Habuya Okinawan Dining — Restaurant in Tustin

Quick Summary Fantastic and unique Izakaya spot, as it serves Okinawan style Japanese food. Ordered a little of everything, and enjoyed almost every dish. Recommend calling beforehand for reservations, as it's a small restaurant that only seats 19 guests. Plaza parking available. My favorite dishes were the scallop and uni truffle carpaccio, chicken wings, Habuya pork belly soba, their desserts and the Orion draft beer!

Food- 5 stars Uni truffle carpaccio- this was very good. Great balance of sweetness and umami with the 3 ingredients. I could've eaten so many plates of this

3 kinds of sashimi- toro, salmon and yellowtail. They were all good, but I liked the yellowtail the most (very fatty and fresh). All the pieces were very fresh

Habuya soba- the noodles were more similar to a ramen, and everything was delicious. Broth was filled with flavor and pork belly was delicious and fatty

Chicken wings- this was my favorite of the fried foods. Very great flavor and sweet. They didn't use much flour / batter, so you really taste how good the chicken was

Yellowtail collar- this was good as well. Certain areas were salted better than most, but it was delicious

Fried clam chowder- this was unique and well prepared. I did like the above dishes more though

Sautéed bitter melon- came with egg and sausage. It was more bland than the other dishes. Would be good as a healthy / daily option

Green tea waffle ice- this was fantastic. Great flavor and not overly sweet. Great end to the meal

Red bean mochi- this was fantastic as well. Great texture and flavor, without being too sweet

Orion draft beer- They iced the glasses well and the beer was so smooth, creamy and delicious. Great way to wash down the meal

Service- 5 stars We got really lucky and was able to get a table without a reservation. Servers were helpful and got food out fast. Communication could've been better regarding wait time on a table, but we were just happy they were able to seat us (multiple parties without a reservation were turned away after us)

Ambiance- 5 stars It's a small restaurant with 19 seats, including their bar area. Cool lighting and hanging notes from the ceiling (you can add to the collection if you want). Greeted by the servers in Japanese. The whole experience made us feel like we transported to an Izakaya in Okinawa. Great experience!

Bottom Line Fantastic food, drinks, dessert, and ambiance. Make sure you call ahead to get a reservation as it's a very...

Pros: affordable prices for the most part (except for the special menu items like the wagyu nigiri sushi and tataki) and diverse menu with many interesting options. Cons: hard to see from the road, small location and extremely busy (heavily reccomend reservations, wait time is regularly 1 hr min.) Most importantly: AUTHENTICITY IS QUESTIONABLE.

Habuya is supposed to be an Okinawan restaurant but it is, in truth, a general Japanese restaurant that also offers a variety of fusion dishes. The few Okinawan items on the menu can be determined by the taste of the broth and the texture of the noodles in the "Okinawan soba" alone. Which was very Japanese with only a token effort to Okinawan flavor; the broth is literally just a basic dashi broth with less sugar than usual.

True Okinawan broth has pork in it (alongside the katsuo dashi) as Okinawan cuisine uses it as a main ingredient in many of its recipes. The noodles, also, were not Okinawan soba. In Japan, "soba" is a general term for a category of noodles; in Okinawan, "soba" refers to only one type of specific noodle. Okinawan soba is made from flour, water and egg. They are also shaped flat and topped with stewed pork ribs or pork feet, slices of stewed pork belly, satsumaage, green onions and pickled ginger.

What we recieved upon ordering the Soki Soba and Tebichi Soba were slices of Japanese-style pork belly and pork feet, noodles and broth. My parents and uncle were very disappointed after receiving the order and my uncle even refused to finish his bowl! I was only able to finish mine because I added A LOT OF Koregusu.

I know the owner of the restuarant is supposedly Okinawan but I doubt the cooks are. Or were trained by someone knowledgeable and experienced in Okinawan cuisine. As I said, the cuisine was not Okinawan and I suspect the cooks were trained in Japanese restaurants. Awamori and Koregusu are not enough to make up for the lack of authenticity in their "Okinawan" dishes.

Otherwise, do not bring your Okinawan relatives to this restaurant--they will be disappointed. You might get away with American-born Sansei, Yonsei and so forth but not the Issei and likely, the Nissei as well.

If you're looking for some moderately cheap upscale Japanese dishes, however, I recommend the wagyu tataki and...

A hidden gem of Tustin that I wouldn't have known about until my friend who lived nearby brought me here. We were lucky to get a last minute reservation here because it's such a small restaurant and without one, they will not let you come in and sit. We were both able to sit at the bar facing the kitchen and all decorations inside gave the place such a lively vibe to it, you'll have a great time. My friend was able to speak to the servers in Japanese and we all had a great time conversing with one another. I on the other hand spoke my mediocre Japanese from what I remembered when studying but overall did okay, I hope.

I do recommend ordering their extra cold Orion beer. It went down so smooth and cod that I was able to drink three glasses of it! I typically cannot finish a glass of beer but for some reason, I was able to down 3 glasses here. Not sure if the temperature made a difference but I sure as hell loved it. Food is unique too since it's meant to represent dishes from Okinawa and not mainland Japan. The ramen here is called udon instead so that might throw you off. Other than that, the food is delicious and worth trying. Just make sure you make a reservation ahead of time so you know you have a table secured.

At the end of your meal, one of the ladies will ask you to write one of the fortunes for them to hang on the ceiling, which I thought was cool. You'll be able to read some of them and not all are in Japanese. My friend and I both ended up writing in Japanese but I forgot what we wrote. In the end, you'll enjoy the vibe here and maybe you'll get to chit chat with people next to you because they're all friendly and welcoming here, which I expect from...