Uoko Sushi and Japanese Cuisine — Restaurant in Lake Forest

We’ve visited this restaurant a couple of times before and had a decent experience, especially when sitting at the sushi bar. But this most recent visit—our first time at a table—was shockingly bad from start to finish.

Right away, our server came off as rude and dismissive. When we politely asked to replace a chipped bowl, she curtly replied, “All of them are broken.” It was such a bizarre and unhelpful response. We asked a different server instead, who quickly brought us a new bowl. Moments later, the original server came back to our table and, in a sarcastic and confrontational tone, said “Much better?” twice. We were completely taken aback. It was uncomfortable, and honestly, felt needlessly hostile.

Then the food arrived—and we were stunned by how far the quality had dropped. The rainbow roll and sushi pieces looked and tasted cheap, nowhere near the standard we remembered from just a few months ago. The sashimi was dull and lacked any freshness. Even the restaurant’s signature nabe was disappointing—the small portion of udon noodles was broken into tiny, soggy fragments. It felt like a careless afterthought.

And just when we thought the experience couldn’t get worse, the bill came—with an extra charge for something we didn’t even order. Thankfully they removed it when we pointed it out, but by then the damage was done.

It’s honestly shocking how drastically this place has gone downhill—in both service and food quality. We left feeling disappointed, uncomfortable, and frankly stunned. We won’t be coming back, and it’s a shame because we once saw potential here. I’m pretty sure they might not even care about such negative experience we might had since they have decent amount of regulars coming back, but it’s just sad to see them...

I've been to the Tustin location years ago, but decided to venture to the location closer to home this time around. Located off the 5 freeway on Lake Forest Drive, it's in a very popular plaza with Buffalo Wild Wings, Inka Grill and other pleasant eats!

We came through for an early dinner, but the tables were all taken and only the bar was available. We were originally seated at the middle of the bar, but when we asked for the regular menu, they moved us to the far right corner instead. It was probably done to allow other patrons who exclusively want sushi to be seated there for a prime experience.

Boyfriend did order the Bento combination while I went with omakase. The chef started the course with an amuse bouche of pickles and a warm towel. Then he delivered an 8-piece meal which included chutoro, yellowtail, bonito, amberjack, halibut, squid, seared salmon and sea urchin (uni). Beautifully presented! I had room for a few more like scallop and unagi.

Boyfriend got a the chicken and steak bento combination with tempura, CA roll, braised potatoes and some soybeans. Very filling meal and we had to pack some leftovers!

As we slowed down the evening, the chef presented orange slices soaked in plum wine for dessert. A clean finish for the end of the meal. I was also a bit surprised (in a very good way) on the price of everything. My omakase and the additional sushi pieces we had totaled to about $45 and the bento was $15.95. Would definitely come back again and will try to plan accordingly to get...

Here’s a refined version of your review with improved flow and clarity, while keeping your original voice:

We went for lunch on a weekday and tried their lunch special, where you can pick five items from a list for about $22. We sat at the bar, which was a nice spot to watch the sushi being prepared.

The yellowtail sushi was amazing — definitely a highlight. The tuna sushi and tuna cut roll were also really good. Eel sushi was great too.

We didn’t love the albacore or salmon sushi, but that might have been because of the sauce they used; next time, I'll probably ask for it without the sauce. We also weren’t fans of the spicy yellowtail hand roll, but the regular yellowtail hand roll was good, so it seems it was the sauce in the spicy version that didn’t quite work for us.

overall great customer service, great atmosphere, great fish quality, and a great selection. I would...