Muse Sushi House

There are restaurant spaces that just feel doomed. A revolving door of good intentions, bad execution, and the ghosts of failed concepts past. Muse Sushi landed in one of those spots--a corner location that had chewed up and spit out more restaurants than I could count. When they first opened, I gave them six months, tops.Turns out, I was wrong.A few years later, the place is packed, humming with energy, and--against the odds--seems to have figured itself out. The staff? Polished, on-brand, maybe a little too serious for a place slinging raw fish and cold beer, but we'll let that slide. We had no choice but to take a seat at the bar, the only open real estate in the house.From there, you get the best view in any sushi joint--the glass case. A silent promise of quality or a glaring red flag. Here, things looked good. Pristine, well-stocked, everything chilled and gleaming under the soft glow of the overhead lights. We filled out the order sheet in record time, put in for a couple of drinks, and settled in.Watching sushi being made is a lot like watching a magic trick--you only get to see part of the process, the rest is hidden behind the counter, revealed only when the final product lands in front of you. And what came out of the bar? Flawless. Classic favorites, but with a little Muse flourish. Elegant, precise, artfully adorned, and arriving at lightning speed. I don't recall ever seeing sushi hit the table before my Sapporo did.I won't bore you with a breakdown of every bite--let's just say we dropped a small fortune, walked out full, and didn't regret a thing.Muse has done something rare. It's broken the curse of the doomed corner. And, somehow, it's made semi-regulars out of us in the process.

Awful service you have to sign In With your email and telephone number. I dont have to do this at any other sushi restaurant. Even at very expensive sushi restaurants I don't have to do this. I was waiting for my husband and the hostess was telling for someone's name. Why check in then. We didnt bring our phones so we can have an enjoyable evening for valentines. This is an awful place after looking at the reviews. I do see that the San Clemente restaurant was closed down. Hmmm For better service and sushi I recommend Good Choice sushi which is where we went and walked right in and found a couple seats on Sunday night. Good service and food.

NOTE: This review has less to do with their product than it does with their service and policies. I Came in 1/2 hour before the posted closing hour. A very curt server, whom I didn't know, Refused to seat me. She told me that the kitchen was closed even though I clearly said that I only needed a few quick bites to eat and wouldn't stay beyond their posted hours of operation. I mentioned that their posted hours are until 9:00p. She still refused to seat me and was not flexible or kind. I've been coming here since they opened several years ago. They did however allow me to place a to-go order. I guess the kitchen was open for that order??? Which is it..is the kitchen open or closed?I get that they want to close up and get home to their families but let's not forget that open means open and that you are here to service your customers, not to lock up and get home early. As I mentioned, I've been here many times and given plenty of income to this place. I was not planning on taking longer than 15-20 minutes total time. Now I have to go look for a place to park and eat in my car. Very disappointing and inconvenient. Sushi is average to slightly above average. They still don't know how to properly roll hand rolls. Overall, it's a decent place but they really need to prioritize the customer over their own personal preferences. Open means open. Closed means closed. If you don't want to serve people at the end of the day, then change your frikkin hours to accurately reflect when you are closed. Frustrating! Why did I spend so much of my business here building relationships when the only thing which matters is what is convenient to them. Come here for decent sushi but, nothing special. Side note, I received my order ten minutes before closing. One of the regular servers greeted me kindly and remembered me. I think the other server didn't recognize me as a regular. Someone needs training. Something for the rude lady to ponder:When you post your hours, "open" means that you have open doors and are functioning in commerce. If your kitchen is closed, then do not post that you are open for business. You are a restaurant. Your entire job is preparing and serving food from your menu. If you are not willing to do this, then you are not technically "open". You are then accurately considered "closed" for business. Your doors say that you are open as a functioning restaurant. These are you "hours of operation". This means that you are claiming to OPERATE AS A RESTAURANT during this specific time frame. To do otherwise is to be dishonest about your stated hours. I drove across town to give you my business based upon your good faith posting that you are open and serving customers. This explains why I did not give you any gratuity. Gratuity is for service rendered and is a direct reflection on that service. Sitting in a parked car in a dimly lit parking lot does not merit any kind of gratuity whatsoever. My advice is to look for a job in which you can excel. If your job is in service and hospitality, I think you need some more training on what those words mean. Again, "open" means open for service as a restaurant which prepares and serves clients. Not only were you not open, but you went and locked the front doors during your hours of operation in order to discourage and turn away business. Perhaps you should think about this and ponder and reflect as to what your reason for being is. I can no longer continue to give my business to an establishment which cares more about its own needs than it does in servicing its clients. My hope is that this serves to awaken this server to the needs of others rather than selfishness.

Looks like a Thai owned sushi place. The staff spoke Thai to each other and they have Thai Buddha and offerings displayed. They have lunch specials options, which are very decently priced. Their fish looks fresh and tastes delicious. Well run establishment. Free parking available in the shared plaza with Nordstrom rack. In the evening, wait times can be lengthy but I've never had to wait for a table during the lunch hours. Simple but trendy interior. Great place to take friends and have a great time. Tables and bar seating available. Closed 2-430pm and on Sundays.

Muse came highly recommended by a friend who lives in San Clemente. Apparently there was a previously location down there and now we are lucky enough to have a location in Laguna Niguel. First impressions were that the interior design was awesome. Very modern and loved the bamboo accents. I currently can't eat any raw fish but was craving sushi so I asked our server which rolls were safe to order. She gave a long list and I saw that there was a roll with seared salmon that looked awesome. I asked if she could ask the chef to extra sear the salmon. The roll turned out amazing with the salmon looking relatively cooked too. She also recommended a baked salmon roll called July roll and another called taste of Rancho. We were the most impressed with last night in Rancho Niguel & ended up ordering another one. Unfortunately the second one didn't come out as seared and looked super raw so I kindly asked for it to be a little more seared. Our server brought it back and the chef laughed or made a joke. Sorry! Pregnant lady here! It came back slightly more seared but we enjoyed it anyway. Outside of the chef laughing at us for asking for more sear, we were really impressed by this place. Last Night in Rancho Niguel (5/5)Taste of Rancho (4/5)Judy Roll (3/5) Can't wait to be able to eat raw fish again to enjoy more of the rolls.

My partner and I discovered this sushi spot located in a strip mall a few months ago and we now regularly dine there for lunch. The ambiance is nothing to write home about but the interior is clean and spacious. Lunch time can be really busy but today we were able to get seated right away. Our favorite lunch to get here is the sashimi box lunch which comes in 5,6 or 7 pieces (of sashimi). It also comes with miso soup, a cucumber and seaweed salad, tempura shrimp and veggies, four pieces of a California roll. I ordered the 7 piece box but it is really too much for me to eat so I gave several pieces to my partner. The lunch menu items are priced very reasonably.

This place is so darn good it's ridiculous. They've got an enormous variety of fresh fish, tons of creative hand rolls and cut rolls, and plenty of delicious appetizers - literally something for everyone. Service is attentive and friendly. Food can sometimes take a while but that's only because they are always packed.. which is just another green flag that this place is the real deal. Muse truly is a 10/10 in my opinion.

The food was awesome! I'm no real food critic, but nothing was oily or out of proportion. And you have to admit it's annoying when you see sushi with all rice, not the case here! Miso soup was not salty, nothing over cooked, flavors not lacking. Service was quick and friendly and clean and trendy space. We will definitely be back!

Nice sushi spot in south oc! If you come right at 4:30 there's no wait but it got busy fast on a Saturday night. We ordered a couple rolls and tried the octopus and cucumber salad for an appetizer. The food was good and reasonably priced.

Amazing SushiFantastic Service & StaffGreat atmosphere Favorite Sushi Restaurant in OC