Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub
Much like its offbeat name suggests, Wrench and Rodent is an eclectic spot where diners can expect the unexpected. Here, chef Davin Waite combines his French and Japanese training to bring an adventurous approach to sushi. With an emphasis on locally sourced fish and produce, Waite’s outpost offers a set sushi menu, a nigiri and sashimi omakase experience, and a list of daily specials. If you’re going to take a turn from the traditional, do it here.
Oriana Poindexter
Kaito Sushi
While Kaito might not offer the largest array of fish, you can be sure that the day’s selection will be chosen and prepared impeccably by Tokyo-trained Kazuo Morita, one of San Diego’s most highly regarded sushi chefs. The fish on deck is determined by what’s in season and up to the chef’s standards, hence the lack of certain fish on select days. Leave it to the chef to be in charge of your meal by requesting the omakase option, ensuring a one-of-a-kind experience catered to your taste with the chef’s expertise. If his delicate version of saltwater eel, or anago, is available, don’t miss it.
Kaito Sushi
Himitsu
A Michelin Guide standout, Himitsu is recognized for having it all: appetizers, soups, sashimi, and makii, as well as specialty plates and daily fish specials. With just eight seats at the sushi bar, as well as a handful of outdoor tables, this La Jolla spot offers an intimate dining experience in the hands of chef Mitsu Aihara, who spent 16 years at the revered Sushi Ota. Aihara does traditional sushi and offers an elegant omakase menu, but also features more substantial and trend-setting dishes like the rib-eye katsu sando (stuffed with breaded steak and ginger-dressed cabbage).
Haley Hill
Matoi
There is one restaurant in San Diego where guests can enjoy Edomae-style omakase while taking in the sonic work of 1990s hip-hop artists including Tupac and Snoop Dogg. Before debuting Matoi, chef TJ sharpened his skills in kitchens across the world, including at restaurants in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tijuana, Baja California, and Japan. Matoi only offers two seatings a night for its full omakase, or the abbreviated version, which comes in at under $100.
Sushi Ota
For more than a quarter-century, owner Yukito Ota showcased his tremendous sushi skills at his eponymous and unassuming strip mall spot. Ota, who trained many of the city’s best sushi makers, has now retired and entrusted the restaurant to one of his longtime chefs, Shigenari “Shige” Tanabe. In true Japanese style, Sushi Ota is a place where diners go to hide in plain sight — a comfortable place for people to unwind and indulge in satiating sushi preparations. Lunch sets include chicken teriyaki and karaage, while dinner options from the sushi bar include a Tokusen nigiri combination plate with tuna, yellowtail, salmon, toro, white fish, bluefin tuna rib meat, albacore, scallop, salmon roe, eel, and a tuna roll.
Sushi Ota
Kokoro
Kokoro, a quiet minimalist temple to the art of Japanese Kappo cuisine, nestles in a Serra Mesa shopping plaza. Chef Akio “Taisho” Ishito appears classically minded, wearing traditional Japanese elevated wood sandals while working behind the bar. A great option for lunch, the combination plates offered from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Tuesday through Saturday) are served with miso soup (or upgrade to udon for $2.50). Lunch options include bowls like the Wagamama with the diner’s choice of six pieces of tuna, yellowtail, and salmon over sushi rice.
Kokoro
Ichifuji Sushi
Ichifuji debuted in 2023 by two veteran itamae, Masato Fujita and Hiroshi Ichikawa, alums of acclaimed spots like Soichi Sushi and Taka Sushi. TheLinda Vista restaurant has a sleek, 10-seat bar as well as a more relaxed, heated, and dog-friendly patio. Ichifuji rotates its menu every season, offering two versions of omakase, including one that is more nigiri-focused. While the menus change according to the season, diners can expect the spring menu to feature assorted sashimi and yakimono (dishes prepared over high heat) such as grilled miso-marinated black cod from Alaska.
Candice Woo
Soichi Sushi
Veteran sushi master Soichi Kadoya presides over this warm and welcoming family-run restaurant in a small neighborhood building on Adams Avenue. There are a few tables, but the best seats are at the sushi bar where Kadoya puts together customized and creative omakase menus that include sashimi, nigiri, and seasonal appetizers. The Michelin-starred restaurant also offers an impressive array of sake. Three omakase options are currently available: omakase for dine-in, nigiri omakase (four appetizer tasting dishes, 12 pieces of sushi, soup, and a scoop of house-made ice cream), and the petite omakase (three appetizer tasting dishes, six pieces of nigiri, soup, and ice cream).
Michael Ly
Komatsuya
At Komatsuya, the goal is to serve honmamon, or authentic and “real” flavors. The omakase menu at this low-key restaurant in Mission Hills includes sushi and sashimi but also a number of cooked dishes featuring meat and seafood. Diners can choose the full or abbreviated omakase, both under $200; alongside the sushi, find dishes like chicken karaage and roasted duck seasoned with yuzu pepper sauce, best paired with beer, sake, and natural wine.
Komatsuya
Hane Sushi
Roger Nakamura, another veteran of San Diego’s venerated Sushi Ota, is behind this Bankers Hill restaurant, which serves lunch and dinner in a spacious and contemporary setting. With top-of-the-line nigiri sushi and sashimi, Hane is also known for its creative license with off-menu specialties and rolls that include the Diego roll with spicy tuna and cilantro, topped with chopped slices of serrano peppers, and the pizza roll, made with a baked California roll drizzled with spicy mayo.
Kinme Omakase
This luxe offshoot of Azuki Sushi showcases the elegance and seasonality of kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) cuisine in concert with traditional Edomae-style sushi. The immersive omakase experience, created for 10 diners per seating, is enhanced by a beverage menu of premium sake and natural wine. Ideal for special occasions, snag a $225 seat at the intimate sushi bar for either the 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. seating, available Wednesday through Sunday.
Kimberly Motos
Azuki Sushi
One of the best dining options in Bankers Hill, Azuki is the local sushi bar that every neighborhood deserves. The modern two-story lounge with outdoor seating provides an intimate and friendly setting for high-end shareables, sushi sets, and one-of-a-kind rolls. Regulars rave about the crispy rice and spicy tuna — a pairing that consists of shiitake mushroom and jalapeños — and from the chef’s selections, the Caviar Three Ways with bluefin toro, uni, and Miyazaki A5 wagyu nigiri.
Shino Sushi and Kappo
Another disciple of Sushi Ota runs this small sushi bar near the train tracks on the edge of Little Italy. The “kappo” in the restaurant’s name refers to skill not just in cutting fish and making sushi but also a mastery of other cooking techniques, from grilling and steaming to frying and simmering, all part of a well-balanced omakase menu. Sashimi combination plates include a mix of toro, salmon belly, yellowtail belly, and tuna, while entrees include a chicken and salmon teriyaki.
Maru Sushi
A newer addition to downtown, chef “Maru” Maruyama’s Cortez Hill omakase hideaway offers a two-hour experience with 20 courses priced at $180. Omotenashi, or the art of hospitality, mindfulness, and outstanding service, sits at the center of this sushiya, and diners have praised the staff’s attentiveness and welcoming energy. The omakase begins with appetizers and ends with soup and dessert—a handful of nigiri take up a few courses in between, along with a warm dish, followed by even more nigiri.
Zuma San Diego
London-based Zuma Restaurant has finally landed in California, opening its first West Coast location in downtown San Diego. First opening in London’s Knightsbridge neighborhood in 2002, the Japanese izakaya chain expanded to destinations worldwide, including Istanbul, Dubai, Rome, Cannes, Las Vegas, Riyadh, and Vail. Anchoring the historic Guild Hotel, Zuma evokes a maximalist vibe with a monolithic boulder wall, woven handcrafted glass from Germany, and timber screens featuring Japanese motifs. The space features a sushi counter, robata grill, and courtyard terrace seating surrounded by leafy palm trees. Two large indoor and outdoor bars serve more than 40 varieties of sake, as well as cocktails like the Zuma paloma, made with tequila and clarified yuzu, and the Osaka spritz. Find dishes such as miso black cod wrapped in hoba leaf, salmon and tuna tartare with ossetra caviar on rice crackers, torched salmon nigiri, and Norwegian king crab marinated in ponzu sauce. End with the elaborate dessert display, which includes tropical fruit, like passionfruit, dragonfruit, and rambutan, and molten lava cake.
Zuma
Taka Sushi
This longtime Gaslamp restaurant is one of the downtown area’s sushi temples — and a launch pad for many of the county’s best sushi chefs. With its satisfying sushi selection and attentive service, the restaurant makes for an easy, group-pleasing night out; find sushi, sashimi, and maki along with a handful of entrees ranging from fall-apart baked black cod to salmon teriyaki. The chef’s tasting menu comes with four courses: sashimi, two-piece sushi nigiri, sushi rolls, and dessert.
Taka Sushi
Saiko Sushi
A well-established Coronado destination, this Japanese restaurant prides itself on an unparalleled sake program and a menu from executive chef and co-owner Anthony Pascale, who pairs locally sourced fish with homemade ingredients. From California spiny lobster and halibut to black cod, Pascale’s selection of seafood is sourced from local fishermen, including those from Tuna Harbor Dockside Market at the port of San Diego.
Saiko Sushi
Nobu at Hotel del Coronado
Iconic Japanese lounge restaurant Nobu has debuted at the historic Hotel del Coronado as part of the resort’s $550 million renovation. Opened in early May, chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s upscale chain restaurant specializing in Peruvian-inflected modern Japanese food occupies a 150-seat indoor-outdoor space. Of course, Matsuhisa’s famous miso black cod is on the menu, but the lengthy menu also offers grilled skewers, sushi, and tempura at sometimes eye-watering prices. —Matthew Kang, Eater Southern California/Southwest
Nobu
Leave a comment