Robataya Oton in San Diego

Authentic, delicious & intimate! We did my husbands birthday dinner here with a small group of friends. The service was fantastic and the food was delicious!! I grew up in Japan and this restaurant took me back. We werent disappointed with a single item on the menu (and we ordered almost everything on the menu). Also, highly recommend the strawberry sake - even my non drinker friend enjoyed it. Its a small intimate setting so I recommend reservations. 5 STARS!

If you are looking for truly authentic heartwarming and delicious Japanese food, then look no further. This place will remind you of home.The quality for both the hot dishes and the sushi was absolutely amazing. It’s hard to find a restaurant that does everything well- and this place does.The Unagi Gohan is deliciously sweet and the rice is smothered with the rich unagi flavor and is served with green tea that can be poured at the end. They also serve some pickles that help increase the acidity and counterbalance the sweetness of the Uunagi. If you pair this dish with other hot options like the Makarel or Tamago, it’s become a combination of pure umami.In the words of Arnold Schwarzzeneger:I’ll be back !

Wow. My wife and I have traveled through Japan extensively and have eaten so many different types of food there. Its taken us 5 years since coming back to find a restaurant that was as good as the ones in Japan. Otons Chef understands flavors and balances them perfectly. The nabiyaki udon was amazing. The chirashi was amazing. The vanilla and sweet potato dessert was amazing. Its hard to find amazing and you can find it here at Robataya Oton. Thank you so much. See you again.

Not worth the money for average tasting food. Whoever does the booking of reservations over the phone needs to be changed out. He does not know what customer service is and even by japanese custom standards. For you to ask for rice for a hot pot is pretty low then charging you $3 for a small bowl. Jeez, a chinese restaurant gives you far more and charges half the price for rice. Then no refills on anything besides hot tea. No thanks

The best Japanese experience ever! The ingredients were so fresh and the food was made to the perfection. It’s definitely a must go place. I thought that it was expensive but my friend who has been to other Japanese places thought that it was reasonable.We tried the hotpot, fried chicken and sea food, jellyfish sashimi, and salmon sushi which were all so tasty!!

Made a reservation on Wednesday 10/25 via phone for Saturday 10/28 to celebrate my friends birthday and they said we had no reservation when we came in.We came in at 5:30pm when they open. We asked for the reservation at 5:30pm on Wednesday! They said they still couldnt take us and argued with my friend.Really bad service and disappointing as I really wanted to try this place and its my third time attempting to do so.Choose another restaurant I guess.. left a bad taste in our mouths and ruined our appetite.My friend was not happy at all.

Very good traditional food at very reasonable prices. My wife ordered the Sukiyaki and it was amazing. I had the beef intestines and it had good flavor but texture was a bit tough for my taste. The Green Tea Tiramisu and Japanese pudding were both amazing! A nice refreshment after dinner but not too sweet. Limited parking in the area.

Amazing vibe here, very japanese. Loved the sukiyaki especially but every dish was great. Would recommend getting the daily specials as they were treats. Will be coming back.

Yummmy sushi 🍣 here, just Crispy chicken not crispy 😅

MAKE A RESERVATION!It is a small restaurant with only one sushi chef. Even if there is seating at the counter, the staff has to turn away customers due to the demand and timing of orders.My partner and I were there exactly at open and happened to be the first customers, so we were lucky enough to be seated/served without reservation, but we saw that everyone else without a reservation was turned away or warned of a very long wait time. Customers with reservations are seated in private rooms with traditional Japanese floor tables (chabudai).The food was extremely high quality. The karaage ($10) was piping hot, served straight from the fryer. The chirashi bowl ($30) had thick strips of sashimi carefully arranged in an order which maximized palette stimulation and visual presentation. It was served with real wasabi and a miso soup which tasted much better than anything Ive had at other restaurants or bought at the store.