Momoyama 桃山 — Restaurant in Fountain Valley

I cannot understand how Momoyama has anything less than a perfect five star rating.

We weren’t aware that it was single seating omakase as we happened upon this restaurant. We arrived an hour before their seating and they mention we had to make a reservation. We ended up getting the last one for the evening. We shopped around the area until it was time.

When we came back, the manager, Ryan, greeted us by name and guided us to our seat, even allowing space for my purse. There were seven total guests for the evening all seated at the bar in front of the chefs.

Ryan kindly introduced the chefs and everyone made us feel so welcome. He recommended the most delicious sake I have ever had, and continued to monitor our drink levels, refilling as needed. We didn’t need to ask for anything even once.

The food itself was one of the top three meals of my life, and I’ve eaten at many sushi restaurants, and Michelin star restaurants. As a fan of sauces and soy sauce, I was worried there wasn’t any offered, but each bite was so perfectly balanced I didn’t need anything else.

The pacing of the meal was appropriate, and I remarked how smoothly each dish came out considering this can be quite difficult with multiple parties and different eating speeds. But we never felt rushed nor like we were waiting on anyone.

The care and attention to detail was present in every morsel, every moment, down to the elegant quiet jazz music. Ryan and our chefs made warm chit chat without disturbing our dinner. We felt comfortable even with the high quality of food and service (which can sometimes make one feel like they need to “perform formality”).

The evening was the most delightful surprise and I can’t wait to go back. I will never stop recommending Momoyama to friends and visitors for the most elegant and delicious sushi in...

We arrived to the restaurant early as we did not want to be late. We were greeted and seated promptly by Ryan the manager for our 5:30 reservation. He informed us that there would be a party of 10 commandeering almost the entire rest of the sushi bar. We started off with a bottle of their $70 sake that wasn't cold- almost lukewarm although Mimi insisted she got it from the fridge. Our meal started at 5:45- late as the party of 10 was not present. I don't care if you come late to your reservation but I do have an issue if you make me wait for my food. The big party didn't show up until 30-45 minutes past their reservation. They were extraordinary loud and disrupted the entire restaurant and experience. For most reputable omakase places, they don't put up with tardiness. Because the server and manager were so busy catering to the big party and trying to catch them up, they couldn't even do simple things like refill our water glasses. We also had to wait extraordinarily long between several courses. During the nigiri courses I had multiple pieces of sashimi that had big pieces of tendon/sinewy pieces- even in the kinmedai and chutoro. The dessert was gross and warm. We didn't finish until after 7:30pm (their next seating was at 7:30pm) because they were so busy catering to the big party. Overall super disappointing experience and I would definitely not recommend coming. We definitely...

It’s rare that we give 5 stars to a sushi restaurant but this restaurant absolutely deserves it!

One key for serving very exquisite sushi is the rice. There’s no question that this restaurant has the best rice we have tried in O.C.

High quality premium Japanese rice with high quality fish is a perfect combination for a sushi dining experience. Even though we sat outside because of Covid, the whole dining experience was very enjoyable.

Without a doubt, this has become one of our favourite sushi restaurants in O.C. if you are skeptical about paying $120 / 160 for the omakase, try the premium set first. Even the standard set is way better than many others that we have tried.

The nigiris were so good that we had to order extra pieces! The server and the chef are very friendly too.

BTW, don’t expect to find a big sign for this restaurant because it’s a very traditional Japanese restaurant that only has a small sign on the door.

We look forward to an indoor dining experience one day because the interior looks very nice!

Another big plus is that we can make...