Hayashi
27531 Puerta Real
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
I can finally report that Katie got a new job, which was much needed after the rather adventurous year and a half she spent at her old one. Even better than getting away from that place, she now only has a block and a half away commute. No more toll road fees, filling up with gas every few days, and the usual wear and tear on her car. As an added bonus, she even got a restaurant tip near where we live, as they brought food into the office during her first week. She was so impressed we had it for dinner that evening.
Hayashi has been here a lot longer than we have lived here. Their first Yelp review is dated from 2008, but they only get a little love from Yelpers because they only have 156 reviews in those ten years. It's not surprising since they are in a shopping center hidden behind the Kaleidoscope, and there needs to be a bigger anchor store to bring people into this shopping plaza. There is some construction at the vacated Sports Chalet spot, which I've heard is going to be a Mini Target, but it was not listed on the Target website, and I have nothing to confirm this other than a bit of hearsay that I've picked up on.
Whatever goes in here will hopefully increase foot traffic, although based on our visit, Hayashi does not appear to really need it. On the recent Wednesday evening when Katie and I visited Hayashi, the two-man culinary team behind this restaurant handled numerous to-go orders and a handful of orders for dining in with ease.
The low-key dining room is small and has about ten tables of two, which probably fills up with the numerous working professionals who inhabit the plethora of office buildings nearby. The menu at Hayashi is surprisingly extensive. They offer teriyaki plates and bowls, bento specials, over 20 varieties of sushi, noodles, and combo meals. 84 numbered things to choose from, direct from a tiny kitchen. Very impressive. We quickly made our choices at the register, and about ten minutes later, we were digging in. Let's see if I had the same love of this restaurant that Katie had when she had it at work.
It's not really too cold outside, but Katie started things off with this Chicken Ramen ($6.50). She loved this soup that came out lava hot in a metal bowl, which did little to cool it down too quickly. She claims that this had a tinge of spiciness, the chicken was flavored well, and she loved the rest of this bowl enough to come here two other times after this visit to have this for lunch. You can say she's addicted.
Not content with the soup, Katie also feasted on this Philadelphia Roll ($7.50). This Philly roll comes with, you guessed it, cream cheese, along with some salmon, cucumber, and avocado. I'm not too big of a fan of cream cheese, so Katie had this all to herself. She also enjoyed this. She called the fish very fresh and found it the perfect accompaniment to the chicken ramen.
On my first visit to Hayashi, I used the same strategy I use when eating in a barbecue or Mexican restaurant, getting a combo meal, and at Hayashi, that equivalent would be this BBQ Beef Bento Special ($9.25). I like doing this so you can try more of their menu all in one shot. This Bento special included 4 pieces of a California roll, a scoop of rice, miso soup, mixed green salad, 2 gyoza, and a choice of salmon, tempura, or what I got the BBQ beef. The beef was excellent and tender, but it would have been better if it was served a little warmer than it was and with more teriyaki sauce on it. Unlike a few Yelp reviewers, I found my California roll freshly made with plenty of crab and avocado inside the outer rice casing. I remember liking the gyoza, but they were not overly stuffed, which left the insides forgettable. The salad was good, with a very flavorful ginger dressing, where a little of it went a long way. The weak link of this plate was the miso soup, but I've never been blown away by any miso soup I've ever had, and that held true here.
Katie ended up loving her visit to Hayashi, while I liked it enough, but would come back again since it is so close to our place and will be convenient for dinners when we want to stay close to home. Hayashi is not really destination dining, but it is good enough if you are in the area craving quick and affordable Japanese cuisine. Service was rushed because they were busy with only two people running this place and a steady stream of customers filtering in. Still, they were polite and in control, promptly getting the food out. I'm so happy that Katie finally has a great work environment, and it has already led us to another spot in our heavy restaurant rotation when we want to stay close to home.
Out of five cabins (because Hayashi is a Japanese surname that translates to forest or woods, and there are tons of cabins in forested areas), five being best to zero being worst, Hayashi gets three cabins.
Hayashi has a very bare-bones website, but you can find their address and a menu on it here: http://famoushayashi.com/menu.html
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