Samurai Japanese Restaurant

The vibe is cool and leans traditional Japanese, but the food felt very average. Some of the sushi was a bit tough, and the fish quality did not stand out. I would not come back based on that alone. I did appreciate having a rice-free option like the cucumber roll.

Always delicious and fresh. The best Sukiyaki in San Diego. A real traditional Japanese restaurant. Salmon bento has a nice variety of side dishes. The tempura is nice and has a light batter. Kaki fry (oysters) wasn’t on menu but Eric said they will make it for me. That was very nice. Excellent service.

Well this was a different dining experience for me. Can I recommend this place to others? Yes I can, but for reasons that are atypical. From my perspective, the strength of this establishment is actually the ambiance. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good. My favorites were the Yakitori and the Hurricane Roll. However, the @samurai92075 environment makes you feel comfortable and welcomed such that you kinda just don’t wanna leave. And that’s…Henry’s Take. @henrystake

The salmon sushi was good and aesthetically pleasing but I was not a fan of the wasabi inside the sushi. The spicy tuna with albacore was good but the spicy mayo sauce was too much for me. Not spicy, just overwhelming of a mayo taste for sushi. The sushi bar man was nice and I appreciated the Orange slice at the end. Also, hot sake is good. Try it if you can!

Came here for dinner with a friend. I liked the atmosphere, and the service was pretty good. We did come during the week around 6/7 pm so it wasn't as busy as I thought it. The food was a bit more expensive than I thought compared to other sushi places I have been to in Carlsbad or Oceanside but was fresh when we went.

This is quite easily the best sushi restaurant we’ve eaten in since moving to San Diego years ago. The fish is fresh, always consistent and the owners treat us like regulars. Because we are. If you like sushi that’s inventive, tasty and fresh consider Samurai!

Have been going here for years. Great service. Delicious food. Great quality. Way better than Beni Hana obviously. Thank you.

Incredible sushi!!! Fish tasted super fresh and very high quality. There’s plenty of comfortable seating with a cozy atmosphere.

We haven't been there in many years. Still the same excellent service and best quality dishes. Sushi, excellent. We plan to return many times in the near future!!!

Went back again for a late lunch, early dinner. The service was very attentive, and the food was fresh. The atmosphere reminded me of a restaurant in Tokyo. The food was amazing as we ordered the Samurai platter, which was this big behemoth of a boat with sesame chicken, beef teriyaki, shrimp tempura, and sashimi (tuna, salmon, and hamachi). The fish was Seattle fresh and the generous slices were more than money's worth. This is the third time there and I plan on going back, whenever I'm back in town.

Best sushi and personal service in all of San Diego. If you're looking for the best quality sashimi and a full bar this is the perfect place. Look no further than this Cheers

Food good. Service good. I don't understand why they keep charging a SVC fee since COVID.

Cute atmosphere but overpriced Japanese food. just go to Teri cafe for the same quality at a more reasonable price.

Menu items are distinctive from other Japanese restaurants. We ordered Family Combination of Sashimi and Chicken Teriyaki, Samurai Dynamite and Tuna Roll. Sauce for dynamite is sweeter than other dynamite I've had before.

Came here for a birthday party, food was amazing, service was fantastic, & they gave us a private room. I really recommend this place

My family has loved going to Samurai for years. Tonight I have never had a more disappointing experience. My steak was undercooked and I sent it back. They refused to take it off the bill. I am there at LEAST once a week, as I have a home behind restaurant. The owner was disrespectful and rude and my family will NEVER return. Sad. We have a lot of nice memories but the attitude, in my opinion , is a reflection on how they run their business. Without integrity.

I am long time regular of this restaurant. Usually it has good food and above average service. Last night, our group of six had Tappan Yaki. The service was slow and unorganized. The food was horrible. Maybe we caught it on a bad night. I don't plan to go back for a year.

Did not have a reservation on the Friday before Christmas (they were really busy) and they were able to seat us at the sushi bar. They only gave us a menu for appetizers and sushi, so I'm assuming you can only order those things when you sit at the bar. We didn't get a chance to see any of the hot food items on their regular menu. Other than that, the food was delicious as always and they even gave us complimentary edamame and sliced fruit if you sit at the bar.

My family love this place for special occasions at the cooking table. The main restaurant also has very good dishes and sushi. It is a family run and owned restaurant and you can tell there is pride and authenticity in the service and food quality.

Tried this place for the first time recently even though we have lived nearby for many years. We really enjoyed the food. We ordered the fried calamari, fried tofu, gyoza, sesame chicken and teriyaki beef. The calamari was very tender and perfectly fried in panko. ONe of the best we have had. The fried tofu was great and came in an excellent sauce. The gyoza was solid and perfectly pan fried. The chicken had great flavor but I wish they used white meat. The steak was awesome and very lean/tender. All the sauces were amazing. I also enjoyed the miso soup and salads. Now, the prices were quite high but the food/service is good, the portions are decent and the location is super convenient with tons pf easy parking.

Booked a surprise birthday celebration for 15 guest. The private room was perfect for an intimate gathering, the food was delicious and so easy to share and the service excellent.

We made a reservation ahead of time a came 10 minutes early and got our table and the man at the front desk was very personable while pointing out our table. We are glad we made reservations as the restaurant was busy. The food was delicious. We ordered four sushi dishes and chicken teriyaki and the four of us split the dishes and everyone enjoyed what they ate, and the food was all finished. And that's the good news. The service at the table was way, way below good. Water and tea were ordered and nobody ever came back to see if we wanted more and it was hard to catch anyone's eye to try to get more until we finally said we'd skip it because we had tickets to a play and needed to leave, at which time we were able to get the bill. When looking at the bill there was an extra "service charge" added, whatever that is. The restaurant is in a nice strip mall and is really comfortable and nice inside, which adds to the charm. With better service I would have given it a 5 star rating.

Saw a nice matinee at North Coast Rep next door and stopped by after for an early sushi dinner. I'm used to going out for sushi and am aware that it's not inexpensive. I thought that this place was a bit pricey for the quality. Rarely do I see tempura appetizers with or without shrimp for $15. Seaweed salad for $13? Oh well, if it's fantastic, who cares about the price, right? We ordered mixed veggie and shrimp tempura and it was far from fantastic. Small portion of veggies: 4 green beans, one zucchini, one sweet potato and 3 shrimp.....really? On top of it, most of it wasn't crispy and it was greasy. Disappointed. We ordered the Albacore Special roll with shrimp (we had a choice of shrimp or soft shell crab) and the Red Dragon Roll. The albacore didn't taste especially fresh. The rolls were good enough but I had to add spicy mayonnaise to get some flavor. Just wasn't tasting that delicious fresh sushi taste. Each was in the $20+ range. Half way through our meal we were pretty much ignored. We never saw our waiter again and the other waitstaff serving customers around us, completely ignored us. We had finished our wine, drank all of our water, eaten everything and nobody stopped by. The restaurant was not especially busy except in the teppanyaki area. When I went to use the restroom, I noticed our waiter had moved to that area. He never told us, never introduced us to a new waiter, nothing. Meanwhile, we were waiting for our check and couldn't get anyone's attention. So, with lots of competition, mediocre food and poor service, I won't be back.

Service was great food was amazing would've rated this restaurant a lot higher if the management was better. The only reason it's not a 1 is because of how tasty the sushi was and the nice servers/bussers. The main complain I have is how the managers or what I think where the managers being rude to other staff members and kind of just moaping around not really making us feel very welcome, it's a shame great good great workers just poor management

Stopped by for a late lunch early dinner on our way to San Diego. The restaurant is tucked away in a quiet corner of the shopping center. Inside the large restaurant has an old school feel to transport you to a different time and place. We chose to sit at the counter for our sushi adventure. Many things were ordered but what really stood out was the Chirashi Bowl, start with that and then go from there if you're still hungry. Attentive wait staff and friendly sushi chef made this a great experience to kick off family vacation.

I really love Samurai! Their Chef Special roll is amazing! I can always count on them for good, clean, fresh sushi!

Great food! The restaurant is very nice and well put together. I like it! The sushi was delicious. My friends and I got a bottle of hot sake and nigori which were both good. We got spicy edamame that was good. I got the Philadelphia roll, I added cucumber into it. Definitely tasted amazing. The service was great, the waiter was friendly and helpful.

I am so disappointed. I used to love this place. I brought my family here tonight as a treat and we had the absolute rudest waitress, overcooked mediocre food, slow service, and I had to ask for the same things over and over. I politely complained to the owners and they could care less. I will never return, or recommend this restaurant to anyone I know. Save your money and go somewhere else. Shogun is exponentially better!

Great food, friendly service. Very chill vibe and ambiance. We had sushi, and beef katsu. Everything we ate was delicious!

Our group came here for a graduation celebration and we had a small reserved room. So props for my family for setting it up. As for the meal, the menu was a little tricky to understand how to order but after asking a few questions, we settled on - The Boat! 2X combo of chicken and steak teriyaki with tempura and more, enough food for 3-4 people. The service was attentive but needed some work on table settings. We also asked for a pitcher of water which we helped out a lot. Note: I actually had a tempura banana in the meal. Which I have to say, I had never seen before. Kinda of weird, but it was confirmed by staff.

I've been coming here for so many decades what can I say nothing has really changed especially as far as the decor many say they need a facelift but I kind of like the old school vibe. The bar is a great place to Pony up to it's usually busy I prefer when Eric is bartending but just because he's always been my favorite. Makoson has been my go-to for so many years he just knows how to make the perfect spicy scalloped anything for me he's such a sweetheart and if I'm not in the bar I will be sitting in front of him. He's been there forever so he's winding down his schedule. The menu at least for sushi rolls is extremely limited but any chef will make you whatever you want. They did charge $27 for a real crab California roll which I thought was absurd. And a California roll that had kani crab so the fake crab but topped with Hamachi for $29 which was also absurd coming from here. I mean the quality is not bad but it's not Nobu. Or Ken's Sushi. So I'm not too sure what's going on with the pricing right now but that was crazy and frankly not worth it. They do have a full bar and sitting at the Teppan tables is always fun. They also have a traditional to Tatami room that you can reserve it's very traditional no shoes on a bamboo floor you sit on the floor and eat if you haven't tried that experience you should.

Always entertaining with great food. Try the different types of dinning. Tepan...sushi bar...dinning table... bar happy hour. Something for everyone.

Really good Teppanyaki. Portions were big, and the flavor was good. Steak was over cooked tho and the salad dressing was like water. They forgot to bring my drink until I asked the server about 15 minutes after the table next to us who sat down well after us was served.

Sad to write this as I have been coming to this restaurant for many years, including their last location in Solana Beach. Its been a favorite of mine. Maybe a little worse for wear in recent years, but was still good. Just went and it was pretty bad. Extremely slow service, which I could definitely overlook if the food was good. Got a tempura appetizer and it was barely warm, and soft. Dinner was gyoza and port tonkatsu. The gyoza looked like it usually does, but again, was barely even warm. The tonkatsu was a very generous portion, but was also barely warm, and all of the food seemed like maybe it was frozen and warmed up in an oven, rather than cooked to order. The waitress said she had brought it right out, so I don't know how to explain that it was not hot, nor fresh. Spoke to owner on the way out, and he just looked back at me and didn't say a thing. Sad for me, but this is now off my list. It used to be a great restaurant.

Yummy food but let me tell you about a little server named Marina her Peruvian torso torqued the tuna tataki to be literally at dinner. From the perspective of the Manchurian candidate, I live! I serve! I love! And I.... spider roll :) into the new year. As the blood rushed to my monjauro chair, I felt karage tendencies in this INSANE north county nigiri world. She asked 'did you want a rainbow roll?' I frowned at the possibility of being problematic as the nomenclature for flexibility slipped my tongue like the eel in this divine aquarium. I said "hmmm??? Papa???" she looked incredulously and said "You know, you'd best be suited for a soft shell." AND THEN POW. What an eruption of oceanic essence and 90s Sysco solace. WE RISE WE FALL WE ARE SAMURAI food service 5 ambiance 5 symposium garlicky 5 nesters revenge- ROYAL :)

this is my favorite sushi place! their chef special special roll and truffled hamachi sashimi are the best and the staff are great!

Fun experience. We had a clever and funny chef. Went for graduation dinner with family and everything tasted delicious. Only issue was we had a person with a shrimp allergy. At the end the chef put shrimp on their plate so they couldn't finish their dinner. The ambience was fun with the chef coking in front of us. Would have been 5 stars except for the shrimp incident.

The food was so good!! Dolly served us and we had the most magical experience. Antonio was our sushi chef and he did an amazing job! Been a fan for over 7 years and it still tastes the same, unlike some of these other spots under new management post Covid. I'll be back soon!

The food is delicious. The staff is friendly. The atmosphere is both cozy and electric. The prices are a little high, but the quality is top notch so just be prepared to spend some money for a great meal.

Service was good. I ordered chicken teriyaki and brown rice. The chicken teriyaki was just OK and the brown rice was a little dry. I must say the ambience inside is lovely, but I don't think I'll return. Too pricey!

What a disappointment! The food was simply terrible, and the price was ridiculously high. I should have trusted my instincts when I saw the dim lighting and outdated décor from the 90s, but I didn't want to judge and thought I should give it a chance. However, after spending approximately $45 per person, I went home and made instant noodles because I was still hungry. The only positive aspect of my experience was the server, who was nice. I am sorry to have to write such a negative review, but I was so disappointed and feel ripped off that I feel it is my duty to share my experience in the hope that the restaurant will make some improvements.

What an amazing experience! Stumbled upon this restaurant since the traffic was so great on the 5 and wanted to give it a little while. Walked in and met Paige, our server, who is the most gracious and attentive person ever. The sushi was great and they even let you customize it! The drinks were equally delicious. As a lifelong New Yorker, have to say, we know food, but wow this was really exceptional!

Excellent Sushi,very fresh, served quickly and politely. A little pricey but worth it for the quality@

Samurai has happy hour every day 3 to 530 in the cocktail bar only. I decided to check it out yesterday. Very limited HH menu: approximately 5 appetizers, 5 sushi roll choices, 5 drink options (too bad i didn't take photos of the HH Menu). Happy hour prices are comparable to regular price Sushi elsewhere. Had a rainbow roll ($14) which was a good size along with a cosmopolitan well drink ($8). The bartender was personable enough. He spent most of his time chatting with male patrons, who seemed to be regulars, at the other end of the bar. When all was said and done my check was almost $30 for the two items, tax and tip. Location is convenient to my home so I may or may not go back. TBD

The sushi quality was no good. They even didn't cook the sushi rice right. The rice was too hard and mushy. It was horrible. This place was my favorite place in the past. I won't visit here again.

I'm in my 30s, I've been coming to Samurai with my family for special occasions since I was born! I have been here many, many times, and have had an excellent experience each time!!! It's a pleasure to support this family business, which happens to also be the first Japanese restaurant in North County! So put respect on the name, and be grateful if you ever get the experience to dine at Samurai. Chef special roll, best tempura, amazing hospitality. Thank you, Samurai, for years of wonderful memories. You're my favorite I will always recommend Samurai to anyone who asks!

Food is not bad. Not great but above average for sushi and sashimi dishes. Owner is a somewhat unpleasant unhappy human being. Not sure why he is so sour but definitely not a positive person. Runs the experience.

Takeout was disappointing, ordered 15 piece sashimi combo and the quality of fish was simply not on par for the price. Tuna was crunchy and other fish seemed off. The salmon however was delish so I'll give them points for that!

My friend took me here. He said it was great, a "very fine restaurant." But IMO it was only fine and pretty overpriced. We ordered vegetable tempura as an appetizer ($13) and I got the crunch roll ($16!) as my entree. Normally, I'd order two rolls, but due to the prices and touristy vibe, I went conservative. Good thing, too. Food was mediocre. Not bad, just not memorable. Fortunately, my buddy paid. Nevertheless, I wouldn't come back, especially not on my own dime. Too many other/better places to try.

So good better than Benihana If you came here get the teriyaki chicken and show good and the service is super good

Wow words cannot explain how amazing this food was. The attention to detail in the sushi and the hospitality was beyond amazing. I went with my 93 year old grandma who is obsessed with sushi and she absolutely loved it. Our favorite worker their doly was above and beyond. His kindness has not only inspired me but my family members. He is such a hard worker. In summary, samurai was just an amazing expierence that I would 100% recommend. - samurais #1 fan

We recently went to Samurai for a family celebration hoping to have "dinner and a show" for our group of 8. Many of us had been to this type of restaurant before and had expected a bit of flair with the teppanyaki part of the meal, this part was lacking in our evening. Our chef, said that he had been at this restaurant for over 30 years, so he didn't lack experience but he didn't really do provide a show besides lighting a tiki looking zucchini on fire. All in all that would have been okay, but my group was really turned off when he blew his nose in front of us two different times and then continued to keep cooking without washing his hands. That just doesn't seem like best practice food handling. I don't think we will be heading back, the price of the food doesn't seem to equal the value we had at our event. Maybe other chef offer a bit more artistic cooking moments. Pros: -our reservation for 8 was ready on time -the woman who brought out the soup and salad was gracious and nice -in general the food tasted okay Cons: -the chef blowing his nose without washing hands while cooking -many mentions of the chef's own sauces -lack of showmanship that one would expect at a restaurant like this (considering the price paid).

The restaurant decor and staff makes this place a SB staple. The house salad is great and the sushi is enjoyable. It isn't the best sushi I ever had but compared I would pick this place over a lot of SD sushi spots.

We love Samurai! The sushi is delicious and my son especially loves their katsu. Ohh the salmon belly is always perfectly prepared also. Love eating here and everyone is pretty friendly.

I eat sushi at least once a week and I like to be adventurous. I had the amaebi and the tempura chicken. I ate the sweet shrimp because I was hungry but they put way too much batter on everything. There was absolutely no seasoning to anything and the oil wasn't hot enough so mixed with too much batter, it just made it soggy. They also put in a tempura banana with the veggies which in 20 years of eating sushi, I've never had. On top of that, it was also over ripe, gross. I ate one bite of chicken and that was enough for me. I'm bummed because I used to work over here 11 years ago and went there all the time. Not worth the $70 I paid. I guess I'm just spoiled with SoCal Sushi in Normal Heights. Sad.

Unmatchable ambiance, the food is delicious and the service is impeccable. Eric makes his restaurant feel very welcoming and I highly recommend it.

I just love this place for the Teppan grill. Great service and food. Very fun and family atmosphere.