Kawamata Seafood

🇺🇸🌺 HAWAI'I, USA: Before a recent surge in higher quality poke in Southern California, Dana Point residents were spoiled more than everyone with this excellent spot that still shines.

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES (Hawai'i)
📍 26881 Camino de Estrella,
Dana Point, Orange County
🅿️ Small lot and ample street parking
🥤 No Alcohol

📸 All photos by Jared Cohee
for Eat the World Los Angeles

As old as travel itself is the simple problem of going to (and more so returning from) Hawai’i, and the fact that your life does not have access to many of the things you were exposed to while visiting. Putting aside the concepts of a way of life that has aloha and ohana, even the simple pleasures of fresh raw fish are not quite the same. Local grocery store chains in Honolulu have rows of freshly prepared options that hit hard, but go to seafood specialists and your life changes forever.

Kawamata understands this somehow better than other places in Southern California, and seems to have a direct connection to the sea. Its location at the south end of Orange County pretty much eliminates it from Los Angeles media lists, but the constant lines show an affection for the business that is completely local. Even back in 2015-2016 when Kawamata was leaps and bounds above everything else (nowadays the poke game in Los Angeles is admittedly better) it was not getting mentions.

Ahi tuna and octopus with “original” flavor.