Good food. I'm not into sushi but their chicken teriyaki, crunchy rolls, tempura are fresh and flavorful. Owner is nice.
Jason G.
I wish I had come to visit here earlier! This place is really good - big variety of items between poke bowls, sushi (nigiri, cut rolls, hand rolls - different styles) and cooked food. We had the poke bowl, a cut roll, traditional hand roll and the hand roll combo. Everything was fresh and delicious. Really good fish quality for the price. We'll definitely be back again!
Anais C.
Wow! Bf and I went here for an unplanned japanese food dinner and the services were outstanding! I love that they could make you a baked salmon roll even though it's not on the menu. The poke bowl also was more than worth it. Highly recommended place. :)
Kiyomi G.
Service was friendly and prompt! We ordered the Belle's bowl which was flavorful and filling. They did not skimp on the fish - super generous portions!! The amberjack sushi was fresh and again, a generous portion, with an interesting spicy pepper relish garnish. The edamame was free with a Yelp check in.
Douglas H.
I have been here many times, and the food was good... I'm not sure what happened, but the last couple of times I have been here, the food has been midioker at best. I ordered a dragon roll, and the eel pieces were so big that they actually made me gag The mixed tempura was not Krispy at all. We ordered a couple of other items whic were not as good as well... I actually threw away $50 worth of sushi.
Hailey D.
My favorite sushi spot in Lake Forest / Irvine area. The sushi chef puts so much care into every roll created.
Sara Steeves
I absolutely love their food here. Great service and very friendly workers! 5/5 star
Garrett M
Honestly some of the freshest and best tasting sushi I’ve ever had and I’ve been to Japan and many omakase bars, wagyu and blue fin just perfect. Definitely my new fav.
Oslec Lopez
Awesome personalized service
Sierra K.
I love this place! The poki is delicious and a great price, and the owner is very friendly and attentive. I work really close by and find myself craving Hikari by the time 6 PM rolls around :)
Jimmy's Bowl (brown rice, tuna, salmon, tempura bits, and Screaming Sauce) was good at first, but that Screaming Sauce had me crying. Not happy tears, unfortunately. The generous amount of that pungent, super spicy sauce overwhelmed everything in the bowl, rendering me unable to fully enjoy the individual components, especially with my sinuses running from the heat. Sure, its name sort of implies its strength, but isn't spiciness relative? I wish the staff would have honestly told me that it was ACTUALLY gonna be very spicy when I asked them what was in the sauce haha. I guess it's my fault for not checking...but c'mon, help a sister out! Evidently that sauce hogged all the heat, because service was lacking in warmth. It was my first time there, so I asked some questions. But it seemed like I asked d*** questions, and I felt like I was being rushed, even though no one else was waiting behind me to order. So in my experience, it wasn't a welcoming vibe.
Nobu K.
My daughter and I love the restaurant! I tried three or four Japanese sushi restaurants around Lake forest area and this sushi restaurant is the best so far.
Carrie Monroe
Great menu. Friendly staff nice place for a quick lunch.
Anahí Esquivias Siqueiros
Great service and delicious food! The poke was beautiful and tasted amazing! Definitely coming back ?
Aaron E.
Hikari Poki seems to be suffering from some kind of identity crisis. If I had to sum up Hikari Poki in a single word it would have to be: Awkward. As you walk in it looks like a tiny traditional Sushi den you would expect in an alley or train station in Tokyo complete with a full service area with 4 seats in front of the show as well as a kitchen in the back cranking out full sized entrees. But when you open the menu you are immediately greeted with a "Japanese-lite" style menu completely focused on Poke and Rolls. Hikari is hardly the first restaurant to offer Sushi/Sashimi on the same menu as Poke and Rolls but the setting and -- more importantly -- the prices would suggest this would be a more formal affair centered around "real" Japanese and not a run-of-the-mill bastardized version. The service is spotty at best - you will be waiving down your server and if you make the mistake of dining on the patio good luck - those people looked left for dead. As mentioned, the Sushi prices are quite considerable. A two piece Maguro set comes in at $6.00 which is more than O Fine in Irvine and as much as Nana San which is largely considered one of the best Sushi spots in central OC. If you want to upgrade to Toro-quality Sushi the cost explodes to $11.00 for a pair. The quality of the Seafood was better than mediocre but certainly not worth the coin they are asking and it is a la carte only (no combinations) so Hikari Poki doesn't give your wallet much to love. My co-worker thought the Poke would be the safer bet since the menu is centered around different Bowls and went with the two item option at $10.50 and mentioned that the quality of all of the ingredients were solid but the Ponzu was not very pronounced and far too little was used making for a "Fish & Rice Salad". If I were to return I would probably go the Poki Bowl route as it seems the be the best value play. That all being said, I rarely crave Poke anymore and thanks to the fanatic trend that went wild for 3 years in Orange County I am now burned out of the tired genre which will likely curtail any desire to return to Hikari Poki in the future. If you are still a Poki-head this might be worth a stop.
Good food. I'm not into sushi but their chicken teriyaki, crunchy rolls, tempura are fresh and flavorful. Owner is nice.
I wish I had come to visit here earlier! This place is really good - big variety of items between poke bowls, sushi (nigiri, cut rolls, hand rolls - different styles) and cooked food. We had the poke bowl, a cut roll, traditional hand roll and the hand roll combo. Everything was fresh and delicious. Really good fish quality for the price. We'll definitely be back again!
Wow! Bf and I went here for an unplanned japanese food dinner and the services were outstanding! I love that they could make you a baked salmon roll even though it's not on the menu. The poke bowl also was more than worth it. Highly recommended place. :)
Service was friendly and prompt! We ordered the Belle's bowl which was flavorful and filling. They did not skimp on the fish - super generous portions!! The amberjack sushi was fresh and again, a generous portion, with an interesting spicy pepper relish garnish. The edamame was free with a Yelp check in.
I have been here many times, and the food was good... I'm not sure what happened, but the last couple of times I have been here, the food has been midioker at best. I ordered a dragon roll, and the eel pieces were so big that they actually made me gag The mixed tempura was not Krispy at all. We ordered a couple of other items whic were not as good as well... I actually threw away $50 worth of sushi.
My favorite sushi spot in Lake Forest / Irvine area. The sushi chef puts so much care into every roll created.
I absolutely love their food here. Great service and very friendly workers! 5/5 star
Honestly some of the freshest and best tasting sushi I’ve ever had and I’ve been to Japan and many omakase bars, wagyu and blue fin just perfect. Definitely my new fav.
Awesome personalized service
I love this place! The poki is delicious and a great price, and the owner is very friendly and attentive. I work really close by and find myself craving Hikari by the time 6 PM rolls around :)
Restaurantji Recommends
Jimmy's Bowl (brown rice, tuna, salmon, tempura bits, and Screaming Sauce) was good at first, but that Screaming Sauce had me crying. Not happy tears, unfortunately. The generous amount of that pungent, super spicy sauce overwhelmed everything in the bowl, rendering me unable to fully enjoy the individual components, especially with my sinuses running from the heat. Sure, its name sort of implies its strength, but isn't spiciness relative? I wish the staff would have honestly told me that it was ACTUALLY gonna be very spicy when I asked them what was in the sauce haha. I guess it's my fault for not checking...but c'mon, help a sister out! Evidently that sauce hogged all the heat, because service was lacking in warmth. It was my first time there, so I asked some questions. But it seemed like I asked d*** questions, and I felt like I was being rushed, even though no one else was waiting behind me to order. So in my experience, it wasn't a welcoming vibe.
My daughter and I love the restaurant! I tried three or four Japanese sushi restaurants around Lake forest area and this sushi restaurant is the best so far.
Great menu. Friendly staff nice place for a quick lunch.
Great service and delicious food! The poke was beautiful and tasted amazing! Definitely coming back ?
Hikari Poki seems to be suffering from some kind of identity crisis. If I had to sum up Hikari Poki in a single word it would have to be: Awkward. As you walk in it looks like a tiny traditional Sushi den you would expect in an alley or train station in Tokyo complete with a full service area with 4 seats in front of the show as well as a kitchen in the back cranking out full sized entrees. But when you open the menu you are immediately greeted with a "Japanese-lite" style menu completely focused on Poke and Rolls. Hikari is hardly the first restaurant to offer Sushi/Sashimi on the same menu as Poke and Rolls but the setting and -- more importantly -- the prices would suggest this would be a more formal affair centered around "real" Japanese and not a run-of-the-mill bastardized version. The service is spotty at best - you will be waiving down your server and if you make the mistake of dining on the patio good luck - those people looked left for dead. As mentioned, the Sushi prices are quite considerable. A two piece Maguro set comes in at $6.00 which is more than O Fine in Irvine and as much as Nana San which is largely considered one of the best Sushi spots in central OC. If you want to upgrade to Toro-quality Sushi the cost explodes to $11.00 for a pair. The quality of the Seafood was better than mediocre but certainly not worth the coin they are asking and it is a la carte only (no combinations) so Hikari Poki doesn't give your wallet much to love. My co-worker thought the Poke would be the safer bet since the menu is centered around different Bowls and went with the two item option at $10.50 and mentioned that the quality of all of the ingredients were solid but the Ponzu was not very pronounced and far too little was used making for a "Fish & Rice Salad". If I were to return I would probably go the Poki Bowl route as it seems the be the best value play. That all being said, I rarely crave Poke anymore and thanks to the fanatic trend that went wild for 3 years in Orange County I am now burned out of the tired genre which will likely curtail any desire to return to Hikari Poki in the future. If you are still a Poki-head this might be worth a stop.