“I need to take your temperature if you don’t mind. It’s touchless,” says the manager at the entrance to Sushi Ii as she gingerly points a handheld device at my forehead.
“And if you would please…” she says, not finishing her sentence but instead motioning toward the sanitizer station adjacent to the door.
Sushi Ii is a glamorous new restaurant in Newport Beach that opened just before the pandemic hit, and then abruptly had to close. And then reopened. And then had to close again when the state paused indoor dining a second time. Like most restaurants stuck in this uncomfortable limbo, they are momentarily focused solely on takeout. But in that brief window in June when indoor dining was allowed, I scored a reservation. And can say unequivocally that I have yet to find another restaurant in Orange County—indoor or out—that makes me feel more confident about its COVID-19 prevention protocols than Sushi Ii. The temperature check, the hand sanitizer, the distancing, the digital menu via QR code, the compassion and seriousness… It doesn’t lessen the glamor. It only amplifies it.
The restaurant is hidden on the second floor of a newish plaza at the corner of PCH and Dover Drive. There is no signage visible from the street. At the front entrance, there is merely a small tile with the restaurant’s name engraved into it. Nobody stumbles into Sushi Ii by accident. And that’s by design. They don’t serve California-style sushi rolls. It’s omakase only, meaning when you’re dining here the chef will decide what you’ll eat. That said, you do get a limited say in how many courses you wish to enjoy. And if you wish to add extra items after the chef has had his say, that’s allowed.
As I step into the foyer, I’m enveloped with an overwhelming sense of calm. Muted black walls contrast with light woods and creamy upholstery. It’s odd how something so severe can be so tranquil. It is the epitome of Japanese simplicity and grace. There has never been anything quite like this in Orange County before. When it reopens, you’ll want to dress up.
It’s 7:30 p.m. when I arrive, and it appears that my partner and I might be the only guests, but ultimately we’re not. A second couple arrives 30 minutes later, at which point the four of us have filled the restaurant to capacity for the evening. If not for the pandemic, the chef would welcome a dozen diners around his counter. But with physical distancing in place, the counter remains empty for now since customers would be too close to the where the sushi is prepared. Their temporary indoor solution takes advantage of two tables in the main dining room, plus another table or two in what would normally be a private room.
Dinner begins enoki mushrooms and abalone, cold and slippery. This is followed immediately with steamed cod and grated daikon in a warm dashi broth. After that comes the sushi: bluefin tuna, salmon belly, hamachi, black bass, scallop, sweet shrimp… nothing particularly unusual but all of it absolutely pristine.
The chef/owner is Susumu Ii, who operated a sushi restaurant in Fountain Valley called Kasen for about 17 years. Kasen closed a couple years ago, and Ii spent much of the time in between that closure and now working in Japan, re-immersing himself into Osaka’s sushi scene. Osaka is where he originally trained decades prior. The chef’s knife-work is meticulous. You’d be hard pressed to find another sushi chef in Orange County with better knife skills than Ii.
With the dining room currently shuttered, I return again for takeout. It’s a completely contactless transaction via Tok. I layer the trunk of my car with ice packs, buckle the seatbelt and press my lead foot against the accelerator. In record time, I return home with an elaborate tray of sushi, a mix of nigiri sushi (bluefin tuna, tuna toro, salmon, sea bream, shrimp, kohada, eel) and hako-zushi, a style of pressed “box” sushi that’s popular in Osaka but rarely seen here. The latter are topped with a mix of shrimp, egg, wood-ear mushroom, eel and sea bream. It’s all very, very good.
When dine-in resumes, guests will have the option of five or eight courses. Longer, more elaborate menus are planned once the restaurant can finally get back to having guests dine at the counter.
Sushi Ii
Where: 100 West Coast Highway, second floor, Newport Beach
When: Tuesday-Saturday, lunch noon.-2 p.m.; dinner, 5:30-10 p.m.
Cost: Lunch from $35; dinner from $120. Takeout from $25.
Phone: 949-287-6268
Online: sushi-ii.com
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Review: Sushi Ii in Newport Beach feels like a private sanctum - OCRegister
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