[Irvine] [Japanese] Fukada Restaurant

Fukada Restaurant
8683 Irvine Center Dr
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 341-0111

We've been wanting to try Fukada's lunch special forever.  But we've heard that the wait is always long for lunch, and Dr. P doesn't have that much time on weekday.  We were glad to find out that Fukada also has lunch special on weekend.



There were still super busy on weekend.  We had to wait, wait, and wait.  Finally we got 2 seats at the bar before they close for lunch.



Sapporo Beer ($3.50)

Dr. P started the meal with a small bottle of Sapporo beer.


Noodle Combination ($8.95) - Hot Sansai Soba


I ordered the Noodle Combination.  For the noodle, I got to pick cold or hot, udon or soba, Tanuki (fried tempura batter topping) or Sansai (assorted mountain vegetables).  My choice was hot Sansai soba.  So what are mountain vegetables?  On the menu it said "bracken, flowering fern, dropwort, etc....".  I have never heard any of those vegetables before.  But they sure tasted good.  I really like the soba noodle soup.  It was warm and fulfilling.


Unagi Don
Barbecued eel on a bed of rice.

For the rice, I picked Unagi Don.  Ok I am cheap.  Part of the reason I picked Unagi Don was because they charge extra $3 if you order Unagi Don with dinner combination.  But during lunch time, there is no additional charge.  Then of course I am going to take advantage of that.  It was a small bowl of rice with a big piece of barbecued eel on top.  The eel was good, but I wish they had a little bit more eel sauce for me to eat the rice.


Seafood Salad Combination ($9.95)
Organic mix vegetable, seared albacore, yellow-fin tuna, and salmon.  Served with pepper onion dressing.

Dr. P ordered Seafood Salad Combination.  The sashimi salad had seared albacore, tuna, and salmon.  We both like the albacore the most.  The dressing was tasty, but a little salt toward the end when we had very little greens left.


Spicy Tuna Don
Chopped tuna with spicy mayonnaise on a sushi rice.

Dr. P picked Spicy Tuna Don, and I love it!  Yum yum yum yum!  The spicy tuna wasn't really spicy at all, but it just tasted so delicious!  I really wanted this whole bowl for myself after one bite.  This is definitely my favorite dish from Fukada that day.


Cream Anmitsu ($4.50)
Japanese jelly (made with agar-agar) with red bean, fruits, and ice cream (Green tea or vanilla)

We saw Anmitsu on the dessert menu, but had no idea what it was.  So we decided to try it.  Anmitsu is Japanese jelly that's made with agar from seaweed.  It was harder and crunchier than American jello.  The jello itself didn't have much taste.  There was a sweet syrup for dipping.  Also there was sweet red bean paste, fruits, and a scoop of ice cream.  It was yummy.  We both like the light dessert a lot.



What a great lunch!  We really enjoyed the food at Fukada.  No wonder this restaurant is so popular.  We'll be back again soon!

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