Nice spot for delicious Japanese food! We came early for dinner, so it wasn't crowded. It was pretty calm inside. The workers were nice and friendly. We got the following: Tempura combo (average and good) Fresh cucumber in spicy soy dressing (loved this!!) Pork cheek with green onion sauce (really good!) Chilled soba with dipping sauce (delicious and filling) Garlic edamame (average and good) read more

Izakaya Okan - Chilled soba with dipping sauce - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Disappointed with our experience. Most of the yakitori came out burnt and the meat was bland and dry. The chicken skin was super salty! The restaurant is quite small and the service was extremely slow. It was uncomfortably hot and stuffy inside since the AC wasn't working that day. Overall, not worth the price. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Found this place too late. Apparently they are closing forever on Nov 30th. So if you don't want to drive all the way to San Diego, you better get here now. Their food are too notch. It literally feels like I'm in a tokyo izakaya. Love their uni scallop carpaccio, beef tongue skewer, salted mackerel and their black sesame pudding. They use really fresh ingredients and they prepare it perfectly. I hope they reconsider closing. We need Okan in OC! read more

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Delicious authentic Japanese food ranging from izakaya, sushi, and dons! This restaurant is in a quaint restaurant strip, they have tons of dining seatings from small (2 people) tables to medium sized group tables. There is also bar seating if you'd prefer that. They also have a late night happy hour menu, this place is great for post-work happy hour, intimate catch up dinners, or just a casual hang out with friends. When you go in, you're greeted by the nicest staff. They're enthusiastic and they also give the best food recommendations. There are pictures all of the walls that shows you the best deals and what specials they offer. Now let's talk about the menu.. It's not an izakaya meal without a fun happy hour beverage, we got the calpico and peach drink. They both were so refreshing, fruity and not too sweet. The carbonation kicked off the meal pretty well. Gabo Salad -- this salad is super healthy and is super fiberous. It's really crunchy and fun to share, we ate this throughout the entire meal and didn't try to finish it in one go. When you squeeze the lemon, a lot of the flavors are expressed. The bottom includes more of the leafy part of the salad, don't forget to mix it in with the crunch mid way through. Tamago -- The tamago they had were really fluffy and thick, it was really flavorful and I ended up adding the radish to pair. Great source of protein Mackerel -- This has got to be my favorite dish, I would highly recommend it! I ended up ordering this to go as well. The mackerel is from Norway and the way they prepared it was smoked. It wasn't too fishy and they also had prepared home made ponzu sauce. The sear really masks the fishy smell and the fish melted in my mouth. It was so buttery! The skewers: - Chicken was really tender, this one was oen of my favorites - Pork belly, this was really flavorful and the salt/acid pairs really well. I was pleasantly surprised by how crispy this was! I added wasabi to cut the salt - Beef tongue was really chewy Salmon with Ikura Kamamenshi -- This one was the nice filler meal. It takes 30 minutes to prepare and Kamamenshi is the style of cooking their rice, it's their specialty! The ikura added a lot of flavor to this dish. We ended the meal with some dessert: - Black Sesame pudding was really light and sweet. It was a great way to wrap the meal and it tasted really unique. - They also had a pudding that tasted like flan, this one was dense and more on the sweeter end but the syrup almost tasted like a hojicha syrup that I love Overall, really well rounded meal that got me feeling really satisfied! Definitely would be coming again. read more

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I've been to all their restaurants in San Diego and have been a fan for all of them, so I was excited when I realized they opened one down the street from where I live now. Taste-wise I think it was exactly the same as what I remembered from Okan San Diego (though that was over 5 years ago). It was very authentic izakaya food. Maybe it's the location? Or marketing? Either way I think they deserve more people to give it a try... cuz they seemed way too empty. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Super low-key izakaya with cozy, hole-in-the-wall vibes! We came with a group of 5 on a Saturday night and were seated immediately. Loved the hand drawn menu items scattered over the walls, and super kind. We ordered the Japanese curry rice, curry udon, carbonara udon, Kobe beef carpaccio, and beef tongue clay pot rice. The beef carpaccio was cooked medium rare, served cold with a light soy sauce dressing, lemon, and raw onion slices. Pretty tender and super flavorful. The carbonara udon was a generous portion, and was rich and creamy from the egg yolk, bacon, and cream sauce. Tasty, but I wish there a bit more flavor. The curry udon had a great depth of flavor and richness in the broth, and the noodles were super chewy and springy. I recommend this one! read more

Izakaya Okan - Carbonara Udon - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Been wanting to try this place but unfortunately it was a giant disappointment. We ordered the following for takeout: chicken & mushroom rice - no flavor at all, was as if they forgot to season the dish altogether; there were barely any mushrooms, and the rice was hard and stale. Beef tongue skewer - overcooked and very avg taste. chicken thigh skewer - another very avg dish. Kobe beef with ponzu - decent quality and flavor, but was barely lukewarm. Egg omelette - the only solid dish we had, good texture and flavor. Creamy mentai udon - this would've been fine as the umami was goo, except it was so salty that it was basically not edible until we added a whole pack of udon noodle; could've used some of this salt in the chicken rice. Def not going back. read more

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Hidden gem alert! A small cozy store front in a tiny little business strip that you cannot afford to miss! I stopped in about 40 minutes before they closed, there was one other person besides me in the shop that felt much like being back in a little Izakaya in Japan. Service was great, the time from ordering to food delivery quick, and just an overall great experience! I ordered the steamed clams, pork belly wrapped asparagus, and pork cheek (as recommended by the server). They were all a treat! The clams were cooked perfectly and the broth comforting for a chilly evening. The pork belly and asparagus well balanced and flavorful. The pork cheek was amazing! I can't wait to come back and try more items off their menu again soon! read more

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I stopped here for a bite before flying home from SNA. It wasn't too crowded and being by myself I was quickly seated and served. I ordered the Monkfish Liver and the Asparagus Wrapped in Pork Belly. Both were quite tasty. to drink I had a small house sake - it was acceptable. My only regret is that I wasn't there with others so I could try more dishes. read more

Come here for some late night happy hour bites! This place has a variety of dishes ranging from grilled, skewers, fried, fish, rice and noodles! There's something for everybody. Some standouts: - chicken skin skewer! crispy yet tender - mackerel with ponzu, super flavorful - hamachi kama - takoyaki, perfectly cooked with a nice fluffy texture - karaage - super juicy and tender! Service is quick and friendly! Even took a selfie with us haha Atmosphere is cozy since it's not a big restaurant but it feels more intimate this way. Definitely will be coming by here to try most dishes! read more

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Stopped by on a Friday night. We were the only ones there around 6:15pm. Soon it filled up but there was no wait. It's a cute little place and reminds me of restaurants in Tokyo. Service was great. We ordered the following to share between four: Takowasa Agedashi tofu Soft shell crab with wasabi salt Broiled chicken liver in chilled sweet soy sauce Deep fried chicken gizzards Gobo salad Beef tongue Potato, Cod Roe, corn & butter rice Eel rice Deluxe curry udon Deep fried chicken with green onion sauce Everything was delicious. I loved the potato, cod roe, corn & butter rice. It was so scrumptious. I have never had all together like this. The beef tongue was so tender. Chicken liver was made with love. It was nicely cooked. I enjoyed every dish we ordered. I just wish the portion was bigger. My mom complained that the eel rice was too sweet and had very little eel. I felt like it was American price with Japanese portion. But other than that, this is a definitely must try place if you love Japanese food. read more

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Me and 2 friends came in on a Sunday evening at 7. A lot of dish options on the menu as well as some other dishes that weren't on the menu (you can look on the walls for additional dishes). The restaurant is small and there were 3 other parties besides ours but we noticed that the service was slow. The waiter took awhile to come take our orders and it took awhile for us to get our check. The karagae was okay, it wasn't as crispy as I would like, not something I would order again. The mentai butter udon was good but a little salty. The mentai butter udon was okay, the cream is overpowering the mentai flavor so it just tasted like cream udon. The udon noodles were average when it comes to texture. read more

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Found this place upon searching on Yelp for something new. It's a little hole in the wall and it definitely did not disappoint. We didn't order any ramen or udon since others whom have rated said it was not good. We ordered monk fish liver, salmon belly, this rice with broth and salmon and eel, and yellowtail collar. All was good. Fish was fresh and seasoning was on par. The salmon belly (grilled) and the yellowtail was market price which is a bit different than other places where they have a flat price...maybe is because it's fresh rather than those frozen ones you can get at restaurant depot. This is a nice spot to come for basic family Japanese food. The restaurant is a bit small and tables are jam but it's still quiet enough to catch up and chit chat without the bustling like other places. The waiters were super friendly and accommodating. read more

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4.5 rounding it up to 5 I missed the small parking lot for the strip mall but was able to go around the block with ease. It's located near a nail salon shop and Wahoo is nearby as well. Service was very good, they were on top of it and even brought me the Nanami Togarashi to add a bit of a kick and spice to the food. I'm Korean so this is a must and it paired well with everything that I put it on, especially the pasta. The food came out fairly quickly and they filled our water and tea regularly as we ate our meal. The restaurant is not very big but they have plenty of seating. We opted for a larger table since we were going to be ordering a bunch of food to try out. I wanted to eat things that I don't normally eat so we ate: eggplant with grated mountain potato, this was lighter than I thought it was going to be and my friend appreciated how nice it looked plated. We also got the creamy uni udon. It had a good sized amount of uni in the dish. I thought it was a bit TOO creamy, it was definitely decadent. I liked how it tasted with the Nanami Togarashi too. This I had to take home as leftovers because we had other food to eat. The pork cheek with green onion sauce tasted a bit like Samgyupsal or grilled pork belly to me. The fat just melted in my mouth. There were some pieces that were a little chewy but still edible. I've never had pork cheek before so I'm unfamiliar with the texture. The yellowtail collar was fantastic, it had a lot of meat to it and the miso black cod, well I could have eaten three orders of that by myself. I've had this before at other restaurants, but I have to say that theirs is the best thus far, the piece was bigger and fresher too. I saw later on the wall menu that they had nigiri. Y'all...you know I had to get the bluefin tuna and toro. It was a little bit on the pricier side but the pieces of fish were thicker and it was oh so tasty. I also could have ordered more but we had to stop ourselves. I'll definitely go back there for the nigiri and miso black cod. But I also want to try their other dishes like their prime beef skirt skewer, scallop skewer, takoyaki balls, and quick seared US Kobe beef with garlic ponzu. And their happy hour sounds legit! read more

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Must try gem spot hidden close to South Coast Plaza by the Mitsuwa Marketplace! Everything here is delicious with attentive service and friendliness. Highly recommend their Creamy Uni Udon, Beef tongue skewers, chicken thigh skewers, and braised beef rice bowl! They all have the perfect texture and individual flavors. The sake clam, tomago, pork cheeks, and mackerel were also extremely delicious with the right flavor profile and balance. Definitely worth a visit and bringing your friends over! read more

Came here twice in 2 days lol!! Just randomly stumbled upon this spot when my friend & I were craving some Japanese food. And it's so good and welll priced. Sashimi was fresh, yellowtail is such a good deal here !! $10 for a small! Can't wait to try the other menu items perfect for someone who likes to try everything but doesn't want giant portions I can't finish read more

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New casual Japanese dining spot discovery in the OC. Okan took over the previous Sakanaya OC location (I am sad that Sakanaya OC is closed!). Okan has decent food, and their pricing is ok. Everything we ordered was good: Uni Scallop Carpaccio, Deep-Fried Soft Shell Crab with Salt, Hamachi Kama, and Kamameshi Beef Tongue Rice Pot. Kamameshi Rice Pot was not hot enough to create crispy rice. Staff was friendly. I would like to come back to try their Creamy Mentai Udon next time. Their Creamy Uni Udon looked nice too. They also have late night happy hour Monday through Thursdays 9pm - 10:30pm with Sapporo pitcher for $13 (original price $19). I would love to try their happy hour, but sadly, OC is too far for me on a weekday. Their reservations are available via phone or online. Corkage fee is $25 for 720mL. Hot water is $1. Hot Green Tea is $2.50. There is free parking in the strip mall lot. read more

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I've been wanting to try Okan for awhile ever since they announced their opening not long ago, and I finally got to try last Friday night around 6:30pm. We got seated right away, though if we came any later the restaurant would have been full since it's small with a few tables and a bar seating. They have a lot of different Japanese dishes, from noodles (udon and soba) to grilled skewers to sashimi and rice in a pot (kamameshi) so it was hard deciding what I wanted since a lot of it looked good. I ended up getting the kinpira gobo as our appetizer and the carbonara udon while my other party members got the tempura udon and the potato, cod roe, corn and butter kamameshi. The kamameshi did take longer to come because it takes 20 minutes to cook, but other than that the rest of the items came pretty quickly. The kinpira gobo was really good! I love gobo, so I can't go wrong with getting it. It was flavorful and crunchy and it also comes with carrots mixed in. My carbonara udon was surprisingly good too, it wasn't too heavy on cream (but it was still creamy) and it came with a runny egg, enoki mushroom, and bacon pieces. I finished this bowl pretty quickly, it was that good and portion size was just right. I didn't particularly like the bacon though, it tasted a bit too smoky for me. After mixing the egg in the sauce, I actually tried the sauce and it tasted like egg drop soup for some reason but it made it drinkable haha. I tried some of the tempura and it was hot and crunchy, with just enough batter. The kamameshi was a little underwhelming- I feel like the rice to topping ratio was bit more rice heavy. It had good flavor, I just wish there was a bit more of the cod roe to mix together and both me and my sister couldn't taste the butter flavor. I did like how it came with a cute spoon scooper for mixing the rice. Overall, Okan surpassed my expectations and I definitely will recommend and come back again to try their other options. Actually I was in between the mentai and carbonara udon which I chose carbonara this time, but next time I want to try the mentai. Also I would suggest looking at the specials they have posted papers in some areas of the restaurant with specific items cheaper or not on the menu (like the carbonara udon is something you can't find in the menu). read more

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Food was very sub par. Nothing stood really stood out nor excited us. The fried gizzards were pretty decent but it did not help their udon dishes. The curry udon was very watery and lacked flavor. To no surprise the mentai udon was also lacking in the mentai flavor. The servers were extremely nice and were informative. I will not be coming back any time soon unless they change up their recipes. For the prices of their main entrees i would have expected better. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Ordered 4 dishes, most them were overpriced and tasted like you can get it everywhere else. Pork dish was decent. Sushi bowl was pretty bland. Duck was bland and overpriced. Had better ones in other places with same or lower price. Rice balls were definitely overpriced. Didnt taste like anything special. Overall, wouldn't come for a meal. read more

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Looking to experience an authentic traditional Japanese meal without breaking the bank? Check out @izakayaokancostamesa Located at 688 Baker St, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 This place has a lot of traditional Japanese dishes I remember experiencing when in Japan. From sushi to udon and more exotic dishes like Monkfish liver, here is what I absolutely recommend getting: Agadashi tofu, monkfish liver, mentai butter udon (the best I've had anywhere in oc), braised pork belly with boiled egg, rice burger, skewers (scallop, chicken skin, rib eye beef tongue) and for dessert pair the regular or sesame pudding with some plum wine with soda! read more

My wife and I visited here a couple weeks ago. We had a great dinner. The food was delicious and authentic.

Sept 2025 Food: 2/5 stars Service: 3/5 stars Ambiance: 2/5 stars Food: I assume this is a fairly new place given the number of reviews, so hope they will continue to improve. Below expectations relative to other izakaya places unfortunately. Yakitori - Overall: most items lacked flavor and salt. Ingredients tasted like long-term frozen meats. Beef tongue was extremely chewy, which shouldn't happen for the fatty cut of meat. It was cut in cubes as opposed to slices like most places, which helps with texture, seasoning to meat ratio, and speed of cooking. Chicken thigh was overcooked and tough - again, shouldnt happen for dark meat. What we tried: beef tongue, chicken thigh, smelt, chicken wings Nabeyaki udon - decent noodles and brother. Over-breaded tempura. Bland chicken. Undercooked leeks. Other items: Yellow tail collar - this was decent. Moist fish, good portion, and came with ground radish and dipping sauce. Skin was a little too burnt (just went past a good chat) Squid - this was very tough and not well seasoned. This seems like a pretty standard and common dish, and this fell below par. Aji fry - this was decent. Four pieces with a tartare dipping sauce. Service: nothing bad about it, but also nothing that stood out. Atmosphere: not a particular nice restaurant to sit in. Feels quite cramped and not decorated, apart from printed specialty items plastered across the walls with some hand drawn notes and annotations. Did not feel like there was anything character to the place. Don't recall if there was any music playing. But felt quite transactional. read more

Small and intimate space. The two guys working here are so nice. They even gave my husband another beer on the house. Really enjoyed the pork cheek, chicken skin and mental butter udon. Not all the dishes we ordered were hits but we enjoyed the food and the service enough to want to come back and try other items. Another plus is that they're open pretty late, which is a rarity in the area. read more

We've found our favorites here like their tempura and pork cheek with green onion sauce. It's a small restaurant that offers comforting Japanese staples! read more

Izakaya Okan - Clams and karaage chicken with green onion sauce - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Fish was fresh, food was delicious, and service was warm and welcoming. Will definitely be coming back to try all the other foods read more

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Wanted to try a new japanese restaurant and saw this place that looks authentic so decided to give this place a try. It's a small restaurant that looks like a mom and pop operation. Not a very big menu. The prices are on the higher side. Not very impressed with what we ordered. We had the beef tongue and ribeye steak yakitori. Not a whole lot of flavor and the ribeye was tough. The pork belly in the kamameshi is very skimpy. Flavor is just ok. Wanted to see more of the crusty rice in the pot but there was none. The good salad was very salty and the gobo was bitter as it was a bit burnt. The only dish that was satisfactory was the chicken karaoke. Service is good but unfortunately we will not be going back. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

This is a branch of the well rated izakayas in San Diego. It's the same quality too. Staff are bilingual in Japanese and English. It's an intimate ambiance inherited by the kaiseki place it took over. It has a wide spread of authentic Japanese food. Sukiyaki and kettle rice are the highlights. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

The food was delicious. I think this is a hidden gem that locals are gate keeping. The miso sea bass and the salmon belly are a must have. The service was friendly and attentive. read more

noooooo!!!! i just came during their operating hours and the door was locked is this actually permanent? i hope they come back, my friends and i live for their yummyyy late-night happy hours. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Arrived at 8 PM, just before their happy hour and it was peaceful/quiet. Dylan was super great with us and attentive server. He told us what was good and made sure we had what we needed. I had ordered the Blue Crab/Mushroom rice dish and also the curry udon w/crispy fatty pork cheek as an appetizer. The food was simple yet delicious, fitting Japanese tastes. I really enjoyed it. We also got a little flier from Seiwa Market that allowed us to have 30% ontop of our bill (It did end on 11/20, so double check with staff). Will definitely have to come back. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

came as four people group.wait for 40 minutes to get all dishes ready. I was the last person to get my rice （all my other friend finished their already） I ate two bites and went to the ramen place next plaza to get bowl of ramen because the rice I wait for 40 minutes is PLAIN（no any seasoning I believe）and small portion（5 dollar crab meat with bowl of white rice which costs 22 dollar）Was not happy about these experience at all. There were only three table at that time also... one of my friend got the sashimi bowl which cost 33.5 dollar but it was missing the uni and tamago which shows in the menu picture...the quality of the sashimi is bad also. the price is high...and the server offer 10% off which is 3.35 off for missing the uni and tamago. will not come back again for sure. Hope can do some adjustment. read more

Izakaya Okan - Japanese Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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We came here the day after Grand Opening. It's a small cozy space with excellent service and friendly staff. They offered a Beef Tendon Grand Opening Appetizer. We ordered Sashimi and Seaweed Salad, Pork Dumplings, Eggplant and Potato, and two kamameshi - Fresh Water Eel and Crab with Mushrooms. Everything we ordered tasted great. We definitely recommend this new place and will come back soon. read more

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A small, cozy place with many different specials available posted on the walls. We were seated quickly and service throughout the experience was wonderful and the people were friendly. The food was delicious. The miso beef tendon and the miso black cod were so delicious and full of flavor. Marinated deep fried shrimp and grilled scallops were yummy as well. The grilled rice balls were nice and crispy. The black sesame pudding was oh so good! Will definitely come back here again. read more

A real comfort food for me. The quality of the food and the service is amazing. Me and my family can come and visit this restaurant 2-3 days in a row. Especially when I'm super tired after work, I always craving for their set menu... The grilled fish, warm rice and simple miso soup... It's heaven for me. read more

I am new here and just want to give a support to the small business. I found this little place for a quick family dinner. But I am kinda of disappointed, we still give a good tips eventho not happy with the food quality. I am not satisfied with the $20 chicken mushroom bowl, hardly see any chicken/protein and tasteless. Just rice and little chicken for $20! The $20 Salmon bowl , I eat more rice than salmon and chicken skewer doesn't taste good. We r eating Japanese foods every week and found this place is over charge. Not worth it to dine in here. read more

Food is simply amazing. Everything we ordered was filling and well-balanced in flavor. Not a single plate left over honestly. The parking is a little tricky to find the opening of the lot but once you enter there's plenty of parking. Yakitori beef tongue: outside has a crispy char while inside still tender (a little pink), each order is 2 skewers with 3 thick pieces on each. Grilled pork cheek: a decent amount of slices, each one thick as well. Laid over a heavy layer of seasoned sesame oil. Uni udon: market priced so just ask the lovely server before ordering! The uni they use is sweet! It's not the overly briny kind you get at other places. The udon seemed like it had a butter base simmered with mushrooms?? I thoroughly enjoyed this dish, definitely the star of our meal. Soba: tasty, not watered down dipping sauce. Pretty standard to any place offering it on a menu. Crab and mushroom rice kettle: layer of fresh basil on top steamed into the rice so it's very prominent. We added some soy sauce for salt flavor and it was warm and comforting on a cold night. Way more crab than mushroom. read more

Visited a few months ago. Dinner time but empty inside. Unfortunately this is not really the same as the one in San Diego. Only tried the one item but hesitant to go back.. Workers were nice though. read more

I ordered the cold soba noodle. The portion is relatively smaller as compared to other Japanese restaurants in the area like Meiji ramen. It's almost like kid's portion. The noodle was not cooked. Tasted like rubber. Also ordered the cucumber. Not very tasty either. Not planning on going back. read more

This place could get 4 Michelin stars and it wouldn't be enough. Makes Jiro look like Claim Jumper.