Banzai Marina — Restaurant in Ventura

Some of the best sushi I have ever had... No joke. I've had sushi all over the world from a $9.99 Indiana supermarket special (because I needed my fix) to Michelin star in Tokyo, and Chef Yuji truly embodies what it is to be a great Sushi Chef. A little back story... I travel weekly for work so I eat out quite a bit. When I travel I don't look for restaurants, I get to where I'm going and stop to eat where it looks interesting. Sometimes this works out great, sometimes just ok, and sometimes I'm surprised to wake up not vomiting violently. And now back to Ventura... On this faithful August day I just arrived from LAX after a hellish yet scenic drive up highway 1. After finding nearby parking (free to my astonishment) I walked to the first sushi restaurant I found, and was pessimistically optimistic that this would be my relief from heartland sushi I was waiting for. I walked in and was quickly seated at the sushi bar, after ordering a beer i started studying the screens the showed the fresh options, Chef Yuji must have saw the bewildered look on my face ( I was mostly shocked at the wonderous variety of fresh fish available) and suggested I start with a mussel appetizer. The appetizer arrived before I was able to even take in the entire menu, after finishing the appetizer I knew I just needed to trust Yuji with his suggestions. After some brief, yet genuinely engaging chit chat I asked Yuji to just prepare whatever he suggested, an impromptu Omakase menu. Each dish I had was better than the next. The execution, presentation, and most importantly taste was superb. The fish was wonderfully fresh, the rice was cooked just right with perfect seasoning, and the creativity was amazing. This was a great mix of traditional nigiri with a little modern twist depending on what Yuji thought my palate would enjoy. My only regret of the entire night was eating too much sushi and not being able to enjoy the rest of his menu... well kind of, I think if I was still able to eat I would just fill up on more sushi. Anyway let me end this long winded review with... If you are in Ventura and want to enjoy what sushi should really be, stop here you wont be disappointed. Not let me go back to work and figure out and excuse where I need to spend more...

I didn't have much expectation walking into this place. The atmosphere didn't seem like a high-end sushi joint, and they served rolls on the menu. But my buddy strongly recommended this place. She travels a lot and tries all kinds of dishes at so many restaurants, so I reluctantly listened. And I am glad I listened to her.

First, the fish are fresh. One way I could tell is the softness of the fish. For example, one of the items on the menu was squid. Squid is one of those dishes the chef needs to know what s/he is doing because squid is LITTERED with worms. So typically restaurants and distributors freeze the squid, which would then make the texture chewy. The squid was not chewy. And neither was the octopus. Either this place knows what they are doing or they are recklessly betting against lawsuits. It seems they are doing fine after years in business.

We ordered two serving sof Toro (4 pieces). Toro is the marbling side of tuna. It melts in your mouth. Jesus. I was not chewing. Just a lot of tongue action. 👅

Liver was fresh to taste. No lingering foul smell or after taste on raw oysters. The fishy fish tasted in a good fishy way. I typically dont eat fishy sushi but made an exception this time.

We did not order any rolls.

If there is one downside, the wasabi was not real. But wasabi is expensive, so it is always green horseradish pretty much everywhere.

The server was nice. We weren't demanding and never asked for anything other than ordering more food. Left good tip. We were good customers too. Win win.

It was good to be treated out. And I appreciate the service dishes :)

Never judge a restaurant...

I rarely write reviews, but our experience here was not good. My boyfriend and I had been wanting to try this place for a while, and were excited to finally find it open (it was always closed when we'd go, we live within walking distance so we'd just pop by). We were seated quickly and got our waters and appetizer (edamame) without issue...but that’s where the good service ended.

After that, we were ignored for no clear reason. Tables seated after us were getting served drinks, appetizers and sushi rolls while we sat waiting. It took 30 minutes just to place our sushi order, and another 30 to get our food, which came out separate 15 minutes apart with our server not updating us, he barely acknowledged us the entire time. He'd glance at our table then look away and serve other tables like he was embarrassed or too scared to deal with us. The other server actually seemed to have taken over for him.

We ended up paying at the counter after waiting 10 minutes for them to take our payment. Our original server said "have a good night" not even aware we hadn’t paid. Which how would he since he didn't serve us. We ended up not tipping, which was strange, but it wasn't deserved. The whole dining experience took almost an hour and a half.

The sushi itself was actually great, which is the only reason I’m giving two stars instead of one. But the service left a bad taste, and unfortunately, we won’t be returning. Don't bother with Bonzai, Maki Sushi down the block has much better service and their sushi is good too. We've been there several times plus they're always open, and even...