Sushi Yuen

Sushi Yuen has been my favorite omakase restaurant since 2021, and after all these years it continues to impress me every time I visit.

One of the things I appreciate most is how the menu changes with the seasons. The summer and winter menus are always my favorites, and each visit feels unique because of the seasonal ingredients and thoughtful course selections. You can tell how much care the chef puts into every detail, and I love that he personally travels to Japan to source ingredients himself.

The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, the presentation is beautiful, and the quality is consistently exceptional. Sushi Yuen is the standard I compare every other omakase experience to. Highly recommended.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

One of the best experiences for omakase Japanese food.
I made reservations for lunch . The restaurant is small and cozy with counter seating serving about 7-10 people total
Restaurant requires deposit and reservation

The restaurant is very clean and traditional Japanese aesthetic
The server and chef is extremely attentive and makes the dishes right in front of you and giving you detail description of each dish
Price is seasonal at the time of this review is about $200 for lunch

Definitely the highest end restaurant in the area that doesn’t disappoint

I would definitely try again if I have the opportunity. Great for date or special occasions

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Omakase

Always on point!!!! Ryan and crew always provide the palate with umami flavors making you wanting more!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

AMAZING hidden sushi restaurant!

Located in a typical SGV strip mall with plenty of free self parking.

The restaurant is hidden.
Reservations are REQUIRED and not easy to get.

The restaurant cozy and only has bar seating and accommodate about 12 guests at a time.

Seems like they only offer dinner and there are only two options...5:30pm and 7:30pm.
Arrived at 5:30 and was finished by 7:30

The omokase sushi is DELICIOUS! probably some of the best I've ever had.

Everything was fresh and tasty.
The staff is super friendly and hospitable.

Every dish is prepared right in front of you and the chef explains what it is and from which area of Japan it came from.

They aim for quality not quantity. With that said, be prepared for the bill... Price is a bit hefty. About $300 per person... Not including any drinks.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

I wish this place was better. I would actually take half a star off if I could. While ingredients are good. The balance of flavors is off. Tried to play too much into the salty umami side of Japanese cuisine and overshadowed the natural flavors of the ingredients.

The showmanship while effort was given it was not executed well. Yes I understand you want to show that the ingredients are fresh and came from a particular area, but when the box is wet and dirty you should not have it in front of your customers on the cutting board. Just simply have the ingredient in a prep container and the customer can see it while you work. There is also no need to show that each and every ingredient came from Japan. I think your customers will understand if you just tell them or simply have a menu for the service that annotates as much.

Also please check your tableware down to your coasters. Which at one point was quite beautiful until through use and spillage got dirty to the point you could not have it clean anymore. Please just replace it or find a substitute.

Remember that this is sushi. The star of the show is the rice.

If I misunderstood the concept I would be happy to remove this review.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 4

This place is amazing from the food to the service. Fresh fish and wonderful taste, not one bite was disappointing. High recommended especially if you want to impress someone or on a special date. Chefs make the experience so much more memorable

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food quality is great, except that people here do not have the highest sanitary standards. They might pass on this board which tells you all about the fish and then get back to sushi without washing their hands completely. They might take out a box from a drawer and then get back to food without washing their hands. Please distribute tasks of different sanitation to different people or wash hands more often

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

I’ve been wanting to try Sushi Yuen for a couple years now, after a friend recommended it to me, but had always been a little late to get a reservation. Luckily, I found a spot on a Wednesday night at 5:30pm. I had walked past Sushi Yuen’s wooden door many times, and finally I would be able to go inside! 

The inside feels simple, yet refined and classy. There is a single intimate bar, seating about 10 people. There were 7 guests total during our seating time - many of which seemed to be regulars and know the chef, Chef Ryan. Chef Ryan was kind, friendly, and humble. He had a lot of knowledge of his ingredients and seasonality. “This fish is from here. This fish can only be eaten during this season. Winter is the best because the fish are bigger.” Listening to him was interesting, and I learned a lot about sushi. For reference we dined in September, so our menu was “summer going into fall.”

My favorite bite of the night was the sawara - king mackerel, which Chef Ryan described as having properties more similar to tuna than mackerel. These properties definitely reflected in the taste of the sawara.. Rather than the salty brine we usually associate with mackerel, this fish was buttery, clean, and slightly sweet. As a tuna enthusiast, I really liked it. If I had the option to, I would’ve asked for another piece. Speaking of tuna, I also liked the chopped toro handroll with pickled radish. There was a freshness to it similar to that of negitoro that I really liked. I found the akami and the settoro, however, just decent in comparison to other tuna I’ve had at lower price points. It was my first time hearing of and having settoro. Chef Ryan describes it as having a leanness between that of akami and chuutoro. Chuutoro is one of my favorite pieces of sushi, but that night, I found myself thinking that even the chuutoro was a bit lean. I wonder if seasonality had something to do with this. Perhaps winter really is a better time to visit.

In addition, there were some dishes that I didn’t particularly enjoy. The beltfish, to me, was a bit plain. I’m also not the biggest fan of textures like uni or botan ebi, which unfortunately made several appearances throughout the night. And although I enjoyed the hairy crab chawanmushi, I also did not enjoy the gelatinous texture of the hairy crab with vinegar sauce.

On the other hand, the A5 Wagyu shabu shabu with matsutake mushroom and shellfish broth was delicious. The beef was excellent quality and melted in your mouth. Dessert was also impeccable. I believe the Crown Honeydew Melon is something of a signature for the chef - you know, those super expensive Japanese melons that people always talk about. It was delicious. The flesh of the melon tasted so ripe, sweet, and juicy. The grilled mochi served alongside it was also very good.

The experience is definitely pricey, but I think it’s worth it for special occasions. Chef Ryan’s hospitality was warm and his knowledge of his craft made this an enlightening experience. Overall, even though there were some dishes that were not my favorite, there were a lot of delicious courses, and I enjoyed my time at Sushi Yuen.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Came here for lunch a few times before the price more than doubled since the Michelin mention. Good food, good presentation, no reservations for lunch so we had to line up 30+ minutes before it opens. There are 2 seating for lunch.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 3

Fresh and rate fish option, chief is friendly and keep introducing the different rare fish to every customer. Menu is updated every season.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

One of my go to omakase spots

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The experience is nice. Food is adequate, not too exceptional. The ingredients used were very high quality.

Really good omakase, probably the best one in North OC area. Lunch omakase is about $160 for 15 courses. The staff and chef were very attentive. It is reservation only and there's only 9 seats. The ambiance is nice and the restaurant and bathroom smell like hinoki.

Top omakase lunch experience

The food is top-quality, featuring fresh ingredients and innovative cooking techniques, but it is definitely on the pricey side…. It’s fun to watch the chefs prepare the dishes right in front of you. The small, quiet setting makes it ideal for a romantic date, though it’s not the best choice if you’re seeking a lively atmosphere to eat and chat.