Monday, February 03, 2020

My Top 5 Favorite Restaurants: Sushi Noguchi - Yorba Linda


To start the new year and a new chapter of Monster Munching, I am counting down my top five favorite restaurants in the next few posts. And when I say "favorite", I mean it. Over the last year, I ate at these restaurants more than I can count. In fact, not only are they in my regular rotation, I visited all five again within the last two weeks of 2019. The last on the alphabetical list:

Sushi Noguchi


The Japanese word omakase means “chef’s choice,” giving sushi masters a free license to serve you whatever they think best. But lately, the word has come to mean something more: an ultra-expensive, multicourse meal that can tick up to the triple digits. This is certainly the case at a certain Costa Mesa sushi restaurant that recently earned a Michelin star. But at Sushi Noguchi, the prix-fixe meal called “Jun’s Omakase” has always retailed for under $60.

There’s a seared albacore salad to start, then a carpaccio of the day. Next is a sampler plate with a trio of cooked items; among them may be a fish-stuffed shishito tempura, a braised pork belly with hot mustard, or a crispy-fried shrimp katsu on a stick. After that, expect another raw fish dish to precede a four-piece nigiri. This might then be followed by a baked blue-crab hand roll so sweet it could double as dessert.

Since what’s served varies according to the season, you're almost guaranteed not to get the meal I described above when you visit. But one thing remains constant: Jun’s Omakase proves not only that you don’t have to pay a premium for a quality experience, but also that omakase can mean “bargain.”

Sushi Noguchi
18507 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Yorba Linda, CA 92886
(714) 777-6789
http://www.sushinoguchi.com

2 Comments:

At 6:51 PM, Blogger Nancy said...

Hey Elmo, returning to read your blog (trying to stay away from online shopping) after a hiatus. I guess I need to give Noguchi another try (once this COVID-19 is under control). Each time we've been there (omakase each time), I was never blown away (sushi was fine) and felt that his fish cuts were too big for the rice and served with ponzu. It's not a place that I would recommend if someone asked me for omakase. We only heard about Sushi Noguchi through you. Shunka, Kakurega, Shibucho, and even Ohshima are what I would recommend before Sushi Noguchi.

 
At 7:51 AM, Blogger elmomonster said...

Hi Nancy!

Thanks for the comment and welcome back!

Although I started out doing the Hiro Omakase, I always order the "Jun's Omakase" these days...But there was one time I wasn't totally impressed with Noguchi. I chalk it up to it being Valentine's Day when they were trying to make the sushi all at once for a lot of people on their Valentine's dates (and it was also more expensive than usual)...

But I do also like the omakase at Shunka (exotic and sticker shock to prove it), Kakurega (no complaints), Shibucho (slipping ever since the father left) and Ohshima (no complaints)...

One of my favorites is also Nana San...their omakase is probably my number 2!

 

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