Jinbei - Irvine

So.... Where to start. Got there 20 mins after they opened at waited about 45 mins to sit down. Server came to take our order and they were out of at least 7 things that we tried to order. Running out of that much of the menu a little over an hour into service is terrible. Poor planning to say the least. The food was okay, nothing was a wow. The service overall was pretty bad, kept having to wave down the staff to get their attention. There are a lot of better places around to have good Japanese food where the food and service is better. For sure it was NOT worth the wait.

Melt in your mouth sashimi and tofu! Highly recommend. Only caveat is they don't answer the phone to take reservations. I don't think it is even connected (I never heard it ring and I called for 2 days to make reservations). Finally, I walked in to make reservations. Also, if you walk in when they open, it looks like they take walk ins.

Our recent visit to Jinbei restaurant was very disappointing. As soon as we walked in, we asked for a table for 8. We noticed that people coming after us and listing their names were getting tables ahead of us so went in and tried to explain that we were willing to be split up since its a small restaurant but the lady at the reception was very rude. She didn’t want to listen to what we had to say, as soon as she saw us come back in she made a face and kept telling us in a loud voice to go outside and wait. She didn’t even want to listen to our explanation. We finally spoke to someone else and explained our situation and she was nice enough to understand and listen to our request. When our orders come, the food was mediocre and some of our orders didn’t get served because they forgot about it. We used to come often but we won’t be back again.

Besides a little seating challenge for our larger group of 6, we had an amazing dinner at jinbei.we tried everything from appetizers to set meals to sushi and sashimi, all were made with quality ingredients and presentation. we also got to try the uni spaghetti, two thumbs up! very patient servers even dealing with our large group. jinbei prides itself with 10 locations in japan, and we are lucky jinbei chose irvine to have its first store outside of japan. how blessed we are! albeit small, but mighty. will definitely return to try out the limited lunch offerings!

Best Japanese restaurant in Irvine and lunch special is genuinely special.It's in my neighborhood and I was not disappointed. Very authentic and delicious Japanese food that I have been looking for and couldn't find in Irvine. Lunch special is the best. Everyday, 3 special dishes are offered for max of 10 orders. So be there at 11:30 opening time. The rest of the lunch menu items are delicious too. Very reasonably priced. Always a long wait list but the service is fast.The only thing I feel could improve is the seating, which is a bit cramped and chairs are a bit greasy. Regardless, the food here is to die for!Vegetarian options: Very limited vegetarian option.