Kappa Sushi — Restaurant in San Diego

who would have thought one of the best sushi establishments in san diego would be tucked away in a shopping center of mira mesa. but here i am to report back that THIS is a place to eat some raw fish.

My dining companion is good friends with one of the sushi chefs here, and thus told her to just prepare various things for us to eat. she knew his style (clean flavors showcasing the quality of the fish), and he knew my style (the same) so it was a night to remember.

The thing that stuck out so vividly to me was the sauces prepared for each sashimi and roll item we were served. so complex, with the flavors evolving as the components made their journey across my taste buds. everything I had was simply delectable. and as a person who has always shied away from salmon sashimi -- i have become a convert. this experience was the first time my prejudgement was demolished instantly. apparently, i DO like raw salmon... I am just a salmon snob and nothing has been the sushi-grade quality that I had at Kappa.

Blown away.

If you are someone who likes the sushi chef to just surprise you, this is the place to do it, have confidence that everything you consume will be amazing...and beautifully prepared. I could eat here every night.

Also, get the...

I was craving sushi and went here on a whim. First of all we weren't greeted when we walked in. There were 3 individuals at the cash register. I had initiated the conversation by saying that I'd be placing take out order. Inha asked for a menu. Since I had a friend with me I figured they would give us 2. They didn't. So she found a take out paper menu. When placing our order the waitress who you could tell was training lied when her trainer asked if we ordered. Of course my friend already placed an order. So we repeated our order again. They told us it would take 10 mins. Again another lie we got our food 20 mins later. Mind you the place wasn't even busy. We got our food and took it home to eat.

My food was pleasing to look at. The sushi rolls were delish. The cucumber salad was also good. Would I go back meh maybe but only because...

Took 45 minutes to get our food for dine-in. Watched tons of to-go orders go out the door. Multiple tables next to me were experiencing the same thing. Restaurants normally put dine-in customers ahead of to-go.

We asked that the door be left open (which we were right next to) for covid ventilation because the place was packed. The table next to us said thank you when we did. The hostess begrudgingly did so, complaining about air conditioning (may an extra 5 or 10 cents of energy during an hour stay?) but they abruptly closed it due to 'flies'.

Our last time there, unfortunately, because we are in the area a lot.

A small thing, but they should fix: they show up as "San Diego CA -" on American Express statements. Which requires logging in when reconciling statements to figure out what that...