Yuzu Japanese Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

Yuzu Japanese Sushi Bar is the latest sushi spot to hit Orange County, and I could not wait to try it out. I was out of town for over a month and unfortunately could not make their grand opening, so I made it a priority to be my first dinner back home!

When I walked in, I immediately recognized Chef Nathan and quickly learned that Yuzu is a sister restaurant to Ponzu Sushi Bar located in Santa Ana! They did a wonderful job with the interior design - place was packed and rightfully so. I had forgotten to make a reservation and waited close to an hour, but it was worth every second!

I ordered the following items (*favorites):

Crispy Rice w/Tuna - you get 1 free when you check-in on Yelp! So crispy and delicious.

Yellowtail Carpaccio** - the perfect balance of acidity and tanginess and just the right amount of salt!

Crispy Calamari* - Golden Brown Calamari tossed with Toasted Garlic, Chili Powder and Sesame Seeds served with Sweet & Sour Sauce and Kewpie Mayo

Ryan's Style Hand Roll* (Soy Paper) - Salmon, Red Onion, Avocado, Cucumber with Truffle Sauce topped with Sesame Seeds

Millionaire Roll (Soy Paper) Inside: Shrimp Tempura, Spicy Tuna , Avocado Top: Bluefin Tuna, Yellowtail, Furikake; Sauce: Yuzu Soy Dressing, Creamy, Chili Oil

Ponzu Roll (Soy Paper)* Inside: Canadian Salmon, Bluefin Tuna, Yellowtail, Avocado; Top: Jalapeño Slice, Lemon Slice Sauce: Spicy Cilantro Sauce

Snowflake Roll** (GF) - Inside: Salmon, Bluefin Tuna, Yellowtail Top: Halibut, Spicy Yuzu Kosho, Cilantro Sauce: Sweet Yuzu, Sea Salt, Olive Oil

Orange Blossom Roll - Inside: Spicy Tuna, Shrimp Tempura, Avocado Top: Scottish Salmon, Red Onion, Shaved Truffle Sauce: Yuzu Truffle

Newport Beach Roll* - Inside: Shrimp Tempura, Crab Salad, Avocado Top: Mixed Spicy Tuna, Shrimp, Seared Scallop, Snow Crab, Crunchy Tempura Flakes Sauce: Spicy Mayo, Spicy Ponzu Sauce, Eel Sauce, Chili Oil

This last one was honestly the star of the show! I asked the server what can I get here that I can't get at Ponzu and she made an amazing recommendation! Ran out of room, but definitely want to try more of their new offerings next time.

If you're ever in Costa Mesa, this is a must try - highly...

We were excited to try this place after I read the reviews but what a huge disappointment. The service was so slow and borderline rude. It took forever for the waiter to come over and take our order. We got weary at that point but we were there and hungry so we ordered a few items to feel it out. The 2 dishes that came out 30 mins after we ordered were subpar at best. The roll we ordered never came out. The waiter came by 3 times about the roll first time he said it's being plated, second time he said 2 more mins, third time he said just one more min. At that point we had be there so long we requested the check as well. Well he went and told the guy making it and he pointed us out and said "it's coming out now!" Then the check came no roll ever came and the only time they came back was to get the credit card. I am the last person to ever pull the race card but we were the only minorities in the place and the treatment was very low key “we don't want you here” but delivered with a smile. For example we were clearly displeased with the service the manager was informed and I believe she gave the order to cancel the roll. She never once came by to ask if everything was ok. Then when we left she said with a big smile thank you for coming have a nice night. Well my girlfriend then told her how terrible the services was and she just made faces like she had no idea what she was talking about. Super insulating which is unfortunate for...

The experience at this restaurant was beyond unacceptable. The Asian server with dirty blonde hair was outrageously disrespectful and unprofessional. She blatantly rushed us through the ordering process, openly saying she had a party to go to. Instead of providing any semblance of decent service, she pressured us into ordering two cheesecakes when we only wanted one. Her attitude was appalling—this was, without a doubt, the WORST service I have ever experienced.

To make matters worse, I am severely allergic to sesame seeds and made it very clear from the start to not include sesame seeds in anything. Despite this, we were served crispy tuna rice, and only after it arrived at the table did someone inform me that I couldn’t eat it because it had sesame seeds. Why wasn’t I told this when ordering? This is a basic standard of care for food allergies! If that wasn’t enough, another dish came out with sesame seeds as well, proving they were either negligent or outright careless. It’s unacceptable to disregard something as serious as food allergies.

The food was decent at best, but the overall experience was so awful that it overshadowed everything else. I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone. I truly hope the management takes action to train their staff—or better yet, fire that server—because this kind of service is absolutely...