[Lake Forest] [Japanese] Sushi Wazen

Sushi Wazen
22641 Lake Forest Dr
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 855-8330

We haven't been back to Sushi Wazen for a few months.  I kinda miss it.  When I asked Dr. P if he would like to go there for dinner on Saturday, he said yes immediately.



Chef Nobu san is still nice, funny, and friendly.  But I think he lost a lot of weight.  He insisted it was because he was wearing glasses that day, and the glasses made him look skinner.



Edamame

The waitress brought us some salted edamame soy beans to start the meal.


Miso Soup

We ordered one combination dinner and a few other items.  The miso soup came with the combo dinner.


Salad

We like the salad that came with combo dinner quite a bit.  You can tell nobu san put some effort into making this free salad.  The greens were fresh.  The miso dressing was tasty.  The fried shredded daikon added some crunch to it.  This salad is much better than those iceburg lettuce + thousand island free salad from other Japanese restaurants.


Japanese Rice

We had the option of white rice also.  But why would we get plain white rice when we could get steamed Japanese rice with fresh vegetable and mushroom?  The rice was good enough to eat on its own.


Salmon Teriyaki + Roll Combination Dinner ($10.50)

The combination dinner we chose was salmon teriyaki plus a roll of our choice.  The portion of salmon teriyaki was smaller than the usual portion at other Japanese restaurants, but the fish was cooked better.  The fish was flaky and tender.  The teriyaki sauce tasted http://www.eileenlikestoeat.commade.  We like it a lot.


Spicy Tuna Roll

Spicy Tuna Roll was made with a big chunk of tuna, avocado, cucumber, and their spicy sauce.  Yum!


Raw Oyster ($2.25/each)

The next two items were from their "special" menu on the whiteboard.  Huge raw oyster on the half shell with kombu sauce looked good.  Dr. P said his piece was really good.  But my oyster had a strong fishy taste to it.  I didn't like it at all.


Ankimo ($5.95)

I love ankimo, a.k.a. monkfish liver.  An order had 4 pieces ankimo.  It was so creamy.  Love to eat it with vinegar marinated cucumber, seaweed, scallion, and ponzu sauce.


Sea Urchin Sushi ($5.50)

Our favorite sushi from Sushi Wazen is their Sea Urchin Sushi with Lemon.  The sea urchin was really fresh, and it had a naturally sweet taste to it.  Nobu san squeezed some lemon juice on top of the sea urchin.  No wasabi nor soy sauce needed.  I love the pure taste of uni.


Yellowtail Jalapeno Roll ($8.00)

One of the rolls I miss a lot was Yellowtail Jalapeno Roll.  The yellowtail was placed on top of California roll, and seared slightly.  It was really good.  But I wished there were a bit more ponzu sauce.



Delicious dinner!  We were really glad we finally came back to Sushi Wazen again.  Price is very reasonable, and Nobu san is truly a talented chef.  The only complaint I have of Sushi Wazen is their service.  The waitress wasn't seen most of the time.  She sat behind the host stand by the entrance most of the time.  But that area was blocked off by the wall.  We only saw her when she brought us our orders.  When we needed something, I couldn't find her unless she came to the dining area to serve other customers, or we had to walk up to the host stand to find her.  But other than that, we love Sushi Wazen.

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