TEN Sushi + Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in Irvine

Is Ten Sushi Cocktail Bar a 10/10 (or a 5/5 on Yelp)? Close, but no cigar!

I found the food to be pretty good and the cocktails OK, but one thing that was a little lacking was the service. From the moment you walk in the door you're in a staring contest with the host, who didn't say anything until I said "For 2.". We arrived closer to 4PM on Saturday and there were only 2 parties there.

We got seated then our not-so-happy looking server came and awkwardly introduced himself and somewhat explained the menu. He made some suggestions, but we went ahead and order a Crispy Rice Sushi and cocktails (Eastern Medicine & Kyoto Muke) to start. When he came back later, we ordered a Bluefin Jalapano Handroll, Spicy Domo Roll, and a Golden Dragon.

The food was good:

Crispy Rice Sushi ($16): This was the best I've had so far compared to other sushi restaurants. I have to order this wherever I go. The sriracha mayo on top is pretty good and the smushed crispy rice on the bottom is good too. It's oddly satisfying getting the rice stuck in my teeth.

Bluefin Jalapeno Handroll ($11): It was OK, honestly for hand rolls I would stick with the specialty places like ROL.

Spicy Domo Roll ($20): This tasted really good, and was super refreshing. The lightly applied tempura flakes on the outside made it.

Golden Dragon Roll ($21): This roll came out nice and warm. The baked salmon was good, as well as the roll. There are thin slices of lemon between the roll, which gives the taste a little "twist", but honestly it's better without it.

Eastern Medicine ($16): I normally enjoy my whiskey cocktails but I wasn't a fan of this one. It had a Japanese whiskey, honey, lemon, and ginger.

Kyoto Mule ($14): This was to taste like a traditional mule, but I feel like it was lacking enough ginger beer.

Overall, the food was good. The ambiance is nice as the interior has a nice aesthetic touch.

There's plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. There are a few seats at the bar as well with two TV's for your viewing pleasure.

Parking is no issue with the multi-level parking structure located nearby.

Service could see some improvement as mentioned earlier in this review. It would have been nice to see a few happy faces to make the experience a little bit better. Maybe it was just one of those days, I don't know.

Prices are a bit steep and I feel like you can get a better experience elsewhere. They have a happy hour but I'm not sure when it is, (I didn't ask and the hours aren't listed online) but I'd think that would be worth checking out since the food is...

We've had a really good time that we've come here... unless it was a special birthday. I'm not going to try to spend anymore special events here. We've come half a dozen times, always really enjoy the food, the ambiance and service... except the 2 times we've tried to come for birthdays. I'll do the food review first, we've loved all the food we've gotten. Fresh fish in the rolls, my bf has loved every roll he's gotten. I go for the hot foods, so far the best was Mongolian beef but the teriyaki chicken breast is great too! The chow mein is huge! I made 3 meals out of it. Nice beer selection and cocktails too. No our reservation problems... the first time, late December 2020 we invited a friend out for his birthday and made reservations. The city had cracked down on restaurants being open during the pandemic, which sucks but they could've let people with reservations know or posted on social media, I mean we showed up dressed up and found locked doors with no lights on. Next birthday, my boyfriend... he's the whole reason we come here so often!! I made the reservation, asked to be near the fire pit and came to celebrate him... the 2 of us were put at a large table for 12 along with a party of 8 very loud, rambunctious people. I mean, they were having a great time, I'm just not sure (especially during these times) why we were sat at their table! I guess because I requested to be near the fire but why on earth were we sat with other people, especially people who were already served and clearly having a loud rowdy night. So, I'd recommend this place for Happy Hour, or a girls night out but be wary if you're having a date night, celebrating a birthday or making a...

Haven’t written a review for quite some time but today I really had to write something about this restaurant.

First, I was so looking forward to this dining experience because my husband said food was good here. During Covid-19, not a lot of restaurants have a nice patio especially restaurants that serve sushi. We felt like we were sitting on the streets eating. But this restaurant got a nice patio!

Ambience was good. Music was relaxing. Servers were friendly. We ordered a tall bottle of premium Orion. It tasted really good! We ordered an edamame that didn’t come but it’s fine. The shrimp tempura tasted delicious even though they are not really in Japanese style.

When the nigiris and roll came, we were shocked. Fish was just too dry to be true. You can see it right away!!! The Hamachi belly didn’t even look like one not to mention how it tasted like. The albacore belly was too dry... The rest was okayish. But worst of all, the rice!!!! OMG, it’s so hard and dry! They got to learn how to cook rice! Or go try other Japanese or Asian restaurants to taste what rice is like.

The forbidden roll with black rice (strange enough right?) tasted too bland to know what ingredients were there.

The bill was $89 excluding tips. Totally don’t mind paying but with the food quality we had, seriously? It’s really important for sushi chef NOT to serve fish that’s not fresh. What are you treating us as? Will you yourself even eat it? If not, don’t serve it!

We left the so-called hamachi belly, albacore belly and some pieces of roll on the plate. Feeling very dissatisfied. Won’t go...