Our 20th wedding anniversary was spent at our true guilty pleasure: Dija Mara…read more We would have loved to get everything on the menu but honestly we get stuffed really quickly and tried to stick with the perfected dishes: Grilled Roti with Lamb Jus Curry Sea Bream Ceviche Actually we noticed the menu didn't mention "Sea Bream" anymore and just said "Local Ceviche". Did they change fish? Tasted the same basically. Still amazing as always. We also tried some new dishes: Beef Tartare Chicken Thigh Skewers Green Curry Mussels The Beef Tartare was just okay. It's the only dish I probably would not ever order again. It wasn't bad, but compared to every other banger on the menu, it's last. Something has to be last. The Chicken Thigh Skewers were AMAZING! OMG, so much flavor in the chicken but the sauce really drove it overboard. Wow. These are a must try, you won't regret it. And lastly, the Green Curry Mussels blew us away. I love mussels and always order it whenever I see it on a menu. We devoured all of the mussels (and added the $9 Roti) and even got a container to-go to save the broth, lol. Truly another banger from Dija Mara. I really appreciate that the menu changes periodically without removing the veteran dishes we continue to enjoy. Just want to mention something besides the culinary spectacles. Dija Mara's decor is every bit as memorable as its food. The artwork isn't an afterthought--it's part of the experience. The dining room manages to feel both trendy and intimate at the same time, while the graffiti-covered back wall adds a playful, street-art feel that contrasts beautifully with the polished food and cocktails. The result is a space that feels creative, unpretentious, and genuinely cool. The industrial concrete and reclaimed wood elements give it a modern edge, while the Indonesian-inspired art creates a sense of place that feels completely unique in North County. This is really our happy place and I hope it never changes.

What a disappointment. I had high expectations due to the Michelin bib Gourmand award, but the…read moreflavors fell extremely short. The restaurant was fairly empty although Resy wouldn't take reservations. Plenty of bar seating. The service was fair, not particularly warm or engaging, which was fine. The food was alluring and beautiful, but the flavors were salty, flat, and mushy. Starting with the Paloma, it was nothing special. Just something you could get with a well happy hour special. Serviceable but unremarkable. Very Instagrammable, however. The pork belly was nicely charred and had nice bite sized morsels on the skewer, good texture, but the sauce was very salty, almost bitter. Forced myself to eat the 2nd skewer, but could not push through the last 2. In contradistinction, the beef rendang was almost bland, like a microwaveable peanut butter Hormel beef stew, and the cardinal sin - the rice underneath was mushy. That was what sealed the nail on the coffin. Bland, albeit tender short rib, on top of smushy rice. Dead. I barely ate one of the 2 pieces of ribs and couldn't do more. The staff wanted to see if I wanted a take out container. When you see a customer that disengaged with the food, you'd better be wary. Being Asian, I don't like to waste food, but when it's so not good, I'd rather walk away and get something else than to finish a terrible meal. Many diners have a millennia of choices in this price point. Sadly, not sure how this restaurant got recognition because it's half as delicious as your typical neighborhood Thai restaurant. Banana Leaf at the Original farmers market in LA is better, though humble and homely. Just very disappointing. Hope it was an off night and that others have a better experience.

Delicious food, fresh ingredients, and great values!…read more On our way to San Diego, we stopped by an in-between town to grab some lunch. We were so glad to have found Sunshine Kitchen through Yelp. This restaurant is located in a strip mall, and parking is ample out front. It appears to be family owned, and all the wait staff is extremely friendly. There are both indoor and outdoor sitting area, and it appears to be a favorite among locals. The menu is diverse with poke, ramen, fried rice, sushi, and many other Asian dishes. For lunch, I ordered the tuna/salmon poke and a salmon skin hand-roll. The poke bowl had generous serving and was very flavorful. My lunch tasted good, filling, and light. Our bill came to $50 with tips included, which was an excellent value for such a healthy and filling meal. As for service, the food came fast and the ambiance felt cozy and comfortable. Highly recommend!

My group and i were really surprised at how good this place was. We all either were born/raised in…read morejapan or lived there more than 5 years. Never Judge a book by its cover lol We decided to try the katsu curry, tonkatsu ramen, and some sushi. Curry - delicious!!! All the flavors hit Ramen - also delicious- noodles were perfect Sushi - tasted really fresh! We were also surprised that everyone working there was Japanese. Lots of seating inside and out. Free parking. Its located in a strip mall so you wouldnt really assume how great this place would be. Staff were friendly as well! I forgot to take pictures

Gonzo Ramen is literally the best restaurant to ever exist. Their atmosphere offers unique decor,…read morenot to mention they have the best food, and the employees there are really nice. I always enjoy dining there with my family because they have good food that we can all enjoy together. Every year for my birthday I go to Gonzo! I simply love eating at Gonzo. First of all, I can't get over how scrumptious their food is, it is so tasty and packed with flavor. If you stand in line to order, as soon as you sit down you will have already been served. I don't know how Gonzo prepares their meals so fast, yet so delicious. Also the fact that they cook their food fresh daily is crazy to me. I've been to many ramen restaurants and no one compares to Gonzo's. My go to on the menu is the tonkotsu ramen with gyoza and chicken karaage. Gonzo also offers a very unique atmosphere that makes you feel like you're in Japan. They have waving cats, a big banana neon light, posters and a floating ball on top of the water station. The ball is so cool but I am still puzzled on how it works. Their decor can not be matched. They also have a TV that is always playing Anime. You can also sit inside or outside so if you feel like sitting inside, sit inside but if you want to sit outside, sit outside. Gonzo also does not offer reservations so there is always a place to sit. If there is nowhere to sit just get It to go, truly there is no other ramen stop better than Gonzo. Lastly, the people there are super nice, and always check up on you, they are very polite, and they always say your welcome. While you wait, you can enjoy your appetizers until your main meal arrives. Also if you ask them for a free ticket to their store, they will give you one, each member of the family gets one. You can go next door and trade them in for tokens, these tokens can be used to play claw machines so you can win stuff. But what tops that off is that all of the employees are welcoming and happy. Gonzo Ramen is the best restaurant in the world. They offer good food, an amazing atmosphere and the people there are super nice not to mention the location is very conveniently located near my house. I seriously think about Gonzo all the time. Gonzo is that go to place for me and my family.

I wasn't sure if this place would be overhyped, but it was genuinely so good! The ramen was so…read moreflavorful, and filling. By the way - the spicy is not too spicy

If I could give 10 stars, I would!!!…read more Blue Ocean is easily our favorite restaurant, and my boyfriend and I make the drive to Carlsbad every single month just to eat here. It's become our favorite date night spot, and after all this time, we've never had a bad experience. Our absolute favorite appetizer is the pork belly skewers. They are seriously unreal--they legit melt in your mouth and are packed with so much flavor. We also love the pork belly bao buns, which are just as delicious. The Brussels sprouts are another must-order. They're hands down the best Brussels sprouts we've ever had, and we can't come here without getting them. We also always order the spicy garlic edamame. The sauce is so good that we actually dip our sushi rolls in the leftover edamame sauce, and it's honestly a game changer. (The pricing is also unbeatable for how good the food is). Every sushi roll we've tried has been incredibly fresh and beautifully made. We always end up ordering way more food than we planned because everything is just that good. For drinks, the Cracked Summer is our go-to cocktail every single visit. It's refreshing, delicious, and pairs perfectly with the food. The atmosphere is perfect for a date night, the staff is always friendly and welcoming, and the quality is consistently amazing every time we visit. Blue Ocean has become more than just a restaurant to us--it's one of our favorite monthly traditions. If you're anywhere near Carlsbad, do yourself a favor and eat here. We recommend it to everyone, and we'll definitely be back next month for another amazing meal.

Always check your bank statement to make sure this restaurant didn't add an additional tip amount…read more We sat at the bar, ordered $85.74 worth of food/beverages and left a 18% tip. The charge on our credit card had an additional $61. The bartender who waited on us must think he's amazing to give himself a total tip of $76.40 I will be disputing this. This was stealing.

The Love Boat...soon will be making another run The Love…read moreBoat promises something for everyone Set a course for adventure...or for some damn good sushi! High quality fishes! Solid spot! I need to make happen more Cap'n. Like my ninja, THE GOVERNATOR, always said..."I'll Be Back!"

We wanted to try Love Boat Sushi for dinner today but were put off by the unfriendly service, and…read morelack of menu options. There was an empty booth and we asked to be seated in one but the male employee refused to accommodate us and was unfriendly. No staff came to our table at any time to greet us or offer us water or drinks. We were ignored by the staff like we were an inconvenience to them and left without ordering. I strongly recommend diners avoid Love Boat Sushi (unless they don't mind being treated like shit by the staff) because there's nothing at all to love about nonexistent customer service, unwelcoming atmosphere and lack of hospitality!

3.5 stars We came here because they're closing at the end of…read morethe month. So, Yes it was a bit pricy but i wanted to try it before it closed. Made reservations online for the tasting menu $225. The place is in the middle of nowhere, from the outside you'd never guess it was fine dining. We started off with a trio of little bites, a tile fish gungakn roll, fried mochi threads, and an acorn cracker filled with camembert cheese. The raw tile fish gunkan was ok, the mochi threads were nice and crunchy, the camembert cheese was too pungent for me. Hamachi/Raspberry - slices of Yellow tail and raspberry in a ponzu sauce. The ponzu stood out most and gave it a salty profile i couldn't really distinguish between the hamachi and the raspberry as the textures were similar. Artichoke Kohlrabi gyoza with a bri sauce. This dish was very good though i thought it was more like ravioli than gyoza. It even looked like ravioli. I think they just called it gyoza to make it fit the Japanese theme. Shrimp tempura was delicious! it was lightly battered and fried and put in a shallow bowl of shrimp broth. They said it came with dynamite sauce but i think it was just kewpie mayo. Very good and one of my favorites of the evening. Chicken wing stuffed with scallop, part of the wing was deboned and stuffed with a Hokkaido scallop. It was very tasty, the scallop was very sweet and tender. I wish the skin of the chicken wing was crispier. It was quite charred but did not crack when bitten into it and a little rubbery. Tile fish had a very crispy skin and came with a beautiful sauce of i think apples and apricots and a walnut butter. I really liked the sauce that was spooned on the plate. another one of my favorites of the evening. Duck done 2 ways; roasted and a fried tsukune meatball. They both came in a light carrot sauce. The fat on the roasted piece was nicely rendered and the duck meat very tender. The tsukune was nicely fried and crispy and still rare inside. The palate cleanser was a pine ice cream with Aloe Jelly, The pine ice cream was quite refreshing and smooth i thought the aloe jelly was a bit strong tasting. I think flavor came from the geranium but something had a strong taste to it. The dessert was also one of my favorites White chocolate with hokkaido milk powder on top of miso ice cream and slices of tangerine. It was supposed to be reminiscent of a creamsicle. The Hokkaido milk power was magic on the shards of white chocolate, the miso ice cream was very smooth and dense and when eaten together with the pieces of manderin orange did remind me of a creamsicle. They gave us a trio of finishing dishes a trio of bites; Castella cake, Kokuto jelly and raspberry mochi. The castella cake didn't really stand out, it wasn't the sweet dense cake that im used to. The kokuto jelly had that deep brown sugar taste but was too stiff in my opinion. The raspberry mochi had a strong raspberry flavor which i loved and had a good chew to it. Service was exceptional, water was filled many times almost every time the water glass went down 1/4 it was filled to the top. Each course was preceded with the proper utensiles and were cleared after each dish. i must have had at least 4 forks and 4 spoons. Definilty 5 star (Michilin style) service. Food was very good maybe 4 stars. Value was ok maybe 3 stars. If you divided the courses by the price it came to $25 per course. If you looked at the ala cart menu, many of the items were there and could be had for less than $25, of course not all the dishes on the tasting menu were available ala cart. But i feel if you sat at the bar and ordered a cocktail and maybe 5-6 dishes you't still pay a hefty price but it would be much less than $225. I feel like thats the way to go instead of the tasting menu. Come here if you want exceptional service.

I learned that Matsu will be closing at the end of this month and possibly reopening at another TBD…read morelocation. We decided to come for a weekend dinner. To my surprise, there were plenty of time slots available for this fine dining establishment located in a former neighborhood corner bar and grill in Oceanside. There was a small parking lot to the south of the building which had dedicated spots reserved for this establishment. A copy of the tasting menu was posted outside next to the entranceway. I took a picture for future reference because little did we know that we would not be seeing a list of the preset offerings during our visit. The inside was a dimly lit open dining space with a bar in the back left corner. The decor was minimal with some greenery and figurines along a couple of the walls. After mentioning that I had made a reservation, a worker guided us to one of the round tables in the middle of the room. The reservation required that we pre-pay the cost of the entire meal plus tax. Our server asked if we wanted any enhancements like caviar or wagyu. After declining that and any wine or sake pairings, the staff began to bring out a procession of courses in the following order... * Otsumami - Gunkanmaki, Mochi Fry, Acorn | Camembert * Kanpachi | Raspberry * Artichoke | Kohlrabi | Brie * Ebi Tempura | Dynamite | Tentsuyu * Chicken Wing | Imo | Scallop * Tilefish | Apple | Walnut * Duck | Carrot | Wasabi * Pine | Aloe | Geranium * White Chocolate | Miso | Tangerine The dishes were each beautifully plated. The chicken wing was partially deboned and stuffed with a mix of potatoes and scallop. That was my favorite item of the group. The dessert was also very good with the citrus from the tangerine paired with the pieces of white chocolate. Locally caught tilefish was the replacement protein for the pork neck course. The fish was cooked well, however I would have liked to try the pork preparation as it had been listed on the tasting menu. An aspect that confused me was the number of courses for the $229 price. I had expected ten, but when we declined the wagyu upgrade for the beef course, there was no lower tier of meat served as a substitute. Therefore, we only received nine courses but still paid as if there were ten. That should have been explained by the waitstaff because the value of the dinner became less with one fewer protein serving. Not providing the actual menu for the evening was a major faux pas and oversight. Every high-end restaurant where we have enjoyed a pre-fixe dinner always furnishes the menu du jour. The top-notch service was the reason why I rounded up my rating of our Matsu experience to a four star level.

Great welcoming service from team. We should have picked a…read moredifferent sauce/spice for the wings. I know it would have been better. Will definitely come back and choose appropriate spice. Plates were great. Will definitely be back.

You wouldn't think finding a really good chicken teriyaki spot would be that hard, but if you have…read morehigh teri standards like I do, you know the struggle. Most places are just... fine. So I keep trying new spots hoping one finally hits. I'd driven past Urban Teri Kitchen a bunch of times taking my kids to practices and games and finally decided to stop in. Didn't even check Yelp first. Just went in blind based on a good feeling about the place. Glad I did. I ordered the half-and-half with chicken teriyaki and katsu, and honestly it was one of the better teriyaki plates I've had anywhere around here. The chicken was flavorful, the katsu was crispy without being greasy, and everything tasted fresh. It's a little pricier than some teriyaki spots, but the quality backs it up. My wife and I could easily split one order next time. I came in around 4 PM, so it wasn't packed, but the people inside looked happy, the restaurant was clean, and the whole place just had a really good vibe. Sometimes you can tell within a minute whether a place cares about what they're doing, and this felt like one of those spots. There's a reason they've got 4.7 stars. If anything, I'd say that rating is deserved.

Went here last night for dinner and I loved it! I had a friend who would rave about this place and…read moreI totally get it. The vibe inside is cool and our server Shayla was very nice! My friend got the special that day which included figs from their tree in the back (so cool) tuna, and feta cheese. It looked amazing. We shared the Albacore ngiri/sashimi with some crunchy garlic chili and wow so good. I got the hedgehog roll and loved it. Very fresh! I cannot wait to come back!

this place has definitely elevated my sushi eating experience! its a very unassuming place but if…read moreyou look around carefully, there are gems everywhere and keep your ears open too because the playlist is very diverse. we went with the Omakase menu because... why not? tired of the typical rolls and basic sashimi? Omakase for the absolute win! they present you with the menu for the day because it is chef's choice and, for me, did not disappoint. I'm not even going to try to tell you the names of what we had but it was all wonderful and the ones that were not the favorite had nothing to do with the fish itself but with personal taste and preference. the pairing of the sauces, fresh ingredients and fresh fish had my tastebuds pleasantly surprised with every dish. because i'm nosey, i did look at other's rolls and they looked amazing. if i wasn't so full and about an 45min drive from home, i would have ordered a hedgehog roll to go. Gabe, our server, was amazing! super attentive, knowledgeable and personable. he came across as a genuinly kind person and i haven't had an outstanding server like him in a long time. the Omakase is about 6 dishes. Gabe explained each dish as they came out and checked in on us after probably 5 out of 6 dishes to get our feedback. keep it up Gabe!