sushi ii in Newport Beach

Wonderful Omakase experience! Chef was very skilled, friendly, and funny. They opened during Covid so it’s amazing they’re still here. But then with the chefs, the attentive staff, and the quality of ingredients explains it all. The dining experience it pretty close to private since the room is limited to about 25 guests. Reservations only. Def order their sakes….so good with the food.

Came for omakase. Was hesitant after reading some of the reviews. I’m a big fan of well done omakase. This place delivers. It’s clear to me the negative reviews don’t really get it. They’d be better off looking for a place with California rolls. Sushi ii is solid. Fresh fish from Japan, master sushi chefs, a great saki list, and attentive service. I will be going back!!

We have been looking for authentic sushi places in Newport Beach. A friend of mine whose husband is Japanese highly recommends this place. From the price, you can tell it’s a high rank sushi place but we are happy to pay more if the food quality is justified.I like places that you can make reservation online especially during Covid. They take deposit $50/person for dinner and so we decided to try their lunch first. If it’s good, we will go back for the omakase.The patio seating is actually very nice. Service was good and quick. I ordered the sushi lunch set $60 and my husband ordered a la carte nigiris.Green tea was from high quality green tea powder. The appetiser was very different. Miso soup was one of the best! And the nigiris were an absolute WOW! The toro maki roll was surprisingly outstanding! The salmon was best I have tried! The toro... OMG!!! The sea eel was very different! I loved the new sensation!! And the best for me was... the amaebi!!! $18/piece but it’s totally worth it! Best of the best!!! My husband liked the Saba so much (very traditional)! Everything was just so good!The dessert - green tea red bean ice cream. A must try!!!Without a doubt, the best sushi place in Newport Beach. Chef ii brings his years of experience from Osaka in each piece of nigiri that he serves. It’s totally worth the $!

It is not often that you get the experience of dining at a sushi restaurant recommended by a Michelin star sushi chef. Tonight, I had the pleasure of dining at Sushi-ii, a relatively new, high-end sushi bar located in Newport Beach.Sushi-ii is tucked away past residential areas of Newport Beach, which makes it a much more pleasant experience to find parking and enjoy the dining experience. The interior of the restaurant draws inspiration from a clean modern Japanese sushi bar, with about 10 seats at the main bar and 3 or 4 tables.There are three main dining choices: Bizen, Oribe, and Karatsu. Tonight, I chose Karatsu, the nigiri omakase. This course advertises a starter, 12 nigiri, miso soup, and a dessert.At the sushi bar, you are seated with place setting consisting of a hand towel, a napkin, and a pair of chopsticks. This particular style of chopstick is gaining in popularity, as they combine a clean splinter-free design, while also still being disposable and clean.Right off the bat, we are served some tofu with dashi broth and egg yolk on top. This was a very soft but still surprisingly flavorful tofu, much better than any packaged tofu.The nigiri I was served, in order, include:Red SnapperAmberjackBluefin TunaSpanish MackerelSweet ShrimpBaby Snapper (with sea kelp)Hokkaido UniSalmonSalmon RoeScallopYellowtailFatty Tuna (Toro)Gizzard ShadEel (Unagi)Egg Sushi (Tamago)To finish off the night, a choice of dessert is presented. Panna cotta, tiramisu, or various ice cream flavors. I chose the panna cotta.If you are ordering a nigiri omakase, the aspect that matters the most is the quality of the fish. And this restaurant delivered. Every single cut had the traits of a high quality fish flown in fresh from Japan, with their distinct and welcoming flavors.The two notable nigiri of the night are the amaebi and unagi. What makes amaebi excellent to me is the sweet creaminess and soft flavors of the shrimp. This sweet shrimp was full of flavor and sweetness, and came served with the head, prepared to your preference. I selected tempura fried, and it was very well done -- perfectly crispy, and full of flavor.The unagi is something special, and I will be thinking about this for days to come. Taken out of its marinade when you are seated, the cut eel is set aside until it is ready to be served. At that time, it is cooked on a special cute small Japanese grill and it is grilled right then and there. No blow torch eel. Cooked over a grill in a very Japanese fashion. Then it is topped off with eel sauce, and the result is sublime. You get the jam packed flavor bomb of warm unagi, with the melt in your mouth butteriness of fresh eel. This piece is truly something sublime and was the most notable bite of the night.I love finishing off dishes with tamago, and their egg is a no nonsense sushi. No rice, no seaweed, just a block of tamago chopped and served.Some other highlights include the excellent japanese sencha green tea, and the care and attention of the waitresses explaining every element of the plated dishes.

It was one of the best of Sushi places in Town. We had the wonderful time and the foods were delicious and well crafted by the Fun loving and experience Chef.

Was more than we expected and a very authentic Japanese experience. Some have commented that the prices are too high but the sushi is amazing and unique for anywhere out of Japan. I would recommend and will definitely return when in Orange County.

We dined there a while ago and it was the worst omakase I’ve had in the entire SoCal.The food was mediocre at best. The fish was no different than any other decent $10 apiece restaurant, the overall flavor was even blander. The service, however, was atrocious. My wife doesn’t eat wasabi and always asks the wasabi be put on the side. The sushi dishes as they come one by one, all had wasabi in them.I can’t imagine a chef not remembering a simple request from customer, even after we reminded him repeatedly. I’m just so baffled by the incommunicable chef to the point the whole experience made me slightly uncomfortable as if I somehow offended him.We’ve heard not so good things about this place but we were stuck in weekend traffic and hungry. Now we won’t come back for sure.

Koji was fantastic as well as the wait staff. It was such a great experience!

NEVER GO THERE! Total SCAM!We booked this restaurant to have a romantic dinner and it was an epic fail!It is an ugly location in a parking lot/mall like building which for a 300$ per person dinner is quite inappropriate.The service was terrible, food was average, because of the set menu the quantities were very small. The included dessert was outrageous. We were rushed to eat and to pay and to get out.

Sushi is at best average but certainly not worth the price. When I spend $250 per head, I expected great sushi. But this place is not it.The sushi here is not authentic sushi but not yet fusion either (à la Nobu).The chef needs to learn to pace the food servings. This is kitchen basic 101.... when the customer still have 3 plates of sushi on their table, its time for the chef to slow down! This is not McDonalds fast food here. Its as though they wanted to move along and shove us out of the restaurant.As for service, they were efficient, but not friendly.This place is not busy, and I can see why. I would not come back.