Sushi Kappo Suzumaru [Tustin]

Many years ago, a Japanese friend took me here for dinner. It was on my mind for quite some time after the initial visit, but I didn't venture back because I had forgotten where it was located. A recent trip to the nearby Kairakutei ramen house just down the strip rekindled memories.

Suzumaru humbly seats approximately 50 patrons, and the sushi bar is sectioned off from the main dining area with a bamboo partition. The semi-low lighting, accomplished with paper lanterns, easily fashions this restaurant into a date spot.

My company and I decided to skip the entrees and just order tapas.

The boiled spinach with sesame sauce may look boring but the peanut flavor was bursting and pleasing to the palate. The fishcake and cheese dish was well-drained and served with a cup of tonkatsu sauce. The fishcake itself was light and soft, but the cheese wasn't melted nearly enough. After seeing the portions of the spinach and fishcake, I expected the remainer of our dishes to be equally large and overwhelming but the meatballs proved me wrong. For $2.80, we got three dry meatballs on a skewer; this was the least favorable dish of the night.

The "entree" was the Suzumaru Pizza, which, in actuality, has nothing to do with crust, cheese or marinara sauce. It was a small filet of salmon topped with mayonaisse, a dot of hot sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Alone, the salmon is dry, but the mayo masks that aspect.

Sushi Kappo Suzumaru
17292 McFadden Ave. #B
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 665-1300