7 Japanese BBQ & Sushi - AYCE — Restaurant in Irvine

We called in to make a reservation, however were told that it was best to make the reservation on Yelp so that we could get a discount. We proceeded to go onto Yelp to make a reservation, but they did not have the time that we wanted. It was either too early or too late, so we called back to ask to make a reservation directly with the restaurant. We were fine foregoing any Yelp discounts, but was told that we should go ahead to book on Yelp for the later time but just come in early, so we did just that, despite it being a bit more of a hassel since we were already on the phone with them. Strange that they refused to make a reservation over the phone.

We arrived about 30 min early and spoke with the gal at the front and I explained to her what were told. She said ok, then proceeded to assist other guests, while another employee walked up and seated others that came in without a reservation. I figured that yhe first gal didn't understand what I explained to her, so I went back to explain to her our situation. She said ok, that she would help us out, but she left to assist patrons at their tables for a bit. Luckily the other employee that had seated the other people earlier came back out to see if we've been helped yet. She got us seated almost right away, so all was good.

Once seated, she kindly explained the two tiers they offer, and how to use the iPad to order everything. We opted to go with their top tier so that we could get wagu beef and beef tongue. With the fact that we reserved on Yelp and orderd the top tier, we get unlimited hot sake and beer.

They limit you one order per person on the better cuts and sushi. This is kinda ridiculous since we paid a much higher price to eat their top tier choices. We can go eat at other Japanese bbq without limits for the same price or cheaper closer to home. We can also go eat at our favorite sushi spot with no limits and the price is about the same even though it's mot AYCE.

We chose the expensive tier for the wagyu, but when we ordered, we got something that looked more like beef round slices. As shown in my photos. It was very tough and chewy too. We thought that they had made a mistake, so we ordered it again, but the same meat came out. After we inquired, they confirmed it was wagyu. I beg to differ. We just asked them to return it. The nice server suggested we order beef short rib instead. It was very marbled and was super tender and delicious! Thank you!

We ordered sushi, and the toro was kinda fishy. My piece had a bone in it and my husband's looked like weird scraps thrown together, as you can see from my photo. The sweet shrimp, scallops and yellowtail were delicious, but limit one order per person. Very dissapointing for the price we paid.

Be sure to check your bill. We informed the server that we booked on Yelp right before she went to get the bill, but they still charged us for the free drinks. The bill was $180 for two people, but dropped to $150 after she corrected the mistake.

They never changed our grill for us, even after it got crusty and dark with burnt meat. I guess we should have waved someone down to do that. Most places take initiative to do that for you.

Our table was so ridiculously small. We had to keep moving stuff around everytime food or drinks came. It felt more like a kids table and made for a rather stressful and unpleasant experience. Makes zero sense when the grill takes up the majority of the space and they have plenty of space for larger tables. 🤔

Parking was easy, free and plentiful. Not sure I would cone back again. The limits were off putting for an AYCE.

This place is worth trying if...

My group of 3 came here on a Friday night around 6:00, no reservation, and were seated promptly. The restaurant looked and smelled a bit smokey, but in an inviting way. They only do AYCE, and the waitress entered a 30% discount, bringing our subtotal before drinks to just over $100. You place orders via a tablet at your table. The food tasted good and fresh, but I'd like to see some more seasonings to the tables, as most items came mostly unseasoned. The pork jowels and thin-sliced beef were the favorites of our table. Also, there are almost ZERO vegetable options. They seem to only have edamame, cucumber, and avocado, the latter two only coming with their sushi. The servers were quite friendly, but they seemed to have some communication problems, and were running around a bit hectically. Wrong items being delivered to us/double orders/items not showing up. These issues were fixed promptly when brought up, so I imagine these are just starting pains. We ended up getting everything we ordered in the end, just place your follow-up orders a bit sooner than you think you need to, for now. After a while the smokiness did start to get to us, however. Our throats were mildly irritated by the time we left. It seems like the fume-hoods above unoccupied tables were left off, and some of the occupied ones didn't seem to be functioning all that effectively. This seems like a relatively easy fix, so I'm hopeful to see a bit less smoke in the air next time.

Overall we were pretty happy with the place, glad we gave it a shot. It's been a while since I've left a restaurant feeling this relaxed and loose, if it weren't for the smokiness then the atmosphere would be 5 stars. With some more flavor options and some veggies for sides, food would be 5 stars. And I'm sure once they find their rhythm, the service will be 5 stars as well.

PS- The miso sauce goes well with dang...

AYCE Japanese BBQ AND sushi! Wow! Fairly priced in my opinion.

My girlfriend and I made a reservation just in case there was a wait. We arrived and there was one party ahead of us. There was no host, or so it seemed. What was believed to be the manager came to the front and greeted the party ahead of us, went to sit them down, and helped them through their menu. She then proceeded to help other tables while we waited by the entrance. It took quite a bit of time to get to us, maybe 10 minutes. It felt like such a long time that even the family that came in after us, left. We finally got seated and were instructed to order off of the tablet.

There's plenty of things to order on the menu, such as appetizers, meat, and sushi rolls. Surprisingly, there are more options for sushi rolls than meat. We went ahead and ordered a little bit of everything, and it wasn't long before everything started coming out. There was one sushi roll that they missed and didn't bring out, but I didn't sweat it because I was already getting full.

Quality of the food is good, the sushi rolls especially. I could not stop eating the Hot Night Rolls and the Spicy Tuna Rolls. The beef steak, top blade - sliced, and thinly sliced beef belly were good. They have gelato by the entrance, which is included with your meal.

Service was a little slow, but everyone was friendly.

Plenty of seating inside and there's bar seating as well. We had shared a large table with another party and what I didn't like is that we had to share the sauces as well. Next time I know to ask for our own sauces.

They have music playing at a decent volume so you don't hear just the sounds of grills cooking meat :).

I will come back to try more of what's...