The Land & Water Co

Best fresh food in Carlsbad! The Water Rolls and the fish sandwich are phenomenal. I highly recommend the beef skewers too.

Was in the neighborhood test driving a car and decided to stop by when it happened to be happy hour. Beef Musubi (lengua) was delicious. The beef was tender and flavorful. Kimchi was not authentic, but still great flavors and very yummy.
The kama (fish collar) was tender and flavorful and came on a bed of delicious greens. We topped it off with the bacon lardon, which came on a piece of cornbread. My favorite was probably the kama.
Extensive drink list. Select cocktails are only $ 5 during happy hour (including Moscow Mules and some drink named after Bees, both pretty solid drinks). Beer list is decent also. I started with a Nitro IPA by Rough Draft and had a Mother Earth Cali Creamin’ next.

Absolutely love this place. We sat at Sushi bar and let Rob ale care of us. Just told him fish we like and he took care of us. Did start with pork belly on corn bread that was insane. Will be returning to try restaurant food next time and get that pork belly app again. Great service and fun atmosphere. Gets crowded on Friday, reservations def needed

The butter lettuce salad, the lardon, the unagi, the customer service, the location… all top notch! We plan to make this a regular go to both for just us and when out of town guests are visiting. Kudos!

This was between 2 and 2.5 stars for the total experience. The food was, overall, just ok; the service was appalling.
Three of us ordered and shared all of the following:
Butter Butter Salad: This was good, but not great. The ingredients were fresh, but it was overdressed. The «six minute egg» was slightly less than half of one egg on top of the salad, which felt a bit cheap to me.
Bacon Lardon: This was fine, but not good. The pork was very fatty, much more so than I have usually tasted in similar cuts. The flavor was good, but not anything outstanding.
Water Roll: This was mediocre sushi, made by someone unskilled or uncaring. It was rolled loosely, to the point that it was somewhat difficult to eat.
Papa Bear’s Salmon Roll: This was imilar to the Water Roll, but with the addition of tough shrimp.
Service: The service was distinctly odd. We had to request plates multiple times, and it took one of the servers ages to arrive with the ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce, all of which must be requested. We interacted with two male servers, both of whom were spacey and distracted. We also interacted with a young female server, who was extremely professional.
The music in the dining room was extremely loud, which made conversation difficult.
Overall, I would probably not return, and I will definitely not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Great food and service. Our server (Melanie) was very attentive and super helpful. The food was prepared to perfection. My 10 year old loved it!
The atmosphere is hip and trendy.
When in town again we will certainly stop by for some great sushi.

Still a pretty good place but the menu has been the same since opening day… I would expect a restaurant like this to update the
Menu by now.

I really enjoyed their food and the experience. The food seemed very fresh and made to order. The miso soup is one of the best I’ve tasted. The sushi is a great size and their plating make it very share friendly. I had wine with dinner, their cocktails looked pretty though.
For the added bonus, visit the speak easy below the restaurant… But you need a password.

This place is great, my 3^rd time here, still the best food I have found in SD, sit outside and watch the surroundings, its one block from the beach, lots of ppl walking around, riding bikes and skateboarding, wait staff is friendly and knowledgable about the food and area too.

I went here for dinner the other night as it was recommended by a co-​worker. Their menu consists of tapas style and full on meal. I picked the butter butter salad with the vinegarette instead of the ranch dreasing. The salad was filling and quite tasty. For main course I had the scallop which was great and well balanced, but I was disappointed with the portion. It felt like I was only given 1 scallop sliced thinly to make it more presentable and pretty (for Unilocal).
I would’ve given them 4 stars for their tasty food, but given the price I paid I’d expect something more than 1 thinly sliced scallop.

Really horrible experience!
Came here for dinner with a group of people and we had called in advance and reserved the «private room». The private room is actually NOT private, it’s an area in the back of the restaurant that still opens into the restaurant, everyone in the restaurant can see us and vice versa.
We arrived at our reservation time of 6pm and were all seated right away in our very long table. We then had to wait a little bit to get our water glasses filled and drink orders filled. No big deal. Around 6:15, our waitress came over and took our food orders which was very easy because we had a prix fixe menu with 3 items to choose from. Our 3 course meal also included 2 appetizers. The 1^st appetizer came out very quickly at the same time as she took our entrée orders. Then there was nothing. She kept coming back for the next 2 hours to take more drink orders, each drink was between $ 12-​$ 15. By 7:30pm, more than an hour later, we were starting to get annoyed and frustrated that no food was brought out to us. I spoke to the waitress and she gave me a bit of attitude. So then I walked over to the on site manager that day and spoke to the manager, she did not apologize or let me know the reason for the delay and told me that she would bring some small plates of food for me to hold me over until our food comes out, and also did NOT give me an approximate time when we would get our food. Shortly after, I received a TINY plate of pickled vegetables. Now, everyone knows that pickled vegetables has no calories and in fact increases a person’s appetite. This actually made me even more hungry and at this point I’m having blurry vision and a huge headache.
I had to speak to another waiter to ask about our entrees. At 8pm we finally get our entrees, which is close to 2 hours after we had placed our order. This is absolutely unacceptable, and the manager nor the waitress apologized for the delay. It seems like a ploy to sell more drinks to our large table of people, since drinks have a much higher profit margin than food.
As for the food, the water roll had waaaaaay too much ponzu or soy sauce on it, and was super salty to the point I couldn’t taste anything else but the salty sauce. Each piece was drenched. After dinner I woke up all night having to drink water.
HORRIBLE experience, I warn everyone do not come here for horrible service and terrible food!

the BACON LARDON appetizer (crispy pork belly bacon, jalapeño cornbread, red stone crab salad, orange marmalade, mint) reads better than it eats. the pork belly had a nice texture but nothing memorable about the flavor. the jalapeño cornbread was generally disappointing. already too tender, got way squishy when the dish came together, the red stone crab salad was nondescript. the orange marmalade was a nice, acidic, citrusy counterpoint to the richness of the pig. the dish was difficult to eat in one bite and difficult to cut into two. would say the BACON LARDON over promised and under delivered.
the nine-​year old boy started with MAGURO SASHIMI (yellow fin) — no surprise here. he nearly always starts with the MAGURO SASHIMI and he enjoyed theirs. i had SAKE SASHIMI (king salmon) and it was also excellent.
we enjoyed the HAIRY DRAGON (california roll with eel, avocado, eel sauce and bonita flakes on top) and the CRUNCHY SHRIMP TEMPURA (stone crab, avocado, cucumber and tempura shrimp sprinkled with tempura bits) rolls.
the UNI nigiri was very good.
the GREY GOOSE DIRTY was sublime. nice to order a martini and actually get the premium vodka you get charged for.
mixed feelings about the BROKEN ENGLISH APPLE PIE (farmer’s market cider, seared apples, butter bourbon gelato, caramel almond crusted crab apple, aged cheddar) desert. caramel flavors barely came through. don’t remember the aged cheddar so either it got left off or really wasn’t memorable. enjoyed the apple filling well enough though the caramel was understated. the crust was flaky and amazing. the gelato was meh — nice texture but the flavors were subtle enough to be easily overlooked.
service was attentive. the staff is well trained and courteous. nice place for a date night. maybe next time, we’ll get a sitter.

Very out of the box sushi at an unexpected location. The Land and Water Co. has an eclectic menu with some unique salad and sushi. Located in a building built at the turn of the century is some of the best an unique sushi. Downstairs is a actual speakeasy from prohibition.
Started with YELLOWTAIL IN THE VALLE: Yellowtail sashimi, flamed onion purée, pink lady apple, pickled fennel, pink peppercorn, chili pepper water. Would have never thought of apples in sushi, but it’s one of the best sushi dishes ever.
Followed with a fruit forward salad with grapefruit, orange, pickled cumquats and vanilla goat cheese and fennel.
Finished with two more rolls.
PAPA BEAR’S SALMON ROLL
Nori wrapped spicy tuna, cucumber, prawn roll topped with steelhead salmon, Haas avocado, bonito flake, garlic ponzu vinaigrette
WATER ROLL
Spicy tuna, Haas avocado, cucumber, and red stone crab roll, tsume, ryu, layers of assorted, sashimi, topped with ginger, ponzu & citrus slices
Both were excellent and unique. The toppings on the salmon roll were split with 4 different fish that were fresh that day.
Highly recommended for a one of a kind experience.

So I had two very different experiences at this restaurant. The first time was absolutely stellar, I would have rated this place a five based on that one experience. However, the second experience was not so stellar, which explains the three stars.
The food: both times it was amazing. The ribs and chicken karage were my favorite. I would have to say that the ribs are the best item on the menu, don’t pass up. I don’t normally like salad, but their butter lettuce salad was good.
The service: great the first time, slow af the second time. I ended up waiting over an hour for appetizers last time…
Ambiance: very Carlsbad. I like it
Overall: will come back only if craving ribs

So I’ve been here a few times and all I can say is consistently a TOP performer. Land and Water is literally in the heart of Cbad by the sign at Cbad Village Dr and Cbad Blvd. So I can’t remember the name of the place that was here but it was old, rundown, and just weak.
Land and Water’s menus — drink, sushi, and dinner are all pretty creative but more importantly everything is good. I’ve tried almost everything and never been disappointed. Their tapas type food — bacon lardon, crusty chicken, etc is your first exposure to how the food will be. Presented well, not too much, not too little, and incredibly tasty.
The setup, design and décor all good. It’s not too crowded and a good place for a group.
The customer service from host, to wait staff, and chefs have always been on point. This to me– is the best place is Carlsbad.
Lastly– there’s a speakeasy downstairs. See if you can get some details on how to get it. Pretty good time down there too!

My sister is a regular here, so we arranged to celebrate my Mom’s 60^th birthday here! We ordered salmon and tuna sashimi along with duck steamed buns for starters. The fish was high quality and melted in your mouth. The duck steamed buns were unique and delicious! After dinner we headed to Land and Water’s speak easy located below the restaurant in the basement. It’s nice that you can do dinner and drinks all in the same place! My only criticism for Land & Water is that the acoustics are such that you have to shout if there are more than a few people in the restaurant — they’ve tried to remedy the issue by attaching pillows to the ceilings and walls in funky art displays, but I think they still have some work to do. I would definitely like to come back and try their happy hour too when prices are a little more affordable ;)
+1 Delicious, fresh food
+1 Creative, unique food and drink menu
+1 Conveniently located in downtown Carlsbad on the 101
+1 Good service
–1 Loud and expensive

There are moments in one’s culinary timeline where you pause, time slows, and memories are seized. Chef Rob did this for me years ago when he was head chef at Harney in downtown Oceanside. My wife and I sat down and asked him to go nuts. We were then treated to a meal that we still talk about to this day. One of the treats that Chef Rob threw in our direction was a seared salmon belly with an imported Black Sea salt. This, at the time, was one of the most luxurious, decadent things I have ever tasted.
Tonight was a night that gave me pause and I immediately recalled my experience with the salmon belly. Both experiences, by coincidence or not, were due to Chef Rob. The surprise I got tonight was because of the unassumingly-​named «beef skewer». The image that this evokes is something rather unappetizing and pedestrian. What arrived, however, was precisely the opposite. The beef skewer is a particular cut that is typically one of the most tender of the cow. Land and Water managed to number one: cook this even more tenderly than I knew was possible, and two: impart a whisper-​thin crust that balanced the said-​tenderness in a way that is difficult to explain in words. It is one of those rare dishes that is both unnecessary and essential at the same time.
We also ordered the yellow tail Valle. This was presented beautifully in little amuse bouche-​like rolls with pepper corns and slivers of green apple. This was inventive and light and quite delicious. It was almost a pallete cleanser compared to the skewers, so I suppose these two were very well balanced.
One thing that drives me nuts about our little town is that there isn’t more hype over some of the fabulous restaurants that we have in our special little village of Carlsbad. Land and Water Co. deserves more hype and not just because of the overall experience. When single dishes give me as much pause as the skewers did tonight, it tells me that either we are that skilled at flying under the radar, or there is a conspiracy to keep this gift to ourselves. I hope that both can be reversed because this much talent is too big for one little town to keep contained.

The Land & Water Co. is a fine art to be appreciated!
We sat by Chad, the sushi chef, who has been seasoned at other fine restaurants. He has an absolutely passion and love for this place and what he does. What you will find here is non pretentious people, clean sushi bars, and an appreciation for sushi making (even if you are a huge fan of seafood like me). Watching Chad and the team make all their rolls, their attention to detail and mastery of putting all these rolls and small plates together was fascinating.
You can make reservations right at the sushi bar, and with a certain person if you wish, which I recommend!
After a few drinks, you may be lost as to which door is actually the exit, lol, but all in all a great place. It is connected to Sun Diego on the side.
In addition to specialty rolls, they also have tapas, dinner plates and dessert. I had the Chicken and Gravy — which was the ½ Jidori Chicken with mashed potato purée, kimchi, with savory bacon herb jus. It was superb! More than enough food for ½ chicken, I could barely finish the chicken. Chicken was tender, and juicy. The kimchi was one of the best I’ve had. Perfect crunch and seasoned just right.
For dessert, I had the Bananfrana Trifle– It is a Cacao delicè, banana cognac cream, dark chocolate cake with banana infused vanilla sauce– oh my lord. This thing was delicious and was just right… not too heavy and refreshing after all the tapas and food!
Ambiance is wonderful, dimly light… perfect for intimate dinners or a nice group.
Speakeasy is open downstairs for some more late night fun and drinks after dinner.

4 stars! Although our waiter jonathan made me sad twice. It’s not his fault they didn’t have two items that I really wanted to try. FYI the menu changes! Last month they had this French toast macaron that I really wanted to try but they didn’t have it on the dessert menu this month. I also really wanted to try the bacon lardon but the meat wasn’t ready when we went.
Best decision when I try a new restaurant is to have the waiter pick my food. He had to make up the fact that he made me sad not having the items I wanted to try. Happy hour was 3 – 6 so I got there right at 3! The cabernet he chose for me was delicious. When I chose a specialty drink it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I tried the Kentucky buck. I didn’t like the ginger beer taste so I should stay away from any ginger drinks.
For the happy hour items we munched on, jonathan picked his top 2 which were the crispy beef skewer and the spicy tuna musubi. He also suggested the okonomiyaki. Still hungry after that so we ordered the miso-​glazed kama and the Kennebec potato chips. The beef skewer and the spicy tuna musubi were amazing. Jonathan’s choices never failed us. It’s the way sushi should be… with mayo! The Okonomiyaki was my absolute favorite. I savored every bite! It’s a Japanese savory pancake. I’m still thinking about the Okonomiyaki. It was so good. The miso-​glazed kama was tasty. I love the sweet taste to it. The potato chips were great too. It’s a good choice to munch on.
For dessert, I was very sad with Jonathan because they didn’t have the French toast macaron. I picked this chocolate trifle dessert and as soon as I took the bite I realized I didn’t have our waiter pick the dessert for us. I failed for that. The trifle was kind of dry but it was still ok. He said he would’ve recommended the peach pie dessert so my mistake not taking his advice.
Overall great experience. It’s so close to the beach and has a great welcoming feel to it. The staff was really great to us on our visit. I would love to come back for happy hour again.

My girlfriend and I came here for happy hour and linner yesterday after work since we realized we work 3 miles away from one another. This place was easy to find, parking was easy, a little tight for an SUV but I managed. I remember this place being a nightclub years ago and now it’s a restaurant so I like how they did that.
The place has interesting décor with stacked pillows on the ceiling and terrariums all over the place, which was very nice and rather calming. I noticed that there was a private room to the corner as well so you can rent it out if needed.
My girlfriend and I started off with the California crush cocktails and since it was happy hour, it was $ 5, not bad. It was really good and I wished I got a second one, it was that good. Then we ordered a few appetizers and since it was happy hour, the prices were reasonably lower. We got the kennebec potato chips, the crispy beef skewers, the spicy tuna musubi, and the bacon lardon, all great stuff!
We also shared the water roll sushi which was really good and they perfected in putting the right amount of wasabi and soy sauce already so no dipping required. Unless you want more, which they can provide if requested.
For dessert, we got the french toast macarons which was a concoction of bacon, cream, strawberries, and maple syrup. It was fantastic! I love macarons too so this was a weak spot for me.
To end our meal, I got another cocktail, the basil smash, which I didn’t really care for.
Our waitress was awesome and we took her suggestions for everything she recommended. She’s very sweet and helpful.
After our meal, we walked across the street to the beach and took a little stroll. This place is the perfect location for good food and the ocean breeze. I’ll definitely have to bring my husband here sometime soon.