Sagami — Restaurant in Irvine

We dined at your restaurant at 6:30 PM on June 23, 2025, and ordered two pork cutlet sets, sitting face-to-face at the two-person table directly in front of the sushi bar. This has been my seventh year dining here — I’ve always been proud to recommend your pork cutlets to my friends.

However, tonight’s experience was completely different and honestly shocking. Both cutlets were clearly overcooked, much darker than usual, with an obvious burnt taste and bitterness. This is far below the standard expected from a Japanese restaurant. I have attached three photos: the first serving, the second replacement, and a previous cutlet from my past visits for comparison.

We politely and clearly asked for a replacement because the first one was obviously burnt. However, a slim female server with long dyed yellow hair repeatedly questioned our request with a very unpleasant attitude and not a single word of apology. When the second cutlet came, it looked just as overcooked. After that, the same server completely ignored us — she skipped asking about our meal satisfaction, while checking in with the neighboring table instead, and we received no further service. My partner even saw someone from the kitchen peeking at us, clearly unhappy about our complaint.

This was extremely uncomfortable — it felt like we were being bullied just for politely asking for what we paid for. More than the burnt pork cutlet, what disappointed and upset us most was the attitude.

I sincerely hope you will check your kitchen’s frying process — no guest should have to pay for a bitter, burnt...

My husband and I have been on a journey to find a replacement sushi restaurant that is both high quality and fair in price. The one we had discovered closed about 5 months after we found it and were really upset. We saw Sagami in passing and put it on our list of new sushi restaurants to try. By golly, I think we found our new go-to for sushi!

The patrons are mostly Japanese, so that should tell you off the bat that this place is pretty authentic. My husband and I sat at the sushi bar, so we were limited on what we could order, but we didn't mind since we were really in the mood for sushi and sashimi, anyway.

The fish was incredibly fresh and delicious. Their izakaya items were incredible, too. We ordered the mountain yam omelette and the chicken karaage from the kitchen and they were so good! The omelette was dressed like okonomiyaki, so the flavors were very similar. The only difference is, instead of fried batter, you had a rather thick, eggy base. It was really good! The chicken karaage was made from pieces of chicken thigh and were freshly fried, juicy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. Our sushi chef was incredibly nice and hospitable as well. The bill didn't break the bank, either.

Overall, I'd say we found our new...

This felt like a sweet, family-owned place, with workers who were Japanese and speaking Japanese. They offer a wide variety of options, so I thought that was pretty cool. I'd like to come back and explore their menu more honestly. Perfect if you were going with someone and feeling Japanese food.

I got the Nagoya-style unagi don (Hitsumabushi), which had a bit more of a crunch than usual. I really loved that extra texture. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, but a little too sweet for me since there was quite a bit of sauce (even pooling at the bottom).

I also liked the little note they included with directions on how to best enjoy the unagi don - that was a nice touch! And it was definitely very filling; I barely managed to finish it.

Service was chill. I ordered, got my water, got my food. Minimal interaction, but smooth and easy.

For dessert, I had the traditional red bean mochi and matcha. The mochi was simple and chewy (exactly what you'd expect), with red bean that wasn’t too sweet. The matcha was classic and not sweetened.

Overall, it was a nice, comforting experience - I can tell they put care into what...