Shiki Japanese Restaurant - Orange County,CA

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Last Updated: Feb 20th, 2010 - 23:44:52

Shiki Japanese Restaurant - Orange County,CA
By Nora Kirkeby
Nov 6, 2008, 20:03 PST

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Shiki Japanese Restaurant, Orange, CA ©Alexander Harte 2008

Everyone has their favorite dive restaurants. My family certainly does. They’ve been going to some of our favorite restaurants, since before I was born. My favorite has always been a restaurant called Shiki Japanese Restaurant. I’ve loved it forever. When I was a child Shiki had great food, but the restaurant itself was quite obviously only lightly altered from the Spire’s that predated it. There was a tabletop Pacman game in the waiting room, and bathrooms we avoided like the plague, but something amazing has happened to this dive…It’s not a dive anymore!

When the little Japanese lady who had greeted us for as long as I could remember started to be seen less and less, Gerard came onto the scene. Partnering with the original owner and chef, Steve, the two of them began to transform the place. The first thing to change? The restrooms, which are now gorgeous marble with Japanese lessons piped over the loudspeakers.

It didn’t stop there, the walls of the restaurant were torn out, rebuilt further back, and painted. The old booths were replaced, and the old tables were replaced. The back was opened up, and the fake windows were turned into real windows, through which light came streaming through. The restaurant is now a beautiful, stylishly fun place to eat.

On top of the cosmetic changes, the food actually got better; if that were possible. It took me a while to arrive at this conclusion, since the food at Shiki’s has always been superb. Their tempura is perfect, and their many Japanese specialties from Sukiyaki to Tonkatsu are all strongly recommended. They even have Teppan Hibachi tables, and lucky for us all, the menu that once only offered a scant selection of tasty sushi morsels has expanded greatly. Shiki’s means the Four Seasons in Japanese. Very appropriately there are four Shiki’s specialties: the spring roll, the summer roll, the autumn roll, and the winter roll are all sure to tantalize your taste buds.

The wait-staff is almost perfect. Both of the owners can usually be found in the restaurant. What a novel concept, right? It’s always a good sign when the owner is available and checking the tables, and Gerard can be seen doing that all night.

If you are a sushi connoisseur or just a general fan of excellent Japanese food, this restaurant can’t be missed. Even living on California’s coast, there is still a lot of bad Japanese food, sushi, and seafood out there. Shiki Japanese Restaurant is a treasure of great sushi and traditional Japanese food in Orange County.

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