Sushi Wasabi

This was my favorite restaurant when Katsu and his wife owned it. When we lived in OC, I ate there two or three times a week… it was wonderful. Katsu knew his fish, and although he bought in small quantity and sometimes ran out of things he was always pleasant and accommodating.
The new owners are the most unreasonable, inhospitable restaurant operators I have ever encountered. Read the «unrecommended» review at the bottom of this page. It perfectly describes the way these two clowns treat people.
The husband is the chef. He evidently «apprenticed» with Katsu. But it takes years — no, decades — of experience to get to Katsu’s level.
The once pristine and beautifully presented fish, lovely house made ponzu and a considerable amount of artistry in the orchestration of omakase courses are now sadly missing from the restaurant over which Katsu once lovingly presided.
In their place is an unattractive and unpleasant imitation of something that no longer exists.
The samurai genius of Katsu is gone, and Katsu’s lovely wife is gone, replaced by a sour crone who knows nothing of the kind of gracious hospitality that helped make this place a gem.

This place is some of the freshest and most melt in your mouth fish I’ve ever had. It’s a traditional style sushi restaurant where they only serve what is fresh. Sitting at the bar means you go Omakaze, but sitting in the dining room, you can order by plate.
My wife and I have been a couple times now, and while the price leaves it more at splurge status for us, it’s worth EVERY penny.

I was incredibly disappointed in this place after reading all the reviews. The servers were very kind but the food so such poor quality. The fish was not fresh and lacked flavor. I visit places that do Omakase quite frequently and this did not come close to some of the other places in OC. Will not be back.

The visual is hard to ‘trust’ as it is indeed a hole in the wake. But clean, and calm. A polite waitress. Very pricey, but utterly Devine sushi. If you opt for quality, and beautiful cuts of fish over saucy rolls, this is the place.
I ordered from the table as I was apprehensive over the trust me production at the bar, would will absolutely do it next time.
4 stars instead of 5 only because it is high time to update the interior.

So let me start off by saying I was had visited long ago when the previous owners were in charge. I remembered it was a 5 star affair. Every bite of sushi was a ‘WOW!’. I know the new chef is the apprentice of the previous chef but lacks the perfection I remembered hence the 4 stars. Still a respectable establishment but falls short of perfect.
We had 10 rounds of omakase:
1. Yellowtail from Canada
2. Bluefin Tuna from Boston
3. Red Snapper from Japan
4. Yellowtail from Japan — one of these pieces kind of chewy — a bad piece unfortunately
5. Scallop hot plate — could have done without — next time I’d request they leave this out of the rotation
6. Scallops from Japan
7. Scottish Salmon
8. Uni from Santa Barbara
9. Blue Fin Toro from Boston — one of my pieces was a little chewy — sad.
10. Bluecrab hand roll — not pictured because I didn’t want the nori to get soggy so I gobbled it up quickly.
A few bad pieces didn’t ruin the whole meal. The good pieces were melt in your mouth good. I remembered the rice to be bigger than pearl size but I appreciated the fish to rice ratio this time around so it didn’t feel heavy after the meal. It was an overall great meal but I would not be dying to go back any time soon. My first choice for omakase would be Ohshima with Wasabi coming in at a close 2^nd.
The waitress came over after 8 rounds and asked if we were still hungry and wanted to continue. I don’t know the the minimum number of rounds should have been. We weren’t hungry but still wanted to try the Uni and Blue Find Toro so we went with it. Oysters were part of normal rotation but I’m not a fan so I opted out.

Great sushi but this is now the second time I’ve shown up and you’re closed when Unilocal says you’re open.
Please Revise your opening times thanks.

First time here today and so far I love it. I like everything that has come out so far!

Wow bad food two nights in a row… hopefully this roll stops! It’s been years since I’ve been here and I was craving sushi tonight. Again here’s the low down:
Pros: their rolls are good. Yes they are known for their blue fin crab rolls which are good (tho a tad salty). I also enjoyed their spicy tuna roll too which has the right amount of crunch. But I think temakira might be as good. Their unagi sushi was good though the pieces were small.
Cons: their sushi and sashimi! We ordered the albacore sashimi, yellowtail sushi and their sweet shrimp ($ 12). The albacore am yellowtail tasted like it had been defrosted so definitely not fresh and their sweet shrimp (no head) tasted mushy and similar to the one I had a makino sushi buffet.
We spent about $ 40pp and it was not worth it and I won’t be back. For that price I would rather go to Angotei for consistent, good, and well priced sushi or temakira for their rolls.

The first time I came to this hole in the wall sushi shop I was apprehensive. The omakase description in writing hanging on the wall as you walked into this fairly generic looking sushi bar was a bit intimidating, but my friends said I was in for an experience… and they were correct. I’ve been coming back ever since, and the change of ownership hasn’t changed the quality.
I’ll describe my favorites:
The albacore sashimi in ponzu with garlic powder. The cuts were all succulent and high quality, and the overall experience was wonderful.
The salmon sushi was sweet, rich and delicious. Very little rice makes you experience the meat in a different and pleasant way.
The baby oysters… I normally hate oysters, but not these. Very little slime, mostly meat, with a bit of ponzu… makes shooting these a pleasure.
Tuna handroll is a tuna lovers dream. Lots of tuna meat with a dollop of Toro on top.
The spicy tuna handroll is still my favorite here… not overly spicy or creamy… heavy on the tuna. Always a treat.

My gf and I went here to celebrate our anniversary. The Unilocal reviews did not disappoint. This was a very palate pleasing dinner.
Looks: This place is in the worst location ever. 10 shops and there is about 25 parking spaces. We had to park across the street.
Taste: We did not want to sit at the bar since we wanted to try out items we wanted. Everything was fresh and my taste buds were having a party all night long for dinner. There were some items I would recommend and some I would pass on. Items that were to die for were the uni, halibut, yellowtail, raw scallops, albacore sashimi and the HIGHLIGHT of the night was the TORO from Spain. As soon as the toro hit your tongue, it started to melon in between your taste bud with a delicious umami flavor that filled your mouth. $ 16 for two pieces but you have to try it! I would not have the baked scallops again, there were only like 8 pieces of overcooked scallops topped with gallops of onions. The octopus was also disappointing because it was rubbery and difficult to eat. The salmon was topped with sugared sesame seeds which hide the true flavor of the fish.
Personality (customer service): When you walk in, there’s about 20 seats total with one waitress and one sushi chef. There are extra staff in the back making warm items but the restaurant itself is very intimate. The waitress was very attentive and refilled my green tea 4 times. Each plate came out with a 5 – 10 minute wait period in btween since there was only one sushi chef.
Overall, this experience was amazing. I would come back here again and next time sit at the bar. In total, we spend about $ 155 including tip. Not extremely expensive but not something you will eat every day.