SHINKO 88 — Restaurant in San Marcos

I was not able to place an order for pickup. The online ordering 404'd at checkout and no one answered when I called (twice).

Update… I eventually got through to someone on the phone and was able to place an order. Upon arrival it took a few minutes to pay because their system was down, and then they mistakenly gave me the food for dine in and not take out. Overall the people there are friendly but not very well organized.

The food was good as far as Asian food goes in San Marcos. I tried two dishes - gyudon (a Japanese dish) and general tso (a Chinese American dish). Both were good - I would order them again. The gyudon satisfied my craving for one of my favorite dishes, but the meat was a like dry for the dish. The amount of sauce made up for it though. The general tso was tasty - more on the savory side than spicy.

I enjoyed the atmosphere while I waited. They have seats, small tables and a couch area. Looks like a good spot to get boba drinks...

This is my new favorite place on the square. I've tried every sushi, ramen, and poke restaurant in San Marcos and this one easily tops them (though to be fair I haven't tried their ramen yet). Their bowls are fantastic (I recommend both the gyudon and the rendan) and the poke is the BEST VALUE IN SANMO!!! All the toppings were well cooked (though they did forget my tomago but I didn't even care it was so good), the proteins are well-priced and good portion (especially the eel if you like it), the shumai and sesame balls were wonderful and the onigiri protein options were both particularly great. One of the only poke places that properly season their rice.

Long story short, go here now. Their food is amazing and the value blows away any other places nearby. Skip Kikko, Hawaii Poke is garbage, Toro is too salty, read my reviews for opinions on all the other sushi in town....

I might have given a 2 star but I felt lied to about this place. You know those paper bowls your fries come in at a cheap burger joint? Half the meal arrived in those. The sugar and cream cheese ragoons had less appeal than a 2$ lot lizard. The pan fried dumplings where questionable, but at least better than the ragoons. The eal roll was small and the eal was chewy...?? The chicken sesame was just orange chicken with sesame seeds. The chicken Katsuya tasted like it was out of a box just like the sesame chicken. The only saving grace was the rice. They at least had good rice. I will never think of this place again after tonight, except to be sure and warn people of where not to go in San Marcos.... how do they have a 4.9 rating??? Oh and to top it off... my wife is downing Mylanta due to the heart burn...