Wasabi Sushi & Teppan

Christmas party

I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars. I love the tepan here, and I don’t see why everyone is ragging on it. It can be cheesy, but come on, it’s fun!
I just ate lunch here though, so this review is mainly like that. I ordered the salmon teriyaki plate, which sounded similar to my usual at Sushi&Roll. Sushi & Roll’s special usually comes with a small salad, a cup of miso soup, a generous portion of vegetable tempura, and finally a bed of rice with salmon (or chicken or beef) on top, all for about $ 9.
Wasabi’s is different. (see the picture I posted). It came with a salad, but no soup. The portion of tempura included one onion, one carrot, and one potato. The portion of rice would measure about ¹⁄₃ of a cup. Finally, it came with two pieces of a California roll.
I first bit into the salad, and the first thing I notice is how familiar the dressing is. After a few bits, I realize it’s Italian and ranch. Really? At a Japanese sushi bar? How… odd.
I then moved to the sushi, which was quite good. I expected it to be colder though. I suppose in 100 degree heat waves, it’s hard for anything to be cold.
I bit into the onion tempura next. Tasted like an onion ring. *shrug*
The salmon, however, was delicious. Perfectly cooked, and not smothered in teriyaki. The only bummer is that there wasn’t enough rice to share.
I ended my meal with the carrot and the potato tempura. Very good.
All in all, I would have liked to give this place 4 stars, but the portions were skimped, an room temp sushi can’t fix that.

It had been ages since I last had a meal here, but my gf and I were nearby and I wanted to stop in for a quick bite since I knew it’d be slow.
It was, and now I know why.
We were seated at the sushi bar (the only people there) and given our trays of Wasabi, ginger and a cucumber salad. The sushi chef took my order, which is the same every place I go: maguro, ebi and unagi. The first two were served up quickly. The maguro was good — soft, pink and fresh, but I’ve had better. Ebi couldn’t be easier to not screw up, so no complaints there. The rice wasn’t very good, though. It was too firm, not very sticky and bland. It did nothing to complement the fish, the pieces of which were incredibly oversized compared to the rice underneath. The unagi was a bit too spongy for me, I prefer it to be a little more firm, but it wasn’t terrible.
Not wanting to spend more money on single pieces, I opted to get a roll, something I rarely do since I’m not a big fan of them. I went with a yellowtail roll. And it sucked. The chef did a sloppy job making it, so it looked extremely haphazard on a plate. And, worse, he made the pieces so large I could hardly fit them in my mouth. Even worse, the yellowtail was terrible — way too tough. I scarfed it down quickly so I could make an exit posthaste.
Total out the door was $ 25 with tip, and it was barely worth half that. They have a listless staff who don’t know who to make good sushi, and the quality was lacking. Since there are about a bajillion sushi joints in Orange County, I think it’s safe to say I’ve eaten my last meal here.