Kaisen Kaiten Sushi Bar
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Sun 11:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
45 reviews
Huntington Beach, CA
"I have to give this place some justice! I am a true fan of sushi, after all besides being the fact that I am Japanese, my aunt owned a…" read more »
62 Reviews for Kaisen Kaiten Sushi Bar
Love this place!!!! Missing a star just because their rotating/revolving belt doesn't always have ALL of my favorites, everything can just be ordered but picking food from the belt is just so fun!
If you are looking to eat light and watching your budget, this is the place to do. the revolving belt is filled with rolls, sushi and other morsels of food for your picking, each plate color is a specific price, they have daily hand roll specials that range from $1.25 - $1.75 per roll, I usually spend $10-$15 there for lunch once to twice a week. They open at 11:30 for lunch, get there a little before that because it gets crowded. The place is.....cozy so seating is limited during peak hours.
If you like Tofu and Salad, try the Tofu Salad, my GF swears by it.
I've blown hundreds at sushi restaurants and not left as satisfied as I've left this place after spending $30.
You just cannot complain about this place.
The quality/price ratio is unbelievable. It's the definition of value.
They have different $1.75 hand roll specials each night of the week and you can stuff yourself for less than $20.
Th strategic element of when to show up, what to order and what order to eat it in gives each meal a chess-like quality that leaves you feeling like the Kasparov of ballin on a budget.
If you're like me, you've already gone thru the painful process of realizing that your sushi expenditures per month could feed a small, non-3rd-world family and been forced to scale back. Kaisen Kaiten is how you "cheat" your own system and enjoy sushi whenever you like, budget be damned.
As a self-appointed sushi snob, I've always looked condescendingly at the poor souls who eat at "lesser" sushi bars. Somehow, I perceived sushi as an art-form deserving of the high price it commands. Each outing to a sushi bar was a special occasion that my wife and I relished, and paid dearly for. The $150-$200 dinner tab for 2 was simply a reminder that I belonged to a rarefied club, of which the price of admission is a tongue that can discern the subtle changes in flavor as a piece of fish decomposes.
Then on my last trip to Japan, I discovered that sushi is just... food. I visited a relative at a small town near Yokohama. For dinner, he took me to a cheap local kaiten sushi bar where people with modest means can enjoy a sushi dinner. As I watched the diners, many still in their work clothes, crack smiles of satisfaction when they took their first bite of sushi, I realized the errors of my ways. The sushi I had that day was by no means the best, but it was one of the most memorable meal I've had in my life.
Kaisen sushi is the embodiment of that experience: decent sushi at an accessible price. The fishes here are not ultra-high quality, and at $2 an order, you shouldn't expect them to be. Nonetheless, the quality is astonishingly high for the price. Here are some of my tips for the restaurant:
- Order sushi off the order list. The dishes on the belt can be unfresh.
- Ask for wasabi to be placed under the fish when the sushi is made. Seems like their customers generally mix globs of wasabi into the soy sauce and proceed to soak the sushi in this mixture. So the sushi chef doesn't put wasabi under the fish like most sushi places.
- Stuff that will impress you: o-toro, anago, ono (w/o hot sauce), ika (w/ mint leaf), saba (sometimes), spicy albacore belly (not on menu, have to ask for), spicy scallop handroll, softshell crab handroll, jumbo shrimp tempura.
- Stuff that will disappoint you: amaebi (2 small shrimps), uni (haven't had a really fresh one yet), ikura (too salty), hotate (boiled and comes with eel sauce)
-Forgive the occasional inconsistency in quality. There's a big difference between the skill of the chefs.
Dinner for two usually runs $25-$40 here w/o alcohol. That's about 40% of what we usually pay at mid-range sushi bars like Angotei and Shibucho. Kaisen obviously can't and shouldn't be compared to high end shops like Sushi Wasabi or Sushi Katsu-ya. It is a sushi bar where the everyman can drop in and enjoy a quick slice of heaven with the change in his pocket.
Conveyor Belts + Sushi + Hole In The Wall feel= Kaisen Kaiten Sushi Bar.
Sure it's enough to state the obvious, but after knowing O.C.'s fetish for the seafood delicacy reviewing another Sushi place won't hurt at all. Coming here with some friends from UCI the roster is as follows: Charlie Horse, Candy Candice, Kiwi, Kundai, and myself all decided to rendezvous for lunch. It's been a while since I hung out with these folks considering we've all been good friends for a while.
We entered the place and I picked up the menu, scouring to see what's good.
I came in here the last time with the same group of people (minus maybe 2 others), but I couldn't recall the specialties they had. Thankfully on this visit, we had the Lobster Hand Rolls at a special price of $2.50 (instead of the usual $3.50) other items we ordered are as follows, courtesy of the conveyor belt offerings:
-3 orders of Sweet Shrimp
-2 orders of Unagi
-3 orders of White Tuna
-2 orders of Yellow Tail
-2 orders of Smelt Egg
-2 orders of Salmon Skin Hand Roll
-6 orders of Salmon
I think the total of all our receipts came out to about $70.00 plus tax and tip. I also believed we ordered more but I cannot recall considering it was a while back since I actually came to this spot. Would I come back? Sure, if I'm in the area, especially since it's for affordable sushi.
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My first time with sushi that goes by you on the conveyor belt! And it definitely fulfills my need as far as instant gratification goes.... but we didn't take part in any of that food. Honestly - how do they keep track of the food that is made on there? Can they tell how long things have been floating by? That is kind of icky. There were lots of rolls that also had a sauce on them that might make me think that it could go bad just sitting and rotating on that long trek around the restaurant.
Located in a strip mall, very close to my beloved SCP (South Coast Plaza) it was convenient for parking.
I'm so glad though that you can order sushi from the order form, put it in one of the empty tubes rotating around... and then wait for your order on top of your table #. You definitely have to pay attention to the rotating food to see your # go by! I could easily get caught up in convos and then miss my sushi order.
Their specials board is definitely where you need to order from.... such deals as there were lots of choices that were $2.25-$1.75.
We went on a Friday night and it was $1.75 hand rolls of spicy scallops. One of my favorites! Yum! Definitely a winner of the dinner.
We also ordered one of the rolls which had shrimp tempura, a spider roll, albacore, salmon, yellowtail and white tuna. All was fresh in taste but nothing out of the ordinary WOW that was awesome either. One hand roll that we tried was the salmon skin.... and we both couldn't finish it. It had a strong taste and kind of fishy in odor? Like a smoked salmon but much more aggressive.... We both left that on our plates.
Its a solid three stars... might be back more often if I lived a bit closer.... but there are so many places just around the corner I have yet discovered that I am not sure the next time I'll be back....
maybe if I get a sushi craving when shopping at SCP.
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I had never given Kaisen Kaiten much thought, even when I lived in the area, until reading Minh N's ROTD yesterday. I knew this was a "floating" sushi place, but I would have never known about the daily specials on hand rolls or that you could order whatever you wanted from a list rather than taking food off the conveyor belt, had I not read her detailed review.
I met up with my good friend after work last night, and we tried several hand rolls, cut rolls, and nigiri, none "off the belt" since who know how long some of that fish has been going around (and around, and around....) The special for Friday, the spicy scallop hand roll, was awesome! We each ate two of those over the course of the night. And what a deal at $1.75 a pop! The salmon skin hand roll was absolutely terrible though. I did really like the Kaisen cut roll, which had shrimp tempura and spicy tuna in it. Plus the salmon and yellowtail nigiri was really good. I was amazed at the quality of the fish considering the low prices. The spider roll, albacore, and white tuna were all pretty good, too.
I also ordered some sushi to take home to BF for his dinner. I got him the spicy scallop hand roll, Kaisen roll, and two pieces each of salmon roe, yellowtail, and salmon nigiri. It was packaged in two boxes along with ginger and wasabi, and everything made it home intact. His dinner was $12.75 before tip, which I thought was an amazing deal. He really liked everything we had tried, plus he got a look of bliss on his face when he ate the salmon roe.
For my girlfriend and I, our dinners were each about $20, including tax and tip, and I was really full afterward. If you know how to order correctly here, you can have a delicious, yet very affordable meal. Plus the atmosphere is really fun. Just stay off the belt, and you'll be fine!
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for what it is, kaisen kaiten is great! i've been to several conveyor belt sushi places (los angeles, san francisco... sydney, christchurch :D) but this one is pretty much tops.
if you are the type of person who is disturbed that your fish has been swimming around the table for too long, just use the handy dandy order form to get some fresher vittles. that being said, tuna and salmon are mostly the only meats being rotated; the rest are desserts and sides. the chefs take into consideration that the majority of their fishies should be fresh to order. the waitresses look so adorably tacky in their kimonos while they rush around to take care of everyone. because of their quick service we only had to wait about 5 minutes for a spot at dinnertime.
highlights would be:
fried tofu soup topped with daikon
striped bass
hand roll specials!! notably negitoro and spicy salmon...
caterpillar roll
salmon roe
freshwater eel
spanish mackerel
everything else was simply decent. the only thing that bothered me was that the plate covers were a bit staggered... why is there a cap on the individually wrapped mochi dessert and not over the salmon? anyway me and my parents absolutely stuffed ourselves for just shy of $60; probably our cheapest sushi venture in years! i will DEFINITELY be back for happy hour. (:,'
This is considered my "everyday" sushi spot. It's fairly inexpensive, with pretty good sushi (not the best). Plus they got big screen TV's so you can always watch the latest game while you eat.
Revolving sushi: just pick out whatever catches your eye. Sometimes the freshness can be "questionable", but you always have the option of ordering new by marking a form with what you want (don't forget to write down your table #!!) and dropping it in the order tube that revolves around. Your order will then come on a plate on a tube platform with your number, so you can pick it off the conveyor belt when it comes around. Items range from 99 cents to $3.50.
Now the fun part. The got hand roll specials every single day ($1.75)!! They change it up once in awhile, but right now (if memory serves me right), the HR specials are:
Sunday - Eel
Monday - Spicy Tuna
Tuesday - Shrimp Tempura
Wednesday - Lobster
Thursday - Soft Shell Crab
Friday - Spicy Scallop
Saturday - Albacore
They also have everyday HR specials which include Fried Salmon ($1.25), Salmon SKin ($1.75).
And on top of that, they have Happy Hour from 4-7pm MONDAY to FRIDAY. How often do you find a place that offers it Friday? Not enough!! 2 for 1 pitchers of Kirin and 2 for 1 hot house sake. That comes out to about $15 for all that. The catch is you have to buy it in sets of 2 to get the deal (duh, buy 1 get one free), so bring some buddies along to help unless you wanna be like me and try to sober up at the CVS and Staples next door.
I usually try to catch some food during the happy hour time to avoid the evening dinner rush (it's a small place so it gets packed). I recommend their seaweed (off the belt), Soft Shell crab roll (fairly meaty), and chicken bento box. Oh and of course whatever hand roll day it is! And ending it with a green tea ice cream ($1.25) if you're in the mood for a lil sweet.
Some tips? Ladies, if you're sitting at the revolving table, there's a hook under the table to hang your purse, so it doesn't get knocked off your chair all the time. Feeling adventurous? Ask for the "fried yellowtail collarbone" ($8). It's not on the menu, but they will know what you're talking about. And I'd skip the Shabu Shabu. Had it for the first time last night...nothing noteworthy.
I've been coming to this place ever since I moved down to the area a few years ago. I come so often that the owner (super nice man btw) will joke around, "see you tomorrow!". And sometimes I do come back tomorrow! Definitely a local favorite of mine.
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I'm a big sushi lover and I know good sushi. I usally go to expensive good restaurant but sometime I just don't feel like spending to much. So... going to this place is good for the price. Can't go wrong.
Good: tofu salad, yellow tail sashimi, Softshell crab handroll, mungfish liver (my bf favorite). Sea urchin is definately not fresh here. overall everything is pretty decent for the price.
We checked this place out yesterday and let me say that I love it. We arrived here just in time to enjoy Happy Hour 2 for 1 Kirins and their fish free vegetarian selections of sushi (as we are vegetarians). They had a decent selection, everything was fresh, and the staff was very friendly and dressed really cute, in casual cotton kimonos. Upon arrival we had to wait about 10 minutes for a spot at the sushi bar, but other than that everything was like clockwork. The environment is fun, there is loud jazz playing and a big screen TV.
As I have mentioned in other posts, I am not a huge fan of kaiten (revolving) sushi bars unless it's a quality establishment in Japan but Kaisen is a actually pretty good quality for what it is and also very reasonably priced. My strategy with any kaiten sushi place is to immediately order off the menu and then get a feeling for what's revolving around the bar. If I see decent rate of plate turn over and the sushi appears to be fresh then I'll pick up a plate otherwise I'll just wait for the next round. Just a little tip!
The service could be better but again this isn't fine dining so I think I will let it go.
I recommend this place for a week day lunch as it's less crowded than in the evenings and weekends.
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Key points:
- Japanese owned, pretty authentic
- conveyor belt sushi delivery with certain priced plates
- prices were fairly good; about $20 each person
I've been eating a lot at sushi buffets which kind of kills the original elegance of eating sushi which is small portions and delicacy. BUT I guess this place has specials on certain days and if you come on an off day like I did, you end up feeling a lil hungry and unsatisfied with the selections. You can make custom orders on the order sheet and put it on the rotating belt and they'll deliver your food to you on the belt. If your sitting closer to the sushi chef, sometimes they'll just bring it over.
I guess this place is more of a hit or miss.... it's decent but not somewhere I'd come again specifically for.
I went here last week with my son, his girlfriend, and my mother. They were very nice and we were seated almost immediately. I liked the ambience and the food but was disappointed by a few things. First of all, they had a sushi go round, which immediately makes me think that the sushi is not as fresh. I prefer the traditional style of Japanese restaurant. Secondly, I ordered the uni, and being an uni fanatic, I could tell immediately that the uni was at least a few days old so it had that pungent metallic taste. And thirdly, midway through our meal, the server disappeared and we had to flag down the other server to get our check. It's not a bad place to go but it's not great either. I'm sure with a little sleuthing, I could have found a better place.
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My last meal in OC was here. I met up with one of my cousins for some veggie sushi.
He picked this place for the conveyor belt; I don't really care for the conveyor belt, because sometimes the sushi is a couple hours old and the sushi tends to fall apart. The trick is to come here during the dinner rush hour, so the sushi is flying off the belt and it's fresh.
I had the avocado sushi, and it was great. Some of the best avocado sushi I've had. The cucumber sushi with avocado was my other favorite. I'm all about the fresh avocado.
Five bucks for a pitcher of Sapporo, and the sushi off the belt ranges from 1.50 to 2.99. The service is quick no matter how busy they are.
Can't speak for the fish, but I will come back for the avocado.
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I went here with a friend for the very first time yesterday. It was surprisingly nice inside as the outside throws you off as to how the interior looks. My first impression was that it was big, roomy, and could sit many people comfortably, either as party seating or seating at the really cool moving conveyor belt. The instructions of how to order are really confusing at first. You fill out what you want on this paper order menu if you don't want something already on the belt. Then you send it down one of the little "pencil holder"-like containers down to the chefs. If you want something on the belt, just look on the wall for the pricing of the plates. They have a little chart and from the color and style of the plate you can tell what it is. All in all, it was good pricing, fast service, and friendly servers.
3.5 stars.
like many, i had my doubts about this restaurant b/c any restaurant that needs a gimmick probably doesn't serve the best food. BUT i was wrong. not only was this place fun, the food was good & cheap. they had some of the freshest sashimi. now i'm talking about straight from the sushi bar NOT sashimi off the belt. that's one thing i'd highly recommend...if you want sushi, order from the paper and send it to the sushi bar. don't get it from the belt. ya don't know how long it's been there.
we ordered A LOT and ate a lot of plates. we wanted to try everything of course. hehe. a total of 19 dishes between 2 ppl. pretty impressive eh? from the belt, we had this poke dish, dynamite cali rolls, eclaires (so good btw...) and i can't remember what else. anyhoo, they were ok.
from the sushi bar, we ordered the special of the day, soft shell crab for only $1.25 a handroll!!! soooo good. then we went on to order ono, uni, monk fish liver, fatty tuna, salmon, more ono, squid, yellow tail, kaisen roll, las vegas roll (da bomb), etc...i can't complain about their sashimi at all.
it wasn't that crowded on a thursday night. we had some beers and ate lotsa food. they take reservations btw...i had a great time w/ the conveyor belt and watching it go round and round. i'd go again w/ friends. it makes good entertainment and good eats.
our bill came out to $70 (includes tip) for two ppl but seriously we ordered A LOT of food. i was stuffed. so worth it.
the service could have been a little better though. that's why i docked it .5 stars.
Pros: Conveyor belt = quick dining, Fatty Tuna (Toro)
Cons: Place is small and can get crowded.
This place in my mind is really a 3.5, but I was feeling nice today so I rounded up :) Kaisen Kaiten is your typical revolving sushi bar. From what I can remember, there were only 3-4 tables and the rest of the seats were surrounding the actual conveyor belt. When I went here on a Sunday night, my girlfriend and I had to wait for 15-20 minutes to get seated.
Unlike Sushi 5, most of the sushi you order isn't on the conveyor belt already. You actually have to write down your orders on a piece of paper and place them in a cup on the conveyor belt. I'm somewhat torn about how it's done here. I like the sushi chefs just placing different orders of sushi on the belt because that means I can get my food faster. However, I can see how Kaisen's way is better because you know the sushi hasn't been on that belt for hours.
Anyway, for the most part, I thought the quality of the fish of this place was pretty good. Most plates range from $1.00 to $4.00. There are a couple of specialty plates that may be more expensive (i.e. Fatty Tuna nigiri was $7.00) I probably had 10-12 plates of nigiri at varying prices (i.e. salmon, mackerel, scallop, etc). Although, the quality here wasn't as good as Tabento or Murasaki, I thought it was actually better than most AYCE sushi bars and Sushi 5. I tried some "medium-fatty" tuna that was delicious. I wanted to try their "Fatty Tuna" and "Bluefin Tuna", but they ran out, so that kind of sucked.
Overall, the service was just okay. You can't really expect much in terms of service when you pretty much serve your self. Our bill came out to be $50.00 for my 10-12 plates of sushi, 1 iced tea, and a combination teriyaki chicken plate. Anyway, it looks like I found a new place to go to for conveyor belt sushi.
UPDATE: 05/18/2008 Went here yesterday. Make sure you order the Fatty Tuna (Toro) for $7.00. Best nigiri they have here :)
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What a disaster. The sushi belt is not a good idea in the first place. It removes your interaction with the people that make your food, people might sneeze on your food, it's not fresh by the time it gets to you, and so forth. EVEN IF you think that it's a good idea, the way they run this belt is not very good. They put a lid on some things and not on other things, with no rhyme or reason. And sometimes it seems like after things go around a few times, then they decide to put a lid on it. For example, there were plates of 3 tangerines going around and around, and the third time it came around they had lids. WHY??
The reason I was able to study the sushi belt so closely is because we ordered hot pot. It took them literally 15 minutes just to bring out the water. 10 minutes after that, they brought out the vegetables. And 10 minutes AFTER that, they finally brought out the meat! It was the worst service ever. And, we had to ask them multiple times just to get more water and tea.
Now, how about the sushi? We got this dynamite roll that wasn't that good. We ordered some sushi too--uni, aji, yellowtail...nothing was good and the aji was very, very small. The smallest slices of aji I have seen. Actually for these prices you are paying, you can go to a decent sushi place (not a great one, but a decent one) and get fresh sushi made freshly for you, and the pieces will be bigger too!
The only thing that was good was the fried yellowtail collar. You have to ask them for this, and this was really good. But our whole meal took over 2 hours, not because we were slow but due to the inexplicable hot pot delay. Were they trying to get us to eat more sushi in the meantime? Who knows.
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Eat this
: Udon, Shrimp Tempura and daily special hand roll
Don't eat this
: grilled dishes on the belt
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I gave it five stars because it met all my expectations. The hub and I were greeted by a warm Japanese waitress dressed in casual kimono and she even pulled out our high chairs for us. I've never felt that spoiled with a waitress before.
Anyways, we glanced around and saw plates hung on the wall with fair prices and starting plucking away at the rolling pieces of sushi...
We did this and we also ordered uni, oysters, soft shell crab handrolls, amaebi shrimp...all were delicious. The quality uni and pricing will keep me coming back!
The amaebi wasn't as giant as Taiko's, but not bad. It did not come with a fried head either...but the cost was fair, so no complaints.
Just bring a friend, enjoy the food, and do something different.
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on my way to spain, my friends and i spotted michael bolton and nicolette sheridan boarding the same plane as ours. fortunately, i wasn't so sad that their seats were near the cockpit and ours in the very middle of 2x5x2. i almost didn't even recognize them had it not been for their super fancy luggages (each carried about 3). i honestly thought they were hugely disappointed that none of us flashed our cameras to their faces (i even suspected they were posing for us as we were un-boarding).
however, their disappointment would not even amount to the one i felt with kaisen kaiten sushi. i admit that i was overly excited to try this restaurant. i carefully picked this place as my last meal before i left for my vacation where i knew i wouldn't come close to any asian food. the first impression of the restaurant was clean and cute (contrary to its grim exterior) until i sat down and my elbows touched the sticky counter. o well, abundance of food was presented in front of us on the conveyor belt, so i bit my tongue and ordered some specials (soft shell crab and salmon skin hand rolls). nothing on the conveyor belt looked so great, but i am not one to judge a book by its cover, so i did choose some sushi.
let me just say i think whoever invented that sriracha rooster hot sauce is a genius. and i also think i am in the same league as i figured out a way to shove down the most disgusting pieces of sushi. that hot sauce made seemingly the most impossible mission possible!!!
the problem did not just end with the un-fresh fish. their 6 different color dish system totally threw me off. i finished 4 years of undergrad from one of the most prestigious universities in the nation, so i should be able to distinguish the difference in colors, but it was more difficult than my physics classes (and last i checked, i wasn't color blind). i didn't know there were so many different shades of red.
granted that the food was cheap and fast, such high expectation shouldn't be attached, one might argue. but would it be irrational to think sushi should be just served with wasabi and soy sauce, not sriracha hot sauce?
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I love kaiten sushi because it's a meal AND a show (if you call food revolving on a conveyor belt entertaining). Sure, you don't know exactly how long the items have been parading around, but there's something exciting about grabbing your meal as it swings by.
Food: Kaisen isn't the freshest, but it's better than average with great variety in both their rolls and sushi. Each day of the week features a different handroll priced at a very reasonable $1.75. The unagi (eel) handroll is extremely good and not microscopic like you might expect. The plates are a little dirty, as are some parts of the conveyor belt, but the food is inexpensive and delicious. Some of the items regularly on the belt include mochi, kelp, stir fried green beans, and some cute $8.00 sushi-themed earrings. Kaisen also has shabu shabu on the menu. I didn't try it (yet), but you need to order a minimum of three ingredients.
Service: To order something that isn't on the conveyor, tally your choices on the provided papers and pop them into the cups on the belt. The chef will make it and send it back on a plastic tube with your table's number on it. If you think you can get away with stealing someone's dish for free, think again. They count the plates on the table in order to bill you. Plus, I'm sure they keep mental tabs.
Atmosphere: The interior is decorated with lots of Japanese items, but isn't kitschy. Though most of the space is occupied by the conveyor, the seating is not cramped.
Synopsis: For those who like the conveyor sushi (kaiten) check out Kaisen.
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I actually like the sushi here, but maybe my review isn't all that comprehensive because I usually just drink lots of beer (thank God for happy hour) and I eat the hand-roll daily specials.
I've never had a problem with service, they have been timely with our special orders, and beer! More beer, please! Come here with a group of good friends, with no expectations other than enjoying each other's company and the food and you'll have a good time.
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Kaisen is our fave sushi spot for lunch for the worker bees. There's a conveyor belt delivering fresh made rolls and sushi to your seat/table. You may also order from the menu sheet and just slip it into a cup on the belt and yer made to order item will take a trip on the conveyor to you brandished with your seat/table number.
The items are priced by the color dish...most are around $2.99 or so.
Not a place to share items...you really order for yourself only here.
Each day there are special hand rolls for less money ahha! My fave is Thursday cuz they feature soft shell crab hand rolls...yummy!
Place is TINY get there early...just not on Thursday cuz I'll fight you for my seat. Thanks.
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Affordable, fun and open throughout the day.
If you're in a bigger group (as in more than 4) service can be on the slower side.
Watch out if you're going here during your lunch hour.
For the price you can't beat this place, it is a bang for your buck! My only two complaints was the sake sushi was ice cold, as though they just defrosted it because they ran out, and the service was meh. Overall worth another trip, but it won't be for lunch because the service was too slow.
Yeah, I'm giving it five stars not because it competes with the likes of Suzumaru, Taka Sushi or Yuki's Sushi, but because--for what it is--it's an exceptional shop!
I would never go into a kaiten shop since I expect the horror stories of old sushi. The few I tried creeped me out. But unlike what is said upstream they DON'T put sushi on the conveyor except, quite possibly during the lunch rush. When we were there at about 1:30 on a Monday with about 60% full (all Asian), there were only cooked cooked fish or say eel and tamago sushi and that kind of stuff. Bonafide sushi? We saw maybe two or three orders and not for one or two passes on the belt.
Plus they put out terikyaki chicken rolls, vegetable rolls, seaweed and other salads, tsukemono pickles (excellent) a dish of otsumami (salty stuff for eating with drinks). That kind of stuff. I noted they had two oysters on special for $2.75. I wasn't about to order "cheap oysters", but I say the guy across the way with two plates of same, and they looked excellent.
We put in an order in on the conveyor which went back to the chef. We got saba, ankimo and a few other things, all of them quite fresh. Portion sizes are not hefty, nor cheapskate-tiny, they are just in the middle somewhere.
They have a sake menu that blew my mind. There are about 15 different sakes many of which I've never seen outside Japan, like Nanbu Bijen and others. Plus all my favorites, all at a good price.
The waitress we dealt with for drinks and such was charming, engaging, interested and so forth. We thought she was exceptional.
I'm really surprised this place was so damn good. If I lived a bit closer I'd probably go there at least once a week for lunch.
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I can be a little picky when it comes to sushi, but with good reason. This stuff has to be good, or else you shouldn't be eating it. In any case, Kaisen Kaiten is pretty good sushi (not the best, but definitely far from the worse). I like the conveyor belt, which makes it easy to pick what you want, but sometimes the selection can get sparse. Baked mussels are spectacular, but they always seem to bring them out after I've already paid my check (or have gotten too full to eat another bite - something that should never happen when you're eating sushi).
i dont understand the little dessert things that they have there (jello, cakes, etc) because they're a bit overpriced, but the sushi itself is very reasonably priced. The service is mediocre (as in not good, not bad, just there). Despite my ambivalence to this place, I've still gone back.. which means it can't be that bad, right?
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I have eaten at kaiten sushi in CA and Japan and have been sorely disappointed with all the locations here in the U.S. till now. Kaisen Kaiten offers some decent cuts for affordable prices that is also coupled with the quirky fun of a Japanese conveyor belt. Even without the mesmerizing delivery system, on those merits, I will definitely be coming here again. It might not be the best, but one of the best for the price.
Great place for casual sushi fast food style. Very reasonable with a good selection of Sake. I'm not a wordly sushi hound but I know what tastes good to me. I order from the menu sheet to get the freshest items. However you can see the chefs put out the new items so you know which item on the belt are freshest (a tip: sit across from the prep area). A lot of the items on the belt are items that are not necessarily on the menu so it is good to try many new items that I would not have known to order. I usually try anything new that looks apealing.
1. Sushi: It's ok. Nothing too special.
2. Go for the rolls and handrolls. Really THAT good.
3. Order some udon. You'll like.
4. Snag an eclaire. It's mochalicious creamy strange good.
5. Eat yr seawood salad. It's good for you.
6. Don't over look the specials. They so delicious.
7. Don't be afraid to pick something off the belt other than what you know - more than likely, you're gonna like it. [Beware: if you don't like mayo....they use alot of it on the "suprise rolls"]
8. Service is friendly, if not a bit hurried in busy crowds.
9. If you try the shabu-shabu, lemme know if it's good.
10. Smile because your bill will be tiny and you're not gonna get fat.
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I tried this place thanks to yelp. It's pretty good, however, I feel like it's hit or miss. Sometimes the food on the belt is good, but at times there really isn't much selection. Then again, you can always order from the paper. I agree though, the prices aren't so bad, the food is good and yes the daily specials are awesome. I love the lobster hand rolls and the edamame! This place is not too bad especially for the price.
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If you didn't know, the sushi comes around in a conveyor belt in various colored plates that note how much it is (they're all generally around $2 each). Also, in case you were thinking of horror stories of people sneezing on your prospective food while it makes it way to you, the places have a plastic covering over it. ^_^
The service at Kaisen is super friendly and accommodating, though less accommodating when they're not super rushed during peak hours of lunch and dinner.
If there's nothing on the belt you like, you may order ala carte and they have non-sushi items like udon or terkiyaki chicken if sushi isn't your thing at the moment.
I really enjoy coming to this place with friends and oggling the food as it passes us. It's a very fun way to eat Japanese food.
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This place is alright i guess. I can't say it's nothing special because the concept of rotating sushi has always excited me. I've been to a few in Japan and this one is not TOO bad. It doesn't really deserve a full review though so i'll cut it short.
The sushi tends to be a bit dry on the belt since its been sitting there a while, the service is actually really good, but often times people who don't understand the table number concept like to snatch up the food you marked up on the order sheet. This has happened more often than you can imagine. Or maybe you can imagine. So that's about it.
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No, it's not the freshest sushi you're ever going to eat. But for the prices, I don't think I really have the right to bitch. Besides, their daily specials are awesome. Wed. nights are the lobster hand rolls and those are pretty damn good! And cheap!!
If you're starving, this is a great place to come. I've never had to wait and once you're seated, you can start plucking stuff off the conveyor belt right away. They always have the popular stuff like tuna, salmon, CA rolls. If you don't see what you want, all you have to do is take a little order sheet and check off what you'd like and put it in one of the little empty cups on the conveyor belt.
For dessert, try an eclair. I took one just for the hell of it and was very pleasantly surprised. Creamy goodness!! I ended up eating 2 more that night!!
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Came here for an early dinner - around 5pm... there was a group of 3 people sitting in front of the sushi bar and me. The service was really bad - slow, rude waitress and even though there were 4 sushi chefs my lobster roll took 15 minutes to make - by this time the group of 3 people had left and it was only me in the restaurant.
I really like the kaiten concept but not at this restaurant. It's the first time I've seen sushi covered but the sushi plates had gone around at least twice before the waitress put a cover over the plate. Granted it was just me in the restaurant but I would think if you are going to cover the food, it would be done at the same time the plate was put on the conveyor.
I was just really disappointed in the restaurant, the food and the service.
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My sister turned me on to Kaiten sushi when she took me to Sushi 5 in Tustin. I used to go to Kaiten when I lived in Asia because it was simple and CHEAP. But, after moving back to SoCal, there were so many great sushi places, I never really thought of going to a Kaiten...
THIS PLACE IMPRESSED... The fish is fresh. There were some of my favorites such as uni and ama ebi (small sakura ebi type no heads deepfried or in soup, nigiri was two small ebi on rice), aji, hamachi toro, (very thinly sliced sashimi, but I can't complain for $2.25 a plate)
We ate like little pigs...I am sure the couple sitting next to us were impressed with how much food these two petite girls can actually EAT!
The rolls were awesome. I had a softshell crab handroll and I thought it was so good - next time, I will order it without rice. I loved the different versions of california rolls...topped with baked scallop, or topped with a TON of masago! We each had a lobster handroll, the special for the day...once again, will order without rice...
I will prob not order the shabu shabu - minimum three orders @ about $2.25 per order the veggies and enoki mushrooms, etc. a la carte, it can get expensive, but I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to Shabu Shabu...so I will stick to making it at home for my family.
For the 30 plates we ate - our check with tax and tip came out to be $30 per person...PIGGY!
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