Zipangu is an Asian Fusion restaurant located in The LAB in Costa Mesa.  I’ve seen it a number of times but never went in to check it out.  Finally after a recent shipping trip to South Coast Plaza, the Englishman and I decided to pop into Zipangu and see what it was all about.

We happened to come during happy hour (3-7 every day!), so we decided to take advantage and ordered some drinks and garlic fries.  Yes, garlic fries.

I have never had garlic fries at a sushi restaurant before, but these were delicious!  They weren’t super garlicky, but they were nice and crisp and were perfectly salted.  I may have to come back to Zipangu for the fries alone.

We were both in the mood for some sushi so we ordered some yellowtail, mackerel, and shrimp to share.  I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical since this restaurant has an item on the menu called the Kobayashi which is American Hot Dog Rolled Up with Rice & Soy Paper and Deep Fried, but I decided to give it a shot.

I’m glad I gave the sushi a shot because it was delicious!  I don’t think it’s quite as good as Shunka or Kitayama, but definitely decent.  I also had a veggie roll, because why not?

The veggie roll was good, but nothing amazing.  Just your standard vegetable roll fare.

For the grand finale, the Englishman ordered the Chicken Kara-age, which is Japanese style deep-fried chicken.

The chicken came with a side of chipotle mayo and some peppers.  I only had a taste of the chicken but it was pretty good!

Not going to lie, I’ve never had fries, chicken and sushi rolls all in one sitting before, but somehow it worked.  Zipangu has a lot of other interesting Asian Fusion dishes I wouldn’t mind coming back and trying as well.  Plus, this place has a happy hour on the weekend, so that makes it an instant win.