Excellent and fresh sushi, great friendly staff and always meet some interesting people sitting at the bar. I would highly recommend this sushi restaurant read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Sushi sample, fresh and delicious - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

They have a great happy hour, we come here often. It never disappoints and is always fresh.

Such a beautiful small restaurant. The sushi is fresh, flavorful and beautiful. Will definitely be going back.

Best sushi place in Del Mar. great happy hour, fresh fish, and extremely fast service. read more

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This is the type of sushi place that will get customers anyway so I put this review here knowing it won't make much difference. I wanted a nice sushi lunch and came here alone trusting my Yelp friends to hit it home with this. Nope Yelp friends you did me wrong today. I walked in and got seating immediately at the bar so that's good. But the menu was where things went down. Most sushi places offer a lunch bento or lunch special or something. But no. Just a plain fancy menu with seriously overpriced rolls. I mean $18 for crab (excuse me krab "fake crab") shrimp tempura rolls. This should have been a hint to me just to walk out. But I wanted to give them a chance. I ordered a seaweed salad and the chef's sashimi 15 piece which said a mix of whatever the chef's special was. The sashimi came out so fast that I wondered was it already pre sliced or what. Just salmon, tuna, albacore and white tuna and two pieces of octopus and one shrimp. This is it for selection??? Huge pieces but it tasted so bland and no flavor. It literally tasted like it was just defrosted. And no one asked if I liked it. No check to see if everything was ok. Really? Just cuz I'm alone doesn't mean I don't get service too. Especially when the senior citizens keep coming in and getting better service than me. I paid $50 for a unsatisfactory meal. I could have gone to Whole Foods across the street and have better quality sushi. In fact I have before. So this place is for the ambiance and for spending your money on mediocre sushi. Go somewhere else. But to be honest, not surprised with these Del Mar restaurants. read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Chefs sashimi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

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amazing good..i got hot green tea..green monster and tofu..the tofu was soft and so good. the green monster was veggie roll with wrapped cucumber and rice paper..no rice..shishito peppers and mango salsa. i love the flavours and so unique. service..fast ans friendly. read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Delicious and fresh fish selections. Top notch service and some of the best Sapporo I've ever had on draft EVER !!! Loved the nigiri sampler, the lemon cilantro roll, the yellow tiradito was amazing and just really loved the flavors they created. The ponzu was on POINT !!! Next time I'm in the area, I'm coming back for sure !!! read more

I was disappointed with the general lack of flavor. I was super excited for the sashimi, especially the salmon which is my favorite, but was startled to find they had almost no taste. The texture was excellent but they somehow managed to suck out the taste of the salmon and other fish. I'm so confused, what did they do to those poor fish. Similarly, the Del Mar roll, which we ordered on our servers recommendation, had startling little taste. Good ginger and wasabi. The service was slightly subpar but passable. The ambiance was fine, wasn't super loud, nice music. read more

I've been going here for awhile, up until today. I should have known. Monday not the best day for raw fish. Made me sick along with terrible service. Not sure what happened to this place. Salmon skin was awful, freshwater eel fishy and overcooked.. read more

This "sushi" restaurant is a joke! The sushi "chef" doesn't know what he's doing! Each piece of my roll was wrapped so loosely, that it completely fell apart, including everything in it, which was not much. Super skimpy with the fish, which didn't smell or taste fresh at all. Their rolls contain almost nothing. I was hungry, and so I struggled to eat most of it, then gave up trying in frustration. At the end, I smelled the yellowtail, and it smelled weird and not fresh. I communicated with my server, who got extremely snippy and impatient with me. Then, the manager told me that since I ate most of it (with great difficulty), they wouldn't do anything. No apologies whatever! None. They both saw how atrocious this was made. What a joke! If you want quality sushi, rolled correctly without unraveling the moment you try to pick it up with chopsticks, and super skimpy, go elsewhere. I'm praying that I don't get sick later from the fish... Awful customer service. All that I really needed was an acknowledgment of the reality of the substandard quality, and a simple apology. Nope. Hire an experienced sushi chef! You can't charge your high prices for falling apart rolls, and fish that's not even fresh. There's nearly nothing inside of their rolls as well. Awful experience. Never again. Who wrote so many flattering reviews for this joke of a sushi restaurant? Don't believe them. Best of luck with your "sushi restaurant". read more

Great tasting, fresh fish. The variety of rolls and sushi is amazing. The serving sizes was very impressive. I had so much I ended up eating the rest for breakfast. read more

I've been here twice now when visiting my family and both times it did NOT disappoint. The reason I'm giving it a 4 is that our server was a little short and seemed annoyed with us. The food was amazing as always, I ordered the Las Vegas roll which I haven't had anywhere else and it was so tasty! My Mom ordered a bento and got the crunchy roll which was also phenomenal. I love their dressing that comes on the salad in the bento as well. The restaurant itself is very cute and clean and they added an outdoor area that wasn't there last year when I came which was super nice too since the weather was delightful. I definitely recommend this place! read more

While on a business trip, in search of very fresh sushi and right ambience, I stumbled upon this fine restaurant, perched among big grocery stores in the Del mar area close to Solana Beach.. The chef ( Francesco ) as well as the other staff was very welcoming.. I asked the chef to suggest a few items that would make me come back again. So, on his recommendations, I started with steamed shrimp dumplings (aka shrimp shumai), doused in amazing chef special sauce, sprinkled with green onions..the presentation was beautiful ( see the pictures), but most importantly, it melted in the mouth. Next, for main course, I ordered super sexy rolls ( 8 rolls with crab, shrimp, and, avocado filling, surrounded by wall of fresh red tuna). The tuna was very fresh, and the combination was flavorful. Finally, I had a tempura roll of black tiger shrimp, crab, cucumber. In short, the culinary experience exceeded my expectations.. read more

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Tried this place based on the reviews and felt it was overall okay. Lots of variety on the rolls but seemed like a bit much on the number of things they put on it. Definitely not typical or refined sushi. Nigiri was okay but fish slices were a bit uneven. Rice quality was average at best. Doesn't compare to a place like Ken Sushi in Carmel Valley, but the price point is less here. read more

This place was great! We were just casually in the area because my husband wanted to check out the local golf shop. We had just gotten off the plane a matter of hours before and were rather hungry. It was around 3 o'clock and I was surprised that there were quite a few people here (but im not surprised after eating here.) I was also surprised that they were even open given the time because typically sushi restaurants are closed mid day. I wish I could name all the rolls we had because they were all fantastic. I do recall that one of them was the Las Vegas. (Definitely recommend) The rolls are pretty big (10 pieces or so) we had quite a bit left over. The service was also great. We sat outside because it was such a gorgeous day and after a long flight it sounded very nice. Very thankful they had outdoor seating. All in all Ensui is a great sushi spot for any sushi expert or novice! read more

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As a sushi snob, this means a lot, the premium Sushi Sampler was absolutely delicious! It melted in my mouth like it should! The prices are so good as well! read more

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Went for the first time b/c of good reviews and was wildly disappointed. Lighting is so important and when you miss the mark, it's bad. This lighting here makes you look sick. The music varies between some 90's rock era and electronic dance music. That should have been my que to turn around and leave when Nickleback was playing. The toro was good. My hand roll was terrible. I was pulling stringy pieces of connective tissue from my mouth. The seaweed was wet and you couldn't actually bite through it properly. Maybe we ordered all the wrong things, idk. read more

New, clean, fresh, friendly, inexpensive are some of the adjectives I would use to describe this sushi restaurant. The shishito peppers are outrageous. They use a light sauce on them and it is delicious. We saved the left over sauce for our sushi. A must order. Nigiri sushi was all very fresh and they gladly made spicy tuna nigiri to our custom specification. We also enjoyed the beautiful and delicious special roll with seared tuna, krab, tobiko, and spicy sauce. Stephanie our hostess and waitress was so pleasant and attentive. I wish them all the best of luck, they deserve it! read more

Came here for a quick work lunch...best decision ever!!! I originally ordered a spyder roll, which only came with six pieces but I also got to try the Yakusa roll which I DEFINITELY recommend!! It's SO GOOD. Abel served us at the bar and he was great! Food - 10/10 Service - 10/10 read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Yakusa - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

I will definitely be back but I took off 1 star for a couple of things: The sign outside says Happy Hour is 50% off from 3pm-close, but when you get inside you see that there is a Happy Hour menu with specific items only, and they are discounted an average of $3, not 50%. So that was confusing and misleading. Also we got an Ensui roll that was too spicy for me even though the only thing listed on the menu that would've been spicy was the dipping sauce. When I asked why it was so spicy even without the sauce, the chef told me that the grilled shrimp in the roll is marinated in chile powder and Serrano chiles. As a result I did not enjoy that item at all, and never would've ordered it if that information had been included in the description. But on the positive side, the dragon roll was very nice and the MISO SOUP was seriously the BEST I have ever had!! It was substantial, with lots of seaweed and even mushrooms, along with plenty of tofu, and not overly salty. I would come back just for that! The music was also good and the decor was nicely done. We will definitely be back but hopefully they will rewrite the menu and take down the misleading happy hour sign. read more

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I met a colleague of mine for lunch here as this restaurant had a 5 star rating! We started with the pork potstickers which needed to be fried longer they weren't crisp enough. We then ordered three sushi rolls: Alaskan, OMG and Ensui. All $15+ and were quite bland. The best thing about this experience was the raspberry iced tea that our waiter didn't even know they served. It's not listed on the menu but I asked for ice tea options and after checking in the back this is what I was offered. North County has better sushi restaurants out there at a lower price point. (Station Sushi in Solana Beach) read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Alaskan roll - asparagus, watermelon radish, avo, cucumber, topped w halibut - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Just took my family here for dinner. This restaurant has good food and service, nice and quiet ambiance. I just think that the fake pink cherry blossoms don't go well with the decor theme. The special of the day was good (uni, toro, giant clam). The ceviche roll was tasty and very different. The Hawaiian roll was also good. I like the other rolls a little less (fire, smoking viper, spyder). The chef sashimi was the best deal if you prefer low carb but not consistent. Some pieces were much better than others. read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Chef sashimi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

4.5 from me and my boyfriend. We ordered two basic rolls, a specialty roll, miso, and shrimp tempura. It was the best tempura and miso I've ever had, and the sushi was good. I would say that the basic rolls are a little lackluster, in terms of the flavor, but I was happy with them regardless. The quality of the food was high, and the degree of freshness was noticeable. Overall very pleased with our meal here. The indoor space was a nice escape from the recent heatwave. read more

Fun update to this sushi spot! Really great and interesting rolls with lots of variety. Well priced with plenty to fill up on. We are really excited to have had 2 good experiences here over the last 2 weeks! read more

I ended up at this sushi place after the one we planned on going to happened to be closed. The menu was big and had a lot of really good specialty rolls. I ordered the very sexy roll and the California roll. Both were delicious. They also had tons of fresh ginger and Wasabi out for us. The staff was very friendly and attentive. I would return to this sushi spot. read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Very sexy roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

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Great food. Great service. Nice and comfortable atmosphere. We have sat at the tables and at the bar. So comfortable and staff is so personable. Wonderful experience each and every time. read more

We finished a hike in the area yesterday and my 5 year old daughter only wanted cucumber sushi and chicken teriyaki for her late lunch. Demanding, I know! Yelp brought us to this restaurant and we called in our order for pick up. We went with the cucumber sushi and the kids teriyaki chicken. The cucumber sushi dish is really small so if she were just having this by itself, she would still be hungry. The gal who took the call warned us of this and asked if we would like to double the order. We didn't so we got about 4 small rolls/slices. The kids teriyaki chicken was more of a bowl than a bento box that I had expected. I figured a small side salad would come with but it was just rice and the chicken. Which was fine but my little one likes salad and was a bit disappointed. To be fair, this may be noted on the menu but I just called on a whim and didn't look. My daughter didn't complain but I took a bite of the chicken and thought it was a little overcooked and the rice was a bit too mushy. She later had the rest for dinner and she did not complain at all. For $11, it was 2 meals for her and she ate it all. Score! I would have given this restaurant 5 stars if chicken was better timed. I loved reading all the great reviews though so I won't hesitate to come back again to try out the real sushi. read more

Excellent place for sushi! Service is great and three TVs allows you to watch sports while enjoying nice atmosphere. Enjoyed the shrimp shumai and spicy tuna crispy rice. Both amazing! The lemon cilantro, solana and magic Mike rolls were delicious and so fresh! Will definitely return! read more

This restaurant was quite a delight. I enjoyed the creative menu options and the food quality. I think where this restaurant really struggles is in its atmosphere and customer service. They have good service but I found it to be lacking a five star rating. Also the place isn't really busy all the time which can be a plus but it kind of just feels a bit quiet in there. read more

my favorite place! best sushi and udon. highly recommend the rainbow roll and crunch roll.

Excellent and fresh sushi, great friendly staff and always meet some interesting people sitting at the bar. I would highly recommend this sushi restaurant read more

If there is one business to support during covid.. My vote is for this one.. Food wise: the sushi here is excellent. The rice to fish ratio is good. My wife loves there vegetarian rolls. They had some sushi taco that was impressive as well. Ambience wise: its a great date night spot. Service wise: when ordered food is prepared extremely fast. Price wise: inexpensive given the are. Priced well. They have long happy hour specials as well. Overall: This spot became one of our sushi favorites. Though we live 20 mins away and there are closer sushi spots. It's worth the drive.. read more

Absolute the worst. Let's start with service, non existant. The server greeted us by asking "how many", no "hi's, no hello, or welcome...bad things to come I thought, but stayed positive hoping the food would make up for it, after all, we have all experienced bad service before. The server did not seemed busy, with just another table of 4 before we arrived around 2pm. Ordered $250 worth of food for my party of 6, from Hirame sashimi, salmon and albacore carpaccios, scallops, albacore tuna sashimi, udon nooodle (extremely sweet broth), thai noodles, specialty rolls (Dragon roll), regular rolls (Spicy tuna and salmon rolls, hamachi kama, all tasted past expiration dates, filled with ponzu and vinegar sauce to hide the "old" fish taste. Every dish was delivered without any explanation. The server didn't repeat our order which led to two missing rolls. Not once she came to check on us. Never again here. To those reading this review, If you know a good Japanese in SD, please drop me msg, I have not found one yet. (Just moved here last Christmas). read more

My mom and I are super picky about food (esp when it comes to sushi) and it was such a delight dining here! The staff was very friendly and the food is absolutely delicious-- definitely try the yellowtail collar! 10/10 recommend (: read more

ENSUI SUSHI - Sushi Bars Near Me - Del Mar, California

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So I must say I've loved this restaurant for years today they went above and beyond because of course Uber the morons that they are didn't give them the right order so course I didn't get the right one so I called just to let them know and Frank the manager and whoever else was working today who I spoke to on the phone was so nice and sweet today was so and sweet that they really said when I ordered again they double my order at no cost to me which was nice and they came through with their promise because I did order again but of course I use GrubHub this time Uber is horrible And it's very important to me since I have Parkinson's and they didn't even have to offer me that I can't stand up about this restaurant read more

Sushi was fine, not the best and not the worst we've had in SD. However, the service here was terrible. We stood at the check in stand for a while and was not acknowledged by staff, only with a simple "hi" from a distance from a kid with dark hair who turned out to be our server.. After asking if we could be sat for our 7:30pm reservation, he seemed inconvenienced by the request. Once we were seated, there was no real introduction and we were rushed out of there from the moment we were sat down, which is not appreciated when meeting with family in town. Another lady working came to take our sushi orders and seemed irritated that we might need another minute to decide on orders and pulled all menus immediately after ordering. We were subtly pushed out of the restaurant with multiple "thanks again for coming in". Unfriendly staff and unwelcoming environment, will not return. read more

Staff was friendly and attentive, but the food was not great. The edamame was overcooked, the seaweed salad was served in a sundae cup which made it goopy and it also tasted too sweet, maybe from too much vinegar? The sashimi we ordered was standard fare: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, but not very tasty, or at least not as good as some of the reviews here make it sound. We didn't order more food even though we were hungry because it was clear the meal was not going to get better. Dissapointing. read more

This place is really good. The quality of fish is amazing and they have some very creative rolls. I got the ensui roll , which had a really good side of garlic sauce to dip the roll in. I also got a salmon nigiri and the fish basically melted in my mouth. Prices are high, but you get what you pay for. Will definitely be back. read more

So the 5 * relate to the food quality... everything we have ordered has been really awesome. The fried potstickers, the tuna roll, Rancho Santa Fe Roll and others are flavorful and presented well. One does need to have patience when trying to find the current menu, or being able to order.. sometimes the phone just rings. The wait and effort to connect are well worthwhile, but it does sometimes need patience. We love this awesome gem in Del Mar and will continue to frequent it. read more

Room temperature sushi, no crunch (like w/cucumber or carrot), and very bland. Disappointment to say the least. 2 stars because at least the servers were attentive. read more