Sushi Dokoro Shirahama

This is the second time I’ve been here. The food is incredible but service is so bad I’m grading it a one star. Both times I’ve come, the lady who runs it has basically done just about everything she can to discourage me from eating there. Going so far as to suggest other eating establishments. She doesn’t want to seat me. Won’t give me a menu. Won’t tell me the specials. Maybe it’s that I have kids. Maybe it’s she doesn’t like the look of me. Either way it sucks. I felt totally unwelcome. Yes I understand what type of sushi you serve which is exactly why I’m there. Oh well. Too bad I love the food.

Definitely one of the best Nigiri places in San Diego. Had an omakase for 100 dollars and it was worth it. Love the toro and all shellfish sushi. Scallop was sweet! First time having the fish liver maki it was very creamy. This place has the widest range of Sake of all sushi bars and some of them are hi-​end daiginjo that’s $ 400 a bottle.

Hahahahhaa this place is a joke. As I’m reading bad reviews here on Unilocal,I find it quite amusing that the business owner reply a bad review once in a while with a terrible attitude.
We were recommended to this place by few people so we decided to give it a try.
Service was not the best but was alright.
Food, man the omakase here was probably the worst I’ve ever had. Every single nigiri looked not fresh at all.
For price like that, I was expecting at least Sushi Ota-​level sushi. Ota and Todokoro both have much better stuffs to offer.

Koji and his wife Rachel are amazing. I have been going to Shirahama way back when they were in Del Mar 1990. I dont have the pleasure to go in that often anymore but when I do its so worth it. Great fresh food and wonderful owners.

Since Kaga Sushi is now closed, this place is now the only traditional sushi restaurant in San Diego. This place has been my favorite for years. Shirahama is so authentic that they don’t even give you wasabi. They freshly grate wasabi (actual wasabi and not the horseradish powder colored green nor that moist chunky wasabi that people call «fresh wasabi») and put the right amount in your nigiri which varies between the fish. So please don’t ask for wasabi here. He didn’t forget…
Selection of fish are both fresh and ample. And, also, don’t ask for rolls… This is a place for people who enjoy sashimi and nigiri. Omakase is recommended at this place but be sure to mention that on your reservation at least a few days in advance as you should do for all omakase.

Traditional Japanese, the nigiri is really amazing. Very Unique experience as well as the sushi. You will NOT BE Disappointed. A great place to stop in.

We had no idea this place existed, it is tiny, unpretentious, and delicious. They obviously pride themselves in high quality. Omakase was amazing! This place is a hidden gem. Will definitely be coming back.

If you are looking to have an exceptional sushi experience in San Diego, this is the place to be. By providing a variety of fresh fish tastes and textures, the chef is trying to expand the palate of his costumers. This place is not about the ambience as much as it is about a culinarily adventure. In this restaurant, it is all about quality and not quantity; a much needed trait that is missing in restaurants these days.
As mentioned in the previous reviews, such high quality sushi does not justify the prices. If you are on a budget, this is not the right restaurant for you. For two people the dinner cost 300 $, this includes tips and two bottles of Sake. My suggestion would be to lower the prices, in order to attract more clientele.

Best sushi in San Diego, hands down. If you are looking for the most authentic sushi experience and not your average ‘this roll and that roll’, you need to check out this place. It is not cheap. For my wife and I doing omakase, the bill was $ 300 including tips and a bottle of $ 35 cold sake. Well worth every penny we spent. Chef knows the right order of sushi to serve. By the way, most sushi here are soy sauce optional. Yeah, it’s that good.

Amazing! We’ve eaten high end sushi in Tokyo (Juno’s famous sushi restaurant)… This was the closest we’ve had since leaving Japan — very authentic.

I was excited to try this place since I heard it is authentic Japanese sushi restaurant. It was a very small shop and my friends and I sat at the bar and did omakase. I really wanted to like this place but unfortunately I didn’t. During our dining, the restaurant was very warm as the A/​C was not on this made the whole experience somewhat unpleasant. The fish was fresh but they didn’t have any special ones. So overall I was fairly disappointed as I could have paid the same price to get better fish at sushi ota… :(

There’s no doubt in my mind that this is a five-​star sushi dining experience. I’ve been here several times over the last four years. Each time Koji, has served me some of the best sushi that I’ve ever had. This past time I went to stop by after eating at spicy city. I stopped on by because I wanted to have a couple pieces as «dessert» after eating at spicy city.
It was around 9 PM, and he was serving his last two customers of the night. fortunately there wasn’t much of a line. We start out with the hot house sake. Which was smooth and tasted pretty good to me.
We joked around a little. But we cut to the chase really quick when I decided what sushi I wanted. Keep in mind when you order sushi one order sushi is two pieces. I got scallops which were as sweet as can be they lived up to their name of candy of the sea.
Next I had flying fish roe. Which is a lot better than I remember. I don’t think I’ve had it here before. The eggs are very small. And they easily get lost in your teeth but when you find them again and chomp down on them they have a nice crunchy texture to them. I really enjoy it and recommend it.
I had some more sushi but my mind has blanked now that I am writing the review., I also have to comment on how good the seaweed is. Very crunchy. Rice has a nice texture as well. Not too moist but not too dry. Just perfect.
Next I had Jumbo clam a.k.a. Geoduck. Apparently, it is hard to come by good geoduck nowadays. Which he calls gooey-​duck. Koji also told me that everyone recognizes it as jumbo clam now. That one has a medium crunch and it was extremely good.
I finished the meal with what I really came for which was Uni. Uni was soft and refreshing it really reminded me of the taste of the sea. The uni has a sweet taste in a salty taste all mixed into one and it is completely satisfying.
My friend that came with me had no idea what was in store. But she was blown away by the quality of the sushi. And she commented that it was a lot better than the sushi she had anywhere in San Diego.
Koji takes a lot of pride in his anago aka seabreem. It is the White Sea eel essentially. I was too full to try anything else that night. But the guest next to me really enjoyed the monkfish liver and the Sebring that he served to them that night. I figured it was also something else to look forward to for the next visit.
It is an honor to dine with Koji. He is a fun Sushi-​ya with lots of energy and I look forward to my next visit and do omakase with him.

Definitely an old school sushi restaurant with emphasis on quality and methodology.
I grew up on sushi like this in Japan. I can’t deny that the sushi was delicious and food gets 5 stars.
That being said, the prices didn’t justify and the service was below average.
A single piece of nigiri with an average price of $ 7.00 and ranging up to $ 13???
That’s a single piece of nigiri… a single strip of fish over a pillow of rice!
I ate 10 pieces total with one 22oz Sapporo and it came to 85 bucks per person.
I chose to have the chef serve the 4 of us omakase, and stipulated to him that one person didn’t want uni and another person didn’t want salmon.
That was a mistake.
He just served us all the same exact sushi… probably because it was less work. He made 4 cuts and served us the same exact for every single serving. I really wanted to try the uni.
Anyway, I’d only do omakase in the future if I was alone and only after I became a regular as then, he would know what I liked and know how to challenge my pallette.
The man and wife was polite but I didn’t care for them ignoring us over the Japanese customers getting priority.
They only warmed up a bit once I spoke to them with my perfect native Japanese which I didn’t whip out until the very end… I don’t like to have to do that to improve service.
Lunch for the four of us came to about $ 350…I don’t care how good the 10pc sushi was, that’s way too expensive. Like 4 times more than it would be anywhere else. I could justify 2x prices for the quality of this place but 4x?
No thanks.

There are no fancy rolls here. The interior is sublime, almost dated. No loud yell of greeting. The sushi chef is quiet. The selection is almost narrow. Prices are not for the faint of heart.
However, there is an extreme talent in the cheff’s hands. Perfectly cooked rice, perfectly formed, and fish that is selected with a deftly expert touch for extremely quality.
I’ve eaten Sushi all over the world: Singapore, Japan, Maylasia, Hawaii, Okinawa. This, is, very discerningly, the best ever encountered.
WIth no fancy rolls, with out a «stand out» sort of decorations, it seems you’re missing out. The focus here, on the food. And it’s good.

Let’s talk about sushi. not just any sushi, but real deal all about the fish, let’s keep it simple sushi. I’ve eaten my fair share of sushi throughout my young adulthood, but never have I experienced such an intimate dining experience like I did with Sushi Dokoro Shirahama.
Shirahama is definitely a hole in the wall and it is very discrete. The establishment can probably only occupy 15 people max (?). I’ve read the Unilocal reviews before coming here and many say that it is quite intimidating and I can definitely understand why, but that won’t stop me! I honestly did not know what to expect, so I let my dear friend take the lead while my boyfriend and I just followed lol. We ended up ordering «omakase» which means «I’ll leave it up to you». so the chef gave us whatever he wanted. Fair warning though… this can be quite expensive. Our bill for three came out to be about $ 250 (w/​tip). I was a bid sticker shock, but I read the reviews and somewhat anticipated it. You don’t have to order omakase, but it is an experience worth trying once. that’s if you like authentic nigiri.
90% of their fish is imported from Tsukihi in Japan so I can see why it is expensive. it’s the best fish market in the world and the fish is right in front of my face! lol. This is quality stuff right here. As for the service. I’ve read reviews that said their service is below par and I beg to differ– I had a great experience from food, service, and the ambiance (not everyone agrees, but I like the intimacy).
Real deal, straight forward simple sushi.

Came here with a large party. We had the entire 11 person sushi counter seating and a table for 3 reserved last saturday night. It was very difficult to find, there are no signage. So, we had to call our friends who have been there before to give us detail instructions. Parking is hard to find (we parked in the adjacent strip mall parking. The restaurant did not turn on A/​C, it was so stuffy in there, I had to go outside to get some fresh air.
The fish was fresh and delicious, but the sushi rice is a bit too sour for my taste. It really overpowered the mirugai. And it negatively impacted the sweet unagi. The price was a bit more expensive than the shop of this caliber should be charging. Most MP (market price) items were $ 19. The ama ebi was definitely not worth $ 19. We did not received the deep fried shrimp head (since there is no kitchen or a deep fryer).
The uni from catalina was perfect. And served nigiri styled (not gunkanmaki).
Pricing:
Ama ebi $ 19
Uni $ 19
Mirugai $ 19
Aji $ 11
Kani maki (6 small pieces similar to a typical tuna or cucumber maki) $ 10
most other nigiri (not MPs) are priced between $ 8 to $ 10.
I still prefer Sushi Gen in Los Angeles for the nigiri sushi.

I heard about Shirahama from Hiro-​san, the itamae from Urasawa. Wow, did he nail it!
Shirahama is a family-​run joint, literally mom, pop, and son. The itamae takes his sushi extremely serious. This is only omakase although you can order a few cooked items if they’re in such as hamachi kama.
The omakase is strictly nigiri and it is super impressive. I did 25 pieces, since I am a huge beast. The rice is delicious, perfect temperature, just a touch of sweetness and vinegar. The fish is not pre-​sauced, and he claims nothing is frozen! He kept on complaining about uni in other restaurants (even Urasawa!) having chemicals in it, apparently, Shirahama’s is not delivered in the same package.
Some of the standouts were the ikura, which was served nirigi style and I watched Shirahama-​san (if that’s his name, forgive my ignorance) cut the roe from the skin. The abalone was out of this world fresh, as were a number of clams one of which he did not know the English names but was the best I’ve ever had. The saba was extremely fresh and had the red in the center which was explained to me as indicating fresh caught from pacific as opposed to vinegary saba from Norway.
Most of the fish was fairly traditional to the Japanese palette (not to an American’s) but excellently done. The silver fish were the strong suit. Shirahama-​san said you can tell a lot about the itamae from the saba, anago, tamago, and one other fish I forgot… oh yes, Kohada. He also claimed sushi is 50% fish 50% rice. I like that. The tako was another home run.
This is a Japanese person’s hangout, and wealthy one at that. The regulars have their own chop sticks and giant bottles of sake. One of the patrons gifted Shirahama-​san a pair of scissors worth $ 1400 (Shirahama-san’s daughter is a hairdresser)!
A few other fun pieces was an interesting akimo and plum sauce handroll to round out the meal and the anago was the best I’ve had. Even better than… Yasuda’s.
So, I recommend this place. Everyone is super friendly to boot.

I came here the other night for some Omakase with my girlfriend. I was very suprised that there was only two other people in here — this place has the best sushi in San Diego. Compared to Sushi Ota, this place is much more authentic and the fish tastes fresher then what I had when eating at Ota.
When you first walk in, you feel like you are entering a traditional, small Japanese kitchen. The restaurant reminded me of many sushi places I frequented when I was visiting Japan.
The itamae here is top notch — you should see him work! Very delicate with his knife and he really produced some beautiful cuts of fish. Everything from Octopus, Toro, Salmon, etc. He is known for his eel roll — and after trying one piece, I couldn’t help but ask for another.
For two people — the total cost was around $ 175. That being said, the amount of fish we ate in this two hour period was absolutely worth the price. This isn’t a place to go if you’re loking to eat rolls, but if you want traditional sushi in a traditional setting, this is the place.

This restaurant came recommended as a hidden gem, that serves up an authentic sushi eating experience and amazing quality food.
Whenever I try out a new sushi place, I prefer to order «Omakase» style and let the chef decide what’s best. The upside of this is that the Chef tends to really pick unique items for your tasting pleasure.
Highlights of my favorites included: Monkfish liver, roe, geoduck, many types of mackerel, uni and live abalone.
The alternate side to ordering this way is that chances are, you’re getting higher priced cuts of fish, to which you may not always like and your bill will very much likely be a surprise.
While this place is not suitable for a budget conscious night, it’s hard for me to base my review purely on the cost. They serve quality/​unique eats and I appreciate to no end, their love for food and the chef’s resistance to serving concoctions of rolls, out of his refusal of diluting the true taste of the fish.
There’s a lot of best practices, surrounding how you eat your sushi, that you’ll be reminded of. The nigiri sushi comes with a hint of wasabi on the rice, don’t ask for a side of it, they want you to taste the fish. THEY DON’T MAKE ROLLS, so don’t ask. Dip your sushi, fish side first, into the soy sauce. Oh and did I mention, don’t ask for California/​catapillar/​dynamite or whatever rolls, because you may just be asked to leave.
Overall the food was good and I adore the traditions and integrity of the food being prepared. There’s something truly unique about the experience of eating here. Just be warned that the pricing isn’t evident with each item you order and it’s definitely not for the feint of heart.

I had a friend come in from the OC for a dinner night and she said:
«I want sushi, the real stuff, none of this skimpy little pieces of some unknown fish without any sauces and what not.
I want the good stuff…
Deep-​fried rolls, the inside out ones with no rice, cream cheese, the super fun and pretty ones with a lot of avocado and that sticky Japanese bbq sauce but without the eel.
Why do people even eat eel. Yuck. Disgusting»
They are Idiots, all of them.
«I know, right!!!
I want the real stuff. Oh, and it has to be fresh. I can’t stand it when places try to sell frozen fish.
Gawd. I can’t believe people get away with that.
Don’t they know fishermen? I mean come on. How hard is it to catch a fish and fly it to San Diego. It isn’t like there aren’t a lot of fish in the sea.
How do people accept not having fresh caught, in the last 24 hours, fish?»
There are some Idiots out there.
«I know right!!! And why don’t more people mix their ginger in the soy sauce?
I mean, right??? It is sooooo good, that way.
Put all the wasabi the chef gives you in with the ginger and the soy sauce and mix it up.
Then place your sushi in the soy sauce mixing bowl they give you and let the rice
soak up all the soy sauce.
Not enough people do this.»
Some people are Idiots and don’t know what you do.
«I know right!!!
By the way, do you ever bring a nail file with you to smooth down the chopsticks or do you just do the standard and rub them together?»
I never thought of that. I am an idiot.
**disclaimer**
Okay. None of the above happened. I actually don’t know any girls to take out.
But!!! I can dream. *sigh… someday things will be better for me.
However,
if this is what you like, also, don’t go to Shirahama.
Kogi-​san might be the best sushi chef I have ever met, don’t insult him.
His gari is the best in the market.
His rice is top shelf.
His nori is ten times the cost of what most places use.
His shoyu for sashimi is exquisite.
He has the best sake selection in San Diego.
Don’t insult him.
Don’t.
Oh…and if you want to experience it but don’t want to drop 200 for two.
Get his lunch special.
Amazing. Simply, amazing.