Sushi Wasabi
14460 Newport Ave # E
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 505-3496

Sushi Wasabi is a small Tustin sushi bar with a chef who has a “Soup Nazi” like reputation. For some reason, having a temperamental control freak serving me food is intriguing. With that mindset, I walked in and ordered. I chose the omakase so that I could see what this guy was all about.

He started us off with a Canadian Albacore Salad and I was surprised how much ponzu sauce the fish was bathing in. It tasted pretty good, but that’s only because I love ponzu. One thing that really appealed to my inner food snob was that the chef told us where each seafood was from. Now, I only eat albacore from Canada. Yeah Right.

 Next up was Hawaiian Tuna Nigri which looked beautiful and tasted good, but not great. Even the warm rice couldn’t reduce some toughness in the fish. Warm Rice with sushi?!! Let me explain.

Some sushi restaurants insist on serving their sushi on warm rice. It can bring the fish to a temperature which intensifies its flavor and “meltiness”. At these places, don’t expect your sushi’s structure to hold up if you are not eating at the bar and don’t even think of ordering take out. Actually, I don’t think Sushi Wasabi even makes orders to go.

Back to that night’s food. The Salmon Nigri had clear kelp and sesame on top of the fish. This was a new preparation for me, but I think it was unnecessary. The fish underneath was delicious nonetheless.

The New Zealand Red Snapper Nigri was the next course. Again, it was good, but not great. Much of the flavor of the fish was lost because it was so cold.

The Blue Crab (from Texas) Hand Roll was delicious. The crab was mixed in with some mayo and served warm like a small Japanese crustacean burrito. And I love burritos.

The Baked Scallop was a very unique preparation. Plenty of browned onions topped the scallops which bathed in a saucy mixture. It was interesting, but I think that the strong flavors of the sauce and onions overpowered the scallops.

The Japanese Yellowtail Nigri was pretty good. It was a refreshing follow up to the scallops, but the thick slices of yellowtail were a bit too chewy. I really wanted the sushi to melt in my mouth to get the full flavor of the fish.

The Kumamoto Oysters from Seattle were awesome little shooters. It was a long wait for oyster season to roll around again and I was glad the Sushi-Nazi served these guys up.

The Japanese Scallop Nigri was also a hit. The perfectly sized scallops were delicious and refreshing especially with a light squeeze of lime juice.

The Uni Sushi from Santa Barbara was also great. The only complaint I have is that the uni was served too cold, but it is hard for me to find any other fault with this fresh uni.

The final course was the BBQ Japanese Eel. There was a heavy sprinkling of black pepper which really gave the BBQ Eel a unique extra savory taste.

I think the food at Sushi Wasabi was good, but some of the standard nigri pieces were lacking. The fish was fresh, but not as fresh as I hoped, and often times the serving temperature was just too cold. These inadequacies were a bit surprising considering the $70/person price. On the other hand, I did get quite a lot of food for my buck. The service was top notch despite the warnings I heard about the tyrannical chef. I do think ordering omakase is the way to go here since they do have some unique variations that I really enjoyed.

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