Kaisen Sushi Bar
3855 S Bristol St
Santa Ana, CA 92704
714-444-2161
Kaisen Sushi is known for their revolving sushi and their $1.75 daily specials. They have a $1.75 lobster hand roll on Wednesday. Not sure what their other daily specials maybe but they are all $1.75.
They had a jumbo shrimp tempura special for $3.75. This was awesome. Shrimp the size of a damn tree branch, covered with a crunchy tempura coating, served hot!!!! A steal at $3.75. This was up on their daily special chalk board.
I had to try the tuna and yellowtail sushi, $2.25 each. Both of these were fresh, tasty and well worth the price. I could have ordered two orders and this would have been the same size but half the price of Asakasa in Hacienda Heights.
Shrimp tempura hand roll, $2.75. This was so much better than Asakasa. Fresh, the shrimp tempura was decent size and there was actually shrimp inside that tempura. The avocado, imitation crab meat, everything was so fresh.
The lobster hand roll, $1.75 on Wednesday. A great great hand roll, lots of lobster, fresh
Service is good. I was right in front of the sushi chefs, so I didn't get the full revolving sushi experience. But the sushi was served up quick and fresh. The server refilled drinks quickly. But they don't take away the dishes because that's how they add up the bill. Each plate color is a certain price, ranging from 99 cents to $3.75.
I would go back to Kaisen anytime. The shrimp tempura roll was worth the $2.75 but would be a steal at $1.75. The lobster rolls are a steal at the regular $.3.50 but one of the best deals at $1.75. After a bad experience at Asakasa, I'm glad I made the drive to Kaisen. Good, fresh sushi at good prices. I would have never thought that a sushi place next to a Staples would be so good!!!
Update: Dec 4th.
I went back to Kaisen and added a picture of their daily specials.
I decided to get the lobster hand cut roll, $7. It was just as good as the hand roll, filled with lots of lobster and avocado. A good deal at $7.
I went on a Thursday so it was soft shell crab hand rolls for $1.75. I'm not a big fan of a soft shell crab but I figured why not try it. It's only $1.75. What a surprise. The soft shell crab was nice and crunchy and very tasty. There was also sushi rice (duh), imitation crab meat and avocado. All very fresh and good. I finished off three orders.
Service was pretty good but I'm really starting to get mad about servers asking, when they pick up the check, they ask if I need change. No that's not professional. A better way to handle this situation is, "I'll be right back with your change." That serves two purposes. I could be a reminder to the customer, ME, to say keep the change. Of course the other is not to piss off people, who are tipping you.
