[Newport Beach] [Japanese] Nana San

Nana San
七三
3601 Jamboree Rd #15B
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 474-7373

Dr. P went on a business trip to Utah for 3 weeks.  We planned to have a nice dinner together the day before he left.  Dr. P wanted Japanese, so I suggested Nana San.  I passed by the restaurant on my way to the animal hospital where I interned at.  The name Nana San means "seventy three" in Japanese.  I thought it was unique, and looked the restaurant up when I got http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com.  Nana San has great review on Yelp.  A lot of people raved about their omakase.  When Dr. P heard "omakase", he said "let's go!"



The restaurant opened for dinner at 5:30pm.  We called around 5pm to try to make a reservation for 6pm at the sushi bar.  The waitress said that they don't take reservation.  It's first come first serve.  She also told us that there were already about 10 people waiting outside the door.  We better get there quick!



Sapporo Beer ($6.50)

Even though they told us that they don't take reservation, when we arrived at the restaurant, they asked us if we were the one who called.  They saved us 2 seats at the sushi bar!  That was so nice of them.  Dr. P ordered a large bottle of Sapporo to set the mood for some great sushi to come.


Seaweed & Cucumber Salad

The waitress brought us some seaweed & cucumber salad while we browsed through the menu.  We told the sushi chef that we would like to have omakase dinner with the budget of about $40 per person.


Kampachi ($5.00) / Blue Fin Tuna ($7.00)

Our first two sushi were kampachi and blue fin tuna.  Each sushi came with 2 pieces, and were split between Dr. P and I.  Kampachi had a chewy texture to it.  I don't know what the mustard color paste was on top of the fish, but it had a citrus flavor to it.  Maybe yuzu?  Blue Fin Tuna just melt in my mouth.  Each sushi was composed of a big piece of sashimi, not too much sushi rice, and just the right amount of wasabi in between the fish and the rice.  Only a little bit of soy sauce was needed, and I could really taste the fresh flavor of the fish.  With the first two pieces of sushi, we already knew we found a great Japanese restaurant.


Yellowtail Jello ($6.00)

Next we had Yellowtail Jello.  The jello tasted like it was made with fish stock.  Inside the jello were cooked yellowtail.  This cold dish was interesting.  The fish tasted good.  The jello had good flavor, too.  But it's not something I would order again though.  Also I suspected that this was how they used up leftover sashimi.


Japanese Red Snapper with Fresh Yuzu ($5.00)

Next was Red Snapper from Japan with fresh yuzu on top.  The red snapper had a crunchy and chewy texture.  I really like it.  Dr. P said that red snapper is not exactly his favorite sashimi, but Nana San's red snapper was really really good so he actually likes it.


Spanish Mackerel ($5.50) / Sweet Shrimp ($6.50)

If I could, I would get up from my seat, and jump up and down when I saw this plate.  Spanish Mackerel and Sweet Shrimp!  I love both so much!  Spanish mackerel was served with shredded shiso leaves.  It was perfect with Spanich mackerel.  Sweet shrimp was so creamy, and seriously sweet.  Too good!


Deep Fried Sweet Shrimp Head

The sweet shrimp's head was deep fried and served with lemon.  I always like sucking on shrimp heads (haha that's so Asian).  All the head meat, cheese, and brain tasted really good deep fried as well.  I ate the whole thing, and never knew shrimp shell could tasted this delicious.  Do you guys eat shrimp shell?  Dr. P has a friend who always eat shrimp with shells.  I also have a friend who gives her daughter the shrimp meat, and she eats the shells only.  They all said the shell has lots of calcium, and is the most flavorful part of the shrimp.  True?


Japanese Sea Scallop with Sea Salt ($4.00)

The sushi chef told us not to use soy sauce with the Japanese Sea Scallop because it already had sea salt on it.  The scallop was cooked with a cooking torch briefly on the surface.  It was soft, creamy, and very sweet.  Dr. P said it was the best scallop sushi he's ever had.


Monk Fish Liver ($5.50)

Ohhhhhh Yes!  My favorite sushi, ankimo!!  Monk fish liver sushi also came with salmon roe on top.  It had so much flavor and different texture in one mouthful.  Creamy and rich (ankimo), crunchy and salty (salmon roe), chewy (seaweed), sour and sweet (sushi rice), crunchy and a little spicy (scallion and the red paste on top <--- I don't know what it was).  It was so delicious!


Steamed Uni ($8.50)

Everything had been so good, but then came the Steamed Uni....  My first reaction was "hmmm... this dish looked kinda gross."  I mean, it just doesn't look appetizing, don't you think?  Then I took a bite, and didn't like it at all.  The uni was steamed on top of a bed of grated daikon, and drizzled with gooey seaweed flavor sauce.  The daikon tasted bitter and gritty.  Uni had lost its sweet taste because it was cooked.  It was still creamy and rich, but it tasted really heavy.  The sticky sauce didn't add any point to the dish, either.  Dr. P said it wasn't too bad.  I just didn't like it at all.


Japanese Bonito ($4.50)

I've had bonito flake before, but never had bonito sashimi.  The fish flash has a bright red color that looked almost like tuna.  The outer layer is black, and I think it was cooked slightly similar to how albacore sushi is prepared.  It was drizzled with ponzu sauce, and had slices of onion, shredded shiso leaves, and chopped scallion on top.  I officially announced bonito as my favorite sushi after I tried it.  The fish was soft, yet chewy, and full of flavor.


Yellow Clam ($7.00) / Squid ($3.50)

The next plate of sushi were yellow clam and squid.  We thought it was giant clam and asked the chef to make sure.  He said it wasn't giant clam, but yellow clam.  I don't really know what yellow clam is.  The clam was crunchy, but I didn't like it because it had strong fishy taste.  On the other hand, the squid was delicious.  It was soft, sorta creamy, crunchy, and chewy.  I always think of my grandfather when I eat squid sushi.  Squid sushi is his favorite.  One time we went to a revolving sushi restaurant in Taiwan, and he ate 10 plates of squid sushi all by himself.


Uni ($6.50) / Yellowtail ($4.00)

After trying the steamed uni, we both preferred the raw uni sushi much better.  The fresh sea urchin had a sweet taste to it that got lost when it was cooked.  Yellowtail was huge and so soft.


Unagi (Fresh Water Eel) ($5.50)

Our last sushi was unagi plus tomago.  It was a perfect combination of two slightly sweet items.  After the sushi, the chef asked us if we were still hungry.  No, we were really full.  But the food was so good and I really wanted to eat more.  haha....


Red Bean Jello

Dessert was red bean jello.  It wasn't that sweet, just the way I like it.



The chef did a great job staying around our budget, and served up some really good sushi.



Personally I didn't like their cooked dish too much.  I think their sushi is much better than the cooked dishes.  The couple who sat next to us also had omakase.  They must had a much higher budget than us because they got a big plate of abalone sashimi, and it looked so good.  Even though we both had omakase, I noticed the sushi chef served all different sushi to them and us.  It was really interesting just to see all the different sushi.


Green Tea

While we were paying for the bill, the waitress brought us hot green tea.  I like that.  They didn't rush us to leave, but instead they actually invited us to stay longer to enjoyed a cup of tea.

We love Nana San.  The sushi chef was talented, and also very friendly and funny.  Service was great.  As soon as we finished the sushi, a waitress always took away the empty plates right away.  Their sushi was delicious.  I like omakase dinner.  It's always fun and kinda exciting not knowing what will come out next.  After trying omakase at Nana San, we kind of got an idea of our favorite dishes.  Next time I think we will try ordering our favorite sushi and maybe also try some of their rolls.  Great discovery!  Hope to return soon.

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