good quality, polite service, never a shortage of soy sauce. Dine in experience was good. They have lots of to go orders at the moment so if you're all about being noticed and waited on right now might not happen, idc so it was good with me. Prices are high from other places but I'm not mad at it. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. read more

NO Take-out Orders!! Friends of Northpark and Orchard Hills, if your are looking to support a local business and walk-in to order take out GO ELSEWHERE! This small business now requires you to order 24 hours in advance. Can't wait for them to get replaced by a restaurant who values their customers. read more

We ordered Chirashi and sushi for takeout. We were appalled to find out at home that the Chirashi was made at least several hours earlier if not the day before. The rice was hardened and soaked with the toppings. The fish were soggy. The tamago (egg) was discolored. The sushi was fine and definitely noticeable that it was made at the time of order unlike the chirashi. The experience was very irritating and unpleasant. Certainly a waste of our time and $30 for the Chirashi. I was tempted to return to Jinbei and show them the difference between the Chirashi and the sushi but did not want to waste more time and fuel. They had already ruined our dinner. read more

Jinbei is a small Japanese restaurant tucked away in the shopping center of Orchard Hills in Irvine. I don't live that far from here, but when Portola Pkwy eventually becomes a through street, which is in the works, this will be so much more convenient for me to get to. I miss my grandma and her wonderful cooking but especially the Japanese food she used to make for my family. This restaurant has cooked Japanese food that is comforting to me as well as impressive fresh fish shipped from Japan as far as their sushi and sashimi goes. They also have some great fusion dishes such as their delicious uni pasta which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have sat in the small dining area in this restaurant the two times I have recently visited here. This restaurant is very small. Be aware that I have been here both times on weekdays when they open at 5 p.m. for dinner and this place fills up quickly. There is also a sushi bar at the back of the restaurant that seats about 8 people or so, I am guessing. There are a lot of ex-pat Japanese customers in this Japanese owned restaurant. I have enjoyed the sushi and sashimi I have ordered here. The fish is definitely fresh. I know this when I can eat sashimi without the addition of shoyu (soy sauce) and wasabi first. I usually try out fish this way to sample the taste of the sashimi and freshness of the fish. I am normally not a sushi roll orderer, but I have sampled my fiance's Crunchy Roll here and it was excellent. The tempura is perfectly cooked here. It is light, very well prepared in addition to being very tasty. The menu is quite large. They have a "Daily Specials" menu as well as "Top 10 Most Popular Things" menu in additional to cooked foods menu, sushi and sashimi menu, etc. Their cooked food is excellent here, also. The tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork cutlet) is perfectly cooked and a delicious cut of pork. The tempura and tonkatsu taste almost identical to how my grandma used to prepare them. Absolutely delicious. The karaage (fried chicken) and uni pasta and really good, also. Staff is nice and helpful. The only complaint I would have is that I have to ask for refills of drinks here and the small size of this place. Of note, they take reservations. Thanks to Yelp again for locating a very good, Japanese restaurant that is local to me. It is nice to support a smaller restaurant that offers some great Japanese food on their menu. read more

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One of the best Japanese restaurants in Irvine and possibly SoCal. The quality is incomparable we had salmon and tuna shoulder, udon, tempura, rolls and the most amazing house-made cheesecake. This place will knock your socks off. read more

Fantastic restaurant! I have to admit, It's difficult finding a genuine restaurant that I enjoy visiting in Irvine. But this place really does do things well. I really enjoy their uni pasta and also their mentaiko pasta. Their chicken karaage is crispy but moist on the inside, and I really enjoy the dipping sauce they provide which isn't too overwhelming. Their sushi and sashimi is definitely above average. I wouldn't go as far as the best I've tasted, but it's somewhere I'd visit locally near my house consistently to reasonably get my sushi fix. I am definitely a regular here and have yet to have a bad experience here. Thanks for the food! read more

Overrated and rude terrible service. You can find better sushi with better service elsewhere.

The quality of the fish is pretty decent here. I would definitely recommend ordering from the daily menu first. Also, the lunch chirashi bowl is also a pretty good deal. read more

3 empty tables and the hostess is not seating anybody and the line is long, when we asked she gave us an attitude, she is rude and unfriendly read more

One of the most authentic Japanese sushi restaurants in Orange County. Fish used in nigiri, sashimi, and rolls are fresh, with generous slices of fish in the nigiri and sashimi. This is also probably one of the few restaurants where I've ordered dessert consistently for each of my visits (I don't typically like desserts from restaurants). I think the price is reasonable considering the quality of food you get. Service is pretty good, nothing spectacular but nothing to complain about. read more

Similar to another review I read, the Uni Pasta is unfortunately not fresh at all. It felt almost like they used old Uni they were about to get rid of to make the pasta. The pasta tasted ok, though a bit watery, but the Uni itself felt barely edible. I immediately had an upset stomach afterwards, and I'm not sure if it was the cause, but I also got a weird rash on my arms that I've never gotten before. That is the main reason I decided to post this, as it feels like it might be a legitimate health concern if they are using old Uni to make their pasta. The portion was also incredibly small and did not leave me feeling full at all. It's a shame, because everything else looks really good, but it leaves me suspicious if that is really the case. I was looking forward to going back to try a lot of their food, but probably won't anymore. If management sees this, please stop using old Uni that is barely edible for the pasta. It is unethical and dangerous for people's health. Thanks. read more

This place is terrible! Food is way too salty! In addition, the service is some of the worst I have seen, they keep forgetting the order, never come to clean the table, don't change the plates. In terms of service, this place is a train wreck! read more

This place is a joke! The sashimi in H mart looks better than the sashimi here. When I was waiting, I was looking at some table, then I saw this giant blank plate of uni macaroni and a bowl of baked crab meat in cheese that looks like a pile of puke, I thought maybe we shouldn't dine here, but we were there and we were hungry. Service is a mess, it's extremely slow. They were more than 15 people waiting to be seated, but the waitress clean the tables like a toddler trying to draw straight lines - Super slow, but the lines weren't straight and the entire paper is destroyed by the ball-pen pointer. Mr.Q never got the rest of his order. Het left the place with 5 piece of square slippery sashimi in his stomach. The miso soup and the salad came before I ask for the check. ---Chirashi: Worst Chirashi that I ever had, even in Irvine. Salmon sashimi is mushy and slippery, octopus has a rubbery texture, it's so hard to bite and the rest of the fish choices are dry. The second layer contains 2/3 bowl of a bunch tasteless rehydrated limp seaweed salad, white algae, purple algae, a pickled onion(as big as quail egg),a bunch of tsukemono(Pickled vegetables), a giant ball of pickled ginger and rice topping flavoring with nori and sesame. The texture is like eating plastic bags and erasers. The rice came in a room temperature, it's texture is hard and it tasted very sour because of the amount of the vinegar they put into the rice. Normally, if the Chirashi wasn't good, then I will eat rice, but the rice here is awful too. What's there to eat? Wasabi? This is a piece of sh!t. You have a chef degree and make food like this? You should be ashamed of yourself. The entire thing is inedible. It says on the menu that this thing is chef's choice, then you can't trust that chef at all. I request them to replace the tuna, then they replace the tuna with half cherry tomato and pickled ginger(as big as my fist), It's expensive to spend 20 dollars for a lot of pickled ginger/onion/cucumber and a few piece of stale fish meat.. I won't eat that shit even if I don't have to pay for it. --- Salmon sashimi: It comes in square shape, I've never come across sashimi like this before. It was 2'X2' inch with a 0.5inch of thickness. It looks like a piece of orange silky tofu. It must be very "fusion", but I was pretty "amused" by the cutting skill. The sashimi came 30 minutes after we were here. The temperature of the fish meat is a bit of "they just melt it down from the freezer to serve people". it's mushy and slippery. If you use the chopsticks to poke the fish, the fish would flake. --- Green ice tea. It looks green, but it doesn't taste like green tea. It tasted like water. It's a glass of green water. The place listed as best sushi in OCweekly. Ha, How much did you pay for the advertisement? And how much did you pay Yelp to write those 5 star reviews? With an imbalanced 1 star vs 5 stars reviews, if I wasn't that hungry and read the reviews first, then I should've know, that this place is really a joke. P.S This place works faster than Fleet glycerine suppositories, So if you have problem with digestion, you should dine here. read more

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Authentic Japanese food. Food is reasonably priced with fresh fish and good ingredients. I like how they have craft beer, wine, and options other than sushi. We will be back! read more

Delicious. We will def be back! We came with our one year old and thought at first it maybe wasn't a good idea but realized shortly after there were babies at every table! It was fresh and not your average roll sushi spot. The soft shell crab appetizer, the toro, the sweet shrimp and the scallop nigiri were all really fresh. It got busy so I would recommend making a reservation. Can't wait for round 2! read more

This place is incredible. I love their irons. They have the best soup broth. Their sashimi's are so fresh. Everything is great. My go to place now for udon or sushi. read more

Love that we have another quality Japanese restaurant in Irvine! Service is very efficient and incredibly friendly. They squeezed my party of 2 in at the sushi bar so we could avoid the 30-40 minute wait on a Saturday night. The only downside was we only had a little over an hour to eat since the sushi bar was technically reserved for another party but luckily food came out quickly and my friend and I eat relatively fast. We didn't feel rushed throughout the meal and appreciated that Jinbei was flexible with whatever available seats they had. We ordered tempura which comes with two pieces of shrimp and assorted vegetables. Shrimp was delicious, juicy without being overcooked. Vegetables are pretty standard. Also got two rolls, spider and albacore. The albacore roll was delicious but all the raw jalapeno really gets to you. But the true star of the meal was the mentaiko pasta. I've gotten it both times I've been here and plan on getting it every time after. Everyone should come here just for the mentaiko pasta, it's THAT good. read more

The waiters are so nice & attentive! When you walk in, the decor looks like they would be serving super traditional Japanese food, but the food is very Americanized. However, the fish is very fresh, the food still tastes good, and I would still eat here again just fyi! read more

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I have been here many times over the past year, but unfortunately this past Monday will be the last time I will ever step foot inside this restaurant. The consensus among a few of us who visits regularly is that the hot food and fried food all tasted pretty bad and is often not fresh. So we tried their sushi whenever Charlie San makes it, its always delicious. Nevertheless this past Monday, i went to the sushi bar for dinner, Charlie was not there and another sushi chef served me..... I think somewhere among the pieces of nigiri was one that was not fresh..... by 3am, i woke up feeling extreme coldness to my bones... then a few hours later, i felt extreme heat in my body i started sweating all over and had a fever of 103.5. by 7am i started throwing up and having massive diarrhea. Needless to say i had to cancel work and went to the doctor. The doctor confirmed its food poisoning. Im still having fevers from the food. and tomorrow will be the 3rd day I will need to take time off from work. I can confidently say that the food is often not fresh. read more

I usually don't leave reviews, but Jimbei was so good that I have to show how happy I am! The costumer service was really good, they are always smiling. And the most important part, the food! The sushi was just amazing! The flavors were really well balanced! Right amount of wasabi to give a kick and leave your mouth slightly numb and enhance the fish flavor. A new place to go every week! read more

Sushi is always fresh and thick slices. Kids love their Udon and service is fast. However, wait times can be long so get their as soon as they open for lunch or dinner. read more

I have been a frequent visitor here for the past 5 months, and tonight may have been the last time I ever dine here again. Order History: 1. Hand Rolls in a variety of fishes: Fish usually tastes fresh, but 90% of the time, the seaweed is stale and chewy. Not crispy, or warm (like Sugarfish, yum!) Also, the majority of the hand roll is just rice. 2. Jinbei Special Roll #3 (Contains garlic, which is why I ordered it. However, instead of actual garlic- you get the flakey skin of garlic. It's as if they removed the garlic skin and threw it on the roll, instead of the trash.) 3. Miso Soup - Ordinary, very salty. 4. Edamame - Overcooked. When you take a bite, it's hard to separate the skin from the bean, it's all just mushed together. 5. Sashimi - Just a tad bit better than your average sashimi. Menu explains they import their sashimi directly from Japan. I'm not sure if that's true? 6. Tempura - Some batter was left uncooked. And some shrimp was not de-pooped. Definite deal breaker for me! Service: 1. CHARGES YOU EXTRA FOR THEIR MISTAKES: I ordered an albacore hand roll for take out, and they packed me an avocado hand roll. I let them know this was not what I ordered. They remade the correct roll and gave me another check for it. Why do I have to pay for something I already paid for? Server is the quiet woman wearing glasses. She has absolutely no care or concern for dining experience. 2. NOT ACCOMMODATING TO BABIES: Came in at 7pm on a Sunday and was told my family and I could not sit in a booth. We also had a newborn baby, so a booth would have been perfect for the baby's carrier. Instead they crammed us in a two seat table with chairs. Very inconsiderate. (this was the woman with the glasses again, of course) 3. HOUR WAIT FOR SASHIMI?! Another very important thing to note, they do not serve you in order of seating. My family had to wait almost an hour for a very simple order, while others around us, who were seated later, were served before us. I asked why it was taking an hour for sashimi - and they had no explanation or apology. Overall: NOT RETURNING! I've dined here a good twenty times and am now trying to figure out why I keep returning. I honestly feel it's because there's really no other sushi spots in the area. But after tonight's awful service, I probably will not be returning for a long time. I think I'd rather visit Wokano and experience better service - and maybe even better sushi. read more

As a self-proclaimed sushi connoisseur, I declare Jinbei to be a top contender in the OC area, especially given its price point. You think uni pasta at EMC is delicious? Sorry, we can't be friends. My favorite uni pasta in the Orange County area would probably be Cafe Hiro's (discovered with the help of Yelpers!), but since we generally don't feel like driving to Cypress for dinner, my new fav has to be Jinbei's. It actually tastes like uni, and is not overly buttery or salty. I actually like it even more than Bestia's. The sushi (we stuck with sashimi) was very fresh and reasonably priced. The amount of fish was also very generous. Service was good, we sat at the bar and my water cup was never empty. Simple, delicious food is all I really want in a restaurant, and Jinbei has it. read more

Best Japanese restaurant I've been to in Irvine!!! I ordered the beef udon and the crunchy roll (the lunch special)! The beef udon was AMAZING. It was so flavorful, the beef super tender, and the little fried dough pieces they put in there are bomb! The portion size was also HUGE. I couldn't even finish it. The place is pretty small and it was packed on a Sunday afternoon- all the tables were occupied so my family and I sat at the sushi bar. Which was just fine because I got to see the sushi chefs create those beautiful sashimi bowls! And don't be afraid to chat with Charlie- one of the Japanese sushi chefs, he's so friendly and nice! read more

One of the best quality restaurants I've ever been to. Very authentic. We've taken many visitors from Japan here and they always enjoy it. Highly recommend! read more

I was good restaurants good for us but then nicer service jinbei is better than staying healthy

Excellent sushi! It's a bit pricey but you get what you pay for. You can definitely tell the difference in the qualify of the fish they use. I ordered the sashimi platter - and everything on there was melt-in-your-mouth delicious! The service was also excellent. read more

This place has good food, but terrible service. We used to go there a lot and enjoyed their food and the experience. But the downside is that the food takes FOREVER to come out (Like 30-45 Minutes). One time we went, it took almost an hour to get our food, so we decided to leave and they still made us pay for our undelivered food. I recently came back to revisit this place, but found that the service still was not great. The only reason this is not one star is because the food is decent and that we had a couple okay experiences. read more

I've come here twice -- once for lunch, once for dinner. Both times the experience was exceptional. The fish was fresh and the other side dishes were fantastic. Overall, great place. read more

Came here to have family dinner and celebrate my sis's birthday. We ordered lots of different items to share. Some of the favorites included the Uni spaghetti. It was absolutely delicious. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sauce was creamy and not too salty. The udon also deserves a shout out. Sushi quality was fresh and better quality than most sushi restaurants. The waiter was nice enough to help us add a candle on our dessert order so that we could sing happy birthday! read more

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Very authentic high end Japanese cuisine. Dishes have very small portions, but they're very fresh and delicious. They tend to get crowded after 6pm, so go early if possible . Uni spaghetti is our favorite here...must try! read more

So imho 90% of the rating for any sushi restaurant is the fish. These guys start out with a 90. It's that good. Super fresh. The rice is another 8 out of 10 points and they get a 6.5 for that. Very flavorful but lacks a little acidity and not quite sticky enough (it doesn't adhere perfectly to the fish). But you know what? Who cares? The fish is awesome. We had Spanish bluefin chutoro, which was the bomb as well as another Spanish bluefin cut (also awesome). Santa Barbara Uni. Hokkaido scallops. All awesome. Not too much wasabi. Softshell crabs and chicken gizzards confit for appetizers. The yellowtail roll was good and I can forgive the silly shaven bonito flakes on top. They have some silly white boy 2 inch tall rolls, but whatever. Avoid those. Lots of Japanese people along with the local white people (eating the previously mentioned giant rolls). Service is good and normally great but they were mobbed tonight - my guess after the OC weekly #1 Japanese rating. I'll be back fo sho. read more

Great sushi and chicken karaage. Sometimes there is a wait. Staff are very nice. My wife loves this place.

My favorite Japanese place in Irvine. It's kind of far off in the outskirts of Irvine and is a kind of low key spot but definitely worth going to. I love how authentic everything tastes and the quality is really great. It's not a fake wanna be Japanese restaurant. They really got their menus down. The service is great and the food is great what more can you want ? Also the interior is nice and bright and has light wooden accents which is really reminiscent of Japanese restaurants. The server was really nice too to let my father and I come in 25 mins prior to closing. They didn't rush us or anything which is really nice of them. Definitely come here for some yummy real Japanese food !! read more

Jinbei - Japanese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Love how fresh their fish is. Always good food, haven't had anything bad. Our family enjoys going here for some sushi.

Some of the freshest, and tastiest cuts of fish ever! I've finally found good sushi in irvine after suffering through some lackluster sushi, that had great reviews... This is the place to go in irvine if you're an enthusiast. The mackerel and ikura(salmon roe) sushi were the most impressive. And the Toro....melts in your mouth. Why 4 stars? Most of the prepared foods were on the salty side...e.g. unagi sushi, which was an awesome cut that I could only fairly describe as 'custom', was a bit oversauced and salty. I would definitely go back when in irvine. I look forward to seeing Jinbei maintain their high quality sushi standard. read more

You will be left still hungry, but the food was alright. Uni pasta, a few pieces of uni on top of a bed of cheesy pasta. Personally a bit too cheesy for me. I could do with less. Uni itself tasted fresh great! The 3 fish sashimi combo tasted good as well. The chicken karrage (sp?) was good, good chicken to breading ratio. The egg omelette was as described, layers of egg folded together in roll form. Nothing special, although certain portions were fairly salty. read more

The absolute hands down best sushi in town. The fish is fresh and flown in daily. We no longer live in town and miss Jinbei. Living now on the east coast the drop off in sushi is clear. If you have the opportunity, make sure to visit Jinbei!!! read more

My fav Japanese Restaurant! I always take my family there and lately I'm taking all my friends there for their birthdays! They never disappoint!!! My friends told me they took their families there too now!! Sushi and sashimi in on point! My kids love their udon and unipasta is delicacy you can't miss!! But I always end with unagi sushi~ it's like delicate dessert to me while my family has their real dessert! Apple pastry with icecream! read more

Sushi here is really on par with the sushi in Japan. So delicious! I would recommend the salmon and tuna along with the salmon collar.