Jinbei — Restaurant in Irvine

Watch out for (intentionally?) misleading servers. We ordered the Santa Barbara uni (2 pieces for $18) but they came back and said they only have Boston uni which the server said was $20. The server did NOT mention it was a per piece price and any normal person would have assumed it was 2/$20 give the circumstances. She definitely made it sound like it was $2 more.

Not only that they came out with 4 pieces. We thought about returning it but just decided to eat it. Basically at this point unknown to us we thought the order would be $40 but it was actually $80!

The worst part is there was a fly in one of the pieces. When we pointed it out the server didn’t even apologize and just asked if we wanted a replacement. At this point we were grossed out and said no.

When we asked for our check a different server gave it to us and that’s when we learned for the first time they were going to charge us double what we’re expecting for the uni. When we complained about that and the fly she agreed to honor the originally expected price (2/$20) and acted like it was a discount but to be honest this was a given because we were misled by the first server (who still had not apologized and never did). She also apologized for the fly but just said “sorry we get a lot of flies in here”. If you have a lot of flies the restaurant should do more to mitigate.

We were so upset about the bait and switch pricing and the fly and beyond correcting the price all we got was a $10 discount which was nice but at the end of the day did not do anything to help us feel better about a ruined evening. The worst part was that the first server who caused all this...

Very authentic and high quality sushi restaurant. Small touches like a special daily menu, fresh wasabi and a high quality ginger add to the luxurious experience.

Marinated Octopus - I thought this was just your basic Tako Wasa that's comparable to frozen store bought.

Boiled Sardine Over Grated Radish - Plain Shirasu over daikon oroshi and cucumber. Good, but not too crazy.

Assorted 4 Piece Ken's Sushi - Stripe Jack, Golden Eye Snapper, Tamago, Amaebi, Uni. Very good price at $15 for this plate of very high quality fish. The Golden Eye Snapper had a Yuzu sauce on it that was ridiculously good! It made me so happy, I'm sure it will make you happy as well. The Tamago was great as well, very moist with a wonderful dashi flavor without being too sweet. The Uni was solid.

Unagi - Very thick pieces of Eel, very good.

Giant Clam - From the Puget Sound, this was a solid Mirugai. Loved the Yuzu addition, so dang good.

Ikura - Sake rinsed, basic ikura. Pretty good.

The only negative was the somewhat lackluster/rookie service. Water was not kept full and it took some time to get it refilled. Also, I gave the waitress my card when I asked for the check and she comes back without swiping it. Lol, I gave it so that I could pay. Had to wait for her to come back to get it swiped. Little things like that need improvement I feel.

Chef Ken was very attentive and friendly though, and he was the star of...

The major concern of my visit today was the way I was treated due to my baby's stroller. I understood if the restaurant did not want the stroller in the dinning area, but the way they told me was in a very mean way, especially the reception girl, who had a pony tail. After she told me in a unpleasant way, we figured out we could leave the stroller at the outside of restaurant. Then, after we seated for 10 mins, no one came to ask if we would like to order or bring any water for us. Instead, they chose to serve guests who arrived later than us. I guess the reason is because we came to dining with the stroller which gave her extra task at the beginning. After I asked is there any waiteress, the ponytail girl had an eye contact with me, and then went to ask her coworker, and at the end, she realized she had to serve my table. so she came to me with a very very unpleasant way. Her attitude made me feel so unfriendly and I felt if she does not welcome me, so what is the point of dining here? So after waited 1 and 10 mins, I had to leave. And from the beginning to the end, this pony tail girl, never ever smiled for one second. I am not asking her to show a 100% friendly attitude, but at least, i hope she could show a little bit welcome to customers who came to...