moment sushi — Restaurant in San Diego

I am very sad as I write this review.

If you are vegan, DO NOT ORDER the Chino Farm vegan hand roll set. I'll tell you why in just a bit.

I made a reservation for myself, my wife, and son for 6PM tonight via Yelp. Easy. When we arrived it was not very busy at all. By 6:30PM, it was packed.

The restaurant itself is beautiful. Modern, clean, with a candle and a vase with a couple of small, yellow rosebuds on our table. Even the disposable wooden chopsticks look high end. Impressed.

We ordered a bottle of sake to share and 3 glasses of Sapporo draft beer, along with an order of kumamoto oysters, salmon oshi, and spicy garlic edamame.

So far so good.

The salmon oshi arrived first -- spectacular and super tasty with the smoky component. The kumamoto oysters were excellent. The edamame was delayed -- I suspect they were forgotten. After maybe 15 or 20 minutes, I asked our server about the missing edamame and they soon appeared.

After eating a few edamame pods, my wife -- who is has a dairy allergy and tries to eat plant-based as much as possible -- detected the flavor of butter on them. We asked the waitress about that since it seemed odd. She checked with the chef and -- sure enough -- they're prepared with butter. Hmmm...OK...I would expect sesame oil or something similar in a dish like this, but I'm not the chef. We ordered plain, salted edamame for my wife and they arrived reasonably quickly.

In the meantime, we ordered our mains.

My son ordered the choose-your-own hand roll combo -- 5 hand rolls, each different -- and I ordered 5 different kinds of sushi (mackerel, amberjack, yellowtail belly, scallop, and bluefin tuna).

One of the main reasons we decided to eat at Moment is something on the menu called the "chino farm seasonal organic handroll set (5pcs) vegan." It's hard to find restaurants that offer vegan sushi and my wife was super excited when I told her about this menu item. She eagerly ordered it for her main.

And that's where our entire experience at Moment crashed and burned in the most spectacularly bad way.

When our server delivered the Chino Farm vegan hand roll set, she asked my wife if she was OK with the creamy squiggles of sauce on 2 of the 5 hand rolls. My wife asked, "What do you mean?" and was told by our server that those squiggles of sauce were not vegan.

What?!? Not vegan?

One of the other "vegan" hand rolls was made with mushrooms and we asked the server to confirm that it was indeed vegan. She checked with the chef, returned, and told us it was not vegan -- it was made with butter.

So, according to our server, 3 of the 5 so-called "vegan" hand rolls -- that we paid $35 for -- were not vegan. (For all we knew, maybe none of the 5 were actually vegan.)

Our server -- who was very nice and very apologetic, by the way -- had the chef remake 3 of the hand rolls without butter or any other animal products. Unfortunately, by then my wife had lost trust with this restaurant and I can't blame her.

How could she be sure the chef really understood what vegan meant, much less that he would actually follow through with making the hand rolls properly -- without butter, dairy, or other animal products? My wife couldn't, so she didn't eat the 3 replacements. We did take them home for my son to eat some other time.

This was one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had in any restaurant anywhere in the world.

I have never eaten at a restaurant that labeled something they serve "vegan" that didn't follow through on their promise. I don't know if Moment doesn't understand what vegan means or if they just don't care.

In any case, what started out as a 5-star experience turned into a 2-star experience at most. My wife was VERY unhappy when her "vegan" hand roll set turned out to be a lie.

And because she was unhappy, I was unhappy too. And disappointed. And embarrassed. So much so that the excellence of the rest of the food and the server and the ambiance really didn't matter in the end.

And that's why I'm still sad as I finish writing...

This was the last Sushi stop before we headed out home from San Diego. Definitely a must do as a part of your Sushi pilgrimage in San Diego.

We had a late night reservation (probably the last one for the night) and we took an Uber to the spot. Looks like it had a few parking places around to park though the location seemed to be in a bit of a secluded part off the street.

Once you get inside, the ambiance at Moment Sushi is a harmonious blend of modern elegance and cozy comfort. The chic decor, soothing lighting, and intimate seating create a welcoming atmosphere that is ideal for both intimate dinners and casual get-togethers. It's a space where you can unwind and savor each moment of your dining experience.

The service at Moment Sushi is exemplary. The staff is not only attentive but also can relate to your Sushi experiences and do have some amazing things/stories to tell along the way. They went above and beyond to ensure that our dining experience was flawless, from offering recommendations to providing insights into the menu. Their genuine hospitality added a personal touch to the meal.

Like everybody else over there, we were doing the 90 Minute Omakase that and it definitely was a journey to remember. Moment Sushi offers a sushi experience that is nothing short of extraordinary. The quality and freshness of the fish and sea food in general are impeccable. Each piece of sushi was a masterpiece, meticulously crafted and bursting with unique flavors. The sushi chef's dedication to perfection was evident in every bite. They would also describe the process along with the locations from where the sea food would be procured and answer any questions that would come along the way which made our experience so worthwhile and amazing.

Moment Sushi offers exceptional value for the quality of food and service provided. While it leans toward the upscale side, the prices are reasonable, considering the top-tier dining experience you receive.

Highly recommended and we for sure are going to make the trip down...

A really wonderful dining experience all the way around! The menu is a reasonable size, though they do have a lot of offerings. For starters, we had the yellowtail jalapeno, kumamoto oysters (I HAVE to get kumamoto oysters any time it's on a menu) and the spicy tuna crispy rice.

My absolute favorite things were definitely the handrolls, which I think are their specialty. It is a hands on experience and the combinations of toppings were very well done. You honestly can't go wrong with the chef's choice or creating your own combination. The 5 handrolls do make up a very decent meal and I think it's the perfect amount for a full meal. It was a little much after 3 starters for us, but they are so good that we finished everything!

The attention to all details was very impressive - they even had little droppers for you to add sauces to your handrolls so that they wouldn't fall apart as they would if you tried to dip them.

Overall, a wonderful...