ROL Hand Roll Bar - Huntington Beach — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

It has certainly been awhile since I've had such a great experience dining at a restaurant. At least not one that deserves 5 stars and above! The team at Kei Concepts continues to create amazing food concepts for the local community to enjoy. Whether it's Asian fusion at Vox Kitchen, Vietnamese inspired brunch at Nep Cafe, or hand rolls at ROL, they continue to create and inspire.

OC and LA natives who enjoy sushi are most likely familiar with Kazunori (related to Sugar Fish), which has currently been one of the only places you can find these style hand rolls. Orange County finally has a handroll bar of our own that is serving up quality rolls. I feel that it is safe to assume that most of us are happy that we now don't have to drive to LA anymore. I arrived just in time for the first wave on their first soft opening day and snagged the last open seat at the bar right when they opened. I could see the wait time building up while I was eating as more people began to show up.

I ordered the 7 hand roll set which currently comes with salmon, yellowtail, spicy tuna crunch, bay scallop, crab, surf clam, and unagi. At the end I also decided to try the otoro from the a la carte menu. Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of them, but my personal favorites were probably the unagi, crab, and scallop. All three of these were sweet, fresh, and had a good mix of textures. The unagi roll had some crispy onions which contrasted the delicate and buttery unagi. What I loved is that it had a slight char from the searzall (torch). All the rolls had a good amount of filling inside! You definitely can't go wrong with the classics like salmon, spicy tuna, or yellowtail. I do wish the spicy tuna was a bit spicier but I understand that they have to cater to everyone's taste.

The sushi rice and nori were A1. Can't get any more textbook than that. The rice was well seasoned and at the perfect temperature and the nori was incredibly crispy when eaten straight away. I would seriously pay just for that crispy nori with warm sushi rice! An experience that you can only get when going to a hand roll bar. They also offer a selection of other dipping sauces besides the provided Dashi Soy Sauce and Yuzu Kosho. The Yuzu Kosho was savory and slightly tart which was a nice pairing because citrus always pairs well with seafood. Their sweet chili sauce didn't impress me too much as it was rather basic especially for an extra $2.

They had two hand roll specials for the day which was an A5 wagyu as well as a chilean sea bass hand roll. Although I did not try them, it is fun to see them experimenting with more premium proteins that you can't get everywhere. I can't wait to see what other special ones they come up with.

The experience was also one to remember! It was great being able to sit at the bar and have each hand roll placed right in front of you seconds after it has been made. As someone who appreciates attention to detail, I was glad to hear and see the chefs taste test the sushi rice. Chef Viet wanted to make sure the rice was on par with his standards so it was nice to see that they truly care about what they're serving. They were constantly having fresh batches of sushi rice made which was great to see.

Even on their first soft opening day, they were insanely busy and I know that they will only continue to get even busier from here on out. Make sure to get there early because you might be stuck waiting awhile. Although I wasn't completely full/stuffed after 8 rolls in total, I was impressed with my experience from start to finish. Service was the perfect mix of friendly and professional and I commend their entire team for staying composed while being very busy. If you like sushi in general, I can without a doubt, highly recommend trying ROL as they offer something...

hands down, THE BEST experience i ever had at a restaurant! i visited back in august and haven't been able to sit down to write a review until now, but everything was amazingggg. literally the moment we arrived, the service was A1! the dark ambiance and music selection was great! i felt like i was at a very chill club.

we came around 8:45pm without reservations and was seated immediately. i believe our server's name was giovanni; he was the absolute best! he explained the menu in great detail from top to bottom and even influenced our decisions (in a good way!). he recommended the yuzu kosho sauce and truffle soy sauce. both were amazing and i'm still thinking about them!

for the appetizer, we ordered the furikake fries and the amount was great for the price! they were very thin and small, but we didn't mind! the spicy mayo sauce it came with was also very light and yummy.

i got the shrimp inari, lobser inari, crab hand roll, classic california hand roll, shrimp hand roll, and shrimp tempura hand roll (if i remember correctly). all of them were very good, but my least favorite was the crab. it was a little fishy for me, but that just shows how fresh it is! i don't eat raw sushi, so i was really glad they offered cooked options. i'm from the east coast and i wasn't able to find any hand roll places that offer many cooked options like rol hand roll bar :(. anyways, my absolute favorite dish of the night was shrimp inari!

they recommend to eat the hand rolls within 10-15 seconds of them being served and the rolls came out super fast so i felt like i had to eat them as soon as they came LOL so if you're looking for a delicious and quick dinner, this is the place to go!

i've been to other kei concepts establishments and i would say this is my favorite so far! i definitely recommend to everyone if they are visiting the area! i can't wait to come...

Rol hand roll bar is easily one of my favorite restaurants in OC.

First and foremost, do not compare ROL to KazuNori in Los Angeles. Rol is more contemporary than Kazu, who is more traditional. ROL is also closer to home for me because I despise driving these days. It does not get any better by raising gas costs.

There are set menus as well as a la carte options. If you're visiting for the first time, I recommend trying a little bit of everything from the set menu. If you're like me and have been coming here for a while, you've probably developed certain favorites and order a la carte. They also have some nice handrolls that are worth checking out.

Cocktails: the red Ryu (tequila, dragon fruit, strawberry, lime) is highly recommended. Inquire about the Yuzu sour if Chris and/or Keeler is around. This is no longer on their menu, but it was my all-time favorite summer drink.

Staff: I'd say the one thing that consistently impresses me about the restaurants under Kei umbrella is their customer service. Extremely pleasant, informed, and welcoming. Keeler, their manager, is also one of my favorites. Greets us with a polite and engaging greeting. If he's present, I'm never afraid to eat alone.

Come here and check it out if you haven't already. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Someone is always ready to help you through the menu if you're intimidated. Overall, I love it here and I'm positive you will too.

Tip: get the truffle soy sauce and yuzu kosho sauce. It will give the rolls an extra...