Fukada — Restaurant in Irvine

If you read my reviews, you will know that I don't care about service and I always rate the food only. Well... this is the first time where service will matter. It sucks!

Before I start my rant, the food was pretty good, decent-ish. It seems very authentic and lacking flavor. Maybe I'm use to the fried and large portion Japanese restaurants. I'm not Japanese so I don't know the way it should taste, but I can guarantee that the prices are definitely like Japan the portion are enough for a skinny Asian girl on a diet. Could I order more? Yes. Should I? NO! I rather just go to Mitsuwa Market on Culver or drive to Costa Mesa. I still don't understand how this place can survives in a run down strip mall and how the heck does it get so many great reviews? Am I eating at the same place? This is the one time I complete disagree with everyone. Also, here's a time when reviews have failed me, when I was trying to find a new restaurant.

THE SERVICE: (or lack of service)

My experience started off with nobody acknowledging the in coming customers. I simple Hi would do. I was maybe 3 parties away and some how I got seated 15 to 20 minutes later. I understand that it was busy, but I don't think it was busy because of the customers, only because the service was so slow.

Once seated I look around at other people to figure out what to order. I noticed a lot of people had their food already, so I was hoping the food would come fast. The food took a while, but not a big deal, because I'm sure the chefs took their time. Something that took about 30 to 40 minutes to make took about 5 minutes to eat. Make sure to drink a lot of water before coming because you won't get a refill.

A lot of other customers had impatient faces. When it was time to get the check. Nobody helped. I read a review about a chef that called a server for a customer. I wish! I watched as 3 or 4 chefs were talking about some random funny crap. In a busy restaurant I could hear their conversation clearly. They weren't cooking just talking. Maybe they should bring out the food. Just saying... Also, none of them were Japanese or Asian. Just saying..

My friend was so mad about trying to get the check. That she walked in to the kitchen to ask the girl for a check. We got it about 10 to 15 minutes later. I tried to make an exception for a short staff, but I don't think any of the employees were actually trying. I paid the check and did not feel like tipping. We left and the people around us that finished eating when I got there, still did not receive any service or the check.

I would never go back, but if you badly want to wait... play some Angry Birds on your phone. Better yet, bring a Nintendo 3DS and you probably can beat any game on Hard by the end of your meal. Also, eat and drink before you go that way you won't get hungrier while waiting for...

I used to love this place for its great authentic Japanese cuisine and attentive service before the pandemic closed up dine in. Today, I had a craving and decided to take my chances with takeout, given the stellar reviews about their takeout service from other Yelpers. First of all, their phone was offline, so I couldn’t place an order in advance. When I get there, I place two copies of my usual order, tanuki udon with crunchy roll combo—what I’ve gotten EVERY time I’ve come here in the past 10+ years. I’m not even sure what else is on the menu, and this fact is very important later. Despite the other review praising the fast service, it took almost half an hour for the order to be ready, maybe because it was a Sunday lunchtime. When we got home, we discovered that they had given us the wrong noodles. This 1-star review has just gotten started.

When we got back, I told the kid that took our order that we had ordered udon and showed him the bag with the other noodles. Without hesitation he goes to dig through a pile of orders and receipts to look for our order, and proceeds to tell us “it says here that you ordered two soba noodles and I usually repeat the order, so...” I was a little shocked to say the least. Instead of offering anything at all, he took the time and effort to locate the order solely to tell me that I ordered the wrong thing. I had no idea what these other noodles were. Keep in mind, I’ve ordered the exact same thing for as long as I can remember! There is no way I would have accidentally said something that I didn’t know existed, nor have not spoken up if he had repeated the wrong thing. There is no reason why I would be lying. We brought back the uneaten food to return, so it’s not like we’re trying to scam them out of free food. He then says “I’ll go check to see if they can make your udon” like it’s a personal favor to me, and disappears for a few minutes while I tried to process the situation. He came back and asked if we wanted a refund or the udon, and when I said udon, he said “Okay, we’ll bring it out to you when it’s done, don’t worry about the payment.” I’m sorry? Was he going to ask us to pay to fix his mistake? All in all, the experience of receiving the wrong food, being accused of ordering incorrectly, and practically having to beg for the correct food had destroyed my appetite. The only apology we received was from the other employee who handed us the remake. To the people who want to chance this place during the pandemic, keep in mind that from at least one employee’s perspective, they’re doing you a MASSIVE favor by giving you your correct order, so grovel...

When we feel like having udon, Fukada is our first choice.

We came on a Thursday night for dinner. The restaurant was busy, but had a few empty tables. There were a lot of people waiting, but the waitress did not seat anyone at the empty tables. People asked for their checks and boxes, but the waitress never returned to the tables. At one point, a chef came out from the kitchen to help bringing checks and boxes to people. Maybe they should train their waitresses to be more efficient.

The chicken wings is made to order, and it takes 20 minutes. The lightly fried wings were crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The wings doesn’t have much flavor. The seasoning was in the sauce. The sauce was slightly sweet. Pretty good.

Our favorite dish from Fukada is the Sansai Udon. Chewy udon noodle in a clear vegetable broth with assorted Japanese mountain vegetables. I really love their udon noodle. It was cooked perfectly.

Dr. P ordered the Spicy Tuna Don with the udon dinner combo. He said the spicy tuna don wasn’t as good that night. It came out too warm and with too much mayonnaise.

I ordered Tendoji Don with my combo. It’s shrimp tempura and egg cooked together over rice. The sauce was a bit too salty, but still pretty good.

I miss Fukada’s...