[Rowland Heights] [Japanese] Kingswood Teppan Steak House

Kingswood Teppan Steak House
上林鐵板燒
18900 Gale Ave #B
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 912-1382

We went to Kingswood Teppan Steak House to celebrate my friend Sybil's birthday. This is a Chinese style Teppan house. They also serve spicy hot pot.


Soup

Our meal started with the standard Teppan soup.

[Irvine] [Japanese] Tokyo Table

Tokyo Table
2710 Alton Pkwy
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 263-0000
http://www.tokyotable.com

We rested at home and let the food digest a bit before we head out to our next stop: Tokyo Table for happy hour.



Happy hour menu is different than last time I was there... which was almost 3 years ago? It's been awhile. haha...

[Costa Mesa] [Japanese] Ramen Yamadaya

Ramen Yamadaya
1175 Baker St
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 556-0091
http://ramen-yamadaya.com

After OC Tastefest, we went to a nearby Starbucks to get some coffee. While sitting there, I started browsing nearby restaurants with my Yelp app. I mentioned to Dr. P that this ramen place called Yamadaya has a 4 stars review. We should try it next time. He replied, "why next time? Let's go now!"



So here we were at Ramen Yamadaya.

[Mission Viejo] [Japanese] Sushi Zone

Sushi Zone
28251 Marguerite Pkwy #A
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
(949) 364-2878

We tried quite a few all you can eat sushi restaurants down in South Orange County. Sadly, we have been disappointed every time... until we found Sushi Zone.



Like all the other AYCE sushi restaurants in the area, Sushi Zone is also Korean owned. They offer a lot of rolls, but Dr. P and I enjoyed their traditional nigiri sushi the most.

[Laguna Hills] [Japanese] Kula Revolving Sushi Bar

Kula Revolving Sushi Bar
24155 Laguna Hills Mall
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
(949) 273-1080
http://www.kura-corpo.co.jp/us

We've been to Kula Sushi in Irvine a few times. The $2 per plate sushi is good, but the wait is always crazy. We were really excited when we heard about the grand opening of Kula Sushi in Laguna Hills Mall.



We went on a Saturday night. The wait was about 30 minutes. Personaly I like going to revolving sushi restaruant on a busy night. That way we know the sushi is fresh, and it didn't sit on the revolving belt for too long.

[Costa Mesa] [Japanese] Sushi Shibucho

Sushi Shibucho
590 W 19th St
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 642-2677

After lunch with family in Laguna Beach, my mom and brother had to go back to LA. My sister stayed to hang out, and we decided to have Japanese for dinner. I tried to find "cheap omakase" on Yelp, and the name Shishi Shibucho came up.



It's a really small restaurant. Glad we made reservation. The seats filled up really fast right after they opened for dinner.

[Laguna Hills] [Japanese] Shinkou Sushi

Shinkou Sushi
24881 Alicia Pkwy, #C
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
(949) 340-3714
http://www.shinkousushi.com

We've been wanting to go back to Shinkou Sushi for a long time. Then one day I spotted a $30 for a sushi dinner for two ($62.50 value) Groupon deal for Shinkou Sushi. I think it was meant to be for me to see that so we would visit this great Japanese eatery again! :-P

Look how good this deal was!! For $30, we got:

A shrimp-and-vegetable-tempura appetizer (a $6 value)
A seaweed salad or large green salad (a $4.50 value)
Two miso soups (a $1.50 value each)
Two of the following rolls: Las Vegas, Shinkou, crunchy, spider, or build-your-own (up to a $9.25 value each)
A 10-piece 1.2 sushi combo (a $16 value)
A large beer, valid for any label except Orion (a $5.50 value)
A large and a small sake, or a bottle of house sake for takeout or delivery (a $9 value)


Sapporo ($5.50)

Shinkou sushi is not a big place. We went on a weeknight, and had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. At first I thought they were busy because of the Groupon deal. But after looking around a bit, we were the only party there with the Groupon deal. It was great to see their business was great because of their delicious food.

[Irvine] [Japanese] Sushi Boy

Sushi Boy
6634 Irvine Center Dr
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 788-0828
http://www.sushiboy.net

I got a coupon from Sushi Boy. The coupon was to get their Dragon Roll for $5.


Dragon Roll ($8.00)
Salmon, tuna, shrimp, cucumber, spicy sauce mix

I thought Dragon Roll was eel and avocado on top of California roll? But at Sushi Boy, their dragon roll is salmon, tuna, shrimp on top of spicy tuna roll. The roll was quite small. And what I thought was spicy "tuna" was called spicy sauce "mix" on their menu. I wonder what was in the "mix"?? This roll was alright, but it did tasted like fast food sushi.

[Newport Beach] [Japanese] Benihana

Benihana
4250 Birch Street
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 955-0822
http://www.benihana.com

I got a birthday coupon from Benihana for $35 off. Dr. P took me there for my birthday dinner #4 (?). :-P


Sapporo / Plum Wine

It was a Tuesday or Wednesday. We thought they wouldn't be too busy. Wrong! We got there at 7pm, and didn't get seats until 9pm. I enjoyed a glass of plum wine while waiting.

[Aliso Viejo] [Japanese] Makiyaki Japanese Restuarant

Makiyaki Japanese Restuarant
22912 Pacific Park Dr
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
(949) 215-7160

Decided to try this small Japanese restaurant near our house. Well.... probably won't be back again.



The restaurant was empty all night long.

[Mission Viejo] [Japanese] New Shogun Restaurant

New Shogun Restaurant
25521 Muirlands Blvd
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949) 768-5800
http://www.newshogunrestaurant.com

Got my 2012 Entertainment Book. New Shogun was the first restaurant we wanted to go to using Entertainment Book. We went there last year, and thought the food was great.


Sake + Beer Set ($10.00)

$10 for 1 bottle of sake + 1 large beer.

[Mission Viejo] [Shabu Shabu] Shabu

Shabu
28715 Los Alisos Blvd
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
(949) 588-3225

We saw Shabu when we went to Simply Fondue in the same plaza. It was a cold day. We decided to give this place a try.



Half of the seats in the restaurant was already reserved. Luckily we got there early enough to grab to seats. They turned so many people away that night.

[Irvine] [Japanese] Tokyo Table

Tokyo Table
2710 Alton Pkwy
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 263-0000
http://www.tokyotable.com

Dr. P's friend Richard came to visit from Texas.



There's no good sushi in Taxes so Richard requested Japanese for dinner.

[Huntington Beach] [Japanese] Gyu-Kaku

Gyu-Kaku
7862 Warner Ave # 109
Huntington Beach,CA 92647
(714) 842-8333
http://www.gyu-kaku.com

As I mentioned in previous post, I feel like I have no time to blog. I've been writing since 2005, and seriously don't want to give up blogging. So I think I'll try this new writing method to see how it works out. I will post pictures, but probably with less writing to save time. Ok... so I hope you guys will still like reading my blog.



On Christmas Eve, Gyu-Kaku had a 50% off dinner special. All You Can Eat and Drink for only $20/person. Cool deal!

[Irvine] [Japanese] Santouka Ramen

Santouka Ramen
山頭火
14230 Culver Dr
Irvine, CA 92604

When we heard about the grand opening of Mitsuwa in Irvine, we were excited. When we found out there is a Santouka Ramen inside the food court, we got even more excited. Sad to say, we were disappointed at both Mitsuwa and Santouka during our visit.



This Mitsuwa is REALLY small. The food court is even smaller. There are 3 eateries in the food court: Santouka Ramen, Misasa, and a takoyaki place. It was a nightmare to find seats at this place. And when you finally get a seat, they are people hovering over you waiting for you to finish so they can grab your seat.

[Lake Forest] [Japanese] Sushi Izakaya Rei

Sushi Izakaya Rei
23702 El Toro Rd
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 770-3280
http://www.sushiizakayarei.com

We were so impressed with the food at Sushi Izakaya Rei that we went back a week later. This time we sat at the sushi bar. The sushi chef Tom is not just talented at making sushi, he was also very funny and entertaining.


Japanese Spring Roll ($2.00)

We took advantage of their happy hour and ordered a few drinks to go with the $2 appetizer. Japanese Spring Roll was really crispy on the outside. The inside was filled with cabbage. The dipping sauce was slightly spicy. This was good beer food. We also ordered grilled yellowtail collar just like last time, but I forgot to take a picture. It was too delicious!

[Lake Forest] [Japanese] Sushi Izakaya Rei

Sushi Izakaya Rei
23702 El Toro Rd
Lake Forest, CA 92630
(949) 770-3280
http://www.sushiizakayarei.com

Going to Sushi Izakaya Rei for dinner wasn't planned. I passed by this shopping plaza a few times and noticed a new restaurant with pretty blue lights. I thought it was opened. Unfortunately, that night we found out it wasn't opened yet when we got to the door. Then I remember seeing a Japanese restaurant in the same plaza, and we popped in Sushi Izakaya Rei for dinner. It turned out to be such a great find!


Hot Sake ($3.25)

It was happy hour between 5pm to 8pm. We got two large hot sake for $3.25 each.

[Laguna Niguel] [Japanese] Sango Sushi Restaurant

Sango Sushi Restaurant
27261 La Paz Rd #A
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
(949) 831-7287
http://www.sangosushi.com/Laguna.htm

Last time we went to Sango Sushi, we saw the poster for their $5 daily special. I wanted to try their Thursday special of Ginger Pork. I fell in love with Japanese Ginger Pork during my visit in New York City a few years ago. My sister, who was living in NYC at the time, took me to this small Japanese restaurant that she likes. I ordered Ginger Pork because it was their special that day. The dish was so good that we went back there 3 times during my one week visit. Too bad I can't remember the name of the restaurant. Wonder if my sister remembers?


Sauteed Marinated Ginger Pork with Bean Sprout ($5.00)

I was disappointed when I got my plate of ginger pork. This isn't how ginger pork supposed to be. The pork was supposed to be the thin sliced pork. It should look more like those beef + onion bowls kind of meat. But at Sango Sushi, it was thicker slices of pork loin (?). Also the flavor wasn't the kind of ginger pork I was expecting. It just tasted like sauteed pork with some ginger.

[Irvine] [Japanese] House of Shabu Shabu

House of Shabu Shabu
5394 Walnut Ave
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 654-9400

It was a cold night. I wanted something hot and soupy. Shabu Shabu! Our favorite Shabu Shabu Bar is all the way in Santa Ana. We didn't feel like driving that far. Then we thought of House of Shabu Shabu in Irvine. We've been there once before. It was just alright. But that was a while back. Maybe they've improved?



They offer all you can eat shabu shabu now. It's $17.95/person if you just want regular beef, chicken and pork. For $24.95, you can order kobe beef, rib-eye beef and lamb. Some appetizers and sushi rolls also came with the all you can eat.

[Mission Viejo] [Japanese] Riptide Rockin' Sushi & Teppan Grill

Riptide Rockin' Sushi & Teppan Grill
27741 Crown Valley Pkwy # 325
Mission Viejo, CA 92691-6535
(949) 282-0182
http://www.riptidesushi.com

We always like teppanyaki. Not only the food is good, it's also fun and entertaining to watch the chef cook the food right in front of you. I saw a daily deal on Groupon for Riptide Rockin' Sushi & Teppan Grill. From their Yelp reviews, it seemed like it's a very Americanized Japanese restaurant. $20 for $40 was a pretty good deal so we gave this place a try.



The restaurant is huge. We were glad we had a reservation because there were tons of people waiting when we got to the restaurant. The bar area was small. Seemed like people were having a great time there. The loud rock n' roll music made this place really lively... kinda make you wanna party. haha...