Rebel Omakase
Day two of my SoCal/OC trip and for dinner I decided to drive about 25 minutes north of my hotel to Laguna Beach to check out Rebel Omakase. This 1 Michelin starred sushi restaurant serves a roughly 16 course omakase menu that, as it should, shifts with the season and what quality ingredients the chef can get. The chef at the helm of Rebel Omakase has both Japanese and Peruvian influences in his background, although for our menu the latter did not make it presence known.
The restaurant is counter seating only save for one small table off to the side. The large wooden counter is the focal point of the restaurant’s food and decor, as the rest of the establishment is fairly minimalist and lacking in paintings or other adornments.
Here is what I had for my dinner on November 15, 2024. I will individually post the non-nigiri dishes then the nigiri courses will be in a gallery near the end:
Monaka filled with aged yellowtail
Sashimi - Shrimp, snapper, tuna
Hokkaido hairy crab, crab innard sauce, seaweed
Fried fish in a yuzu dashi broth
Ankimo with caviar
Charcoal seared A5 wagyu with vermicelli noodles and a dashi broth
Chawanmushi with matsutake mushroom, clams, Hokkaido uni
Hokkaido bafun uni
Umeshu jelly, yogurt ice cream, truffle
Rebel Omakase uses red vinegar in its sushi rice mixture, similar in fashion to Chef Nakazawa of Sushi Sho. I appreciated a few non-standard offerings such as the Japanese white salmon and cornet fish. The quality of the fish was excellent and comparable to other 1 Michelin starred sushi restaurants I’ve been to. Air shipping fish straight from Japan is so commonplace now that it has really leveled the playing field for sushi outside of Japan.
I think the overall formation of the sushi rice was a bit looser than I am used to as I found myself needing to take a little extra effort to pick up each nigiri without feeling like the rice might fall apart. The use of house made dashi in some of the cooked dishes such as the fried fish and wagyu courses was a noticeably nice touch.
Service was friendly and quick, but a bit overbearing at times. I felt like the few servers were constantly hovering around us at the counter. A minor critique but one I felt through most of the meal.
Rebel Omakase
361 Forest Ave #103
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
