Yonny

To some extent, Jamboree Promenade – the plaza immediately across the street from Irvine’s new UCI medical campus – feels like a continually evolving collection of experiments in Chinese dining: neighbors including Spicy Master, YGF Malatang, and Xixi Fried Skewer appeared (while Bober and Naricha sequentially disappeared) here without much promotion, and we’ve generally enjoyed new additions whenever we randomly discover them. In January 2026, Yonny became the latest addition: the first Orange County outpost of a 2,500-location chain of Sichuan-style “Suancai” sauerkraut fish restaurants. With seating capacity for around 40 people, the modern dining room features tables with their own napkin and chopstick drawers, pitchers of lemony water, and placemat-sized menus focused on a relatively small number of dishes.

Beyond $18 variations on the signature fish, offered either as basa/swai or snakehead (+$2) with your choice of spicy green peppercorn, hot oil, tomato, tom yum, coconut curry, or other broths with cabbage and mushrooms inside, you can choose from items such as spicy boiled beef ($23), deep-fried spicy pork ($7), Linyi-style stir-fried chicken ($18), and $4 skewers of either Taiwanese sausage or grilled squid. Side orders of fatty beef, vegetables, noodles, and shrimp can be added to the soups for small upcharges; a free bowl of either white or purple rice is included with each regular-sized entree. Two deep-fried desserts ($7 each) and a variety of $2.50 soft drinks round out the menu.

To get a general sense of what was available, we ordered the green numbing Sichuan peppercorn version of the sauerkraut fish, the Linyi chicken, a squid skewer, a bowl of the purple rice, and coconut lava ball dessert. Though most of these items were two-note in flavor, everything we tried was good. Our two favorite items were at the start and end of the meal: the surprisingly small “giant squid” skewer was coated in red pepper and salt, with just enough spice and tender chewiness to make every bite interesting. Yonny’s coconut lava ball dessert arrived as a set of five rice-studded orbs filled with yellow custard, liquid coconut milk, and miniature rice balls, each texturally interesting and intentionally delicate in flavor, a nice way to soothe one’s tongue after a powerful entree or two.