The Top 5 Tasting Menus Near Duane's Prime Steaks & Seafood
-
-
Rank 2. Omakase by Gino
Sushi
A sushi counter in downtown Santa Ana where distressed wood and Japanese touches frame Chef Gino Choi's assured hand—yuzu cream cradling house-cured ikura, flame-kissed tuna over miso. The udon arrives thick and creamy with uni and black truffle, a dish that tastes like joy.
-
Rank 3. Hana re
Sushi
A ten-seat counter hidden in a Costa Mesa strip mall becomes a sanctuary of unhurried precision under Chef Atsushi Yokoyama, who moves from delicate composed dishes—chawanmushi crowned with blue shrimp, braised abalone with uni—into nigiri with the inevitability of ritual. What emerges across the evening is a argument for restraint: excellent fish, simply prepared, allowed to speak for itself.
-
In a Laguna Beach shopping center, Chef Jordan Nakasone runs a quiet counter where tradition and invention coexist with ease. Nigiri spotlights pristine fish—yagara, nodoguro—while kitchen dishes like chawanmushi with black cod and miso butter show restraint and ambition. Service disappears into the background, leaving only the meal.
-
Rank 5. Oliver's Osteria
Italian
A sun-lit room near the Pacific Coast Highway where Chef Erik De Marchi draws on Italian tradition without pretense: zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and anchovies, bucatini all'amatriciana that tastes both familiar and alive, house-made desserts that close the meal on an honest note. The banquettes and bar invite lingering.