Sushi Tadokoro

We wanted t go to sushi ota but the wait was 2 hours! so we decided to try sushi Tadokoro and we only waited 10 mins! We got the omokase and it was so fresh! The shrimp head was still moving! (I like that they fry it for you instead of eating the head raw) I also got a crunchy roll which had lots of flavor and was a decent size. The strawberry mochi was also very good and fresh. Not soggy! I think it is on par with Ota and would totally recommend it!

I don’t often write reviews although I regularly eat out at places from hall-​in-​the-​wall places to fine dining. Good food and service is the norm and expected. I am a person who easily and generously shows appreciation.
My experience at Tadokoro was terrible. Food was exceptional. However our server was horrible, one of my worst experiences. Can a server ruin your experience?. Yes.
She was soulless, careless, tired from the beginning, we repeatedly asked for her attention and our orders, had to wait about 20 minutes between orders (if our food was coming), after 90 minutes we cancelled some orders. She lacked the inherent qualities of Japanese hospitality and discipline. I regularly frequent Ota, Hane and Azuki; have the experience. I simply enjoy the Sushi experience.
I invited the owner to our table to express our concern and displeasure. He simply listened and said ‘sorry’. When we were leaving after 30 – 40 minutes later, half of my party was out the door, and I was already heading towards to door, he come to me with a tray of desserts. I said ‘too late’.
Mr. Owner. Please pay attention to your service and servers. Our server ruined the experience.

Fresh and exciting options! Great sake menu, happy atmosphere, and great service! The food alone will have us coming back over and over!

Best sushi I’ve ever had. Had the omakase and it was delicious. Fish was super fresh and much better than sushi ota. Although it’s much more expensive, you get what you pay for.

My wife found this place a few months back while in San Diego during her training. This place is tucked in a very small strip mall at best and parking may be challenging for some. Once you are inside, it is a very clean and modern look. We made reservations which I highly recommend and were seated at the bar. Our sushi chef was funny and also great to talk to. My wife ordered Omakase ($ 80), but she said it was worth it. I had the homemade gyoza and fried small shrimps, as they were both delicious. Good service as the staff was very attentive with my water and drinks. Had a wonderful time there and looking forward on coming back.

Bomb. Drop the mic. Legitimate traditional sushi place!
Got sweet shrimp and a bunch of sashimi. Super fresh!

If you are looking for a true sushi master try Omakase here with Chef Soichi Kadoya! From the simplest things like fresh ground wasabi and house made sauces to perfectly prepared rice all the necessary little things were done right to elevate the extremely fresh and exquisitely prepared sushi courses. Even the only cooked dish that was presented to us (miso marinated sea bass) was cooked to absolute perfection. The meal was heightened with unique courses like triggerfish with fresh liver that was delicate, creamy and delicious. My vote for San Diego’s best Sushi!

4^th time here.
Amazing experience. Went here for dinner after I proposed to my gf. The entire staff congratulated us and even brought us out a special treat. I’m really happy with omakase nigiri here. Tadokoro is definitely my #1 go to spot in San Diego for real sushi. I just made reservations for my 5^th visit for omakase at the bar.

Had golden eye snapper, kanpachi, Kawahagi, mirugai, toro, aji, ikura twice!!! All of them were great.
Enjoyed watching sushi chef creating art.
Will be back soon!

Traditional sushi bar that’s on-​par with restaurants in the motherland. If your favorite sushi roll has cream cheese or is named after a legendary non-​food (dragon, giant spider, double rainbow), for the love of god save your time and stop reading now: scoff:
Seriously, this place is really good. Tucked away in an unsuspecting strip mall near the airport, you could easily drive past this gem and never realize the greatness passing by. The locals know, though. If you don’t make reservations (5, 6 tables and a counter for ~10) or show up later than 30 min after opening, good luck.
By the way, the aji (horse mackerel) sashimi is glorious. After you savor the glistening, succulent meat, the chefs deep fry the bones into a crispy cracker. A two-​fer appetizer worthy of a Japanese king.

My husband and I absolutely love sushi, specifically nigiri and sashimi. We hadn’t been able to find a truly amazing sushi bar here in San Diego… we tried Ota and many others but none quite met the mark. We are so happy to have finally found Sushi Tadokoro, truly a hidden gem. We went last night for my birthday and had the omakase. Each piece of nigiri was exactly the right temperature and so fresh, the fish just melts in your mouth. Absolutely no need to use any soy sauce, Chef Soichi crafted each piece perfectly. Speaking of Chef Soichi, he was wonderful to talk to throughout the meal. He is so knowledgable and friendly. It was a pleasure to watch him delicately slice each fish and prepare our sushi. We will definitely be back again soon, I’m already dreaming of the trigger fish and its liver nigiri!

Can’t begin to describe how perfect the experience is here. I love a good find. More than that, a beautiful, well-​manicured, delicious, hole in the wall.
This place is in a tiny complex with vertically no parking. The place gets so packed for lunch and dinner on the weekends — you better make a reservation.
This is not the kind of place you come to for a Hawaiian roll or Boston Lobster roll or even a Seagull roll — whatever those things are. This is the real deal. Either order Omakase or your own selection of nigiri and enjoy!
The chefs are kind and attentive. They love what they do and you can tell! And the fish… Oh the fish… The fish is PHENOMENAL. I want to taste these tastes forever. They do a beautiful job of seasoning so no soy or wasabi needed. Just take it in, as it is.
Ahhhhhhh. Can’t wait to come back.

I wrote this place off for a while because sushi in old town just did not sound appealing. Now I’m mad at myself for waiting so long and depriving myself of the best sushi around.
Omakase with Take is amazing. Definitely make a reservation to secure your seat in front of Take, definitely do the $ 80 omakase, and definitely get the grilled seabass/​cod. I’ve had a lot of great omakase experiences, but I have to say this is one of, if not, the, best. Every fish is thoughtfully curated from all over the world, and every piece of fish is carefully crafted into a bite of perfection. The fish to rice ratio is just right, and the contrast of the warm rice to the cold fish (when it’s supposed to be cold), is absolute perfection. I do believe I’ve had the best of every fish here. The toro is unbelievable — creamy, but not overly fatty, and completely melts in your mouth. The salmon roe is the perfect temperature and texture, the first time I’ve really enjoyed it. The oysters are the best I’ve had anywhere. The lowly sardine is completely transformed and elevated here. Order the tamago — it’s warm, custardy, and an incredible piece to end the meal with!
It’s not a cheap meal, but it’s absolutely worth it. Treat yourself! You won’t regret it.

I’ve only been here once and it may be that I came on a below average day…
For the price range I feel that Sushi Ota definitely wins in the quality department. The clearest comparison points were the salmon belly and toro sashimi. While the toro was equal, Ota’s salmon was definitely of a better cut. Smoother and richer in flavor.
Service was excellent as expected. The small shop allows for a warm welcoming «irasshaimase» from the entire staff. :)
The chirashi bowl had great value, coming with quality slices of fish at an affordable price.
My sister loved the uni.
I’d be willing to try this place again, and will update my review accordingly! But for now, Ota has my vote.

The best way to try a sushi restaurant out is to do their omakase, and Tadokoro is surely a place to go for such an adventure. Excellent seafood quality, friendly and attentive service, what a great place to splurge for sushi! If you want sushi rolls, don’t come here. Rolls aren’t Japanese.
Chef Soichi is a friendly guy with great fish-​slicing and sushi-​making skills. It’s amusing to watch him and it’s even better to eat the sushi he makes. He started us off with a half-​shell Pacific oyster and house-​made monkfish liver. Wow! I think it’s the first time I had monkfish liver and it’s like the ocean version of foie gras! Amazing taste and I already couldn’t wait to see what else he’s going to bring us.
For sashimi/​nigiri, we had:
toro (tuna belly) from Spain,
red snapper,
Hotate (scallop),
kanpachi (amberjack),
aji (Japanese horse mackerel),
sardine all from Japan,
maguro (bluefin tuna) from Hawaii,
mirugai (geoduck or giant clam) from Seattle,
kelp-​cured halibut
seared golden eye snapper
Kawahagi (triggerfish) with liver
Ikura (fish roe)
Hamachi (yellow tail)
marinated maguro with yuzu pepper
Hot food: seared Chilean sea bass that was marinated in house-​made miso sauce for 5 days
Side dishes: pressed spinach with sesame paste and marinated cucumber, carrot and wakame.
Everything was delicious. There was not one thing that we didn’t enjoy. I appreciate the quality and attention to detail by our chef and our server.
I like all of them, but if I have to choose a few items I highly recommend, they would be the monkfish liver, the toro, aji, sardine, golden eye snapper, kawahagi and hamachi.
The meal was about $ 80/​head but I think it’s worth the money for the quantity and quality of food and service.
The place is small so reservation is highly recommended. The bar only seats 10 people and they only have 7 tables. Earliest booking is 5pm, and around 7pm is their 2^nd round, so it’s good to give the hostess a heads up if you plan to stay there for long drinking and eating all night.
Definitely on par with Sushi Ota in terms of quality, and certainly better in terms of service!

I took my brother here for his birthday. We found this place on Unilocal and would like to try their sushi due to their high reviews and the only great sushi place we know of is sushi Ota. We wanted to find another great sushi place!
— Reservation is somewhat required (informed to me when I called).
— Restaurant is very cute & tiny but clean. Perhaps its maximum occupancy is only 25 people, including the bar area.
— Ambience is very quiet, so I don’t think bringing little kids here is recommended at all.
— Area is somewhat «off» because of tiny parking.
— Service is pretty good though.
We ordered several kinds of sushi & sashimi. We also ordered their miso sea bass, because we love Ota’s miso sea bass. We also ordered Uni because lots of reviews mentioned freshness about their Uni. Unfortunately, to us, their Uni is not as good as Ota’s. I would say that their price is slightly lower than Ota’s, but apparently to our overall taste & judgment, Sushi Ota is still the winner. Their only food that’s very mouthwatering to me is maybe their Unagi.

Delicious, fresh fish with an authentic Japanese restaurant feel. The food was simple, yet flavorful. Mushroom salad, chefs omakase set and miso sea bass is recommended.
Mushroom salad-​very flavorful
Chef omakase set-​fresh fish hits the spot
Miso sea bass-​very light but flavorful but melts in your mouth… Almost like a crab like texture!
Reservations recommended.
Good service.
4stars is relative — this place voted among best Japanese restaurant.
Will be back !

You wouldn’t expect a sushi restaurant in Old Town, especially next to a small little liquor store! But when you walk in, you can immediately tell that this restaurant is very authentic.
I still have to say that Sushi Ota and Azuki are a little better than Tadokoro but I enjoyed my meal here. I had the Chirashi and sampled a few of the tempura pieces of the BF’s plate. The fish was good. It tasted fresh and flavorful
They had a really good lunch special bento box. It had tempura and a lot of great little okazus like croquette and tofu.

Let me just say that I’m still dreaming of the sushi I had. The food is amazing, the staff are friendly and accommodating, and the restaurant itself is very clean. Tadokoro has bar seating and only a few tables, so I recommend making reservations even if it’s to sit at the bar. They have a shared lot but it’s really small, so you may have to park on the street.
I’ve tried a handful of rolls, dishes and nigiri, and the nigiri is what really stood out to me. Nigiri is per piece, and toro nigiri is a whopping $ 6 a piece, topping the rest of the nigiri at $ 2-​$ 3 a piece. I’d say the rolls are between $ 8 and $ 15, and overall the prices aren’t bad especially for the quality fish you get. ALL of the sushi is fresh, buttery and the perfect texture. I swear the fish just melts in your mouth!
Personal recommendations:
Nigiri — yellowtail, toro, and salmon
Negi toro roll
I really thought the salmon avocado roll would be my favorite, but for some reason it tasted off to me. It could have been because the roll was extremely soft and creamy and I was looking for more texture. Whatever it was, I just wasn’t a fan. Other than that roll everything was amazing and I can’t wait to come back and try their black sesame ice cream for dessert. Sushi Tadokoro doesn’t disappoint!

Went with a group of 6. I’ve lived in Japan for 6 years and have had the best sushi in the world. It’s impossible not to compare, but I tried to be as fair as possible.
The good:
1. The fish was ALL good. Ate about 8 different types of nigiri and enjoyed all of them.
2. Tempura was light and crispy.
3. Beer was fresh and cold. (Asahi)
The bad:
1. Miso soup was not very flavorful. Tried both regular and seafood miso. Both were lacking in flavor.
2. Edamame was nothing special. I asked if it had rock salt and they said yes. When it came out, it did not have rock salt.
3. Service was not good. Had to ask for more wasabi and ginger 3 times.
4. The portion size of the wasabi and ginger was very small. Usually u get a lot more than you would eat, but for a table of 6, we got barely enough for 1 person. This could have been easily fixed if they would have brought more when I asked. But they failed to do so.
5. Tamago was bland and nothing special. Tasted like soft fluffed egg. Was not sweet at all and was not marbled. Tamago is hard to make when made correctly. This was not real tamago.
Overall, I can give 3 stars easy. But can’t give more than that because the supporting service and dishes were not as good.
Paid $ 275 for 6 people. Worth a try.