INI Ristorante — Restaurant in Fountain Valley

First off, the space felt so light and refreshing. They really lean into that minimal aesthetic playing off natural vibes - lighting, neutral colors/tones and materials. Not to mention, there's a tree in the middle of the dining room that sits under a skylight and the tables are lined with greenery throughout. They really paid special attention to detail and I was in awe of how thoughtful the space was decorated because I want this vibe in my own home.

Menus are available for viewing via QR code. I've had a few friends reco this place and they had provided a few noteworthy items to try, but definitely ask your server if you need more opinions! We asked if there were any specials and our server Kristy said they added lobster to the menu. You can add a half lobster tail to the Spicy Miso Carbonara or Seafood Malfadine, or get a whole tail with the Prime Bone-in Ribeye. You got options! We opted out, but here's what we got from each section:

SOUP & SALAD Burrata Caprese - honey ponzu, medley of cherry/heirloom tomatoes and basil. I think it could use more basil, but great textural contrast of firm tomatoes and creamy burrata.

PIZZA Seafood "Poke" Pizza. The pizza was definitely intriguing as it was a mix of hot and cold elements. Fresh out of the oven as a thin, crispy crust topped with hamachi, octopus, shrimp, corn, arugula, sweet onion and masago roe. Think poke salad on a pizza drizzled with a light sesame dressing. The crust remained crispy and was a great vessel for dipping into leftover pasta sauces. Keep reading below.

PASTA Spicy Miso Carbonara. This was my personal fave! Thick, chewy udon noodles swimming in a silky, creamy spicy miso sauce with thick-cut bacon and shiitake mushrooms. For added richness, they finish with a raw egg yolk on top. Although it says spicy in name, overall heat/spice was relatively mild imo.

Seafood Malfadine. House-made noodles in a spicy tomato cream sauce with baby scallops, crab, shrimp and sausage. The portion came with three shrimps, so one for each of us at the table. The noodles remind me of the curled edges on lasagna. Such a fun, frilly shape and texture. This one had a punchy kick, but more from the sausage rather than the sauce.

DESSERT Peaches & Cream. Table fave! Buttermilk panna cotta, peaches, brown butter crumble and mascarpone cream. Think deconstructed peach cobbler! Loved how they incorporated seasonality and did peaches justice. If you have some space left for dessert, this one is very light and a popular order.

Chocolate Hazelnut. Our server mentioned it was like a ferrero rocher. I love hazelnut and certainly agree on the flavor profile. Rich chocolate layered with a praline mousse, cereal rocher, crushed hazelnuts and vanilla ice cream - it was so good.

SIGNATURE COCKTAILS Yuzurita. This one surprised me in a good way because 1) I didn't read the description 2) the cocktail was really balanced. You definitely taste the yuzu kosho which provided an unexpected punch and lingering spice on the tongue. It's not very citrusy, but more like a spicy marg.

MOCKTAILS Yuzu Peach Refresher. More peach forward, but a great non-alcoholic beverage. It's got the same dehydrated lime garnish so you can get a cheers boomerang and no one would know the difference.

As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed each selection with minimal complaints. The only complaint we had was the impact of Golden Hour based on where we were seated. When the sun sets and the light reflects off the glass pane windows, a portion of our seating area was in that very bright path of blindness. Although it lasted for about 15-20 minutes, some blinds or shades at the entrance would have helped the situation.

Overall, this place is definitely trending up. Highly suggest making a reservation through Resy or pick your battles...

Wish I could give 0 stars if I could due to waitress Kia and her terrible service. I had reserved a 7 person table yesterday for my grandmothers birthday, I am a frequent diner when it comes to all of Kei Concepts restaurants, especially INI. I usually stop by for lunch and dinner almost three times a month just to bring people to come and try it. However, in all of my life I have never had worse service than from the waitress Kia last night. She was probably the rudest, most inconsiderate waitress I have ever met, and ruined the entire occasion. I understand that she may have had a bad day, but when it comes to even the simple things, having a little humanity would be nice. At first I thought that she was nice as we informed her that we can’t eat pork or consume any alcoholic drinks due to spiritual reasons and she was more than happy to accommodate. However afterwards, we did not see her for the rest of the night, did not check up on us (the restaurant was not even busy), she was aware that it was a birthday celebration, but her attitude towards my grandmother was incredibly disrespectful, distasteful and rude. She kept asking her questions, and I informed her that she doesn’t speak English and wouldn’t be able to respond, completely ignored me and put her in a very awkward position as she insisted to just ignore my requests to just speak to the other members of the table for their order. Afterwards, I had asked her if it was possible to bring the cake out as it was a surprise, didn’t even respond completely ignored me and walked away. I then asked her if they could clean the table before we put the cake, and she ARGUED with me about how cleaning the table doesn’t mean wiping the table as though she was trying to grammatically correct me to get out of work or as a justification for wanting to present the birthday cake on a dirty table. Keep in mind how I also informed her that it was a surprise, she again ignored me and stood there with the cake infront of my grandmother against my wishes, until I had informed her to just leave the cake on a neighboring table and leave to which she slammed the cake on the neighbouring table and left! My sisters uni pasta dish aswell was undercooked against her wishes of Al dente and the waitress had spoken to her in such a passive and rude way when she asked to get it replaced, she sighed and abruptly swiped the plate away from my sisters hands!! To top it all off she was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the night, and as I was walking to the bathroom I could see other waiters and waitresses being so kind to their guests and reflected on my previous experiences at INI where they would be more than willing to take pictures for us of the table, and treat us with respect. This is what I think happened, she saw a table of 7 and thought she would get tipped regardless so she can take her attitude out on the guests, but she chose the wrong guest to do that to. In the meantime I will contact their management to see what they can do about this situation but beware of celebrating any special occasion her, their inconsistency when it comes to their service means that you’ll never truly know who you’ll get. Regret leaving a 40$ tip she doesn’t deserve a single sliver of a penny let alone a job. (Also did not bring my grandmothers gifts out that I had placed out at the hostess table and had informed her of aswell). To summarize, rude waitress who ruined a...

I have visited this restaurant several times since it opened, and I am disappointed to see how much the food and service quality have declined over the past year. In this post, I won't focus on the food--regulars will have noticed the significant drop in quality themselves. Instead, I want to share an incident that highlights a concerning shift in service attitude.

During my recent visits, the atmosphere has started to feel less like a restaurant and more like a heavily monitored prison canteen. Some staff seem overly focused on surveillance - watching customers and nitpicking over trivial matters.

As a personal habit, I carry my own cup or mug when I go out to stay hydrated. Today, I had a cup with a Starbucks logo containing mostly ice and a small amount of leftover coffee - maybe one or two ounces, when I entered the restaurant. I did not want to leave it in my car under direct sunlight, as the heat would melt the ice and ruin the remaining coffee.

As I walked in, a waitress standing in the aisle watched customers walk by. When she saw me, she followed me to my table and, in front of other guests, told me loudly: "You cannot bring outside food here." Apparently, my nearly empty cup was considered a violation of their policy. I was told to either throw it away or take it back to my car.

Later, I spoke with the manager to explain the situation and suggested that such policies shouldn't be enforced so rigidly - especially when there is no clear definition of what constitutes "outside food". The manager was defensive, insisting that this is a common industry rule. That is misleading. While many restaurants have policies regarding outside food and drinks, they typically allow reasonable exceptions. For example, one well-known brand states: "Water, small snacks, and items required for medical, religious, or dietary purposes are permitted." Another major company well known to the world (hint: more so in SoCal and Orlando, FL) that operates lots of dining venues allows guests to bring outside food and nonalcoholic beverages for personal consumption.

So, to the staff at this restaurant: What exactly is the problem with a transparent cup containing mostly ice and a trace of coffee? How does that materially impact the food I order from your menu? Do you believe this cup will somehow cause a domino effect where others rush in with outside food, ruining your business?

To the manager: By your logic, if I drive a BMW but walk into a Mercedes dealership trying to buy a Mercedes, I should be turned away because I arrived in an "outside" brand. That kind of reasoning is reductive and unprofessional.

You had a chance to handle this situation with grace and flexibility. Instead, you doubled down and treated me as if I were breaking some major rule. There were easy solutions: offer a to-go container for the cup, or assist with disposing of it discreetly and refill the small amount of coffee on my way out (a gesture that would have cost you almost nothing, especially considering I spent hundreds today and tipped generously).

My advice: refocus on what truly matters: your food and hospitality. Stop nitpicking your guests and treating them like rule-breakers or inmates over trivial things. This kind of attitude may very well explain the restaurant's recent decline in quality...