Sabuku Sushi

My girl Lala introduced me to this gem! I do the basic California Roll but this time tried a couple of others that were delicious along with Sake. Not a fan of Sake but I am sure others might appreciate it. The atmosphere is jazzy with nice tunes playing in the background.
I have also ordered takes out and had a Burgh Roll, Not So Miso Soup– Damn Good, and So Cal bacon roll average for this cost $ 24 bucks. They prefer you order through the App but I am still new to this so I just show up and order. So far since trying about 2 more places. This is the best!!!

Friendly, quick service, good prices and bomb sushi. I did takeout and dine in. Pleased w both times. Miso soup wasnt so good and ordering through the website wasnt so easy but overall a nice place. Parking is annoying so next time ima just walk

The people are friendly, the sushi is good and fresh, but it’s expensive. The protein roll is awesome — no rice, wrapped in cucumber. Very fresh and light.
Even for good sushi, I think it’s a bit overpriced. A rainbow roll is in the neighborhood of $ 12, and the rolls are very average sized. My boyfriend and I came in on a Saturday afternoon and had two rolls and two beers, and our bill was over $ 50 — and we weren’t even full. Also, they only had one sushi chef working on a day where a large community even was going on in the neighborhood, so the place was packed and the food took a bit to come out. It wasn’t too bad, and we did get an apology for the wait from our server.
The ambiance is nice — it’s a trendy spot. But, the chairs at the bar are a bit ripped and need to be upgraded. No parking, so good luck finding a street spot.
If the prices were more reasonable, enough sushi chefs work busy shifts, and the chairs at the bar are upgraded, this would be a 5-​star review. All in all, a decent sushi place, but there are better places in San Diego.

The waiter was pretty friendly. The food was good. Nothing on the menu stood out to me. However, ask for the really hot sauce, that packs a punch.

My friend and I shared the buko nachos, crunchy roll, pot stickers, and a chicken plate. All of it tasted good and the portions were of a good size. Food might have been too rich for us. Didn’t take long before both of us were on the toilet.

I wanted to give this place a shot because it’s the closest sushi spot to where I live. It’s clean and has a modern look. I like the tables near the window because you can watch all the goings-​on outside. This place has great style. It has a sexy-​date-​night kind of ambience.
The service was alright. We had a waiter that wasn’t friendly at all. He was impatient and inattentive which wasn’t ideal for being there for the first time ever. We had questions and wanted suggestions but he was very unapproachable so we Unilocaled for ideas instead. We noticed a waitress who looked super friendly waiting on other tables. At one point our waiter went missing for a while so we were forced to flag her down for help. She was super eager to help and so friendly but as she was speaking with us, our waiter came back to our table with a vengeance. He had his panties in a bunch over the fact that we were talking to her. Even SHE looked uncomfortable like she was scared he caught us cheating on him with her. But dude, if you were around and we felt like you were happy to serve us then we wouldn’t need to resort to seeking out alternative help. Just when we thought he couldn’t be any more unpleasant, he was super annoyed with us after that.
We got the infamous Buku Nachos which were pretty amazing BUT of course they skimped hard on the Tuna. The dish would have been perfect had they been more generous with the tuna to balance the dish out. We ordered a few of the sushi rolls we saw on the menu that looked amazing in the pictures. However, they didn’t translate. The presentation wasn’t as great as portrayed on the menu. It’s not the biggest deal but when we went to taste the rolls, they were so sloppy. Everything fell apart. There wasn’t one roll that was intact. Flavor-​wise, we weren’t impressed. I’ve have much better sushi rolls elsewhere.
Now for the good news: happy hour is on point. I would come back here strictly to consume their happy hour specials. They have got some really impressive beer options which is always a plus in my book. We also ordered a sake flight which was so adorable. Their glassware is cool and they place it on a wooden plate. I must say, they have some deliciously flavored sakes to choose from. The sake options were the best part of the entire experience.

Let’s start with the service and sushi chief — friendly & chief is amazing!
Stopped in for lunch w-​my friend who is a sushi freak & we started with twice baked mussels, a must naughty nice & everything spice & had the chief add extra to make it extra spicy to bring out my Mexican side, Nigiri Plate-​extremely fresh, calms from Canada delicious, chief special — Scallop baked. perfect, stuffed jalapenos, my friend was in heaven & 2+ hours later.
It was one of my favorite days & sushi experience in a long time and now is my calendar as a reminder to stop by for lunch on Saturdays. Thank you Wonton Bob:) you have a great team and your restaurant is the best!

Interesting, tuna-​heavy menu.
$ 50/​year sushi club is a good deal if you’re going to eat here a bunch.
Service (wait staff) is hit or miss, mostly miss the past few times I’ve been there. Not unfriendly, just un-​good. … It has prevented me from going back the past few months. … Sadly, they have also taken away my incentive to order carryout or delivery.
They no longer accept phone orders. You have to go through a clunky, inconvenient app to order carryout or delivery.
I would have given them four stars were it not for the poor service I received the past few times, and the poor user experience they’ve created to order carry out.
I understand the latter must have some benefit for the business, but it’s horribly inconvenient for the customer.
I’m not saying I won’t go back, but I haven’t been going nearly as much as I used to. If you don’t mind a decent chance of crappy service, and aren’t trying to order delivery or carry out, consider adding a star or two to my rating.

My manager brought us here with a group of 15 of us for a team lunch. We started off with edamame. Then they brought us nachos with sashimi. This was my favorite dish. The fried rice was great. And then we started getting sushi rolls. I tried so many different rolls. All we’re great. I would definitely recommend this place to my friends

When using your maps app to get to this place if you don’t already know where it is, is kind of difficult. So just irk when it says you’ve reached your destination and start walking until you find it, it won’t take very long.
I won’t be able to mention how well the prices are marked because I never saw a menu. We all had the pleasure to just sit talk and have these amazingly out together dishes keep coming to us. Our company treated all the managers in our district to this place and it was soooooo good.
We started off with these again type nachos with poke and guacamole, spicy mayo, other stuff and guacamole… It was amazing. Then we got drowned some house fries rice and after that stuffed mushrooms with cream cheese raw fish and I’m sure other ingredients.
We started our lunch at around 1 and the place got busy and started filling up came 2, close to 3.
I think we were close to trying all the rolls because they kept coming and coming back to back.
WHATEVER IT WAS CALLED MAKE SURE RO HER THOSE STUFFED MUSHROOMS and the SUSHI ROLL THAT HAS ASPARAGUS WRAPPED W BACON!
The staff was very friendly and the sushi chef who was making our food explained which each of the plates were called and included.
I’m glad we chose this place because now I’ll be back w/​friends & family.

*** SCROLL DOWN for a special April offer ***
Sabuku is an innovative and trendy sushi bar in the Normal Heights neighborhood. We had a friendly greeting and our waiter John was able to recommend some sushi options based on our preferences. We took advantage of happy hour and indulged in some Sapporo and the Buku nachos. The nachos had a generous portion of tuna and the perfect amount of spice. They offer a big variety of rolls. We ordered a 2pc. salmon nigiri, the ‘burgh roll, rising sun roll, and when pigs fly roll (because why not give bacon in sushi a chance). Our food came out in a timely manner and was beautifully presented — down to the wasabi in the shape of a leaf. Over all we had a great experience and would go back again!
The pros:
Great happy hour from 4 – 6.
Extended happy hour Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday nights.
Fresh fish.
Huge variety and specialty categories on the menu.
Customization and substitution options.
Knowledgeable and attentive service.
The cons:
The exterior signage is easy to miss.
Pro tip: Pop in for happy hour and try the Buku nachos.
SPECIAL APRIL OFFER:
From April 1 – 30 receive 15% off entire bill (food + drinks) when you show your server that you follow #sandiegofoodgirls on Instagram or Facebook. (Dine in only)

Sabuku Sushi is the only sushi in my Normal Heights /​Kensington neighborhood. For that reason, I’ve been quite a few times, even though I can only give it 3 stars, unfortunately. I like the restaurant look and feel. It is clean, crisp and modern. I like the large roll menu, the daily specials, and the happy hour list. But I have never found the sushi to be great. It’s good, but not great. It is priced at great, and therein lies the problem.
I would love to see one of two things happen. 1. Improve quality of fish or 2. Reduce prices to better equate to the product. I’m hoping for #1 and think they’d see a more packed restaurant from our local neighborhood if that happened.

EDIT: I went back and ordered the vegetarian sushi and asked for toppings. MARVELOUS. Love this place! Definitely one of my go tos from now on.
Original: Service is excellent, sushi is a hit, and sake is delicious.
Only downside is that I’m a vegetarian and although they have a lot of roll options for me, they looked so sad and… not so pretty. The regular sushi my friends got were crazy and had all these delicious ingredients. Mine were basically veggies in rice and nori.
All I ask is for some tempura fried crunchies, aioli, maybe a slice of avacado on top. Is that too much to ask?
Please upgrade your vegetarian sushi options, they are a great base, but made me feel like a child eating sushi with all the others ordering off the larger menu. Plus, sushi chef forgot to add red onions and sweet potatoes on my roll. I should have said something, but I was to busy eating hahaha. Other than that I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND!

Meh, $ 20.00 for two basic rolls.
And by all means, stay away from the tuna, it was completely rancid the first time.
This was a second chance for Sabuki, and the fish in the mellow yellow and salmon roll, although edible, had a strange after taste. I don’t believe they use fresh fish.
You’re paying more for ambiance, but even then it isn’t the kind of ambiance I would want when having sushi.
Over priced
Crowded
BAD FISH!

The sushi was amazing. I had the nachos for my
Appetizer and it’s a must. Plus the sushi was out of this world good. This Is a must go.

This place was way better than expected. I was really concerned about the negative reviews, but my date and I had a good experience. My «negative» mostly comes from there being way more kitchen staff than wait staff, and having to wait a long time for service. We went on a weeknight hoping it’d be pretty slow, but somehow they were still a little overwhelmed. The restaurant is pretty small and packed, but is still very clean. The waiter was nice, and when he could spare some attention to us, it was good.
There’s a large selection of sushi (which all feels a bit high priced), but it was delicious. We sat at the bar and watched as the sushi chef made our food in front of us, and we weren’t disappointed. My date and I shared 3 rolls and we were stuffed, but we persevered onto dessert. It’s been hard to find places that have really good tempura green tea ice cream, and this place does it well.
Overall, it’s a good place to go, but more expensive than I can’t justify going back too often.

I stopped in during lunch to see if they had some designated lunch specials and luckily they did. I was able to get the Salmon Roll for $ 5, the Mellow Yellow Roll for $ 6, and a Summer special, the Pulled Pork Jalapeño Poppers for I believe $ 4, but don’t quote me on that.
The popper arrived. They were previously frozen item that came with a good amount of finely minced pulled pork which was savory and had mild sweet flavor which I am guessing came from some sort of BBQ sauce. There was not cheese to speak of and I am assuming it was lost during the frying process. Also, the peppers did not have any heat which was disappointing to me. In addition, after removing them from the fryer, they split them in half which truly only amounted to two poppers. I was not happy about that. They were crunchy from the fried breading and the sauce that came on top was good. Two stars for these babies.
The salmon roll was simple but good. I tend to prefer simpler rolls. The amount of salmon served in the roll was average and taste good. The salmon was smooth and had a decent fatty content. The addition of the cucumber added a nice clean flavor and a little texture, and the ripe avocado added some additional flavor and creaminess to the overall roll. I thought the salmon to rice ratio was fair.
The Mellow Yellow Roll consisted of yellow tail, avocado, and lemon on the outside, and iri, kuro goma, and rice on the outside. With exception to the heavy amount of lemon in the roll, this was a very good one. The yellow tail was very tasty and had a smooth silky texture. The avocado was ripe and soft, but the quantity of lemon was a little to much, because once the piece broke, lemon juice took over the flavor profile of the roll. Seriously, about half the amount of the lemon pieces would of been sufficient enough to let you know it was there, and would of complimented the rest of the ingredients much better.
In the end, my overall experience with the food and service was okay, but I do believe there is room for improvement. Good lunch deals.

We wanted to be in spitting distance of Polite Provisions without having to move the car, since parking is tough in this predominantly residential area. Sabuku seemed a decent choice.
A wonderful house salad with a yuzu-​Shoyu vinaigrette was so addicting that we ordered two! Warm, salted edamame came after, followed by a small portion ($ 10!!) of poke.
Nothing special could be said of their Rico Suave roll, except for it’s creative name. I’m aghast about the presence of zucchinis and carrots in their ramen! Definitely a no-​no.
Nice service but forgettable food.

Sabuku is an experimental sushi place in North Park. Not your classic sushi joint, this place is very modern looking and the prides itself in high quality, customizable rolls. The menu is pretty creative and even has a special bacon section — for all the bacon sushi lovers out there.
The HOUSE SALAD ($ 6) had an addicting yuzu wasabi bin dressing — actually so addicting that we ordered it twice. That one’s definitely a winner. The EDAMAME ($ 4) was just like it needs to be — not too soft, steamy, and slightly salted.
On to the rolls — they did not disappoint. The RICO SUAVE ROLL ($ 11) had spicy tuna & tempura green onion on the inside, came with yuzu wasabi bin, spicy ginger aioli & sriracha, and was topped with crunchies, scallions & kuro goma.
The THAI WON ON for the price of $ 18 is a whole meal itself, but worth trying: panko crusted sea bass, spicy crab, kaiware sprouts & red onion inside, spicy tuna outside, with a glazed thai chille, garlic & ghost pepper aioli sauce, and topped with scallions & tempura crunchies.
The RAMEN ($ 14) was okay but nothing over the top. Definitely go here for the sushi creations. Overall a good experience and worth coming back to.

Hands down the best innovative sushi place I had in SD.
I discovered this place occasionally on Unilocal when wandering around the thrift stores on Adams. And I decided to have sushi for dinner — in celebration for my recent moving (such a tiring process but wow). I found the place was famous for bacon-​infused sushi rolls (whhhhhat?) — which stirred up my curiosity and led me to it.
Was seated promptly and warmly welcomed. Differing from the convoy area, the vibe here was less «Asian» but more «American». Norminally I don’t like Americanized sushi, but the menu was a huge surprise to me. Though I did not pick the bacon series they did look attractive (and expensive). I asked for recommendation from my waiter and ordered the following:
Shiso crazee ($ 9): A kind of fried panko crusted crab poppers. It was a real surprise as I never expected it too be that good with the mixed sauces — sriracha, spicy aioli, eel sauce and sweet mandarin sauce. Very flavorful and tasty, yet not overwhelming. The crab meat was fresh and tasted authentic.
Red Apple ($ 19): This is a seared spicy tuna sushi roll. Actually not very spicy… but it had spicy sauce on the side. If you love spicy tuna you would like it. For me I think it was good but not as surprisingly good as the appetizer… maybe it was not that spicy? Would try another roll with more heat next time.
Tempura green tea ice cream ($ 8): Huge portion. and lovely presentation! I liked the way they fried their ice cream, which was like cornbread-​fried shrimps. Again very «Americanized» but not weird. The ice cream was tasty.
Service: Hearty and they checked on you often. Sitting at the bar watching the sushi masters playing the work of art was highly enjoyable. One star plus: Originally I asked my tempura ice cream to be half&half, and the waiter told me later they got it wrong by making a whole-​green tea one. He immediately promised g ving me 50% discount on this dish. It’s very hearty!
Atmosphere: Good vibe, noisy at night, a couple of young ladies were having a birthday party… and they were singing a song all together. My neighbor chatted with the sushi chef, Phonexay, and I listened for a while. It seemed people here were all familiar with each other… ahhh I love Adams Avenue. What a trendy neighborhood!
Will definitely come back when I do something worth rewarding. And for the orange crush roll and buku nachos!