O Fine Japanese Cuisine - Irvine, CA

O Fine Japanese Cuisine, strange name right? I found out about this place from the OCWeekly even though I don't live very far from here. They have another location in Laguna Beach but I've never been to that one either. O Fine took over the vacant space once occupied by another Japanese Restaurant which wasn't very good apparently. I only ate there once myself and don't remember anything great about it. I have mixed feelings about this place and am not sure that I will go back.

I went there last Friday night when Sister K was in town. She loves Japanese food so I thought that it would be fun to take her here so that we can try it out together. Seeing that we wanted to eat here on a Friday night (busy dining out night), I went on Open Table on Thursday morning to make a reservation. We get there on time on Friday evening and they tell me that they don't have my reservation. I took out my Blackberry and showed the hostess my confirmation email from Open Table. She was not very nice and told me to take it up with Open Table. Luckily it was still early so they were able to seat us. I should mention that I use Open Table very frequently and this has never happened before. But somehow they made me feel like it was my fault that they did not get my reservation. One of the WORSE customer service I've ever encountered. She was not a very good hostess. I should also mention that all this occurred after she made us and 2 other parties wait 15 minutes at the front while she ran around taking to-go orders, giving out checks and cleaning. I mean, why not take to-go orders after those who wishes to eat there gets seated. Not sure why she was doing all that when there were other staff members around. This experience just left a bad taste in my mouth to start with. I mean they've been opened for a month, you'd think they would have gotten their act together by now. I hope they streamline their service soon because there are a lot of other places around here that I can go to get mediocre overpriced Japanese food.

There were blue lights everywhere in this place. Reminded me of Kmart! I wasn't sure if I was in a restaurant or a club. If I wanted to be in a club, I would go to one.

Miso soup - this was just okay.

Ikura (Salmon Roe Sushi) - this was good, but it's pretty hard to mess this up.

Scallop Dynamite with Snow Crab - I didn't like this very much. Three-fourth of this dish was onions with a couple of small pieces of scallops and mushrooms thrown in. Not very good!

Gyozas - these were your average pan fried dumplings. They were okay.

This is their Prime Ribeye Steak Teriyaki - this was pretty good. A Surf and Turf kind of thing if you pair it with a side of Shrimp Tempura!

Like this! The Shrimp Tempura was pretty good. It was light and crispy from the first bite to the last. I really hate it when they get soggy two minutes after they serve it to you.

I had the Nabeyaki Udon which was actually very good. I have this dish often and I liked that they threw in some Sansai (Mountain Vegetables) in this soup. I also really like the addition of Shitake Mushrooms instead of regular white mushrooms.

Sister K ordered a Cold Soba Noodle Sashimi Salad with a soy vinaigrette dressing. I had a taste and thought the dressing was flavorful. Sister K was neutral about this dish.

O Fine Japanese Cuisine
6731 Quail Hill Pkwy
Irvine, CA 92603
(949) 748-1896