AYCE sushi at Kami. We both had been here previously before, but we decided to bring our significant others along and enjoy a night of sushi binging.
We came in at around 7:30 pm on a Wednesday night and it looked like we were the first customers to get there. Customers slowly started to trickle in after us, so that was nice. I hope they keep on getting business! Our party of 4 slowly turned into a party of 9 lol! We decided to invite more friends.
The whole staff remembered us and was SUPER accomodating to everybody’s wants. Some didn’t eat raw fish in our group, some wanted beer, some wanted wine, some wanted soju. Some needed their food NOW! We were definitely a very demanding, impatient group lol! Must have been because we were hungry, but they all served us so graciously with a smile on their faces.
We loved that the sushi never stopped coming and the chef was more than happy to give us some of the fresh fishes of the day and some other creative dishes he put together for our group to try.
Kami is definitely the kind of place where you can unwind after a long hard day. The environment is welcoming, the music will keep you wiggling in your chair and the atmosphere is perfect for a group setting & entertaining your guests.
You made my friends and my night again Kami Sushi! Thanks again for your amazing service and your awesome food! Please don’t ever change because I think I have found a sushi place I can call home! :)

The reason for the 4 star review is by using the appropriate measurement for the type of place that this is. You can’t group your corner sushi joint in the same category as Nobu.
What you have is new Korean owned AYCE (all you can eat) sushi restaurant that has the feel of a place transported out of LA and into Tustin. That last decent place in the OC that I had been to on more than one occasion was You and I Sushi in Laguna Niguel. It was really good upon opening and went downhill with its popularity growth. For the price point and the fact that it is an AYCE place… Proof enough for the rating. 18 bucks for an all you can eat sushi lunch. Good deal.
Went during the workweek lunch hour and the place was fairly empty — not good to open a new place (obviously didn’t do a ton of advertising). Good thing they were UnilocalED or I don’t think I would ever have known about this place! I won’t lie… I was kinda worried that it was so empty during lunchtime. The friendly staff and entertaining sushi chef put those worries aside and we ended up having a good experience.
They have all their goodies on the AYCE menu and we got prompt service and were able to split a bunch of different rolls and nigiri sushi. As you would expect, most of the rolls were a plain California roll base (imitation crab) with all the normal derivations — rainbow, dynamite, volcano, etc. We even had the spider roll (soft shell crab) and Lobster roll and both were delicious. Found it a bit odd that the iced tea wasn’t served as refillable as the waitress asked if we wanted another or water.
You can tell that they are catering to the AYCE crowd as they even have a buy 9 AYCE meals and get the 10^th one free card.

5 stars because of the great staff, chefs and good food with a GREAT price.
Uh did I mention real wasabi? Ok ok I know but it’s hard to come by a lot of restaurants here with the real deal!
I ate here twice already. The first time I got the AYCE (all you can eat) I paid for the dinner which was $ 22 or something. I ate over that amount! It was so good. The sushi was so good and fresh and the chef was so nice and helpful! The pieces were huge for all you can eat and you didn;t get the crappy fish that some ayce places give you when you go for that deal. I am all for this!
second time was today. I ordered togo drove about 5 miles to get here because it was worth it to me from my first experience! I asked about the uni and they had it but they told me that it wasn’t as fresh as they liked it to be so they wouldn’t let me order it! OMG how I LOVE honesty!
This is my new sushi spot for sushi! I am hooked.

This IS the next best place for All You Can Eat sushi. And as the other reviewers have already contested, this is not your typical sushi joint.
I came here yesterday, after seeing my friend shout out how much she enjoyed this place off her Foursquare. This spurred my desire to go, as I’ve been to almost every AYCE sushi place in Orange County. Would this place just fall into the ranks? Or will it rise above. Dun Dun DUN!!!
But forreals though, this place is, how the poets would scribe, the «bee’s knees.» The first thing we noticed upon arrival, other than the beautiful décor, was the 1 cent beers with come with AYCE sushi.
Wait, what? 1 cent? Yes.
The place is beautiful. As you’re greeted by a yell from the chefs and servers, you notice that this place is intimate. The room is lined with black tables, each with their own plate of candles in water. There’s been a lot of care that went into the service and mood. I called in for reservations, and they made a cute little name stand with hearts, though there wasn’t too many people there to warrant one. We just wanted to make sure.
So here’s how the place works. You get a sheet of paper for AYCE, and you have 3 rounds. You think how can this be all you can eat, but trust me when I say 3 rounds is enough (I currently have a personal record of 49 pieces at an AYCE sushi joint.) The 1 cent beers apply to the first beer. The others are $ 4 and the large sake is $ 8. The first beer is just the gateway beer to the others.
The sushi was amazing. I never had white tuna before. It tastes like the cross between a yellow tail and a salmon, so the best of both worlds. The fish to rice ratio is ridiculous, there was so much fish. The rolls are great, the jalapeño one is like a popper with cream cheese. Red dragon, special eel, Hawaiian; all great.
The service was amazing. Our server, Soo, is so ridiculously caring. She even gave us some free sake and an appetizer that was not on the menu. Thanks Soo! That seriously made the night.
A few criticisms: the food can come out slow, especially if the place is packed. This is most notably because on that night there was only one sushi chef working the bar, so while the Sashimi came out quickly, the rolls took a little longer. And sometimes it was hard to wave down the servers, who sometimes are too busy to look over. Hopefully it’s something that can be noted soon. Nonetheless, it’s a minor issue for a restaurant that hasn’t been operating for a week yet.
The cost of the meal was very reasonable. $ 18-​$ 20 for all you can eat sushi of this quality is great. The mark up comes in the drinks. Start with the 1 cent beers, that’s how they hook you. But you’re not the only enabler, it’s just our turn.
Food: 5
Service: 4
Mood: 5
I can’t wait to go back. I almost don’t want to share about this place so I can keep it to myself, the way it is. Kind people, good food, fun place. 5 stars.