I have been coming here for many years for the Yakiniku Udon, hands down the best place for Udon in Southern California. The sushi is also a great bonus. This is a tiny family own Japanese restaurant that used to be almost take out only, that have since added additional seating and updated the look a few years ago. Although still tiny, it has a great vibe and the food is great as well. I have never had a bad experience here in 20 years. read more

Hands down the best chicken katsu I've ever had. Crispy yet fluffy... Mmm. Everyone should try it :) read more

Sagami - Best chicken katsu ever!! Batter was a perfect combination of crispy&tender... Aw yeeeah - Sushi Bars Near Me - Irvine, California

I'm not that big of a fan when it comes to Japanese food, but this place is pretty delicious and traditional. I didn't even start to get into sushi until this place, and don't even get me started on their fried chicken! It's what they're known for and absolutely addicting! read more

I just love Sagami. The food is really great, the fish is super fresh and the people are awesome. We have lived here for years and we eat here often and it's always great. You can't go wrong with this restaurant. read more

Sushi is fresh, and they know me when I come in. I come in often, so this review is over due. It is a shame they only have 3.5 stars. I know it is a small place, but the food is REALLY good and it is reasonably priced. You should totally check it out. read more

Sagami has great Japanese food! The service is great and all components of the place are amazing!

Delicious rolls! I love salmon and Ono and the oh no roll was just oh so good! The place is cozy, friendly and truly authentic Japanese.

This place might be fantastic if you are going there to sit down and eat. However, if you are trying to place an order for a lunch to go, forget it. It seems that everything I try to pick from the menu is "not available" for some reason. And I have tried at least 3 times. Once I finally just went with one of the salads, which was a big disappointment for the price. (Over $10 for lettuce, no dressing, and cold greasy calamari that I could not eat.) So, to be fair, I can't give much of a rating to the actual food, since I have never been able to order any, except the lettuce I mentioned. What makes it especially frustrating is that I have studied the menu in detail, and nowhere does it say what is and is not available. read more

Worst Japanese restaurant. Male manager doesn't even know how to talk to customers. Their dashi (soup stock) sucks!! If you want to have a good dining experience, don't even go to this restaurant!! read more

I had to wait 20 minutes to have my order taken, I was ignored, and the food was nothing special at all. It took so long to just get in my order and I asked for NO cucumbers, but use avacado instead, the server never told the sushi chef. I had the crunchy shimpr roll, something was brunt tasting on top of it, the shrimp had no taste and were very small pieces. Nothing was a pleasant experience here and no atmosphere whatsoever. Prices were higher then the place I normally go to and love with a nice atmosphere, unfortunatley they are in Lake Forest. It was so obvious that they cater to their Japanese cliente., I was even given a Japanese menu, and there was no getting the server's attention to show her I couldn't read a thing! Yuck, I'd NEVER go back to this place, even for a free meal! I can't say the staff was rude, they just ignored me. It seemed like the staff couldn't handle the flow of customers very well. I live closeby, I really wish I had something positive to say, but I don't! read more

Aw man, came back today and ordered the same premium sushi set.. Really, really bummed to find they serve escolar (marketed as Ono) here and will include it with the premium set also. This is too bad, as they serve authentic stuff here, but the minute you serve escolar, all bets are off in my book. FYI, Google escolar and sushi, and you'll see what I mean. :( read more

I liked sagami. I don't know that the food was memorable since we just got rolls, but I liked it quite fine. Server was friendly. Location is pretty small. read more

Good, quick, Japanese lunch. I wish Sagami was near my work because I'd go there every day for lunch for their bowls. Yeah, you can get sushi and rolls, which aren't bad, but I'd stick with the cooked stuff. read more

i used to go here for the sesami chicken when my friends lived out here but now they all moved away so i have no reason to go here =( im planning a trip, probably on a weekend. its been a few years but im sure its still great. i actually tried alot off the menu. i cant remember all the japanese names but they're all pretty good. like most hole in the wall joints in J-towns. cant beat it. best bang for the buck as my ol' buddy would say. read more

i love sagami, and it is probably the only decent japanese place in the area. when you sit at the bar the sushi chefs are awesome and fun to talk to too!! their service is prompt as well. the food is good and reminds me of home cooking!! i love that they have so much on their menu too, from sets to rolls to udon to bento boxes!! yumm sounds soo good right now!! read more

Sagami - octopus and tamago - Sushi Bars Near Me - Irvine, California

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First time here. Their tea rice is especially good. Very flavorful! A must try in OC.

The first time I came here was almost 3 years ago and it was because I had a coupon. I didn't enjoy the food as much because I ordered sushi rolls and they weren't good quality, they tasted like store-bought sushi with those annoying chopped carrots. Anyway I decided to come again today because I've been craving udon, and didn't feel like driving to Fukada or having to wait. Sagami is literally a five minute walk from my place so it was a no brainer. I really enjoyed my food, which was sansai udon + sukiyaki bowl, and a spicy tuna temaki. I suggest they update the menu on their site/blog because they no longer offer sansai udon as part of regular noodle set, you can only get sansai udon for the PREMIUM noodle set and it's an ADDITIONAL 50 cents from the premium price. Not big of a deal but it wasn't what I expected since I checked the online menu before coming. I just have a thing with menu consistency. So the udon was decent, noodle texture was good but not enough vegetables like Fukada. The broth wasn't bad but it was too salty and had a weird after taste. Sukiyaki bowl was delicious though, and good portions i might add. The spicy tuna hand roll was good too. I'm assuming they changed their sushi staff or made some kind of improvement but the sushi is definitely better now. Thank goodness for no crunchy chopped carrots! The bf had the bento with chicken katsu + yakiniku, it came with miso soup, salad, edamame and sliced oranges. He gives it a thumbs up. No complaints about the service here, they were polite and attentive. I especially liked the female servers, the tall one with orange/yellow hair and the smaller one with dark hair because they had pleasant smiles. The male server with glasses sat us and he was fine too but he's a straight face kinda person. I'll definitely return, since it's that close to me. read more

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I tried this place due to a friends review and I was not impressed. I had the poke bowl and the fish was tough, chewy, and some pieces tasted really foul. Luckily I have a iron steel stomach and didn't get diarriah. read more

Delicious! The crazy spicy roll isnt THAT spicy, but has a good lingering spice.

I ordered a combo of soba with regular chicken katsu atop rice. The soba was strangely tasteless. I wouldn't recommend it. The chicken katsu was decent but some soy sauce was added to make it better. They give you very large glasses for drinks so it's unlikely you would finish them and be waiting for a refill. Even so, the waiters are quick to refill your drinks and to check up on you. My friends ordered some sushi and teriyaki chicken which they said was very tasty. read more

I went there for lunch and got the deluxe chirashi. Not bad! Their sushi was decent too. Not the best in the world but for the price a decent value. We did get take out deluxe chirashi from there and it was a lot worse than eating it at the restaurant. I would go back but not for take out. read more

Definitely a quality Japanese restaurant with some of the best Nabeyaki Soba in the area. The noodles are cooked well and the broth is seasoned the way it should be. There is a generous portion of vegetables and chicken as well as a big piece of tempura shrimp. The curry here is also good and they give you the option of white or brown rice. However, the curry can be a bit on the salty side sometimes, but I think that might just be a general problem with curry. Service here is always friendly, although the food takes a bit to come out. However, it always tastes really fresh made which is a reasonable compromise for me except when I'm really hungry and irrational. The restaurant itself is really cute, but in true Japanese fashion, it's tiny. You can expect to wait for quite a while on weekends. Oh, and the last time I was here, there was the loudest group of women I've ever heard. They were drinking and basically yelling at each other across the table, laughing their asses off, which got super annoying after a while. If you can, try to come here with a Japanese speaker or be ready to ask some questions because some of the menu items are handwritten on the walls and are only in Japanese or don't have any kind of English description, only a phonetic English translation. Overall, I highly recommend this place for a cozy little meal read more

Loved it. After reading other reviews, it seems most people go here for lunch. I went here for dinner...by accident. We were looking for a different sushi place and then came across Sagami. We were very happy with our experience. What we loved about this place: tapas style food. This allowed us to try so many differnt types of dishes. The Japanese steak was DELISH! Sushi...tasty but poorly rolled (hence the 4 stars). Overall, the food was yummy, great service, quick service of food, and the place is cute. Great place for a date. We plan to make this a regular place. read more

So I was out entertaining myself at Target and hit up my yelp mobile for something close by. I walked into this restaurant and it looked like a little to go shop - I almost walked out but I thought I would try it since I was so hungry. Thank goodness I didn't leave!! This place is a little gem in the rough. I had the yellow tail carpaccio - mmmmmm good. I had a spicy tuna hand roll (nothing to write home about) but the night's highlight was the sashimi roll. Salmon, tuna, and yellowtail wrapped in cucumber with a special sauce. A light and delicious treat - I devoured it like I hadn't eaten all day. This place was great and the service was good - don't judge it by its hole in the wall appearance. read more

more like a 3.5 but feeling generous (and full). Great little place that was a bit of a surprise. Nestled in the Irvine equivalent of a strip mall, the restaurant, while tiny, has surprisingly great selections. The lunch specials were very enticing and finally settled on the 3 hand roll combo which comes with miso soup or salad for under $10. The hand rolls were quite filling with plenty of fish that were of pretty good quality, though the yellowtail could've been better. The salad was a nice portion with actual dressing vs watered down dressings of other places. Service is a bit limited here as for the lunch rush, there was only 2 waitresses, 1 sushi chef visble. But since I wasn't in a hurry, no worries. Overall, it was a nice surprise and will definitely be a new go-to lunch place in the fuutre. read more

The service is awful. We were super hungry, but ended up waiting over 40 minutes for our food. The Grilled Chicken Salad was gigantic and the chicken was moist and tasty. The Spicy Tuna Rolls were descent. However, I'm giving them 3 stars due to their poor customer service. I wished the server would smile once, but did not happen. read more

update: We still go here occasionally, but definitely not as much as before because the prices have gone up while portions size goes down. Poke bowl was under-seasoned and just meh last time. read more

If you want Japanese food, you have to go to Sagami. The food is excellent. I've had the bento (lunch boxes). In a beautiful presentation, the bento comes in a nice black lacquered type lunch box, with whatever your main choice or choices were, a small salad, rice, and pickled vegetables. You also get miso soup. It's very filling and tasty. The price is reasonable too. You can easily get a great meal for $8.50 or so (a bento lunch) here with lots of selections. You have to come and try it. By far, one of the best Japanese food places I've found in Irvine. read more

Only go if you're not in a hurry. We were there for Sunday lunch, the place wasn't crowded. But the service was very slow, we waited almost 30 minutes for our food, & we couldn't find our waitress. The good was fine, udon had the perfect chew, salmon variety was fresh & hand rolls were pretty good too. Quality is better than the average Japanese restaurant. read more

We've been here several weeknights for an early dinner. It's hit and miss. Sometimes the staff is friendly sometimes you feel like you're invading their privacy. The last time we went we ordered the sashimi Bento box. The fish wasn't as fresh as we would've liked. The whole shrimp was rather slimy. Given that there are so many sushi options in Irvine we'll put this one at the back of the list and try a few others. read more

I love this place. I used to go here everyday before I moved to the Bay Area. Yes, it does look noticeably different since I left, but I am still happy that the prices are about the same and I can still order takeout at the counter. The wait can be a little long, so call ahead if you're order takeout. Overall, I give this place 5 stars because it never dissapoints. read more

Man what can i say about this place. It is awesome!! Love it. I go here for take out almost every other day when I used to live in Irvine. I still come by with my wife to order take out read more

Great for a quick lunch. I live in HB and work in Irvine, so lunch is all I can speak for here. I love the Seasame chicken and California roll lunch for $7.99. The tempura is tastey too! I have been coming here for over 10 years and I have never been disapointed. Go enjoy! read more

This place is legit. When you hear the workers speaking real Japanese, you know you are at a Japanese restaurant. I can't speak for the sushi as I had not even eaten them yet. But the dishes there are not bad. I have had the sukiyaki with udon and it was delish. Also the duck soba was great too! Will definitely check out this place more, and start experimenting with their menu! read more

Very good sushi here, I really love the spicy tuna handrolls here & very friendly staff.

Curry lunch bowl. Too much rice. Barely any beef. Tastes ok though. Not bad.

Got the menchi katsu and the chirashi+udon combo. Delicious. Went right when they opened, got seated immediately. I like their lunch combo choices and their menu is very well designed. I wanted to order all the dishes displayed on the menu. The udon didn't really hit the spot for me, but the chirashi don was good as was the menchi katsu. Definitely want to come back to try more dishes. read more

Sagami - Menchi katsu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Irvine, California

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Although the portions are smaller than others the quality of the fish is superb! Came here for the Chirashi and I was not disappointed!

Decided to try a new sushi joint for dinner and are so glad we did. Sushi was okay, nigiri was just fish, wasabi, and rice, nothing special. The bento box on the other hand was excellent. I highly recommend the ginger glazed beef. Will be back to try the udon. read more

This place was good, being my first time going to this place. The food was good. I had a bento meal. It has a very good appeal to the eyes. The salads look good and my gf's meal had some kind of sesami chicken, that was real good. The sushi is fresh and the service is prompt (I'm not asian) so its good unbiased service unlike those other places where you get preferential treatment if you're of the same ethnicity. All in all the food is good the iced tea is amazing, I think it's jasmine tea (my favourite). read more