The Sushi by Jin

Originating in North Hollywood back in 2015, The Sushi by Jin arrived in Orange County in 2021, choosing Fullerton as a potential hotbed of all-you-can-eat sushi customers. When we visited, we described it as an AYCE sushi restaurant that serves plenty of non-AYCE-style sushi – “for now” – at a price of $35 per person. Today, the per person price is $40 before tax and tip, and unsurprisingly, the quality doesn’t appear to have held up.

What makes AYCE sushi better than average? Ideally, the following factors, which were all true at The Sushi by Jin on our visit: each piece and roll will have more protein than rice and sauce; the fish should be fresh and either naturally flavored or seasoned enough to pass muster pretty much anywhere outside of great places in Japan; and hot dishes should come out of the kitchen in medium- rather than baby-sized portions. (The only real miss on our visit, incidentally, was the hot kitchen dish yakiudon, which arrived slimy and weak in flavor; maybe a smaller portion would have been better on this one.)

Once the price goes up to $40 per person, however, there are real questions as to whether to choose AYCE sushi over just buying rolls a la carte at a high-quality, high-value place such as Eat’s Sushi. That said, the Sushi by Jin’s price is lower than premium AYCE restaurant Sushi Damu’s for a comparable menu, plus Jin lets each guest enjoy limited portions of salmon sashimi, tuna tataki, sweet shrimp, and seasonal items without an upcharge. Damu charges extra – a lot extra – for sashimi.