Izakaya Habuya Okinawan Dining

Had the chance to finally eat here last night for our little month-a-versary dinner. This small restaurant accommodates less than 30 seats so we were in luck that they took us in within less than 10 minutes since it was a full house.

We ordered a bottle of cold junmai ginjo sake to start. We had the chance to look over the menu while we were waiting and perused through their specials of the day. We ordered the two albacore tuna tataki, miso mackerel, salmon with ikura onigiri, grilled japanese sausages with shishito peppers and bonito flakes, pork rib soba, takoyaki as our spread. Amazing! I love that they serve izakaya style tapas here without being so pretentious like other places in Orange County and also serves ramen and soba!

I love the decor in here! We are definitely coming back here again.

I came away from Habuya feeling about the same as I did about Honda Ya: way poorer, and too much poorer for how merely whelmed I was by the food (not overwhelmed, not underwhelmed... just... whelmed).

Green caviar: not caviar. Seaweed. It did say seaweed on the menu, but I thought that since it was $7.50 for a small bow it meant it came WITH seaweed, not that it was literally a bowl of seaweed. Boo. (Good seaweed though.)

Cold tofu with uni: cold tofu tasted plain, like it had just come from a packet at the supermarket. The uni was passable. It wasn't bad, but it did have a particularly chloriney taste.

Egg omelette with bitter melon and eel: this was fine, but it was three small pieces and the last piece didn't have any bitter melon or eel in it, so it was just a piece of egg.

Sauteed mushrooms: tasted like non-stick cooking spray.

Agedashi: Tasty, but soggy.

Garlic edamame: Fair.

At this point, we were both still really hungry despite having spent about $45 already, so we thought if we split a bowl of ramen, that would noodle up our tummies for a reasonable price. Hence:

Okinawan sea salt ramen: the broth was very mild. I wouldn't have been surprised to see it in front of me at a generic Chinese restaurant full of wontons. However, its saving grace was its pork. The slices were fatty and melted wonderfully in my mouth.

We finished off with black sesame ice cream, which had a weird coffee-like sauce on it for some reason.

I wanted to like this place and was almost positive I would, based on the menu - plus, the ambience was casual, noisy, and warm, which was perfect - but I just couldn't get down with a $30 per person dinner bill without some seriously tasty food to go along with it.

Very folksy, walls covered with Okinawan memorabilia and Pocky boxes big and small. Cozy place, friendly service. Arrive early to avoid a wait, and be sure to add your name to the clipboard list if there is a line.

Some menu items are seasonal. The lotus root fries that my friends were raving about had, for instance, just gone out of season.

- Takowasa (raw octopus in wasabi sauce): unique texture, super good, easily the most memorable dish of the night for me - but this was also my first time ever having this dish as opposed the the other items.

- Garlic edamame: great flavor to a staple appetizer.

- Seaweed salad: fresh and good.

- Takoyaki: five fairly big and piping-hot pieces of pure yum - careful on that first bite! went ahead and gobbled in two bites anyway, steam, thick chunks of octopus, and all. mmm.

- Karaage chicken: crisp and meaty - be sure to add the lemon, makes all the difference.

- Seared albacore carpaccio with spicy oil: nice and fresh.

- Sukiyaki croquettes: comes as a set of two; crispy on the outside, creamy and just right on the inside.

- Peppered chicken wings: not to be missed.

- Eggplant: interesting and meaty, though I wouldn't order it myself given other choices on the menu.

- Potato gratin: too cheesy for me, but I have very mild tastes, so who's to say?

- Grilled squid with butter and shoyu: too buttery for me, but again.

- I forgot the name for a plate of many fried long, skinny fish: none of us had more than one bite. way too salty, and it was definitely not just me.

- Retro Tokyo Parfait: green tea ice cream, anko bean paste, and mochi bits. I've long been spoiled by my neighborhood parlor's thick green tea ice cream so packed with so much real flavor that the cream itself is the color of matcha powder, so this was just standard fare.

- Mango Mochi Ice Cream: really wanted to like this one more, as mango mochi is my absolute favorite, but the fresh mango flavor seemed to overpower its base somewhat. Worth trying all the same.

Will definitely be back for a selection of uni dishes - they were out of uni - as well as that intriguing bitter melon and black bean ice cream.

Best to come with a group of foodie friends so everyone can order a good variety of noms to enjoy together. Great selection of sake and beers you don't usually see. Free choice of pocky sticks (chocolate, strawberry, matcha) with every dessert ordered.

This place is cozy and authentic! Right when I walked in, I felt the incredibly good energy! The decor and interior design is phenomenal! - - It's like a symphony to the eyes!

Servers/staff all 5+++ stars, incredibly nice, genuine people, caring and with integrity.

Food was served quickly, good quality, fresh, hot/cold as appropriate for each dish.

Used plates were cleared quickly -- just another detail which made this experience so seamlessly great. Also, great sauces/spices/condiments for each dish.

Serving portions are generous for the price and types of foods.

We had octopus sashimi, spicy ramen noodles, scallops sashimi, uni pasta, as well as drinks and desserts.

One thing that really stood out at this restaurant is how all the staff really took the time to explain the menu to me, as I have never had this kind of food before. I had a lot of questions regarding what the dishes were, and they were so happy to answer them.

I do love seafood of all sorts, especially sashimi. And so when we received the seafood dishes here, I could tell immediately that they were of the freshest quality. This is a big deal for me!

As an open-minded person who eats food of all cultures, and as a world traveler, I am always delighted and excited to find new foods and combinations I have never had before. The style of food for me was some of the most unique and fascinating I have had.

Highly recommended!!

I will be going back for sure!!

The food here warrants maybe 3 stars but the rushed service and icy reception we received is definitely "meh, I've experienced better."

My friend made reservations for a party of four. We were all coming from different directions and arrived at various times. The hostess would not seat us until we were all present (which is understandable) but she kept on badgering us as the minutes went by. A party without a reservation came by and she told them she could seat them so long as they promised to finish eating within an hour. Our friend who drove the farthest to get to us gave up on dinner and told us to proceed as a party of three. We were then seated and after putting in drink orders, we were asked to move to another table! Since our party of three was seated at a four top anyway, we told our friend to join us for dinner - all that badgering about being there at same time in order to get seated for naught.

Once we placed a food order in, the hostess would come by and ask us to order food (which we just did). This happened several times throughout the dinner.

We enjoyed our food (bitter melon and spam, grilled squid, shishito peppers and Japanese sausage). We were talked into the uni risotto with black truffle, I would definitely pass on that. It was clumpy and forgettable.

A very small restaurant with busy interior decorations.

I tried the sukiyaki croquette, which was pretty good. You get two croquettes. The pork rib soba was very good. The rib meat was very tender and falls off the bone. The broth is light. Overall a good spot for some good Okinawan Japanese food.

The boyfriend and I are always on the lookout for restaurants with decent sake and good munchies for our date nights..

House sake ($6.50): Tanrei junmai; 180 ml
http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=dnaDwd1KKvFAdyjTdh0R1Q&userid=rMRSt0r8q0AvpUllXgrH2w
This was okay.. A little on the dry side.

Chicken meatball: http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=Lh9wg7i7pt2UjvLulSe_Qw&userid=rMRSt0r8q0AvpUllXgrH2w
TOO SALTY.. My boyfriend had to finish the rest of mine..

Uni tofu: http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=YRXp85GZGX-ewgzE_VhLFw&userid=rMRSt0r8q0AvpUllXgrH2w
It didn't really mix with the tofu.. The uni by itself was yummy, but we had to break it apart since it only came with one piece :(. This would have been better if the tofu was homemade. Homemade tofu is more creamy and the taste is different from store-bought tofu..

Tamago with bittermelon and unagi: http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=bDsTLGvlhQ0XuUSg6vQhzg&userid=rMRSt0r8q0AvpUllXgrH2w
Had to order this after seeing all the pictures on Yelp! Unique dish.. Probably the best of what we ordered tonight. The bitterness balanced well with the sweetness from unagi and tamago! No extra unagi sauce needed..

Forgot the prices for the dishes above, but our total bill was $25 without tip. Prices aren't bad, but the food wasn't anything spectacular..

NOTE: It's a very small restaurant in a shopping plaza.. Easy to miss so look carefully! Parking lot is tiny and kind of shady looking.. Park under the lights if you can :P.

I've only been here a couple of times, but I like Habuya's food and service. Not sure if Okinawan food is for everybody -- it's certainly not to be confused with Japanese food -- but it certainly fills a niche.

Been here for lunch each time and have gotten the Okinawan soba and spicy mayo pork bowl combination. Outstanding every time.

Hard to describe the dishes. The ramen is like ramen, but not in way you might be used to. It's quite good though, so don't be dissuaded if you're unfamiliar with it. Also, it's quite beautiful, really. Check out some of my pics from here in the photo gallery.

If you've never had Okinawan food before, but dig Japanese or Asian food in general, give Habuya a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Oh my gosh!!! This is an extraordinary place. Thanks yelp for recommending this. Husband and I were out that night looking for a new place to try and golly I'm glad we went! So much more to come back and try. Wish we had more room in our tummies to try more stuff on and off the menu.

This was an interesting experience with each dish we ordered. A nice variation to sushi, ramen. Tiny restaurant, with a super friendly staff delivering great service.