Best date night spot! We love the owner and tonight Hannah provided amazing suggestions. Take their recs and enjoy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jasper Kang
Usually I never leave reviews but this experience was terrible.The meat skewers were extremely cold, hard, and were obviously cooked hours ago. They are supposed to be known for their meat skewers, but it was a big disappointment.We got salmon sashimi which was extremely rotten and smelly. Thankfully, they took it back and refunded the salmon, but we still got food poisoning from it immediately after.(Only ate 1 piece with my friend but we both got food poisoning/stomach pain for 2 days afterwards)We tried many food items, and the only good things were the dumplings (which are likely store-bought) and bao buns. Both were 3/5 good, not amazing - but the only two items that were not 0/5The service was also atrocious. I have been a server myself for 10+ years at several restaurants so there is no excuse. After we were seated, it took way too long to come get our drinks/order (about 30 minutes with an almost empty restaurant).On top of that, they FORGOT our drinks after taking so long to take the order. We had to ask for our drinks 3 times before finally, our server said someone else forgot it.When we ordered more food, we again had to remind and ask multiple times - with only 2-3 other tables in the entire restaurant.We went on 3/1/2024 at 9pm. I assume that probably the service and food are not regularly this terrible. But on this night, it was a really terrible experience, such that someone who never leaves reviews was prompted to do so.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Taylar Parry
WOW! This place is phenomenal! We tried several dishes and I wanted seconds of every single one. Staff was friendly and informative, and the atmosphere is cool and cozy. Definitely worth checking this place out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Garlic Noodles with Vegetables, Brussels Sprouts
Kimberly Vo
More like a 3.5 star rating, overall a solid find! We shared a lot of small dishes between three people and everything was enjoyable. The place is fairly busy, and the parking lot also fills up. We particularly enjoyed the skewers
Alan Buckley
Great place, professional staff, tasty food and fine selection of Japanese
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
SJ Yang
Pretty cool ambiance here. Nice and chic.Food was decent at best based on what I’ve tried.Tsukune - the meatballs were quite dry even with the sauce. Overcooked.Crispy unagi - probably should’ve skipped this.Karage - actually pretty tasty. But nothing special.Kurobata sausage - averageGarlic noodles w/ shrimp - way too mushroomy. They might as well just call this mushroom noodles.All in all, it was quite pricey for what it is and the portions weren’t even that big. Compared to other izakayas I’ve been to in oc, they overcharge by a good amount. Granted, it’s a cool ambiance for a night out but strictly food-wise, it could be so much more.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Wanyu Jhuang
We had a late dinner at the bar seats, great food and atmosphere! Although we seated 15 minutes before the kitchen closed, the server and bartender were really friendly and helpful, they made sure that we ordered enough food and checked periodically.
Ambiance: The place is really cool! I recommend sitting near the bar because the area is dimly lit which gives it a really classy feeling Food: FOOD WAS 10/10 I went with one friend and we finished everything!! Our favorite by far was the salmon sashimi (think it's called something else on the menu) it is izakaya like so portions are smaller and a bit more expensive but we liked it! Service: the staff are really nice and chill! They have tattoos so that means they are cool!Rec for like a date if you are trying to impress or you have a lot of money!
We ordered Cucumber Sunomono , Chicken Katsu, unagi & crispy rice which was the most delicious , Pork Belly and Yellow Tale Poke delicious choice . The restaurant is very small but has a modern Japanese culture .
Anastasia R.
I have gone into Oak and Coal a few times now. I'm super impressed by the quality of the food! Everything I have had has been delicious. Some of my favorites have been the edamame hummus (MUST TRY) and wagyu skewers. The unagi crispy rice was out of my comfort zone but I'm glad I tried it! I'm unsure about the complaints about the pricing in other reviews considering the quality of the food, ingredients received, labor involved & presentation- seems fair to me! The service was great. Our server, a girl (can't remember her name!) was so sweet to us and very bubbly. You can tell the staff gets along so well, which is always fun to be around. I'd definitely recommend checking out the back bar area! It has a speak-easy vibe to it and is quite fun for a night out with your friends.Will be visiting again!
Ayah S.
Small restaurant located in a random plaza. Service was great. Only complaint is that the waitress let us know about their special after we already ordered. Dumplings and bao buns were delicious. The chicken was alright, I've definitely had better kushiyaki. Food was overpriced for bite size options. It was loud and difficult to hear the person speaking to you, so the ambience was a good 2/5. It's a good find if you're looking for something light and quick.
Best date night spot! We love the owner and tonight Hannah provided amazing suggestions. Take their recs and enjoy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Usually I never leave reviews but this experience was terrible.The meat skewers were extremely cold, hard, and were obviously cooked hours ago. They are supposed to be known for their meat skewers, but it was a big disappointment.We got salmon sashimi which was extremely rotten and smelly. Thankfully, they took it back and refunded the salmon, but we still got food poisoning from it immediately after.(Only ate 1 piece with my friend but we both got food poisoning/stomach pain for 2 days afterwards)We tried many food items, and the only good things were the dumplings (which are likely store-bought) and bao buns. Both were 3/5 good, not amazing - but the only two items that were not 0/5The service was also atrocious. I have been a server myself for 10+ years at several restaurants so there is no excuse. After we were seated, it took way too long to come get our drinks/order (about 30 minutes with an almost empty restaurant).On top of that, they FORGOT our drinks after taking so long to take the order. We had to ask for our drinks 3 times before finally, our server said someone else forgot it.When we ordered more food, we again had to remind and ask multiple times - with only 2-3 other tables in the entire restaurant.We went on 3/1/2024 at 9pm. I assume that probably the service and food are not regularly this terrible. But on this night, it was a really terrible experience, such that someone who never leaves reviews was prompted to do so.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
WOW! This place is phenomenal! We tried several dishes and I wanted seconds of every single one. Staff was friendly and informative, and the atmosphere is cool and cozy. Definitely worth checking this place out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Garlic Noodles with Vegetables, Brussels Sprouts
More like a 3.5 star rating, overall a solid find! We shared a lot of small dishes between three people and everything was enjoyable. The place is fairly busy, and the parking lot also fills up. We particularly enjoyed the skewers
Great place, professional staff, tasty food and fine selection of Japanese
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pretty cool ambiance here. Nice and chic.Food was decent at best based on what I’ve tried.Tsukune - the meatballs were quite dry even with the sauce. Overcooked.Crispy unagi - probably should’ve skipped this.Karage - actually pretty tasty. But nothing special.Kurobata sausage - averageGarlic noodles w/ shrimp - way too mushroomy. They might as well just call this mushroom noodles.All in all, it was quite pricey for what it is and the portions weren’t even that big. Compared to other izakayas I’ve been to in oc, they overcharge by a good amount. Granted, it’s a cool ambiance for a night out but strictly food-wise, it could be so much more.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
We had a late dinner at the bar seats, great food and atmosphere! Although we seated 15 minutes before the kitchen closed, the server and bartender were really friendly and helpful, they made sure that we ordered enough food and checked periodically.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Jumbo Shrimp, Chicken Karaage, Chicken Kaarage
Great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Way over priced and below average service.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Ambiance: The place is really cool! I recommend sitting near the bar because the area is dimly lit which gives it a really classy feeling Food: FOOD WAS 10/10 I went with one friend and we finished everything!! Our favorite by far was the salmon sashimi (think it's called something else on the menu) it is izakaya like so portions are smaller and a bit more expensive but we liked it! Service: the staff are really nice and chill! They have tattoos so that means they are cool!Rec for like a date if you are trying to impress or you have a lot of money!
Restaurantji Recommends
Awesome bartender, delicious food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
What a great night. Thank you.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We ordered Cucumber Sunomono , Chicken Katsu, unagi & crispy rice which was the most delicious , Pork Belly and Yellow Tale Poke delicious choice . The restaurant is very small but has a modern Japanese culture .
I have gone into Oak and Coal a few times now. I'm super impressed by the quality of the food! Everything I have had has been delicious. Some of my favorites have been the edamame hummus (MUST TRY) and wagyu skewers. The unagi crispy rice was out of my comfort zone but I'm glad I tried it! I'm unsure about the complaints about the pricing in other reviews considering the quality of the food, ingredients received, labor involved & presentation- seems fair to me! The service was great. Our server, a girl (can't remember her name!) was so sweet to us and very bubbly. You can tell the staff gets along so well, which is always fun to be around. I'd definitely recommend checking out the back bar area! It has a speak-easy vibe to it and is quite fun for a night out with your friends.Will be visiting again!
Small restaurant located in a random plaza. Service was great. Only complaint is that the waitress let us know about their special after we already ordered. Dumplings and bao buns were delicious. The chicken was alright, I've definitely had better kushiyaki. Food was overpriced for bite size options. It was loud and difficult to hear the person speaking to you, so the ambience was a good 2/5. It's a good find if you're looking for something light and quick.