Restaurant Review: Wafu of Japan in Costa Mesa

When foodies talk sushi, lines inevitably are drawn in black-or-white terms, with purists on one side and know-nothing California-roll munchers on the other side. I'm not a purist.

And that's why I was intrigued when I heard about Wafu of Japan, a shoebox-sized sushi place in Costa Mesa. Online chatter praised it for creativity, and what's more, it's affordable, with virtually all rolls priced around $10.

Walking inside with my wife one night, we encountered a clean, dimly lighted dining area with a handful of booths and another handful of seats at the sushi bar.

Miso soup — perhaps the most homogenized, always-the-same-everywhere dish you could imagine — is uniquely flavorful, tasting of more than just salt, and actually had noodles, giving it a little substance.

A fine starter is the Banzai Calamari, $5.95. This is tender squid wrapped around jalapeno peppers, tempura fried and served rather fetchingly on skewers atop little stumps of cucumber.

I didn't notice during my visits, but Wafu owner Harry Arimizu tells me he sells a more-popular version of this same dish — dubbed "Calamari So-Good" — that is stuffed with spicy tuna.

On the roll front, I first tried the Hawaiian, which has spicy tuna, albacore, mint leaf, green onion and a garlic ponzu sauce. Garlic gets along with albacore like peas get along with carrots, so that was nice, and the mint brightened the plate considerably.

My first visit was far from perfect, though, as Wafu's roll ideas sometimes go from inspired to inedible.

Click here for more of Jeff Overley's review of Wafu of Japan in Costa Mesa.