Shogun Japanese Restaurant

Staff could do better. Here with my father for Father’s Day and he wanted to watch the Golden State –Cleveland basketball game… For Father’s Day. They told us they couldn’t find the remote for the bar tv and could we please move to a booth. The booth had a subpar view of the game on a smaller tv. We asked them to just look for the remote because we really wanted to sit at the bar. They said they would and proceeded to walk away and not check in on us for the next 20 minutes — essentially ignoring us. On Father’s Day. Because we wanted to watch a basketball game. Very bad customer service and we will not be returning. The food here was meh.

A very nice place to get some variety in Japanese food. I’ve been to Japan so I know authentic foods and this place does the job. Except missing a Yakitori bar it does have some basic Izakya style (Japanese appetizers). It certainly draws the crowds in :). Service great, food great, nice ambiance.
I’m just mystified that the customers that come here seem to miss other jewels in the neighborhood like Onnys Thai (another authentic small business gem on the same corner), as so many seem to go to what’s big and corporate.

Cheap egg rolls and good ramen without going all the way to Kearney Mesa this is a great spot
ended up being about my top 5 in north county. Loved the crunchy dragon. It was a great experience as a first timer. definitely coming back soon.

Came here a few weeks ago for the first time at this location for teppanyaki dinner show for family bday dinner and it was ok. Had 5 of us here for dinner and it cost about $ 200 and the food was about the same as the Kearny Villa Road location but the service was very average. I felt like I was constantly looking for my waitress for refills, or to go containers, or the bill and the place was half empty on a weekday night. The Kearny Villa location has a better vibe, energy, and customer service than this location but this location doesn’t come close to getting as crowded. We had no wait at all vs 30 – 45 minute wait at other location. If you want the vibe? Go to Kearny Villa. If you want to eat? Come to San Marcos.

I wanted to love this place as it’s close to my home. We have been a few times and it was ok, sushi was pretty good. My biggest issue is the service. They are short staffed beyond belief and the poor food server was completely overwhelmed. We waited for 45 minutes for our food and when she brought the food out it was only my husband’s, then another 15 minutes passed by and he finally told her to cancel our order. He waited up front for another 15 minutes to get our adjusted bill so he could pay for the drinks. The manager (or maybe manager??) came out and didn’t say a word, just went to the tip jar to dig out some change, never mentioning anything about the fact that we cancelled our order. We are not picky and my hubby is a very gracious tipper so… we won’t be trying again. Very weird vibe here!

What a piece of shit place! Made a reservation at 630 and waited about 20 minutes for the hostess only to tell me there’s no reservation and the earliest they could fit me and my guests in would be after 730. Never going back!

Great service and the chef Rodrigo was just a great person and made the table laugh in joy!

took 15 min to get us two people seated even though there were many open seats. Another 15 minutes for a server to come after the menus were given. they gave us an awkward seating even though there were plenty of open seats despite the fact that i called ahead for a good seat. 4 different menus in front of me made it difficult to look through. Servers were nowhere to be found the whole time. the food wasnt terrible but you could prob get the same tasting food at any other average sushi place. It’s not a bad place to go if you live around here and just want a simple japanese dinner, but if you’re on vacation like i was and is looking for a good shogun experience then I would suggest other places.

Dinner was terrible. When we asked for chicken fried rice, there was barely any chicken in the rice. When we asked the manager for more chicken in our «chicken» friend rice, he came back and said no, this is what we serve. If you see a manager come to your table who has a weird phở hawk dragon ball Z kid of haircut, you are in for some rude service. Last time I go there. I will tell all friends bad things about Shogun in San Marcos. Been going there for ten years, just lost a loyal customer.

Delicious sushi with lots of variety. It can get busy, but the quality is worth the wait. Favorites: kamikaze and Alaskan rolls. They always have something new for specials, and you can’t beat their happy hour!

Shogun is like the similar version of Benihanas just much more approachable, kind of like the cute friend but less high maintenance! Haha
Soooo good! I can’t believe I’ve never been here but pretty much, looks are deceiving, the outside doesn’t make it look that great but as you walk in, there’s a few tables to dine at then you get the grill which yup, is just like Benihanas! Haha
They have basically the same menu too– grilled chicken, shrimp, steak– you name it, the cooks grill it along with your veggies, soup and rice! Yup, the chefs even do the cute tricks too and I might even say they are even a bit better!
Price wise, it’s a bit pricey so I say go for lunch which is about half off! Either way, it’s definitely worth it and I never leave unsatisfied!
Just a side note– here they mix the vegetables. That’s the only difference, so say, if you’re like me and don’t like onions you better tell them before so you don’t get any!

Success! Had the shogun special and fish of the day along with a sapporo and hot sake. It was a great experience as a first timer.

Sorry to say, we weren’t very impressed. Diane and I have been to a bunch of Japanese Teppanyaki steak houses over the years, and this place doesn’t compare well.
The food and service were actually pretty good, but the place is really kinda dumpy… Holes in the wall behind the sushi bar, a dirty ceiling, and really over-​priced. There were screaming children everywhere, as if it were Playland at McDonalds (really sucks if you’re out for a dinner date, especially that it’s so extremely expensive).
If Benihana is the standard, spend the extra fifteen minutes to drive to their location in Carlsbad. They have a better (classier, more romantic) «vibe,» with fewer screaming kids, and better prices.

I have a love hate relationship with this place. The price and taste of the sushi is good but the customer service is poor.
It doesn’t matter what time of the day you come it appears they are always short staffed. The server will come and get your order quickly but it takes a longtime to bring your food.
Once your food comes the server stops coming. Its difficult to wave anyone down too. Trying to get your check returned to you is just as bad.
I hoping to find another place so that I stop making this my go too.

I’ve been to this location several times but was hoping they had some ramen without having to drive all the way down to San Diego (Convoy) and this place did. The weather is getting much colder and my fiancée’ and I were looking for something comforting. We’ve been her for teppanyaki but this time wanted to try out the dining table area.
It wasn’t busy and we were quickly seated. We needed a minute to check out the menu cause it’s been awhile. The restaurant has plenty of seating and lot of space on the tables. Also TV’s were at the sushi bar and along the backside of the wall. Glad they had the NFL Monday night game going on. Our waiter was nice but noticed she was fairly new at her position. She seemed nervous and did forget things we asked to bring and check up on.
We started out with the agedashi tofu; comes with 4 large pieces and i must say this is the best i’ve tried. usually the breading is soggy but here it’s nice and crispy and the tofu cooked perfectly. The presentation (see my pics) makes you want to dive into it.
As for the ramen; they had several kinds of broth; tonkotsu, miso, & miso spicy. we both got the tonkotsu but i requested mine to be spicy. i don’t like miso ramen broth and i liked they were able to accommodate my request to make my tonkotsu pork flavored broth spicy. Their ramen is decent. Broth was kinda watery. Noodles were decent. Although the chasu meat was nicely prepared and melted upon each bite. But the rest tasted like a premium ramen package you can get at Mitsuwa’s Japanese Market in San Diego.
Overall:
My ramen is experience here wasn’t bad, it was ok. I’d pass on the ramen here. The service lacked but friendly. The highlight was the agedashi tofu and NFL game going on. Will come back for appetizers and teppanyaki.

Great food and awesome service! The only thing was that we waited for other families to come in before we started to get our order in, which is kind of hard with toddlers.
But overall, we had a good experience.

I hadn’t been to a shogun in a long time, and I forgot how good it was! Not only is it tasty, you get a show. The service was flawless and our chef (who slightly resembled Mr. Bean) was amazing and hilarious. The food is well priced and tastes exactly as it should. The menu is well thought out, there’s something for everyone. It’s a great place for birthdays and large groups! The only downside is, there isn’t a full bar, just beer and wine. Which may not be a downside for a lot of people, but I happen to love my Jameson. I recommend this place.

Came here for my sisters birthday. We made reservations so we got sat pretty fast. Not sure how it is like without reservations but when we came the restaurant was pretty full.
Chris was our server and he was great! He was very attentive and patient. Answered all our questions and gave a few recommendations.
We weren’t too hungry so we shared a few plates between 5 and ended up taking some to-​go.
You come here for the atmosphere. The fact that the chef prepares the food right in front of you. It’s fun to watch, especially when they are doing a few tricks. Seriously some skill. I was laughing through the whole dinner because our chef was so cute! Great place to celebrate a birthday and to have dinner with a group!

Came here today with my girlfriend and her family. The first time I came here I was not impressed. But two years later I came back and everything for me was different.
I ordered the chicken Katsu and it was okay. Not the best chicken Katsu I’ve ever had but it was good. Unfortunately I’m not a fish kind of guy so I did not eat their sushi so I can’t give feedback on that. But my chicken Katsu was good, the breading was nice and crunchy and the chicken was nice and juicy.
The waiter did a great job with serving our table of 11. The whole meal he gave us great service. Food took awhile to get to us but that’s understandable when serving bigger parties. The host was also very nice when trying to seat our group and figuring a seating arrangement for us. This place redeemed itself for me haha.

Best kept lunch special secret in San Marcos. SERIOUSLY.
I’ve visited many teppanyaki places over the years and tried many of these places lunch specials. But Shogun San Marcos has THE BEST LUNCH DEALS.
EVER.
This is what you need to know:
TEPPANYAKI LUNCH SPECIALS: MONDAY-​THURSDAY 11:30A-2P
There are 8 items you can choose from on this special lunch menu (see pic). It comes with soup OR salad, steamed OR fried rice (did you read that right — FRIED RICE IS INCLUDED!!), hibachi vegetables OR yakisoba (yakisoba!!! that’s noodles folks and I’ve never seen it included anywhere before). Plus, there’s a hibachi shrimp appetizer that’s included as well!
Whew. That’s alot of food.
Here’s a breakdown of the apps:
Miso soup — kinda meh
Salad — enjoyed the ginger dressing on top of the crisp greens
Garlic fried rice — just simply amazing. It had eggs and chicken in there too!
Hibachi veggies — there were mushrooms, bok choy (!), onions, zucchini, and red peppers. Tasted great.
Hibachi shrimp appetizer — best item. Hands down. I’m getting this for my entrée next time.
We ordered:
FILET MIGNON $ 12.50
It was nicely tender and seasoned just right.
NEW YORK STEAK $ 11.50
Sis and I both agreed it’s better to pay $ 1 more for the filet mignon as the NY steak wasn’t as tender.
HIBACHI FISH OF THE DAY $ 9.99
I had a choice between salmon and mahi mahi. I choose salmon and was happy with the portion size. I felt the salmon tasted just ok but was a bit too salty for me. Next time I will just order the shrimp.
Jimmy was our chef and Brian was our server. Jimmy was nicest guy and quite talented at his teppan craft. Brian was incredibly efficient and friendly as well.
We absolutely would come back again for their teppanyaki lunch specials. I’m actually looking forward to it.