Azuki Sushi

Wow I’ve never been treated so rudely!
We drove 34 minutes in the rain to get there last night… We were happy to do so because we used to love love love this place. We arrived at 9:03pm only to be greeted by a gentleman that said to us «We’re closing early tonight!» I was shocked so I said we just drove 34 minutes to get here, he said and I quote «I don’t care we’re definitely closed» I kind of expected to say something like— I’m sorry we’ve decided to close early or something like that… At any rate, it was a rare occasion for my husband and I to sneak out to grab some free time together, as we recently had a baby. In the past we’ve spent thousands there (no exaggeration) hosted many clients, as we’re business owners. So I presented this problem here’s the solution, we were welcomed with open arms at Hane Sushi (just up the street on the left from Azuki) they gladly say us and I have to say the quality of the sushi was superior to Azuki… Thought I’d never say that.

Amazing sushi rolls. Food was delicious and service was great. You HAVE to book a reservation. We got lucky and secured one for 5pm (opening and the beginning of happy hour). Small venue so get in early! They were turning walk-​ins away and telling them to come back in a few hours … we felt soooooo fortunate to be sitting down eating!
Must try: R U Kidding me roll, Dessert sampler, Lobster roll, and Super Dragon Roll.
Can’t wait to come back again :)

New favorite sushi restaurant. Hands-​down.
I love Sushi Ota & all, but I don’t love that it’s such a PITA (pain in the a$$) to get in. I made the rez at Azuki when Ota didn’t have room, and honestly — I like it way better. Here’s why:
STAFF — top freaking notch. Everyone was beyond kind /​helpful /​quick. E.g., the host. Then our waitress, who actually came over right before Happy Hour was over to ask if we wanted a last round at HH pricing… who does that? When my friend wasn’t ready for another glass yet but wanted to get the HH price, she put it in for him but had the bar hold the order until he was ready.
FOOD — superb. The ahi tuna tataki app is INSANE. Like, melted in my mouth. Rolls were amazing — sunshine (with the lemon zest crunch? TO DIE FOR.) and the Dragon /​Super Dragon — SEH GOOD.
Love this place. Will def be back soon.

3.5 Stars
Made reservations for a party of four in this small restaurant and were seated promptly at a cute corner table. The service was quick and food came out pretty fast for a sushi place.
–Albacore tuna appetizer (small portion but pretty good)
–Fried Chicken app.(again small but hit the spot)
–Sesame dressing salad w/​chicken (pretty good except the dressing was too salty for me)
The rest of my party ordered a few different rolls and also thought the food was pretty good. We didn’t like the lack of dessert options so we left for Extraordinary Desserts instead…

Second-​rate omakase nigiri paired with inexcusably terrible service.
The mediocrity of the food paled to the egregious service. Inattentive, patronizing, unwelcoming and rushed do not begin to measure the atrocity.
As a seasoned and well-​palated Omakase and nigiri sushi eater, the experience at Azuki was disappointing. As an 8:15 3-​top sushi bar reservation on a Wednesday night in Downtown San Diego at a five star, half-​filled restaurant, one would expect to accordingly receive welcoming, consistent attentive service and quality food. This was far from the case.
Our American waitress said no more than 20 words the entire night after greeting us 10 minutes late, serving both rounds of drinks late, and remaining aloof throughout the meal, all while in a half-​empty restaurant with more servers than diners.
Sitting at the sushi bar, our American sushi chef was far worse. We each ordered the «Adventurous» Omakase consisting of seven pieces of nigiri. Meanwhile, we ordered one Assorted Tempura appetizer. It arrived 20 minutes later tepid and wilted as if it had been sitting in the food station for 10 minutes. Unimpressed.
Forty five minutes after ordering and no words from the chef, we made a comment to each other that perhaps we had been forgotten. With a smug smile in reply, the chef handed us three boards pre-​plated with all seven pieces of nigiri ten minutes later. Nigiri Omakase is meant to be served one (maybe two orders) at a time as the fish is meant to be eaten at its freshest and the rice at its peak. It is not to be eaten lined up on a board seemingly buffet-​style, sitting at room temperature, degrading the temperature and quality of both the fish and rice. The lack of flavor of each piece did end up reflecting this. After blankly serving us our plates, I politely asked the chef if he could name the seven pieces he had silently served us as the menu provided no list other than three possibilities of fish potentially served. With his reply: «I guess I have time for that» he hurriedly muttered the seven pieces and turned without another word.
The fish selection was far from adventurous as the title suggested and included in order left-​to-​right: O-​toro (medium fatty tuna), Kohada (gizzard shad), Kinmedai (Golden Eye Snapper), Masu (Trout), Aji (Horse Mackeral) and Anago (Sea Eel). The fish lacked flavor and the rice was gummy whether from a bad recipe or from sitting on the plate as aforementioned, it was hard to tell. Along with being pre-​plated, the order in which the fish was plated did not reflect an appropriate flow of flavors. This was evident as O-​toro, the second most-​expensive and flavorfully fatty tuna, was first in line, while trout was in the middle. In Omakase, the order of fish is important as it takes your palate through a ballet of flavors, each fish preparing you for the next in sequence. Ironically this is a concept that the acclaimed Japanese sushi chef Jiro survives by and discusses in depth in his acclaimed film Jiro Dreams of Sushi that the restaurant screens behind the diners. Our pre-​plated assortment had no such sequence, thus we ate it in an order that seemed fit to our seasoned Omakase standards, discussing our hesitations with each piece as we ate. Our sushi chef rolled his eyes, scoffed and gossiped with his coworkers for the duration. To be fair, Omakase means «at the chef’s will.» As you are in the hands of the chef you do as the chef says. Thus when you order it, be prepared to accordingly will yourself to the chefs choices of fish and instructions to eat. I guess this could warrant his disapproving look, but given that he had provided no such instructions, had served the sushi all at once and plated it in an erratic order, and didn’t even refill our gari (ginger) who was he to scoff.
As the pieces served did not hit our favorites, we ordered extra pieces at the end including Sake (Salmon) Ikura (Salmon Roe), and Chu-​Toro (High-​fatty Tuna). Unfortunately they were out of Uni (Sea Urchin). As if offended that we had furthered our order from what he had provided (something I have never seen an Omakase chef do) the rest of our meal was rushed with an «eat and buy more or get out» attitude. One of our four pieces of Sake had even been scorched as if the chef had forgotten what he was doing, started searing the order and stopped. Despite the brusque service, these final pieces were definitely more flavorful and fresh.
The establishment prides themselves on the high-​quality fish and traditional menu supplemented by plates with contemporary twists to provide for old-​style sushi-​eaters and roll enthusiasts alike-​hoping to cater to the spectrum that is modern day sushi clientele. As a straight-​shooter, no frills, nigri kind of girl I hoped for the former, and was let-​down. With Jiro Dreams of Sushi screening behind us, the restaurant seemed to be nothing more than a try-​hard wannabe authentic sushi bar and simultaneous chic hot-​spot. Either way, it didn’t deliver.

A little off the Beaten path but what a great place. Lots of traditional style sushi with some really great contemporary riffs — particularly in the special rolls department.
We had a group of seven people so lots of opportunity for sampling. Save room for the deserts — I think the sampler was the best way to go. Sticky Toffee Pudding rocked.

For restaurant week only:
There was a pre fixe menu (with three choices) of an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.
My friend and I ordered the:
Appetizer: Hokkaido scallops & Albacore tataki
Entrée: Omakase & Chirashi bowl
Dessert: Banana rolls & Cream puffs
The appetizers were. Tiny. The three scallops came with this buttery sauce that was like crack. What though, drenched in butter, does not taste delicious? The scallops didn’t even seemed seared as it was described to be. But still, I love scallops so I probably would’ve ordered this again. The albacore tataki was okay, not very flavorful. I would’ve ordered the beef carpaccio but I’m boycotting meat rn (for the environment!).
I can only speak for the Chirashi bowl since that’s what I ordered. It was pretty much the same fish that was in the Omakase (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, eel, shrimp) on top of sushi rice. The portion seemed a lot bigger than the Omakase dish and I enjoyed the freshness of the fish (except for the shrimp… Not a fan in the first place). Nothing incredible though. I’ve had better for less $.
Dessert. Probably the best part and worst part of the entire meal. My friend and I really liked the banana roll and killed it! I don’t even particularly like bananas but love banana-​flavored desserts (cupcakes, ice cream, etc.). Weird, I know. But if you’re anything like me, definitely get this dish! The cream puffs, on the other hand, were horrendous. First of all, they were like. Fried, thick breading around… Ice cream? I didn’t even taste cream nor did I get the fluffiness of the usual cream puff. And the ice cream tasted artificial. We took one bite each and couldn’t take another– bleh: p
Though my experience as part of the SD restaurant week was mediocre, I’ll probably have to come back to check out the regular dinner menu!

Truly top notch sushi restaurant! My boyfriend and I had an amazing dining experience and would recommend this place to anyone. The service was really friendly and the food outstanding. I would make sure to get reservations here. We came at an off hour and were quoted a 30 minute wait.
We shared the miyazaki wagyu carpaccio ($ 15) appetizer. The beef was very thinly sliced and you could easily tell how high quality the meat was. It practically melts in your mouth. I was blown away by that dish. It’s very rich so the serving size they gave was enough for two to share. We also got the hamachi kama ($ 12). The yellowtail was so soft and paired really well with the ponzu sauce. I couldn’t believe the generous serving size. It was practically an entrée!
For the sushi rolls we got the r u kidding me? ($ 19.50). They really didn’t skimp on the white truffle oil. It had a strong truffle flavor and perfectly seared tuna. It was beautifully presented with a pile of fried leeks on top. The kobe roll ($ 19.50) was amazing. The wagyu beef was top quality and added unique flavor to the roll.
Overall this is now one of my favorite places in San Diego and among the top sushi restaurants I’ve been to! It’s very affordable and worth every cent.

Great little downtown spot with cool atmosphere but even better food! I love their selection of speciality rolls but I’m a whitefish fan and spicy ponzu sauce is my thing.
We made reservations becuz the place is pretty packed and not too much seating. It was restaurant week so we got that special which was amazing deal for $ 28 but also ordered miso soup for extra $ 3 and some hot oolong tea.
The stardust roll was to die for! This had all the blends I love in a roll. The lemon really makes it pop and so fresh! I also tried the On the boarder roll which has a spicy tuna kick which is close runner up for me.
They keep the food coming and not a dull moment. Can’t complain about anything except the menus were a little dirty, a Lysol wipe off would do wonders.
Tried 3 desserts and my favorite was the stuffed banana which is like a banana egg roll warm and served with vanilla ice cream. The cream puffs were ok and didn’t love the yogurt panna cotta! Not as rich as I would’ve preferred but definitely good to cleanse your pallet afterwards.
For this is sushi spot I would hit up again when I’m back in town.

I’ve had sushi in Hawaii, San Francisco, Portland, Orange County, and lots and lots of other places. Azuki beats them all. The single BEST sushi I’ve ever had, hands-​down, anywhere else.
The fish here is not only incredibly fresh, but it’s varied in type. On the day we went, there were FOUR kinds of salmon, plus barracuda and a bunch of other fish we’d never tried. Do yourself a favor: skip the rolls here and go for the nigiri. You’ll be glad you did. The waitstaff is also excellent, and did a great job describing the different types of fish and steering us in the right direction.
My sweetie is pickier than I am about her sushi, and she loved it as well, declaring that each piece of fish positively melted in her mouth. I was so impressed with them that when I tried three other sushi places in the area the same week, they all felt like pale imitations, despite their similarly high number of Unilocal stars.
One thing to skip, though: the dessert *sounds* special, but it really isn’t. Kind of boring, plus absolutely tiny. If you’ve still got room, just order an extra round of nigiri and another bottle of hot sake. Yum. I’ll be back here as soon as I possibly can.

I have had Azuki Sushi bookmarked for a very long time and glad I finally had the chance to dine here. If you like Sushi Ota, then Azuki is right on par. They deliver quality and fresh grade fish. They have nigiri, rolls, special rolls, appetizers like tempura, gyoza, and oysters, udon, and even chicken teriyaki. They have something for everyone in your party. But by far you should try their by the border roll, sake toro/​fatty salmon, and o-​toro/​fatty tuna. All are of high quality and
taste so good they melt in your mouth. Just typing up this review makes me crave some salmon!
Not only is the food good but their service is amazing (very friendly) and the ambiance is quite nice. From the outside it’s looks like a tiny restaurant but they have a back room. A tiny restaurant in bankers hill but authentic classic Japanese favors.

OMG! The absolute BEST sushi I’ve had in my life! Hands down, so much better than Ota. My husband & I came here for the first time tonight. We like to sample lots of food so we got 4 rolls: Kobe, R U Kidding Me, Sunshine and By the Border. Can you say YUM, YUM, triple YUM?! My husband’s favorite was the Kobe… I really liked the By the Border. Fresh ingredients, not drenched in sauces, just plain GOOD!
It’s a very nice, cozy, trendy spot. Perfect for an adult night out. It’s worth your appetite!

This surprised me and my Japanese friend at the quality and authenticity of every course.
I admit that I am highly skeptical of any sushi restaurant in socal– most have been taken over by non-​japanese who are more concerned with offering a cheap, saucy food rather than quality. Azuki has gone against the grain and has demonstrated that you can have a fun, hip sushi restaurant that provides traditional style sushi in a modern way. Here you get the best of both worlds– a cozy environment, modern style, great service, and quality food.
It’s located right on 5^th ave, a couple blocks south of Mr. A’s, in a small storefront that has indoor and outdoor seating. I was a little bit worried about the small seating area upfront and was pleasantly surprised when our host lead us through a narrow staircase, up to the back patio. It’s a very cozy (partially) enclosed space filled with tables surrounded by benches with big fluffy pillows and comfy chairs. We hear an 80’s retrospect of music playing (bringing me back to Depeche Mode and Howard Jones) and my first thought is wondering if it’s more hipster than about the food. (Because as a foodie– it’s ALWAYS about the food!)
We can in during the tail-​end of happy hour which offers a selection of food items between $ 5 – 7 ea, along with craft cocktails and draft beer offered for $ 6. I was pleasantly surprised at the good quality of the simple apps— especially the garlic edamame– it was AMAZING!
We went on to order several selections of rolls and sushi– each was plated very nicely and showcased that simplicity can be beautiful. My Japanese friend remarked that the selection of fish varieties here is even better than Ota— we tried saltwater eel– anago (most common is unagi freshwater) for the first time ever, presently simply on rice, without the ponzu sauce that usually masks the natural flavor of the fish– just freshness!
We also had the Kobe roll which offered a flavor of wagyu beef– this was also my first time trying beef on sushi, which was great. My favorites were the RU Kidding Me roll– great flavor combo and worth every penny :-) and I enjoyed the amberjack (kanpachi) sushi.
So now my husband, my Japanese friend and her husband are all planning on coming back! It’s accessible (easier to get a table during regular hours than Ota), more ambience, and 5-​star quality food. Love it!

Food is 4 stars (although very pricy) but the customer service was incredibly rushed…
I came in at 1p & they close at 2p until dinner time at 5p. Right when I got seated, 2 separate servers came right after each other & asked what I wanted. I said I had not had the chance to look at the menu. Then, 3 minutes later, both of them came & asked again. & 3 minutes after, the same thing. I do not know if that is how they are trained or if they were just in a rush to close but either way, it was annoying.
Salmon Nigiri — Yummy! Fresh!
Sunshine Roll = Spicy snow crab, black tiger prawn, tempura green onion, salmon, avocado, citrus ponzu, lemon zest — A great mix of flavors in one bite. Everything tasted fresh & delicious.

After reading the tremendous Unilocal reviews, of course I had to go! We had a reservation for 6 PM on a Saturday night. We were seated as soon as we arrived. The front seating area is small, but there is more seating on the back patio. The lighting seemed a bit too dim for me, but I feel that way about most places and their mood lighting. :)
My friend and I ordered the miso soup and Agedashi tofu for our appetizers. The tofu was crispy while extremely tender on the inside and the sauce was perfectly seasoned. The miso soup was what I expect miso soup to taste like. Nothing special, but was satisfying. Then we ordered the Uni Nigiri and the Baracuda Nigiri. The Uni was super fresh, creamy, melt in your mouth delightful. Neither my friend not I had tried Baracuda before and we loved it! It’s hard to describe what fish tastes like… so I won’t even try. But trust me, it was delicious. Our main dishes were the Kobe roll and the Are you kidding me roll. My mouth is filling up with saliva just thinking about it. It was that good. Wish we lived in the area so we could try many of the other dishes!

We didn’t have a reservation and the friendly host told us it would be about 15 minutes. I was getting «hangry» and snapping at the dinner partner and it started getting so bad, luckily we had to wait outside for my «time out.» LOL! We were sat at the sushi bar which was great since we could see all the magic happen!
We ordered a Moscow Mule and a Yuzu Lemon Drop… not traditional Japanese drinks, but it was a warm evening and these were refreshing. We started with the pork gyoza which were very good. Their rolls are very interesting, and I ordered the Super Dragon, the Kobe Roll, Eel Roll and Bonsai. All were beautifully presented and delicious! The partner said this was the best chicken teriyaki he ever had! Grilled chicken breast and sauteed fresh vegetables with brown rice… a much healthier dish.
All the servers that helped us were great but it was the sushi chef in front of us that impressed us the most. Even though it is his job, we felt watching him work was a great show! Especially when he used the torch! Yes, it will seem like it’s a little pricier than some but the food, presentation, and service are worth it! Can’t wait to come back!

We were very excited to try this place, we love sushi and it’s our first time in San Diego. Making a reservation was easy through the Unilocal app and when we arrived we were sat right away.
The sake flights were really neat, since we’re more into sushi then sake. I had the strawberry lemonade martini– eh. It didn’t have a smooth texture to it so I didn’t care for it very much.
After you order your rolls, they bring them out as they’re ready which is nice. We ordered the sunshine roll, stardust roll, green roll, and super dragon roll. All of them were delicious with unique flavors… Until the green roll. The asparagus was terribly hard and woody. We couldn’t even finish it and I was so disappointed.
To spend $ 100 on sushi and not be blown away… Overall a disappointment. The service was good, there were no issues there.

Visited Azuki over the weekend with a group of four. We made a reservation just to be safe– but there was no need to at least when we first walked in. The place filled up immediately after we got seated with numerous party/​event goers (dressed in fancy attire).
We were greeted immediately and received attentive service through out the evening.
They have a good HH on Saturday 5 – 630, with $ 3 Sapporos and apps that range from $ 3 – 6. We decided to order pretty much of all of the apps to share– garlic edamame, shishito peppers, seaweed salad, and the spicy albacore tataki. The albacore tataki was amazing and what a great deal during HH! I would come back here just for the albacore.
We also ordered two rolls– rainbow roll (my go to) and the eel avocado roll. Both of the rolls were very good, with good quality fish, good avocado and a good/​tasty ponzu sauce.
Although the rolls are on the smaller and pricier than your average sushi place, they are very satisfying given the quality and taste– worth the cost in my opinion.
They have an extensive menu with many dishes, sashimi, rolls, and sushi. Definitely worth checking out.

Great Japanese restaurant in San Diego area. Came here during our vacation and was very surprised with the food here. Their rolls were very different from other rolls I’ve had in other locations. I have been to many as we are from Vancouver Canada and this was very comparable. Service was very good. Our waiter overheard it was my friend birthday and he surprised her with some bonus dessert. What a sweet gesture. Highly recommend for those who want good Japanese cuisine. It is a bit pricier than other places I’ve been to but if you want quality then its pretty good.
We ordered: are you kidding me roll, Kobe roll, by the border roll, pon hama, JFC chicken, and sake toro nigiri.

My girlfriend and I went to Azuki Sushi during Restaurant Week and we had a mostly great experience. I’ve heard good things about this sushi spot more than once, so I decided to give it a try. We had some really great food, but the back area in which we were placed was extremely noisy. The sad part is that it all could have been avoided.
While the décor of the rear dining area is nice, we immediately noticed that the music was extremely loud. This forced people to speak over the music, which created an annoying loud buzz. Add that to the music, and I literally couldn’t hear my girlfriend speak to me. I asked to have the music turned down, and it was turned down ever so slightly. Later in the meal when a group of extremely loud women in their early 20s kept yelling over each other and wouldn’t shut the hell up, I jokingly asked for some earplugs. My server replied with «what?» and I replied with «exactly!»
Anyway, our food was very tasty. I especially liked the spicy tuna on crisped rice appetizer and the Spicy Albacore Tataki. Both dishes were the highlight of the meal. We also tried the Bonsai roll and the assorted Nigiri. Both were good, and I appreciate how the Nigiri had more fish than rice. What I didn’t appreciate was how my assorted Nigiri was served on a plain white plate while the five people next to us had their served on raised bamboo plates. In addition, three of the pieces of my Nigiri were crammed together on the end of the plate instead of them all being evenly spaced. These complaints might seem like nitpicking, but consistency is important, and so is presentation.
Nevertheless, we will return as long as we can sit in the front area where the noise is at an acceptable level for dining.