My best friend and I share birthdays and this year our friend group came to visit me in my hometown…read moreto celebrate our birthday. My friends had really wanted to have a cute experience and have delicious food, so when I suggested Blue Ocean/Harumama they were all in. I've been to the Harumama in Little Italy but thought that the La Jolla location would be a better option because of the views. They don't offer reservations, but the Saturday we came they had plenty of seating. You can request to be sat by the window but the wait time was almost an hour and half long. Our server was great, super sweet and really wanted to make sure we had a good time. For food, we ordered karraage, takoyaki and garlic edamame to start. The karraage was so tender and crispy and the flavor of the chicken was great. This was my first time having takoyaki and it was pretty good and the garlic edamame was perfect it had so much garlic I was really happy. For sushi, we ordered a regular spicy tuna roll, Chef's Special Roll (shrimp tempura, krab, avocado and topped with spicy tuna) and the dynamite roll (deep fried California roll with baked langoustine on top). My friend on his own got the ramen and we ordered a the pork and cow buns. The service was great food came out so quickly and our water was always topped off. The sushi was so fresh, I just wish the spicy tuna was a little more spicy. I definitely want to come back, the views are gorgeous and I feel like this would be a cute date night or a fun place to go with your girlfriends to celebrate a birthday.

We came on a Friday around 4:30pm. They don't take reservations, but at that time we could have…read morebeen seated right away. We decided to wait about 25 minutes for a window table, and I'm SO glad we did! The view was beautiful and really added to the experience. Parking in this area can be tricky since there are so many popular restaurants nearby and you're right by the beach. It's mostly street parking, but we ended up parking in the garage next to Duke's. It was $35 , but from there it was just a short walk to the restaurant. The restaurant has a really nice ambiance, and our waitress was great. I chose Blue Ocean/Harumama because I love ramen, but we were eating with our kids and I wanted somewhere that had plenty of options for them too. It ended up being a great choice for our family. I ordered the Flying Pig ramen, my husband got the Power Protein Poke, one daughter got the Crispy Chickie, and the other got a California Roll. My ramen was okay--not bad, just not my favorite ramen--but everyone else really enjoyed their meals. I tried some of the Crispy Chickie and it was really tasty! We also had to get one of the character buns . We ordered the Bunny Bun with Nutella and the girls loved it. We finished with the churros and chocolate sauce, which were delicious! One of my favorite parts about coming here was the location. After dinner we walked over to La Jolla Cove, watched the sunset and saw the seals. Everything was within walking distance, so it made dinner feel like part of a whole evening out rather than just going to a restaurant. Between the ocean view, atmosphere, kid-friendly choices and location, we had a really nice experience. If you have the time, I definitely think the window seating is worth the wait!

UPDATE: The restaurant reached out after my original review, and I have to say, it's not often…read morethese days that a restaurant genuinely seems to care about both the quality of its food and the experience of its customers. Despite our disappointing meal, I was fairly certain it was a one-off given how great our previous experience had been. But the way they responded reinforced that. I'm updating my review to 5 stars because they genuinely want to improve and be better. Sometimes that kind of care and accountability is all it takes to turn a good restaurant into a great one. Looking forward to giving them another try and, hopefully, many more visits to come. Review on 2/14 So unfortunate and incredibly disappointing. We've eaten here once before and thought the food was fantastic, so we were really looking forward to ordering again. This time, we had the sweet and sour pork, broccoli chicken, and kung pao chicken. The sweet and sour pork arrived cold. Both chicken dishes had way too much starch and ended up with a thick, gravy-like texture that overwhelmed the food. The rice was probably the worst part. It tasted and felt like it was several days old. Some pieces were hard and dried out, while others were strangely mushy. It was simply terrible. I'm not sure if we happened to order at the wrong time or if there was someone new cooking in the kitchen, but the difference between our first experience and this one was night and day. It's especially disappointing because we genuinely enjoyed our first visit. Unfortunately, an experience like this makes you seriously reconsider ordering from here again. We didn't finish our food and we didn't want to take any of it home. We're really so sad since we brought several friends for the first time. What an embarrassment.

Our group heard many reviews and saw several social media posts about Chin's Szechwan, and…read moreeventually found time to go try them out. Their La Jolla location is definitely hard to get to, hard to park at, and is also fairly small inside. If you have a large party I'd recommend going to a different location! We got lucky and found a spot across the street from the restaurant - otherwise it can be pretty busy so be wary of parking time. They only have booths lined against the left wall, maybe about 6 of them? We were the only customers dining in, but there were a few takeout orders during our meal. Service was excellent - they were so attentive and always checking in to make sure we were enjoying our food. - Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings: Super crispy, super juicy! Great flavor. - Lo Mein: I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the noodles! They had a nice wok flavor and was seasoned very well. - Black Pepper Beef: The beef was VERY tender, but this dish was a bit too salty for me. Tangerine Chicken: When this got placed down, we were shocked at the amount they gave. Turns out, a lot of the pieces were hard breading and not meat. Walnut Shrimp: You can never go wrong with Honey Walnut Shrimp! Not the largest portion size but the quality was good.

Our servers, Mikayla and Callie, were really nice and attentive…read more The beef noodle soup had a deep flavor, the noodles were cooked well and had that bounce, and I could smell the spices from across the table. I've had beef noodle soups in Taiwan before- this place would scratch that itch if you're ever craving this dish.

The server we had was really nice. She greeted us and made me and my husband feel welcomed. I would…read morerecommend the Taiwanese beef noodles because of how good it taste.

Great food! Great service!…read moreDrunken noodles and green curry are a must:) Will definitely come back

Great food and service! The thai tea, chicken pad thai, massaman curry, green curry, and drunken…read morenoodles were are really good. Highly recommend.

One of my favorite restaurants in all of San Diego, I come here when I want comfort food…read more The grilled pork buns are my go to. The service is always amazing, they're always happy to see familiar faces hehe. Also shout out Emily for being so nice!!

Food was so yummy and the portions were huge!!! First time…read morehere but will definetly not be my last!!

I first fell in love with Marugame back in 2004 in Waikiki. The long lines to get a piping hot…read morebowl of udon in the blistering sun had me hooked. Then came the DTLA location pre-covid and my excitement that I was only a few hours away from a bowl of goodness. I've been to the UTC location at least 20 times since it opened and am so glad it's in my backyard. I've never gotten anything other than the regular kake udon with scallions and tempura flakes and a piece of shrimp tempura and sweet potato on the side. My husband is also a creature of habit and has never gotten anything other than the curry with a seasoned egg, adding a big fried chicken cutlet, fried cheese, and sweet potato on the side. Their self service station to pour your own tempura dipping sauce and adding a touch of ginger is a hit along with their soup spoons, chopsticks, katsu packets, and water station. It's cafeteria style so grab your tray, noodles, pick out your fried tempura goodness, eat, and hand the tray to the employee at the drop off station when done. It's delicious, affordable, and moves quickly. My only request is to add spam musubi to the UTC location so I can pretend I'm in Waikiki.

As I've gotten older, I've become a big udon person. And Marugame consistently does it well. I've…read morebeen to several locations over the years, and it always does the job! Recommendations: * Nikutama udon: my favorite. It's more noodle-focused, with that concentrated savory-sweet sauce coating the chewy udons * Sweet beef udon: what I get when I'm in a more soup moody. The dashi broth with sweet, savory beef is simple but comforting. * Bolognese udon: I tried this recently and was pleasantly surprised! You still the meaty and rich flavors of a Bolognese, just wrapped around thick udon. Fun to try if you want a sauce-forward dish. And I almost always grab some tempura on the way down the line. The shrimp and dark meat chicken are my favorites. Overall, nothing fancy, just solid udon served fast and efficiently. There's a reason I keep coming back here when I'm shopping at UTC.

Honestly the service here is not the best. We were given a dirty table and one of our cups had…read morelipstick on it. The food took a bit long for pho. It wasn't long but it was questionable because everything should be ready-made. The pho itself was on the richer-side. Some of us liked it more than others. I thought it was pretty decent. Overall this was a mid experience. Probably wouldn't come again, but the pho still satisfied my cravings.

Our server James was very nice and attentive. The restaurant itself was very cute with cartoons on…read morethe TV and Polaroids on the wall. We got 2 short rib pho. The meat quality was tasty and the noodles were not overdone. Unfortunately the broth was not our favorite, not as deep or balanced as we would expect. This was the least expensive pho option at $18, which is pretty steep compared to most other pho in San Diego.

Really sad this place is closed…read more Came here for a weekday lunch with some coworkers. The service was decent. Our food came quickly and relatively together. The inside was large but there weren't many customers. There were plenty of seats for us. I got the sizzling steak bowl and really enjoyed it.

Found this place by chance since I was in the area. The service was excellent and they were very…read moreinformative. It was very clean inside and loved the art on the walls. We got soju and the bulgogi rice bowl which had lots of flavor and the pot it comes in keeps it sizzling too. My husband got the udon and he truly enjoyed and we would come again.

Came on a Saturday afternoon and added myself to the waitlist. It was busy but I didn't have to…read morewait long for a table. They do QR code and in person ordering (whatever you prefer). I opted to order by QR code to get my order in faster. My boyfriend and I both got biang biang mian but he got the version with cumin lamb. The portions are large and super filling. I honestly think one bowl is two meals worth of food at least. The noodles were chewy and bouncy. I love the flavor just make sure to properly mix the noodles - all of the good stuff sits at the bottom of the bowl! The chili oil is fantastic as well and I loved the spice level of these dishes. Service was pretty quick which was nice. I am excited to come again to try the other dishes! Highly recommend and was authentic - it can be hard to find authentic and delicious Chinese food in SD County.

got biang biang noodles, one w cumin lamb & one without. both were served w soy sauce, black…read morevinegar, & bean sprouts hidden on the bottom, covered by wide noodles & boiled bok choy, then topped with chili powder. helpfully the server let us know everything was meant to be mixed the noodles were nice & chewy, & the bok choy was soft but still vibrantly green. adding lamb made it more filling & flavorful, but i can see ordering the noodles plain to rly focus on the sauce previously i had ordered the 'hand pulled noodle w cumin beef'--cumin was rly the main flavor of that dish, which was a bit of an acquired taste for me. but in this case, the cumin was much more balanced w spiciness & other flavors the thinly sliced lamb was tender, tho it was a bit of a gamier cut. the spice didn't hit immediately but accumulated w each bite. there were also green pepper slices but these weren't spicy we also rly enjoyed the cucumber salad, which was tossed in a rice vinegar vinaigrette w garlic, sesame oil, & dried chilis. rly tasty & savory yet refreshing, w a kick but nothing too spicy this is a place where you order via qr code, so service is minimal, but it is fast & relatively clean