by Frank Sabatini Jr.

Zenbu
7660 Fay Ave.
La Jolla 858-454-4540
The restaurant and its adjoining Koi Lounge have earned their merits on beautifully handcrafted sushi and hamachi constructed with glistening fresh seafood fished daily through the owner’s distributing company. Jewel-like scallops, sweet snow crab, meaty yellowtail and subtly crunchy smelt eggs enter into a gamut of creative sushi served in a stylish, dimly-lit atmosphere replete with candlelit wall sconces, gilded-framed mirrors and live DJs.

Nobu Gourmet Japanese Restaurant
315 South Coast Highway 101 • Solana Beach 858-755-7787
An established name in Japanese cuisine, we’re particularly swooned by the restaurant’s extensive sushi menu featuring clever vegetarian choices made with prepared plums, fried burdock root and pumpkin croquettes, not to mention the chef’s famous “inside-out” rolls using top-quality oceanic specimens. The bright, airy interior design also lends itself to intimate dinners, washed down of course by premium sakes and mellow Japanese beers.

Harney Sushi
3964 Harney St. 619-295-3272
Cutting-edge sushi in the heart of tortilla land? What appears like a tavern for ale and burgers from the outside turns out to be an admirable hotspot for spicy volcano rolls, tempura-fried eel and a host of swooped-up sashimi presented without pretense. Even better, the kitchen stays open until midnight seven days a week, long after many other sushi joints in town hit the sack. A second location is Oceanside is due to open in April.

Café Japengo
8960 University Center Lane in The Aventine 858-450-3355
The kitchen faithfully represents ground zero for creating trend-setting entrees and sushi rolls that are as uniquely pretty as they are luscious. It’s a place where platinum chopsticks seem almost possible when you take into account the restaurant’s artfully spacious design and specialty sushi choices such as the Fifty-Fifty roll embedded with lemon or the salmon-crab Pizza Roll baked with garlic mayo.

Sushi Ota
4529 Mission Bay Drive • 858-270-5670
With a devoted fanfare that often soaks up seating capacity, Sushi Ota reigns as a place where the art of sushi-making is taken to meticulous heights. The lightly breaded rolls of cooked halibut and smoked salmon are supreme, as are the colorful masterpieces constructed with sea urchin, clams or soft-shell crab. No matter what you order, the chefs align the restaurant’s casual milieu with their culinary hijinks that will effectively keep you entertained throughout the meal.