Kaiten Kaisen Sushi Bar

Since finding Kura Sushi, it's been our stalwart for cheap, fast, fun sushi. I was excited when I heard that Kaiten Kaisen was a little closer, and had (supposedly) better sushi. I guess overall it was a hit and miss dealio. You order here off a sheet of paper mainly, as the conveyer belt doesn't carry enough sushi on its own to constitute a full meal. They had great selection and most individual servings ranged from .99 to 3.50, with the cut rolls being larger servings ranging from $4.00(California Roll) to $7.00 for things like the Volcano Roll(pictured below) or the Lobster Roll.



This particular Volcano roll was pretty tasty. For those unfamiliar, the Volcano Roll at Kaiten is a california roll topped with scallops in a cream-ish(probably mayonnaise based) sauce and cooked a little bit at the top. They included an obscene amount of scallops, which was a nice surprise.

We also tried what is always a group favorite at Kura, the crunchy roll.



I actually thought the Crunchy Roll was better here than at Kura. An interesting discovery I made with a friend at Kura one time was that the crunchy roll is basically just a regular roll that is coated with some type of crunchy shit. This is completely different from what is typically a "golden" or some such flamboyant name given to a roll that is actually deep fried in tempura. I definitely prefer the deep fried variety, but Kura only makes those in California variety, and I've heard they are delicious in the Philadelphia variant.

Other things to note about the restaurant? The seared salmon I got was rubbery and slimy, not very pleasant to be sure. The fried squid was actually very delicious, some of the better fried squid I've ever had. The shumai was extremely disappointing, tasted old and of low quality. The Gyoza was typical, described as "EXTRA crispy". They serve a few desserts, including mochi and this ice cream creation:



Trust me, it didn't look that ethereal/mystical in real life. The name escapes me, but it was basically the only dessert option besides Mochi/Ice Cream. It was Ice cream topped with whipped cream and served with tapioca, peaches, and red bean paste. It was pretty tasty, though not what I expected from the non-descriptive title.

Overall, I enjoyed Kaiten, and knowing what they excel at (cut rolls) and what I will probably avoid in the future(Salmon), I will probably give them another taste in the future. Their strengths definitely lie in their value and casual atmosphere. The group I ate with were all pleasantly surprised by the amount they forked over at the end, since they'd all expected to be paying more.

Kaisen Kaiten Sushi Bar(right behind Pat and Oscar's...it was somewhat of a clusterfuck trying to find it from the number/street alone)
3855 S Bristol St
Santa Ana, CA
714-444-2161