Izakaya Masa in San Diego

We had an excellent meal here. The Gyoza was great and we all adored our sushi rolls. They were affordable and very well-made. The ramen was delicious. Pretty standard but well-made and would definitely come back for it. The only thing that was a bit off was the timing of the meal. We wanted to enjoy our appetizers and drinks before getting the meal ending ramen. The icing was more like dim sum. The wait it was about a half hour and there are a lot of great places to go have a drink to pass the time. Or you can just wait on the patio.

Bustling Japanese-style pub that is well worth the wait to get in. The menu offerings are pretty standard for an izakaya outpost: an array of small plates (think tapas) as well as entrée-sized noodle and rice dishes. Comfort food all around! They used to also have a page of more off-beat and limited-time specials that were quite memorable too.. hopefully thats still a thing but I may have missed it this time around. Make sure to check the board!Service is fast once youre seated and ordering. Food is hot and fresh. The Masa Karaage Fried Chicken is a must-have.. tender and moist Japanese fried chicken. Their cold zaru soba is excellent too; the soba is cooked to a good chewy consistency, not mushy and overcooked like some other places do.Note that they dont take reservations at all. Arrive early and/or be prepared to wait. But again, worth the wait!

Rice overcooked like porridge and I was impressed they managed to make it into the shape of rolls haha. They didn’t have enough toppings to put inside, 85% rice. I can’t believe this is a popular place. Something’s not adding up at all.

Great food! Great atmosphere! Felt like an izakaya in Japan. I got the Hakata ramen, spicy salmon roll, and the house sake.

We happened to pass by this place on our way from a conference and ended up waiting over 45 minutes for a table for 4 on a Tuesday night. The food was delicious so it was worth the wait. Its a small establishment with most tables seating 2 and prices are decent.

I’ve been stopping in every trip I take to San Diego for a few years. I was so excited to eat here since it had been since the start of the pandemic since I’d been. You do usually have to wait a bit for a table, but the service is quick and high quality and food comes out fast. The food is tasty, I haven’t had anything I didn’t enjoy, but definitely have my favorites.

Legendary place that’s been around for a while! You get the fun Japanese pub vibe (Izakaya) with quality food and authentic dishes. No reservations and sometimes limited days open for business, we try to walk in every chance we get!Study the menu and try them all! This isn’t your run of the mill “sushi place” but their sushi is great! My staples here are the rice don (egg onion savory sauce over fried chips over rice, their fried oysters, and SURPRISINGLY their California roll alll really clean-your-plate-leave-no-grain-of-rice-behind good!Awesome place been giving you tasty Japanese flavors since as early as my college days, can’t go wrong with this place!

Pretty nice and authentic. TLDR: soft shell crab is bomb but an acquired taste. It seems very traditional compared to any other place I’ve been too for sushi and ramen; I had the soft shell crab and it was amazing but definitely a acquired taste since it’s the whole crab fried and halfed and the dynamite lobster roll which was good too but seemed pretty standard compared to any other I had until I paired it with the sauce that came with the crab which made it way better. I also had the green tea ice cream which was a lot less sweet then I expected but it didn’t ruin it, it made me feel mellowed out which is nice. I’d recommend dropping by when there is parking.

Really like the decor. Delicious food and they had hokke on the menu. I should have brought cash because none of my major cards were accepted except my debit card. The server also didnt seem to like that we requested a table change (size preference for the amount of food we ordered) so it was slightly weird. There was no one waitlisted at the time.

Great late night eating spot! Got the same vibe as the ones in Japan. Quick service, recommend the hot house sake! 🍶