Suzumaru is our favorite Japanese restaurant in Orange County – Period.  We order the following: sautéed spinach in garlic, a tonkatsu (pork cutlet) dinner, scallop sushi, grilled mackerel and a nabeyaki udon pot, coffee jello and Japanese pudding.

The sautéed garlic spinach is swimming in a buttery, garlicky broth – and I’m not complaining.  If American restaurants prepared green leafy veggies like this most Americans would “eat their veggies”.  Flecks of fried garlic sit on top of the spinach.

Sauteed Garlic Spinach

My tonkatsu plate comes with an iceberg lettuce salad with an ironically “icy” texture (I swear it came straight from the freezer).  The dressing looks like thousand island and tastes of rice wine vinegar, ginger and lemon.  My meal also includes a perfectly cooked bowl of brown rice and miso soup.  The soup is light on flavor which is slightly less desirable to this “whitie” whereas I’m guessing most Asians (like my wife) would give it a “double thumbs up”.

The breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet (tonkatsu) is ever-so-moist and delicious with the accompanying bottle of tonkatsu sauce.  In the sauce I taste catsup, vinegar, sugar and prunes.  The pork comes in large bite-sized strips and rests on a bed of finely shredded cabbage with sides of broccoli topped off with Japanese mayo (slight vinegar taste and the color is more yellow than American mayo) and cold noodles in a Japanese mayo dressing. This succulent tonkatsu is the best I’ve had in California.

Tonkatsu Plate

The grilled mackerel is flawlessly cooked (medium rare) and slightly less fishy than normal since it was grilled.  The two pieces of scallop sushi are chunky with fleshy, silky smooth surfaces that melt in your mouth like butter.  A tiny drop of Japanese mayo rests on each piece and an eye watering surprise layer of wasabi rests between the scallop and the rice.  Amazing!

Grilled Mackerel

Their coffee jello has whipped cream on the edges of the bowl and French vanilla ice cream (various flavor choices).  The jello tastes of strong black coffee and combines beautifully with the French vanilla ice cream.  It is one of the few times I’d opt for French vanilla over vanilla bean ice cream (if it were available).

Coffee Jello

The Japanese pudding is similar to a Brazilian flan (no cinnamon) and rests in a thin caramel sauce with whipped cream on the edges of the bowl.  The texture is a little smoother and slightly less egg-rich than most flans.  Regardless, it is one seriously tasty dessert.

Japanese Pudding

Date of Visit: 5/15/2010.  Restaurant:  Suzumaru. A: 17292 McFadden Ave., Suite B, Tustin, CA  92780.  P: 714-665-1300.  W: suzumaru-usa.com.

Key: (5 star maximum per category).  Ambiance: *** ½; Service: *** ½;Food/Drink: *****; Grade: A.