Sagami

We came here to try the 4 steps enjoy hitsumabushi. The eel is great! Also highly recommend Negoya Teba! It's very delicious. The service is also good and quick.

A unique place to enjoy a lunch or dinner. The staff provides a wonderful dining experience while the owner has been making dishes with their own special touch. All of this helps to create the best Japanese sushi restaurant around. With plenty of options both for the sit down menu or at the sushi bar, you can come back here time and again and always leave happy just as our family has done for the past 10 years. The place is cozy so if you need to bring a large party give them a call ahead of time!

There's more upscale sushi places, more expensive sushi places but there is no better sushi place then sagami. Great price and fantastic service. Thank you so much.

Samantha Dressel

We had a fantastic experience at Sagami tonight, where we went for my birthday. We got agedashi mochi, hitsumabushi, and the matcha/mochi dessert set. It was by far the best and most authentic Japanese food I've had outside of Japan. The hitsumabushi was by far the star - eel on rice, served with dashi. The eel sauce was excellent - savory and mildly sweet the way it is in Japan, not syrupy and very sweet like in the US. This was particularly exciting for me - I have fructose malabsorption so I can't eat high fructose corn syrup, which most US eel sauce is made with. I confirmed that theirs is made without, so I could eat safely. So exciting for me to get unagi! The agedashi and dessert were also delicious, and the sake list was impressive. Absolutely my new favorite local restaurant! 😁

Abbie N

We ordered the Hana which included a combo of sashimi, appetizers, salad, soup, & nigiri. Everything was delicious and well thought out. We also ordered the oh no roll and really liked the simplicity of the roll. We shared that between 2 people and that was perfect for us. Service was great, the staff was very attentive. I will definitely come back.

Bing Wang

Stopped by for a casual dinner and really impressed by the food and service. We sat at the sushi counter so in addition to the great food, we also got to watch the two friendly chef working their magic with precision, focus, and a pace that's fast but not hurried. Between my wife and I, we had 8 small dishes and sushi, and some hot house sake. Every item was well made with lovely plating, and the price was very reasonable. Will definitely visit again!

jungwoo you

I think it’s a bit pricey, but the food justifies the cost. I probably won’t visit often because of the price, but if I’m craving unagi, I might come back again.

Iris Chen

Best unagi rice in Irvine! Great lineup of nigiri and fresh catch of the day, we also ordered the waygu and it was also super tender, would def recommend!

Hazel Diuri-Lee

My husband and I have been on a journey to find a replacement sushi restaurant that is both high quality and fair in price. The one we had discovered closed about 5 months after we found it and were really upset. We saw Sagami in passing and put it on our list of new sushi restaurants to try. By golly, I think we found our new go-to for sushi! The patrons are mostly Japanese, so that should tell you off the bat that this place is pretty authentic. My husband and I sat at the sushi bar, so we were limited on what we could order, but we didn't mind since we were really in the mood for sushi and sashimi, anyway. The fish was incredibly fresh and delicious. Their izakaya items were incredible, too. We ordered the mountain yam omelette and the chicken karaage from the kitchen and they were so good! The omelette was dressed like okonomiyaki, so the flavors were very similar. The only difference is, instead of fried batter, you had a rather thick, eggy base. It was really good! The chicken karaage was made from pieces of chicken thigh and were freshly fried, juicy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. Our sushi chef was incredibly nice and hospitable as well. The bill didn't break the bank, either. Overall, I'd say we found our new go-to for sushi.

Peter Chang

Came in at 12:45PM on a Sunday without a reservation and was seated right away. We order the eel, chirashi bowl, and rainbow roll. The eel was 10/10 I would definitely order it again The deluxe Chirashi bowl was also 10/10. The uni was fresh and sweet and all the fish was thick and fresh I would pass on the rainbow roll. 3/10. The fish was thinly sliced and the krab meat was dry. This place has earned a “favorite” on my google maps

Jenny C

Love all their food!!! The best Japanese restaurant in OC so far!!! Normally good Japanese restaurants have many Japanese customers. There were several tables are Japanese, from family, business, andfriends gathering. Once again proving how authentic it is. I ordered their signature premium Eel Don, it was awesome! 100/100 even better than some store in Japan. 4 ways to enjoy the eel don: 1 original, 2 with green onion, 3 with kombu soup 4 mix all together! Hokkai Chirashi was just standard, fresh but slightly overpriced. Definitely will come back again and again until I try everything

Ophelia

I ordered mackerel with a side bowl of white rice twice and it tastes great. The sashimi combo is also great. The matsutake mushroom soup in hot pot is ok. The pickled egg plant is great. The bluefin toro sashimi is quite tender.

Michelle Y

We came here to try the 4 steps enjoy hitsumabushi. The eel is great! Also highly recommend Negoya Teba! It's very delicious. The service is also good and quick.

Instrict

A unique place to enjoy a lunch or dinner. The staff provides a wonderful dining experience while the owner has been making dishes with their own special touch. All of this helps to create the best Japanese sushi restaurant around. With plenty of options both for the sit down menu or at the sushi bar, you can come back here time and again and always leave happy just as our family has done for the past 10 years. The place is cozy so if you need to bring a large party give them a call ahead of time!

Matthew Kohen

There's more upscale sushi places, more expensive sushi places but there is no better sushi place then sagami. Great price and fantastic service. Thank you so much.

This felt like a sweet, family-owned place, with workers who were Japanese and speaking Japanese. They offer a wide variety of options, so I thought that was pretty cool. I'd like to come back and explore their menu more honestly. Perfect if you were going with someone and feeling Japanese food. I got the Nagoya-style unagi don (Hitsumabushi), which had a bit more of a crunch than usual. I really loved that extra texture. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, but a little too sweet for me since there was quite a bit of sauce (even pooling at the bottom). I also liked the little note they included with directions on how to best enjoy the unagi don - that was a nice touch! And it was definitely very filling; I barely managed to finish it. Service was chill. I ordered, got my water, got my food. Minimal interaction, but smooth and easy. For dessert, I had the traditional red bean mochi and matcha. The mochi was simple and chewy (exactly what you'd expect), with red bean that wasn’t too sweet. The matcha was classic and not sweetened. Overall, it was a nice, comforting experience - I can tell they put care into what they serve <3

I have been to Sagami a few times and like this restaurant. Food is delicious, however, I don’t recommend udon noddle soup because the noddle was a little over cooked and became too soft. The bento box is great with variety of choice!

Ambi T

This felt like a sweet, family-owned place, with workers who were Japanese and speaking Japanese. They offer a wide variety of options, so I thought that was pretty cool. I'd like to come back and explore their menu more honestly. Perfect if you were going with someone and feeling Japanese food. I got the Nagoya-style unagi don (Hitsumabushi), which had a bit more of a crunch than usual. I really loved that extra texture. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, but a little too sweet for me since there was quite a bit of sauce (even pooling at the bottom). I also liked the little note they included with directions on how to best enjoy the unagi don - that was a nice touch! And it was definitely very filling; I barely managed to finish it. Service was chill. I ordered, got my water, got my food. Minimal interaction, but smooth and easy. For dessert, I had the traditional red bean mochi and matcha. The mochi was simple and chewy (exactly what you'd expect), with red bean that wasn’t too sweet. The matcha was classic and not sweetened. Overall, it was a nice, comforting experience - I can tell they put care into what they serve <3

Joanne Chen

I have been to Sagami a few times and like this restaurant. Food is delicious, however, I don’t recommend udon noddle soup because the noddle was a little over cooked and became too soft. The bento box is great with variety of choice!

Food was absolutely amazing. Go get the eel bowl, that is really what put them on the map. The only thing I dock a star for is our table was close to the restroom and it did smell.

Jennifer Aceves

Food was absolutely amazing. Go get the eel bowl, that is really what put them on the map. The only thing I dock a star for is our table was close to the restroom and it did smell.

I just left Sagami, this place totally misses the mark on service. Food took way too long to come out with no communication from wait staff, the manager then came to apologize. We proceeded to not be visited by any other employees for the remainder of dinner. For $150.00 I would expect just a little more focus on the patrons. I won’t eat here again and would advise most others to avoid

Jordan Lazaro

I just left Sagami, this place totally misses the mark on service. Food took way too long to come out with no communication from wait staff, the manager then came to apologize. We proceeded to not be visited by any other employees for the remainder of dinner. For $150.00 I would expect just a little more focus on the patrons. I won’t eat here again and would advise most others to avoid

Rosy Zhao

Food is excellent as always - service is ok and pretty attentive. I do want to put a warning here that the restaurant allowed a dog (handheld/not leashed) to sit at an indoor table. This is likely against California law, and there’s actually an outside area for that. I love dogs but this isn’t the most food-safe practice and I have allergies…

Food was OK and we had been dining here before several times. Brought my two little kids here with my wife and ordered 3 dish/combos. They require us to order an additional dish as they have a new rule that requiring every person to order at least 1 dish. Not happy to be forced to order food and cannot finish.

JIE LI

Food was OK and we had been dining here before several times. Brought my two little kids here with my wife and ordered 3 dish/combos. They require us to order an additional dish as they have a new rule that requiring every person to order at least 1 dish. Not happy to be forced to order food and cannot finish.

We dined at your restaurant at 6:30 PM on June 23, 2025, and ordered two pork cutlet sets, sitting face-to-face at the two-person table directly in front of the sushi bar. This has been my seventh year dining here — I’ve always been proud to recommend your pork cutlets to my friends. However, tonight’s experience was completely different and honestly shocking. Both cutlets were clearly overcooked, much darker than usual, with an obvious burnt taste and bitterness. This is far below the standard expected from a Japanese restaurant. I have attached three photos: the first serving, the second replacement, and a previous cutlet from my past visits for comparison. We politely and clearly asked for a replacement because the first one was obviously burnt. However, a slim female server with long dyed yellow hair repeatedly questioned our request with a very unpleasant attitude and not a single word of apology. When the second cutlet came, it looked just as overcooked. After that, the same server completely ignored us — she skipped asking about our meal satisfaction, while checking in with the neighboring table instead, and we received no further service. My partner even saw someone from the kitchen peeking at us, clearly unhappy about our complaint. This was extremely uncomfortable — it felt like we were being bullied just for politely asking for what we paid for. More than the burnt pork cutlet, what disappointed and upset us most was the attitude. I sincerely hope you will check your kitchen’s frying process — no guest should have to pay for a bitter, burnt pork cutlet.

y y

We dined at your restaurant at 6:30 PM on June 23, 2025, and ordered two pork cutlet sets, sitting face-to-face at the two-person table directly in front of the sushi bar. This has been my seventh year dining here — I’ve always been proud to recommend your pork cutlets to my friends. However, tonight’s experience was completely different and honestly shocking. Both cutlets were clearly overcooked, much darker than usual, with an obvious burnt taste and bitterness. This is far below the standard expected from a Japanese restaurant. I have attached three photos: the first serving, the second replacement, and a previous cutlet from my past visits for comparison. We politely and clearly asked for a replacement because the first one was obviously burnt. However, a slim female server with long dyed yellow hair repeatedly questioned our request with a very unpleasant attitude and not a single word of apology. When the second cutlet came, it looked just as overcooked. After that, the same server completely ignored us — she skipped asking about our meal satisfaction, while checking in with the neighboring table instead, and we received no further service. My partner even saw someone from the kitchen peeking at us, clearly unhappy about our complaint. This was extremely uncomfortable — it felt like we were being bullied just for politely asking for what we paid for. More than the burnt pork cutlet, what disappointed and upset us most was the attitude. I sincerely hope you will check your kitchen’s frying process — no guest should have to pay for a bitter, burnt pork cutlet.

I would strongly advise against visiting this restaurant. If there were a −5 star rating, that is what I would give. There were three of us, and we ordered the special unagi bowl, a premium chirashi, and a beef bowl. The menu listed a $37 premium chirashi, and next to it was another chirashi priced at $34, so I asked the staff what the difference was. The staff member said they were unsure and would check. I said I would just go with the $37 option to save time. After we finished our meal, the bill included a $50 “premium chirashi special,” which we did not order. When I calmly explained that I had ordered the $37 version, the response I received was unexpectedly rude and dismissive. I was told that "although I had already eaten the dish", they would refund the difference “to avoid an argument,” which felt inappropriate and disrespectful. Although the price difference was eventually refunded, the staff repeatedly insisted that I had eaten “five extra pieces of fish,” implying that the mistake was mine. Expecting a customer to determine pricing by counting fish pieces, when the staff themselves cannot explain the menu differences($34 vs $37), is not only unreasonable but reflects a serious failure in basic service standards. Despite how uncomfortable the situation was, I paid in full for what I ordered and left a tip. Unfortunately, the staff’s attitude completely overshadowed what should have been an enjoyable Saturday afternoon. I do not know who the owner is, but greater attention to staff training is clearly needed. A restaurant serving premium-priced unagi bowls should reflect that quality not only in its food, but also in its service. Additionally, basic cleanliness was lacking. Throughout the entire meal, we were seated next to a window frame covered in visible dust. It was extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable. Cleanliness matters, especially at this price point. Spending $150 for three people and leaving feeling this uncomfortable and disrespected is not an experience I would choose to repeat.

K S

I would strongly advise against visiting this restaurant. If there were a −5 star rating, that is what I would give. There were three of us, and we ordered the special unagi bowl, a premium chirashi, and a beef bowl. The menu listed a $37 premium chirashi, and next to it was another chirashi priced at $34, so I asked the staff what the difference was. The staff member said they were unsure and would check. I said I would just go with the $37 option to save time. After we finished our meal, the bill included a $50 “premium chirashi special,” which we did not order. When I calmly explained that I had ordered the $37 version, the response I received was unexpectedly rude and dismissive. I was told that "although I had already eaten the dish", they would refund the difference “to avoid an argument,” which felt inappropriate and disrespectful. Although the price difference was eventually refunded, the staff repeatedly insisted that I had eaten “five extra pieces of fish,” implying that the mistake was mine. Expecting a customer to determine pricing by counting fish pieces, when the staff themselves cannot explain the menu differences($34 vs $37), is not only unreasonable but reflects a serious failure in basic service standards. Despite how uncomfortable the situation was, I paid in full for what I ordered and left a tip. Unfortunately, the staff’s attitude completely overshadowed what should have been an enjoyable Saturday afternoon. I do not know who the owner is, but greater attention to staff training is clearly needed. A restaurant serving premium-priced unagi bowls should reflect that quality not only in its food, but also in its service. Additionally, basic cleanliness was lacking. Throughout the entire meal, we were seated next to a window frame covered in visible dust. It was extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable. Cleanliness matters, especially at this price point. Spending $150 for three people and leaving feeling this uncomfortable and disrespected is not an experience I would choose to repeat.