Love Boat Sushi — Restaurant in San Marcos

Food: Pretty good sushi, but especially for the price. It's not low price so much as it is that Love Boat started out somewhat pricey and then didn't seem to increase their prices as much as other places from inflation so now it's at a price that beats other places.

Their French Kiss sushi item is shockingly good, but the portion size for the price is a little disconcerting. I usually get sushi with eel/unagi in it when I get sushi, and this place makes sure to cook the eel perfectly in my opinion. Their miso soup is honestly some of the best I've ever had in North County, beating out more expensive places. It's not too salty, with a mild, warming taste that feels wonderful to drink.

My wife prefers the salmon teriyaki/mixed tempura bento when we come here, and she's pretty picky with teriyaki salmon so that's definitely a good sign. The portions that come with the dinner bento are quite large as well, and she usually has to share with me just to be able to finish it.

Only reason I give the Food 4 stars is their best items are rather high price for the small portions you get.

Service: Service indoors is great, but it can be hard to get their attention when you're sitting in their outdoor dining area. They seem to have a lot of wait staff but it's very busy so I don't consider it a huge issue.

Atmosphere: inside is a well lit cozy eating area with lots of sandy colored wood for decorations. I love the way the inside looks in the evening, but I might be biased because I don't like to eat outdoors at restaurants as much.

Take out is a little difficult, especially if you're doing pickup. If you don't use a food delivery app, you have to call and their ETA for when it will be ready can be a mixed bag. I once was told 15 minutes and ended up waiting almost an hour, but it's usually...

I want to be very clear the sushi is fantastic here. This is my second time coming to Love Boat the first time was last Friday July 16th which I had a great time. Today is July 19th I'm giving 1 Star only because of the sushi maker named Kevin. I was at the bar sitting very patiently and this man had nothing but some sort of a grudge and attitude towards me complete disregard for respect. I reached out to him a couple of times with regards to my Sushi list and he completely brushed me off, keep in mind I've been waiting 30 minutes so far and he's been serving other people. I don't know who this man is but I respected him and I respected The Establishment but for whatever reason this man was in a bad mood, and I was his target. When I asked for the manager at the end of my meal when I was ready to leave the lady who claimed to be the manager which I think she lied to me to cover up for Kevin, when I told her about my experience with regards to Kevin the lady replied to me and said "Kevin is in a bad mood". My answer back was, "I don't care what mood he's in you do not treat a customer like that. I'm in the same business for customer service and that is not the way you treat a customer no matter what is going on in your personal life." And the worst part was at one point the lady in her own language told Kevin to take care of me and Kevin threw his hand towards me while it was wet and drops of water landed on my face. This is wrong in so many ways. In the meantime I will not come to this location anymore as it's a complete disgrace with regards to the service I received, this establishment reminded me of a third world country. This is America we don't treat...

Not all Love Boats are equal. I live in Oceanside and frequent the location near my house more than this and there is a definite difference in quality of service. I don't know if the distance and the fact that I know more of the people at Oceanside, but I found their plating to be less visually stimulating and their rolls weren't wrapped as tight. The nigiri is actually very good in the rice to fish ratio. The freshness of the fish here is supreme as is the other location. I thought the layout and location would be bigger and more spacious and better, but in actuality it was very similar to Oceanside despite the more airspace, floor space.

Their pricing, selection and presentation are slightly better than most sushi places in north county. Across the board they have good noodles, soups, entrees, appetizers. Despite their large selection they do it all well, unlike many other places that have tons of items, but many are mediocre. Nabeyaki Udon was surprisingly good and had a very distinct taste from the other udon's which I liked. The wine list was better than I expected, but their sake and cocktails were lacking in selection. I love the freshness and the plating and many of their dishes although not unique are different enough to stand out among the crowd. The only real reason I took off a star was the fact that I like the Oceanside location better and I feel it's because their service is supreme while San Marcos is Excellent. A must try. I have yet to try the...