San Kai Japanese Restaurant
| Address: | 3940 Bristol St, Santa Ana, CA 92704, USA |
| Phone: | +1 714-241-7115 |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 12–10PM 12–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 14
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Shohei U
This place has good quality sushi for a fair price. The fish is good quality, and some of their specialty rolls are great. As is true with any sushi restaurant, sit at the bar if you want higher quality sushi. Some favorites are: negi toro maki any blue fin nigiri grilled seafood salad (Be sure to ask for extra dressing on the side.) Santa Ana roll (Dont let the "Santa Ana" name fool you. This is their best tasting roll.) tuna tataki w mushrooms (Be sure to ask for extra dressing on the side.) The service is nice. The sushi chefs are very friendly and accommodating. If you want the best stuff available for that day, just ask the sushi chefs. They are honest. If something is not good, they will tell you "no its not that good today, but the [whatevers good] is good today." You just need to ask. They will make great recommendations for you. Ive taken my wife, a discerning sushi lover, and Ive taken others, not so discerning sushi lovers, to Sankai, and they all love this place. This place is highly recommended. So, on another note, I would not order anything teriyaki, tempura, udon, bento box, i.e. anything that is not sushi. This is a sushi place (as the name of the restaurant indicates.) Ordering teriyaki, tempura, udon, or bento box at a sushi restaurant is like ordering a burger at a Chinese restaurant. OK, maybe thats a stretch, but you get the idea. The specialty here is sushi, so for the best dining experience at this restaurant, and at any other sushi restaurant as well, my recommendation is... you guessed it; order sushi.
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A Private User
Overall id give this place a 4.5 out of 5 stars. This is by far one of the better traditional sushi restaurants in orange county. The fish is always very fresh and high quality. While roll selection isnt the largest ive seen, they definitely have the basics covered - caterpiller, dragon, rainbow, etc. The price is also very competitive. Id say roughly 30% less for the same quality fish vs. some of the flashier places in los angeles and orange county. The owner is usually working the front counter, which adds a nice personal touch to visits. The waiters and waitresses are also very friendly and usually greet you with a smile. The restaurant is a bit on the small side, and unfortunately the wait can be up to a half hour during peak time (friday/saturday dinner).
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Cecilia Alcala
I had aN absolutely terrible experience here. I took my boyfriend here for dinner. We ordered the spider crab roll, rainbow roll, and the yellow tail roll. Everything was going well until my boyfriend found a shard of glass in his yellow tail roll. We were scared and confused how can a piece of glass get into their food. My boyfriend cut his gum on the sharp piece of glass. When we told our waitress about what happened she simply said we would not be charged for out roll and apologized. We were astounded, disappointed and frankly scared of the thought that this might happen again to someone.
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Peter Patterson
I have been to Antonellos a couple of times, usually for business functions. Today, I took a valued employee for lunch, and was not disappointed. The restaurant was busy for a Tuesday, but we were seated immediately without a reservation. The atmosphere is tasteful and rustic chic, and the service impeccable. At least 2 different hosts/managers came by to see how we were doing throughout the 2 h meal. I ordered a 1/2 order of caprese and the linguini with (Manila) clams.
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Josh Finkelstein
Simply the best sushi I have had in OC. I always allow the chef to make me whatever he wants and I have never been let down. Their uni is either very fresh or not available. Im cracking up because someone complained about the "chicken" here. Who comes to a sushi place to order chicken? Its like expecting Mortons to have a bloomin onion on their menu. If sushi is what you are looking for, come here by all means. Let the chef prepare for you, and sit back and enjoy.
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Jeffrey Tomita
I thought the food was a bit overpriced for the quality. My wife was okay with the Sankai roll, but I always feel like they put too much sauce on fusion rolls. The servers were friendly, but they would not seat our party of 8 until we were all present. They did push tables together for us, though, which I found odd, since they did not want to seat us. I might return if my friends really want to, but I definitely prefer other places.
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A Private User
This is the first place I ever tried sushi, back in the early 1990s. And I still keep coming back 20 years later. Forget about those fancy roll places where they cover their sushi in sugary sauces and fancy toppings. This place service real sushi at reasonable prices. The place is small, so arrive early or be prepared to wait. But its worth the effort. This place rocks!
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Erinn Werth
Yummy... Love this place for chirashi bowls! They have a bunch of preset combos or you can make your own bowl. Its easier and more cost efficient to just tweak some of their preset bowls than using the make your own bowl option. All of the fish tasted fresh and the portion size was just right. Service was a little slow, but that didnt take away from our delicious meal.
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Michelle Harris
Visiting from out of town and chose this restaurant because of the reviews. Unfortunately our experience was less than great. Chicken was so dry it was hard to chew and my husband was nauseous before we got to the car. Full food poisoning symptoms set in on the way back to the hotel. It looks like most people have had a positive experience but we will never go back.
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A Private User
A couple of warnings. I do not care for their bento lunch boxes, very mediocre. I once came here for dinner and their rolls tasted different - bland. There are a few items that I love here: unagi, albacore (one of my favs), volcano roll, spicy tuna roll, spider roll, Santa Ana roll (another fav), and tuna tataki with mushroom sauce.
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Dan Leibson
Pretty fantastic local Japanese restaurant. Have lots of rice free options, which is great, and is family friendly (also great.) only reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is nothing blew me away (but was all good). Though the sesame chicken appetizer stood out. Will be back to try some chicken soba soup.
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Katie Bonnerski
I went here last weekend when I was in the Costa Mesa area, and let me tell you the sushi was great. It is a smaller place but totally worth the wait and have a little patience as everyone here speaks Japanese and I believe it is traditionally a very patient culture that takes time to eat their food.
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Rachel Scott
Nice stay from check in until check out. Seems like a very laid back hotel, even though it is on a bustling street. I am Hhonors Gold and was given a Kit kat bar in addition to my warm cookie at check in. I was also given 2 breakfast vouchers and I will say the breakfast was very good. Real...
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afdvaughn
First lunch was 1995. Been coming ever since. I live 1083 miles away for the last 8 years and I still come here when Im in OC. If you have a choice, ask to be seated in Toshi-Sans area of the sushi bar. TsuCasa is best owner ever. Dont ask for special cucumber lolli pop.
