Kasen Sushi – CLOSED (2), Tustin, check out Sushi-ii.Kakurega Sushi, Costa Mesa, the place a Kitayama veteran started early on.Jizake (3), Newport Beach, it looks like a Long John Silvers inside.Jizake (1), Laguna Niguel, they put the bar in sushi bar.Imari (0), Costa Mesa, rolls, rolls, and maybe some nigiri sushi.Ikko (2+), Costa Mesa, gold flake, caviar, truffles, and no American rolls.Hana re Sushi (0), Costa Mesa, high on my hit list of places to try at the LAB.Hamamori (0), Costa Mesa, they’re located in South Coast Mall.Buddha’s Favorite (0), Newport, dockside but not nearly as pricey or the ability of Nobu.Bistro Anju (0), Aliso Viejo, “bistro,” for those looking for Euro influenced sushi.A brief description: a summary and hopefully I’m spot on with it.“ (#)” signifies the number of times I’ve been, because who trusts anybody who has only gone once.Name of the restaurant: Google Places imagery.I know there might appear to be a lot of Japanese restaurants in Orange County, but the vast majority of them are Americanized or “Japanese inspired.” The ones below are for the most part legit although some can fake-the-funk, but I won’t bother calling them out. The nigiri sushi icon denotes the summaries. If you want to get the gist of each restaurant listing, I have these highlighted areas if you are not on your meth (aka Adderall prescription). Service and atmosphere: I have a design background, so I like design but the hunger from my chutoro belly covering up my 6-pack abs come first.Kitchen menu: sushi bars in the States have to appeal to American diners, so I’ll also base things on the tempura, the teriyaki combo’s, to the kaiseki menu (I think only one spot on this list offers one).BTW, I have no idea how this came about, but we used to eat maguro sashimi with lettuce which maybe was a daikon alternative? Sashimi to makizushi: starting off as a baseline, they have to at the very least do it as well as my obachan (grandmother) did, or at the level of my aunts or uncles trying to carry on the tradition of preparing futomaki and California rolls (that’s the Japanese-American side).Pricing: my pockets can’t make it rain Benjamins or Jacksons for any Nobu, Daisuke, Aki, Alizay, or Cristal, so I’ll warn you of the pricier spots.Nigiri sushi: edomae-style sushi is the stuff your friends saw Jiro do, and now they’re all about it which is why they have you scouting out new spots to try (this is the best list for Orange County, but don’t expect much).If you pronounce anything Japanese, break it down like this “ni-gi-ri” which will have you sounding as Japanese as Beatrix Kiddo (vs.

Chirashi pronounce