Hits and Misses:OC's Sushi Murasaki

Usually I'm at a loss on where to eat in Orange County, and wouldn't even consider sushi. I mean, LA sushi is soo good and I was skeptical of OC sushi. Nonetheless, my friend convinced me a while ago to try out Sushi Murasaki, which had rave reviews (this is a backpost from long, long time ago).

The place was practically empty at lunch and we sat at the sushi bar in front of the owner.
We started off with some cucumber sunomono, then started ordering our sushi.
We started with some hamachi and the chef suggested some hamachi belly also (which obviously we took!)
The fish was pretty fresh, and the hamachi belly melts in your mouth. I was pleasantly surprised.

We also got some kanpachi
I thought he had put a little too much rice for my taste, but again, the fish was good and fresh.
I don't know how it would be when his apprentice is making it, but we had a great experience with the owner as the sushi chef.

There was a list of specials of cooked items, so we tried a couple of them. First we got the seafood croquette.
Pretty big croquette, and the filling and the crunchiness is great, but I wanted more seafood - or more flavorful seafood. Still, not bad, Iwould eat it again.

We also got some Black Cod with Wild Mushrooms and Daikon
This was ... meh ... bland. The fish is overcooked and tough, the sauce and the wild mushrooms added nothing. A waste of a cod, really.

My final impression was that this place has good sushi - good quality fish and all, but the cooked dishes were all ... meh, not worth it. I would recommend going to this place, but for the sushi only, although their fish choices are limited compared to a lot of LA places. But there's no need to get the cooked dishes - in fact, please don't (except the croquette).

Sushi Murasaki
2901 W MacArthur Blvd
Ste 108
Santa Ana, CA 92704
(714) 241-1000
www.sushi-murasaki.com