Boto Sushi

Good quality fish, nice service and beautiful décor!
A co-​worker showed me this place, and we ordered a big assortment of rolls. Personally, I love anything with a slice of lemon on it. The waiter was very helpful and gave us some awesome recommendations.
The owner Mina even came by and chatted with us at the bar. She thanked us for being first-​time clients and trying us out. The food was delicious and I especially loved the green tea!

This is my go to place for sushi! The waiters are polite, helpful, and do their job nicely. Also the Chefs at the bar are brilliant at what they do.
I would have given the place 5 stars however, it’s a minus one star — thanks to the MANAGER. What a shame, the manager herself is the center of an unhappy review. You would think that a manager would be more customer oriented as well as professional… NOPE! Extremely rude, and unprofessional.
if it weren’t for the exceptional staff (except for the manager) and the good food… I would never return as there are plenty of other great sushi places.
I recommend on eating:
* lobster sushi
* eel sushi
* yellow tail sushi
* all the sushi offered in happy hour.
I suggest:
If you ever have a problem, or eBay to sort something out, try working it out with the waiters or chefs… Not the manager. You’ll just end up frustrated and unhappy at the end of your dinner as you pay for it.
Dr. Kat

Horrible! Figured after all other reviews about service there was no way it would still be this way. Reviews are accurate everybody, this place is not good.
The staff continuously brought other orders to our table and seemed shocked when we turned it away. Edamame was cool (no where near warm) and was soggy. Had to ask for our food 3 times and still never received what we ordered.
Name says a lot «Boto» as in Boat… more to the point a sinking boat, good luck…
Regular prices, less than average sized portions and most of all less than average quality.

Dinner on a Wednesday. Apparently, we came during their «happy hour» — one that has a ample sushi and alcohol selection on discount but NO appetizers are included.
Wife got the fuego roll, pretty good. I got the japanese style short ribs plate, all pretty good. Though, I prefer leaner meats … their’s came out with plenty of fat.
Cool ambiance. Noticed at least 2 widescreen TVs, 4 vertically-​mounted TV panels used as a sea screen saver — rather unique.
Items not on happy hour specials were rather pricey. Good place to try.

Really good service, sitting at the sushi bar. The service at tables is a bit slower, but expected.
Fish is really fresh and high quality. The salmon belly and yellow tail belly are must when you eat here. If you can get live ama-​ebi (the sweet shrimp) and the live uni (sea urchin), I suggest you do. It’s bomb. Not to mention the toro nigiri.
The boat is huge, but I think it’s worth it if you wanna get a good price and a lot of sushi. My favorite rolls are the Fantasea and the Holy Shisito. Some of the rolls have a strange taste, so just try them out and see which one you like.
I’ve been here about 4 times, and every time I have left happy. Albert is the best sushi chef to get!

Not very good, unfortunately. Went here on a date night with my boyfriend on a Friday night. We walked right in and were seated immediately, but the server was obviously a little bored. He was a little over zealous and didn’t really give us enough time to look over the options. We settled on a plate that offers the chef’s choices of nigiri and one specialty roll. The specialty rolls are great, but all the nigiri had wasabi rolled into the rice! I’m not a wasabi fan; I like my sushi plain. If I want to add sauce, I will. My boyfriend and I both thought that this had to be a way for them to disguise the lack of freshness of the fish. I don’t doubt that, because the kitchen absolutely stink when I walked by it!
After visiting RB sushi for their all you can eat special a week before, we will not be back. This place is over priced and lacks quality.

Had a terrible experience. Lousy service. They brought the wrong dish and after complaining it took another hour to bring the ordered dish but the fish was dry, the veggies overcooked, it lacked of taste and the amount of food wasn’t enough to feed the 3 – 5 people mentioned. The waiter blamed the kitchen for bringing the wrong dish. As a solution he deducted $ 10 of the bill, not even enough to cover the drinks needed during the extra wait. We left the restaurant hungry and grumpy. What a lousy way to start the new year.
My advise: stick to the sushi if you really want to go here and don’t order any other food. The boats are overpriced and don’t feed the amount of people mentioned in the menu.

Finally tried this place out after being bookmarked for probably a year and I am sad to say it was a mediocre food experience. The service was great but the dinner service boat platter for two was not worth $ 45. It had tempura which was too bready, the yakisoba was too high of a ratio of veggies to noodles and it also had Teri chicken and Kali ribs which were good but the dinner did not come with rice! $ 2.95 per serving extra for rice. Overall I liked the service but the food content and quality was not worth an $ 80 tab. I did try some sushi which was fresh and I will probably give them a chance during lunch for redemption but will pass on dinner. There are too many other good Japanese joints in sd.

Excellent food and service… always fresh and staff so friendly and professional! Love the sushi bar and chef’s, it screen creates a peaceful ambiance. Monday night football is thumbs up! I really appreciate the cleanliness and all around perfect foody experience every visit.
Thanks guys
You ROCK!
Brenda

Got on the list and was given the option of bar or table in about ten or 15 minutes. After twenty minutes a few more small parties came in with no reservation and were seated immediately.
It was rude to be told by the hostess and a few servers that we were next but seated others.
With other sushi places within 5 minutes from here, I suggest you skip this place and sketchy service.
I’ve been here before but haven’t been back in a while and know I will definitely not be back. Sad too because I’ve recommended this place to many friends and family. Not anymore.
Thanks Boto you can take my name off the waiting list as well as loyalty list. On my way to RB Sushi or Big Bang Sushi.

Boto sushi definitely gets 5 stars as it is easily one of my favorite sushi restaurants in San Diego. The vibe, staff, and service is amazing every time I go (and that’s a lot). My two absolute favorite sushi chefs are ALBERT and J. MOON or (JAMES). They always take care of us and are the funniest, friendliest guys. They totally make you feel at home and make sure you love the food. Albert has this charisma that just makes you want to keep talking and laughing with him. J moon is the sweetest and most talented with that sharp knife! All of the chefs are sweethearts! The food is always fresh the presentation is an art that you eat. Sometimes it’s too pretty to eat! I love this place. Everyone should go try it!

I loved coming here. (The workers always seem awkward and new) (like they don’t know how to talk to people). Anyways, I would always come here for 3 rolls max. Me and my boyfriend are pretty much broke (both trying to save up for a car) (while working at fast food places). And we only tip $ 1-​$ 3 dollars anywhere we go. I feel like tips shouldn’t exist because I work at fast food and it’s WAY HARDER then being a waitress. I don’t get tips. So why should I give them tips when there job is easy? Boto sushi is never busy.
Anyways, a worker who works there, is my sister boyfriends, friend… He told my sisters boyfriend that everyone at boto hates me and my boyfriend because we give bad tips… Um okay? Now that I know they talk shit about us, I’m giving 0 tip. No tip. At all. The sushi is over priced, not fresh fish (I know 100% that it’s not fresh) & Fake crab? And waiters are awkward and have a easy job. And they get mad about a $ 1 tip. When the bill was only $ 16 max. Honestly, I feel sick just thinking about the unfreshness of the food. I hope they go out of business. And I used to love going here…

As always, sushi was fresh and delicious. Albert was our server and he was excellent. I really appreciated his patience and friendly attitude. This is my go-​to place for good sushi and nice service!

Went here for lunch on a weekday. It was really empty. Nice modern ambiance inside. Servers were really nice and attentive.
We had the El Fuego roll. Fish was fresh but the rice was really hard. I also got the spicy pork bento box which was super bland. Zero flavor at all. I kept having to dip it into the low sodium soy sauce for every bite.
The tempura was nice in that it stayed crispy the entire meal. Good batter.
Overall a-​ok, but I likely wouldn’t come back since there are other sushi places I still need to try in SD.

Came in to try the lunch specials. The sushi here is good and they have some good deals on the lunch specials. The restaurant is quite spacious inside with a lot of tables to seat customers as well as the sushi bar to sit at. They have some TVs there to view sports games if you wish. I’d come back here if I were in the area and I’d recommend it to others too.

Boto Sushi took over Yummy Sushi in Carmel Mountain some time ago. They revamped the entire restaurant and I must say it’s quite beautiful. Boto means «boat» in Japanese so the interior has darker wood tones that I personally like. Plus, they aren’t cheap with their a/​c which has been a blessing during this summer’s heat wave.
We ordered:
SEAFOOD YAKISOBA $ 11.50
I wasn’t really sure why this yakisoba was higher priced than the other lunch items. It’s a large mound of noodles topped with a variety of seafood and veggies. Friend liked this dish as she said the seafood wasn’t too dry (rubbery) and the vegetables tasted fresh.
KALBI LUNCH BENTO $ 11.50
The kalbi bento comes with rice, salad, mixed tempura, and california roll (4 pieces). The kalbi was a bit fatty and chewy. I didn’t like the marinade as it tasted more salty than sweet to me that day. I was excited about the tempura as there was a good variety offered as you can see in this pic. Unfortunately, the batter was soft. I don’t think I need to explain why tempura batter should be crunchy.
POKIE SALAD (SALMON)
It’s served over seaweed and cucumbers which tasted pleasant. It wasn’t bad pokie but probably not the most memorable I’ve had. The raw salmon did taste fresh though.
HAMACHI NIGIRI
This was nicely presented nigiri with an extra dollop of a hamachi chunk on top. The hamachi tasted fresh but I missed the extra fattiness I was hoping for.
CHICKEN KATSU $ 10.95
The version here is served on top of a small metal rack which I loved as it keeps the fried chicken much more crispy. Unfortunately the batter tasted off to me. It was almost too eggy where it distracted from the true taste of the chicken. The best item on the plate was the coleslaw with the garlic mayo sauce.
SALMON BELLY NIGIRI $ 5.00
The salmon belly tasted fine but wasn’t as fatty as other bellies I’ve had in the past. It was a nice generous portion though.
HOTATE NIGIRI $ 5.00
Raw scallop is the way to this blogger’s heart. I made sure to ask the server if the hotate here was nice and plump which he went back to ask the sushi chef. I was happy to see the large scallops on top of the nicely vinegared sushi rice. The scallops tasted briny and sweet.
SNOW CRAB HANDROLL $ 4.00
This is imitation krab so be aware of that if you order this hand roll. I asked for no rice and was so happy the way they stuffed this hand roll with krab! The hand roll tasted plentiful but could have used a bit more mayo.
Service was attentive and the manager here, Shanti, is so personable and professional. We hit it off after I saw her handle a difficult customer with a level of class that blew me away. Boto Sushi is a wonderful addition to this part of town and I’d recommend coming here if you’re in the area.

I will be back the next time I am in San Diego!
REALLY fresh sushi! And, the interior is so cute. The rolls are really great too. I can’t remember what I ordered. I just remember liking all of them.
Also, the ceviche blew my mind! It is SO GOOD, definitely a must have.
But, I will say: there is one sushi roll with mango and jam? I did not like it that much, I would not recommend it. I can appreciate the chefs were trying to be innovative, but I think the different tastes clash too much.

There are some fusion aspects to the menu which typically frighten me, but I can dig this place’s trajectory.
In general, the only drawback about the soft shell crab roll aka spider roll is that it doesn’t come with any raw fish. The ironically named S.O.S. roll here is actually itself the remedy for this super serious fish absenteeism problem. Soft shell crab topped with ono and fried garlic chips. Oh yes! Yup, I went there.
The Ono had a delicate flavor and the soft shell crab was plentiful. I’d order this again but beware of the Korean chicken, it’s a little sour and too sauced up.
The restaurant was fairly empty on a Saturday afternoon but I think the nautical décor lends better to dinner time
dining.

I stopped in this sushi bar on the onset of happy hour which runs from 3 pm to 6 pm Monday’s thru Saturdays. I sat at the bar and ordered a couple of happy hours rolls at 50% off and eventually a couple of $ 3 Sapporo draft beers. The rolls I ordered were the
Albacore Special Roll with Shrimp Tempura inside and the Lost at Sea Roll.
Both rolls were well made, very good in flavor, and well worth a second round. The Lost at Sea rolls came with some very nice fatty tuna on top, with a thinly sliced bit of a lemon wedge nestled a top of each piece of salmon, and with cilantro micro greens. Those three ingredients together went very well and kinda gave the roll that south of the border feel. The snow crab and cucumber inside were a typical but good. Some avocado would of been nice inside this roll.
The Albacore Special Roll, even though it came with more ingredients, provided a light feel to it. I think it was the albacore because it was a lot less fatty then the salmon. Don’t get me wrong, I love a great piece of fatty salmon. The albacore had a nice mild light flavor that went very well with the ponzu and avocado. The roll was tight and nicely presented, but the shrimp tempura inside mixed in with the snow crab was to soft. They need to find a way to keep that tempura crunchy inside the roll. That added texture would be great on this roll. Nevertheless, the rolls was quite tasty.
Service was very good and the Japanese draft beers were iced cold. The sushi chef had a good personality for his position and kept checking on everyone to make sure they were okay. This was one of the very few times I did not order a tekka maki roll, my usual staple, because the two rolls I ordered were quite filling.
Great happy hour prices.

Boto Sushi, located in Carmel Mountain, is a fresh, upscale Japanese sushi bar/​restaurant opened by the owners of Sushiya. I first came in Fall 2014 when this place first opened up and was impressed with the new layout because this was previously Yummy Sushi (which I was a fan of). Luckily this is definitely a great addition to the Carmel Mountain Ranch Town Center. Since then I’ve been back a few times since and will come back for more.
–Clean vibrant restaurant, making you feel like you’re out at sea with their sailor/​seaport like theme, beautiful wood interior inside
–Wide variety of food & sushi options
–Amazing flavors: boto bulgogi, chicken karrage, holy shishito roll, snowball roll (my fave!)
–Delicious cocktails
–Friendly workers
–Loud welcoming when you enter the restaurant, all eyes are on you o. O