fountain valley sushi hunt question

[epop]

anyone know of a phenomenal and very very small sushi place
in fountain valley, located in a plaza?

my friend seems to think it may be in costa mesa but i was told it
is in fountain valley.

[epop]

i went to Kasen and while i found them to be perfectly friendly (we were lost and 30 minutes late to an rsvp on the weekend and they didn't mind), i'm not going to rush back to fountain valley.

unfortunately i found the food to be quite good but not on the level of the best places near sawtelle or even sushi gen. this was disappointing, as i'd heard wonders.

[kevin]

i went once. it was pricey, not that great, shibucho in costa mesa is definitely better.

but then again, call me crazy, but i do like the nozawa, sushi zo, wasabe, echigo school of sushi better.

[epop]

i like echigo as well. hmm tough choice: shibucho or kasen

[epop]

thank you, all. i'm on my way

[cdmedici]

It must be Kasen. I have many Japanese friends who love the place. In fact if you are not Japanese don't be suprised it they try and get you to leave. That has happened to more than a few of my non-Japanese friends whom have gone to Kasen. They are not being mean, they just get tired of telling people that they only serve authentic Japanese sushi (no California rolls, Chicken Teriyaki etc.)

[chair]

i think you're talking about shimura? in the same plaza as california shabu shabu and elvis?! karaoke. if so, it's on garfield & brookhurst, in the mcDonald's plaza.

[Professor Salt]

I believe they're talking about Kasen. I actually prefer Shimura.

It's been many, many years since I went to Kasen, so I'm working on old memories. While very good, it wasn't remarkably better to justify the extra cost compared to the premium stuff at Shimura.

cdmedici's comment about the mostly Japanese clientele sounds about right. Being Japanese, I didn't get that vibe, but I can see how someone could feel gringo-ed if they didn't know what to expect ahead of time.

[kevin]

where's shimura? please describe, is it a traditional joint?

[Professor Salt]

Here's a great thread from several years ago. Does the new search tool rock, or what?

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[russkar]

Kasen
9039 Garfield Ave
Fountain Valley, CA 92708-6560
[phone]

This Sushi Bar has been around for several years. They specialize in Very Highend Omakase. Reasonable pricing(35-60 for lunch) and we like it better than Shubicho in Costa Mesa which is pretty good too.

[ladius]

Yes, Kasen. Went there once at the suggestion of my wife's Japanese co-worker--very very fresh, very high quality, and old school.

According to the co-worker, sounds like this is one place that all FOJs from Japan go to in the LA area.

[ironykettle]

I was eating at the counter of an excellent sushi restaurant up in Vancouver a few days ago and the chef showed me the business card for Kasen and asked me if I'd ever been. At the time I'd never heard of it, but he said that he had been told that if he ever moved to LA, this is where he should try to work. After hearing about it here too, I'm going to have to try it out next time I'm in that area!