KanSai Sushi

My husband knew I’ve been craving uni so he took me here just to eat uni! I can’t comment on the food since all I had was the uni with rice. For $ 10, I couldn’t resist. I ordered 3 hehehe. No regrets. It was actually pretty good. Of course we weren’t full off of it and went to another restaurant to eat after but was my uni cravings satisfied? Heck yes. I would come back just for it! Mainly because it’s more expensive elsewhere and it was pretty good here.

The dinner combination box REALLY fills you up. So yummy. waitress was friendly too. It’s a little hard to find the rataurant though lol.

I was introduced to this place by my dad who loves sashimi and it has been a go to place for our family. We love their sashimi packages which come with a large variety of sushi and side dishes. Service is fast you can tell that the fish is fresh. Pricing is reasonable and you definitely will leave full. I love especially love the sea urchin rice bowls.

Meh. This place is ok at best. The only thing worth buying is the Unibowl.
Everything else seems average. I had the dinner box the beef was a bit chewy, the «grilled» salmon was a bit bland, and the the fish was alright. The main complaint I have towards the dinner box is that the white fish clearly tastes like ice, as I was biting through it I could feel the ice crystals. The pieces that were more thawed had a fishy taste that I did not enjoy. However, the raw salmon was good (even though it is hard to mess up raw salmon).

I’ve probably been here like 5 times. But I’ve only order the fresh live Uni and that’s about it. Which is $ 9.99 per Uni. Tell me that not a deal. I haven’t really gave this place a chance. So eat at your own risk.

Came here with my boyfriend, there were only a few parties there so above was pretty good and attentive. We had the uni bowl, sashimi, and a few rolls. Fish was bleh, as fresh as you would get at the Korean markets. The uni bowl was good, also had a nice presentation. We actually went there for that abs was quite satisfied.

WAIT.
No wait on a Wednesday noon.
SERVICE.
Spot on and felt really homey. Our server constantly checked up on us without being overbearing to make sure everything was good.
LARGE RICE UNI BOWL.
Uni is my favorite sushi, so this discovery was just OH MY GAH! The portion was a bit small for a meal, so we ordered a beef lunch box with it. I read reviews advising not to eat the rice inside the shell to avoid dirt from the urchin, so I got it in the shell (do it for the pics) then asked for a small bowl to take everything out to mix. I might have mixed two too many uni pieces (there were about 5). Next time I’ll leave two or three pieces to eat on the size to avoid making the rice TOO rich tasting – which my friend wasn’t diggin too much even though this is my new comfort food. I hope next time they’ll let me order extra roe.
***Don’t forget to add soy sauce!
BEEF LUNCH BOX.
It was okay. Very ordinary and simple foods. It was more of a sample of each thing, but it was worth the money. About $ 8?
PORTION.
What we ordered fed two comfortably for a light lunch.

Uni bowl is the bomb! Uni is so fresh and the rice is perfect. The best uni bowl so far :) Will come back for more uni uni!

Ive been here a couple of times. This place is great!!! I got their halibut special where you get the sashimi and also all the other parts of the fish in a broth. Amazing! Their uni bowl rice is amazing as well. Owners are real nice. Good place to get some good sashimi!

Place is a dump. Everything is old and looks like nothings been maintained/​cleaned for years. Needs serious tidying up. The owner is rude and is working bare feet in slippers! The uni might be okay but everything else sucks. If you aren’t an older Korean customer. look elsewhere.

Fresh sea urchin… For just 10 bucks?! It’s too great to be true. Great quality for the price.
I suggest get the rice on the side to avoid all the dirt from the sea urchin.

Here’s the thing:
If you’re a regular customer, a fluent Korean speaker and over 40 years old, you’re going to get excellent service, huge portions and rock-​bottom prices eating some of the freshest Korean style sashimi in Southern CA. My parents occupy all three strata of this triumvirate, and so I’ve had nothing but great experiences at Kan Sai Sushi.
That being said, I can totally see why there are reviews where folks complain about the service, pricing or the general operations of this establishment. I’m sure I would feel that way too if I weren’t in such illustrious company and afforded special treatment. This of course is courtesy of certain characteristics passed down from my ancestors irrespective of my qualities/​achievements as a human being. Ostensibly, this must be what white privilege feels like: AKA fucking awesome…
Our most recent repast:
— Fresh oyster appetizer x 3
— Seabass sashimi platter
— Fresh uni platter
— Sea pineapple/​sea urchin plate
— Uni with rice
— Grilled seabass collar
— Spicy seafood stew
— «Special» handroll x 2
— 2 bottles of Chamiseul soju
— Assorted Korean side dishes (banchan), sauces and accoutrements
Having dealt with childhood obesity for much of his youth, your humble author generally takes great pains not to overeat for fear that he will quickly descend back into the depths of morbid corpulence. Still, all that shit went out the door when I was confronted by the largesse placed in front of us. Everything was fresh, tasty and more than vaguely reminiscent of sea-​side excursions to Haeundae beach back in the old country.
As both of my parents hail from coastal areas in the Hermit Kingdom, I feel that my DNA is similarly coded towards culinary appreciation for seafood products… along with the requisite Korean alcoholism and penchant for emotional abuse towards romantic partners, but I’ll stop while I’m ahead. The tally for such extravagance, dear readers? $ 122.74! Just an unbelievable value for such a ridiculous amount of seafood as evidenced by how full we all were.
TLDR: Go with old Korean regulars and you’re gonna get taken care of… otherwise, caveat emptor.

5 stars for the Uni, this place has some of the best Uni I’ve ever had and for only $ 10 dollars!
It was even better than the live Uni that you get from Redondo Beach and cheaper too.
Everything else was mediocre and deserves 2 or 3 stars at best.

It was quite empty when we came for dinner on a friday night — never a good sign. But most of the Unilocal reviews were right… the uni can be very good but also a hit or miss.
The first one I ordered was not very pretty as the spikes were almost all gone but it was still very good. The second one I got was very fresh with long spikes that were still moving! So yes, it is a hit or miss and I would only come here for the uni. The fish inside their sushi rolls was almost still frozen — pass.

Came here with my parents and their friends. I had such an amazing meal. I was blown away by their presentation and how fresh all the sashimi tasted. Definitely recommend coming here for great sashimi!

I been here several times with family, if you’re ever in garden grove this is the one spot I recommend for sashimi. Service was above and beyond. Workers are very friendly and aim to please. Everything is super fresh, will definitely be coming back in near future whenever in the area (:

Overall: It’s a good place to come for lunch because the lunch specials are decent and very cheap for a Japanese restaurant. But don’t come here solely for sushi or sashimi. Those things are better left to other restaurants.
Food: 3.5
Miso Soup: This is given to every customer. It’s one of the best miso soups I’ve ever had because the flavors are perfectly balanced. It isn’t too salty like most places. However, I would like more seaweed or tofu in it rather than just a simple broth.
Scallop Sushi: I’m used to scallop sushi being made in the typical nigiri sushi fashion, but this one was made in the gunkanmaki shape and topped with a sauce and fish roe. I was surprised by the extra toppings, but I always trust the sushi chef. The sauce (it’s spicy so be careful!) and fish roe weren’t bad, but I felt like it masked the natural sweetness of the scallop.
Uni Egg Sushi: This is literally a live uni with it’s top cut off and stuff with rice and a variety of fish roe. When it comes out, mix the roe and uni into the rice and enjoy! I was a little skeptical as to the quality of the uni because it’s a small restaurant with only a few tables at a time, but the uni and roe tasted fresh.
Lunch Bento Box: This came with mackerel, white rice, 2 pieces of California roll, 3 pieces of nigiri sushi, 3 pieces of fluke sashimi, an assortment of tempura, and your typical Korean side banchan. The mackerel was well cooked; it wasn’t dry, the skin was crisp, and the meat was sweet and a little salted (I’m sure it was salted mackerel). It was a little oily though. The tempura was crispy and the banchan was good. The nigiri sushi and sashimi didn’t taste like it was of the best quality because the salmon was bland and the others were dry, but it was ok.
Service: 4
The sole waitress is very nice and attentive, and the two sushi chefs seem really nice even though I didn’t get a chance to talk to them.
Ambience: 3
It’s located in a quiet plaza so parking isn’t hard to find. I was skeptical of the quality of the food because the restaurant was a little old and it wasn’t very busy, but the food ended up being ok so don’t fret too much!

Sushi is okay here, pretty pricey for what you get. I came here solely for the Uni Rice, which tasted just like what everyone had previously said. I think it could have been more tasty if they used sushi rice instead of regular. I got a large because they didn’t have any of the smells left. I really liked the presentation and service could be better! I might come back to give this place another shot only if I’m in the area.

OMG!!! Uni Bowls!!!
Fresh uni (spikes still moving) with rice for only $ 10! That is so cheap! There are 5 pieces of uni in a shell; it tastes so good when you mix the uni with the rice. I think I ate two bowls and still wanted more!
The salmon and yellowtail sushi are alright. Fresh shrimp is okay too.
Next time, I want to try this fish that they have in the fish tanks. I don’t know what its called but it looks strange with a flat body and eyes sticking out.

The following is an actual conversation between the four members of our family.
«I want sushi.»
«Your dad wants kimchi food.» (yes that’s what we call korean food in my household)
«No, I don’t.»
«OMGOODNESS I’M HUNGERSSSSS JUST CHOOSE SOMEWHERE.»
Only Kansai sushi could settle this type of dispute in my household. With complimentary korean side dishes and miso soup, as well as a bento box with tempura, rice, sashimi, and teriyaki chicken, Kansai sushi really hit the spot. The tiny slices sashimi were definitely not the highlight of the meal; they were pretty small to even tell if they tasted that good or not. However, nothing about the meal was bad, and all that food for 7ish dollars is quite a deal. They also serve ginormous sashimi and sushi boats here, which I wanna try next time. And the uni! When you’re feeling indecisive about what to eat, check out KanSai.