Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ — Restaurant in San Diego

This was our first visit to a Japanese BBQ restaurant, so our basis for comparison is Korean BBQ which we eat frequently. The grill setup and raw foods were very similar, but we were majorly disappointed. There were no oils or seasonings available, and only 2 sauces which you had to ask to have refilled. All food had to be ordered a la cart instead of being available buffet style. The meat we ordered (family dinner special) was absolutely delicious. But the experience was tainted by the vegetables not being included and being WAY overpriced for very small variety and portions. It seems to me that vegetables and rice should be included when ordering expensive meat combinations so we felt nickeled and dime, and left unsatisfied even though we spent more than we do at the buffet style BBQ places. There were many Japanese-looking people there that seemed happy, so maybe Japanese BBQ is just not for us. That said, since the food is so similar, we greatly prefer buffet-style BBQ where you can get whatever combination of veggies, meats, seasonings, and sides you want. The higher quality meat we had at Tsuruhashi (which again was truly delicious) wasn’t enough to tilt the scales enough for us to go back.

The service was excellent, staff friendly, and the seating very...

Kobe beef gold is great! With 3 people we ordered: 3 kobe beef gold ($17.80) 1 beef tongue 1 chicken 1 spicy tofu soup 3 Ice cream specials (Everyone recommended this) 1 wagyu ($40) - This was a special so we had to get it The best would have to be the Kobe beef gold, it's so tender and flavorful. The meat melted in my mouth. The wagyu was good but it didn't really excite me as much.

The ladies working are really nice, the restroom is a bit gross though- but the food makes up for it! I'd recommend making a reservation or the wait is pretty long!

Also, I recommend ordering the marinated short rib, we didn't get it 'cause we got too full but a few tables around us ordered it. It comes with a little pot and you get the meat...

My favorite Yakiniku place since they opened back in mid 2000s. I was in SF for a decade but.I could never find a decent replacement. I think the steak here is much better than Gyukaku. The steaks are cut in specific shapes that "accentuates it's features." Kimchi fried rice here is the jam too.

I did make a note not to do big parties here. It's very busy and a relatively smaller place. Maybe max 4 but we were there with 6 people and we felt a bit rushed. For the first timers, they didn't have the time to understand the menu or what they were ordering. They were polite regardless but I think they were operating on...