Anaba sushi — Restaurant in Oxnard

The first time I tried Anaba I thought it was the best sushi place there is between Ventura, Oxnard, and Camarillo (or what I like to call the trio Tri-County. . . but every single time I visited after the first time it became one of MANY best sushi places around the area. . . and I have to give it that because service was not professional and not even amateur.

I called 5 days ahead of time for a reservation for 4 (knowing the restaurant is pretty popular and might be packed on a Thursday night), they took it down but completely forgot to ask for my information. As they were saying bye I asked them if they needed my information; "Oh of course. . .!"

Then comes the day my party and I arrived. We arrived there a few minutes before our reservation and they tell us it will take an additional 5-10 minutes for our table when I saw a party who just got there seated at a table which could seat four. . . -__- EFUIWGUIHGUIOEHJTIOGEAIOJ;!!!! I thought a reservation meant there will be a table reserved for us when we got there.

We were seated in the time they promises us (in 10 minutes) and then everything slowly went downhill from there. I'll give you the abridged version of everything after that. . . they gave us another table's rolls, we had to call them several times to refill our drinks, never checked on us, and compared to the very first time I came, the sushi was good, not awesome as I can recall. Maybe it didn't taste so great because I still had a sour taste in my mouth from them mishandling my reservation. =/ I guess if your food is that good then you can give bad service.

Overall, DO NOT DO RESERVATIONS and if you don't mind calling a server over and over to your table for one thing or another go to this place. Oh Anaba how I loathe you but somehow I come back because your sushi is good and the price is more...

We took a group of 9 to Anaba this evening, and were told the wait would be about an hour. We've known the food here to justify the wait, and we hung out outside for another large party to leave before we could get a table. The hour came and went, and the party didn't leave. We watched customers come and go, and yet the other group refused to yield the table. We watched them pay their bills and sit and chat and look at their phones. We waited 30 minutes more. One in our party went to talk to the host about a table, since we had waited so long. Another 30 minutes went by. The party was still there.

Now, normally you might think this to be a complaint, but it's not. The problem is (if you can even really call it one) that the staff here is too nice; too customer focused. The manager came out and apologized to our group. She said she might get a negative review out of them, but they did ask the group to leave. She apologized to us and it was very sincere. We finally got out table about 2 hours after arriving.

I've been to many (80+) sushi joints all over the world. Anaba is my #2 place behind a little gem in Pearl City, HI, and tonight it vied for that #1 spot. Not only will you be hard pressed to find better sushi, but the speed and quality of service at this restaurant are truly second to none, even if it's perfect service leads to other less-than-courteous patrons coming in the door.

I will be back to Anaba, and I want to thank the staff tonight for their kindness, not only to us, but to the group they (very politely) asked to leave prior to us.

If any negative reviews appear around this timeframe from someone who said they were asked to leave, take it with a grain of salt.

A parting word of advice: When you patronize this establishment, maybe be mindful that others may want to enjoy their excellent Sushi and great...

We made it in by lunch time on a Saturday so my mom and aunt were able to order a lunch Bento plate. They both got their usual which is Salmon teriyaki. We've never been here before so I had to check online and make sure they served Salmon Terriyaki. Let me tell you.. Their bento is what earned them the 4 stars. It was a big portion for being lunch but a lot of food is always appreciated with us Asian folks. The mixed tempura it came with was impressive and my mom and aunt both said the salmon was very good. They were very happy. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of that Bento plate lol. Me and my daughter both got special rolls. Mine was the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon roll and it just had an absurd amount of crunch flakes. But brushing aside most of it, the flavor was still good. My daughter had the Dinosaur roll and hers wasn't drowned in any crunch flakes so it was pretty and yummy. She also got a tuna sushi nigiri which came out very red and looking fresh. She said it was good. We also shared the salmon lover roll which was good and got gobbled up quickly. Last but not least, to add to my high cholesterol... I ordered the heart attack because stuffed jalapeños with spicy tuna is my weakness. It was delicious and even my kid who can't eat spicy was able to actually eat a piece. The first time she's ever eaten a jalapeño in her life. That was a joy to witness. Maybe the only reason why I didn't give 5 stars was because how our waitress made me feel. She never smiled and I felt rushed trying to order drinks with her. I just didn't feel welcomed with her. So that's the reason for 4 instead of 5. Otherwise, we'll be back... I was kind of tired of driving all the way to Kabukis just so my mom can order Salmon Terriyaki so...