Izakaya Hachi — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

I believe that most of people in the US still don’t know Motsu Nabe which is an intestine hot pot and how tasty it is.

If you have been to Japan, you would know that whenever you suddenly start wanting to eat something particularly, you can most likely find and get it. That impulse feeling happened to me yesterday as I really want to eat Motsu Nabe.

I noticed that there are some restaurants provide it here in Orange County. I researched rating of each restaurant, review and distance then I decided to go to this Izakaya restaurant.

Although I usually talk with restaurant’s people how they get food and how they cook etc, I just didn’t have a chance to talk this time. The first thing what I was impressed was raw oysters. I was just wondering where they got them. Ponze which soy sauce with vinegar which is one of the most popular ways to eat worked so much too me. It was delicious.

Other dishes like gobo (root) sliced chips and Sashimi were great but I want to talk about the Motsu Nabe. Of course it was not as good as really good one in Japan but it had decent taste which I can be satisfied. They have soy sauce soup and spicy miso soup choices. They provide rice or ramen to put in the hot pot afterwards. Taste and quantity wise it’s worth to try. They also have Izakaya drink like sake, shochu and...

This is the dinner spot I show my love ones to because this place is amazing!! It is best my all it means from the food, the service, the location, and the vibe. Located in Costa Mesa, the restaurant looks normal (not too big not too small) but has the best dishes in the area. It serves fresh Japanese Izakaya dishes with liquor, it is a good spot for a dinner after work to the weekend spot where you can drink. If you go in the weekend, make sure to reserve the table or you can easily wait in line up to 2 hours. I basically come here often and eat everything on the menu but the below are my favorites.

Highlights of the menu: Uni (sea urchin) Rolled with Raw Wagyu Beef with Sweet Soy Sauce and Caviar on top - the best! Beef Tongue Raw Oysters Whole Squid Sashimi - they offer Omakase too! Charcoal Grill dishes Pork Cheek Motsu Nabe or Miso Motsu Nabe - the hotpot Desserts: Honey Crème Brulee Drinks: draft beers or sake

Don't try the oyster shot. This is the only not good item on the menu.

A little downturn is they don't accept reservation by phone or in Yelp and the parking lot is limited. Should get the complimentary Valet to save your time. There's additional parking lot for the restaurant but it's not...

Authentic Japanese food. Not necessarily sushi, though they do have a very small selection of sushi type items. This is primarily a hot small plates kind of place. Think of it as a Japanese take on a Spanish tapas restaurant. They have a daily fresh sheet referencing the various sashimi of the day, as well as various fresh beef items like beef tongue or Kobe beef carpaccio. The Hammachi nigiri was good. The shishito peppers and mushrooms was great. The homemade steamed chicken dumplings were amazing. The "pressed" salmon sushi was good but has too much rice since it's a compressed brick of rice. The sizzling hot plate of prime rib was good but not great. The chicken thigh skewers were great. The chicken meatball was average. The hot plate of Yakisoba noodle was good and loaded with all kinds of things like shrimp, chicken, cabbage, egg. The Kamameshi rice of the day is just ok. It takes at least 20 minutes to cook for some reason. It has an overall fishy flavor, in a fresh way not a bad way, but just a little too much for my...