Echizen Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Cypress

I've been coming to Echizen for its authentic Japanese fare and excellent service, for years. Tucked in a small plaza across from Cypress College, this is one of my go-to spots for the izakaya and daily lunch specials.

Although their lunch menu is limited, many good options exist, especially if you prefer a lighter lunch. Daily lunch specials are displayed at the door or on their Instagram, @echizencypress.

The dinner menu at Echizen is extensive, izakaya-style, with a variety of small plates, grilled fish, sashimi, and entrées. Compliment your meal with Japanese Spirits (sake, shochu), beer, wine, or soft drinks.

Here are some of my favorites: Zarusoba with tempura shrimp - a classic light dinner item Nabeyaki udon - Udon in a clay pot is hot and satisfying Onigiri (rice ball) - I always get the salmon, but they have other fillings as well Fried soft-shell crab - always light, crispy, and delicious Surume tsukeyaki (grilled dry squid) - firm texture, dipping sauce adds a nice additional flavor, great with beer or sake Spinach and garlic - a nice starter Agedashi Tofu - 4 lightly fried tofu pieces with a flavorful sauce. Fresh sashimi and grilled fish

Seating is limited inside, with tables and counter options. Sometimes, there can be a wait, so please be courteous and enjoy your meal quickly when people are waiting. They also accept reservations over the phone or in person. I'm happy to support this local establishment and can't wait to...

A great Japanese restaurant with limited seating and hours. Our family of four plus one baby thoroughly enjoyed every dish we had. We got a sashimi plate for four that was both delicious and beautiful. Tender scallops, salmon, yellowtail, tuna, firefly squid plus uni. You can request any amount of sashimi, it's not really listed as omakase. Onigiri grilled is one of my favorites. I got it with umeboshi or sour plum. Crispy grill outside with tender rice. Kakiage was crispy : onion and shrimp. Beef tataki was served with mustard and lemon. Grilled beef tongue also great. One diner had matcha cold noodles, two others got udon and thin noodles soup. I shared a chazuke (rice ball with soup) and bits of grilled salmon with the baby. The scrambled egg with nira was tender and delicious. The fried whitefish was boneless except for the tail. Very kind waitress also offered us a fish stew soup that was served with a lot of seaweed- a great end to the meal. Check hours and...

Kitchen is open line so everyone can see, head cook constantly drinks on the job and based on other people's reviews it seems like he is often drunk while working. He is also distracted by watching TV while working the line, not to mention his verbal abuse to the servers, overall hostile work environment. I ordered beef guts with veggies but was only served the veggies, I had them fix it but they ended up letting me know that the protein for that dish ran out so I order the beef tongue. They should have told the customer that a dish is not available rather than wasting the customers' time! It took a very long time for them to start firing up the beef tongue and when they did, they rushed it so much that it's very raw. I'm not talking about seared and rare, it was raw and tough, barely any sear on it because the pan didn't seem hot enough. Upon getting home, I started getting stomach aches and diarrhea. They should not be serving food...