Sushi On The Rock

This place was fine during happy hour, for a gringo fru-​fru sushiteria — because they had a bunch of sushi specials. But happy hour was short and the rest of the time the fish was overpriced. I won’t miss it, but all in all I’d have preferred it to stick around rather than be replaced by a night club.

HAHAH! It finally closed the other week! Maybe a legit sushi place can take it’s place!
*safety dance*

I’ve decided there are two kinds of sushi (no, not Good and Bad, but there’s that, too), American and Japanese. Sushi on the Rock makes American Sushi. If that’s what you’re looking for (big combo rolls with wacky stuff in them and a noisy environment), then you will like Sushi on the Rock. If you’re looking for Japanese sushi, go somewhere else! We took my Japanese mother-​in-​law here over the holidays and it was a mistake.
I’m not sure why we wound up there in the first place. The über-​polite in-law’s comment was, «It’s very IN-​teresting». That’s as close as she gets to «This sucks».
For the prices, I expected a more intimate cozy restaurant. Instead, it was more Dark Diner vibe. Mood lights and linoleum. Oh, and miso soup was a problem for them. They were «out» and had to «make more» (which takes, what, 45 seconds?) and it took a lonnnnnggggg time. For miso soup!
I found this to be a yuppie, look-​how-​much-​wasabi-​I-​use, rub-​my-​chopsticks-​together kind of place. Not for me.

I really enjoyed the classy atmosphere. I guess you’re paying a bit more for it because the portions are on the small side. No suprise here. The service was pretty good. We had a scallop appetizer that was really pretty good but very small. The rolls were decent nothing mind blowing.
Overall though you can get way better tasting sushi for a lot cheaper.

For true sushi lovers out there this is not the place for you to go. My sister, wife and I met up here about 3 weeks ago on a whim because we were craving sushi. The restaurant itself is very classy, with a very hip kind of atmosphere. That’s about the only thing that impressed about this place. Our server didn’t seem to be very knowledgable about the menu, or about sushi in general which was a bit disappointing, on top of which she seemed to be rather inattentive as we had to flag her down numerous times. The food was rather disappointing as well. Most of the rolls are made with imitation crab (aka krab), and the nigiri we ordered was a bit small. My wife got the tempura which was pretty average, and I had a seaweed salad which was pretty average as well. As far as Japanese cuisine, this place is as average as they come, but the sushi was a real let down. If you’re just trying to introduce someone to sushi, or Japanese food in general this might be ok, but true sushi fans should skip this place altogether.

The atmosphere of Sushi On The Rock is very cool, hip and contemporary. However, the food is a little pricey for the portion they give you. Nonetheless, the food was delicious but nothing extraordinary. Service was tolerable, reservations are a good idea. I hear great things about happy hour.
The restaurant is placed in a nice plaza for some window shopping after eating.

I went here with some friends recently for happy hour and I guess they must have noticed that we didn’t drive up in a BMW or Lexus. Although we were one of the few parties in the bar area we were pretty much ignored. Instead the two servers were fawning over one table of what looked like 50 year old women trying to look 20. What is my face not tight enough to warrent service at this place? Does the fact that I can blink with my mouth closed prevent me from getting my order taken?
Well when they finally got around to us and we received our food, it was pretty decent. I really liked the chicken skewers and the miso soup. And the large Kirin Lights started to make me not care that I was getting lousy service.

This place rocks! Literally! Thursday nights are the nights to go, but any night is great. Cool vibe, good music, pretty peeps. Oh, and the sushi aint bad either! The only reason I did not give a 5 star review is the service. It’s not bad, just average. You really don’t mind the wait because of the great people watching aspect of this joint. Great for Girl’s Night Out, birthday parties etc. Great lighting!!!

If you were to think this place is more than 3 stars, you seriously have not had good authentic sushi. From plain tasting rolls, to poorly created «sushi on the rocks,» rolls, and not so fresh fish.
I’ll try anything twice, and both times the food was between poor to mediocre. The service was great at the bar the first time. The second time, the wait service was just mediocre.
Luckily the second and last time I have gone there, I got the waitress to remove part of our bill due to the food being so bad.

Sushi on the Rock is located in a nice plaza. However, it is Americanized sushi. Needless to say, the food is quite expensive for Japanese food. The only reason why I came here was because I heard they have a great happy hour… they were right! Oyster shooters are $ 1.50 each, hand rolls between $ 1.50-$ 2.00 & $ 2.00 sake. I wouldn’t pay full price for the food. I’d definately go back… but only for the happy hour, which is Monday — Thursday 5 – 630.

Good food, but it always smells like they just disinfected the place so that gets in the way of making this more stars.

Expensive. It’s boring like others have said. Not a great place to eat, but has that fake, bourgeois, ambiance of the Forum. It reeks of false affluence (and perhaps the belches that follow or precede it)

I have this problem of going back to places where the food is decent but the service is horrible.
Point-​in-​case, Sushi on the Rock in Carlsbad.
Food is usually fine, though overpriced to comparative sushi joints. The service is consistently bad. They seem to love to hire young, inexperienced wait staff.
And, I’ll never forget one of the first times i went there – the waiter talked up this foofy drink special they had that night, some sort of pom-​watermelon-​spazzberry martini or some such thing. My sister is a sucker for that stuff, so she ordered it. It was fine, but nothing out of this world – the bill came and it was $ 14 – 15!!! We were pissed, though just as much at ourselves…
«special» = «more expensive and we dont mention the price unless you ask»… duh.

I had only 2 experiences here, the first time I was treated for a college graduation, so I went all out. I was in the mood for special rolls and somehow ordered 3 that were cooked or had a combo of cooked fish. They were just okay. The next time I had either salmon or tuna nigiri, or both and a caterpillar roll. The caterpillar was awesome and the nigiri was the freshest and most delish I’ve ever had, this from someone who’s worked at a sushi place and eaten sushi for 24 years now. Other than that it is too pricey for my liking, I would rather go to Sushi n Joy in O’side and have huge portions of yummy sushi for much cheaper.

Ladies, this place provides not only yummy food but yummy men to look at!
3 friends of mine spent the weekend in North County last weekend and decided on sushi for dinner before heading back to LA. Sushi on the Rock was close so we hit it up.
When I first walked in, yes it did make me think, WOW what a chain. This place is like Cheesecake but they serve sushi. Anyways, if you go, sit at the sushi bar so you can watch Rob, the hott sushi chef!!! Our server, Jeff was super cute and sweet, the service was awesome!
The food was a bit pricey but all 5 of the different rolls we ordered were delicious!!! Try the Coco roll, its like dessert, sweet and crunchy!

It’s shiek …
Food is good — on the pricey side since you’re obviously paying for the atmosphere (which is very nice — clean and modern) … Reminds me of a larger, more spacious Sushi Groove (San Francisco), minus the Dj and Turntables in the corner (which would be a great addition to Sushi on the Rocks).
I loved the Coco Roll (coco-​nut) but not a whole lot of other stuff …
It’s a nice place to go with friends or for a date, but if you just want your sushi, you’ll find much better choices in the ‘hood at a smarter price.

This is an upscale, artistic, trendy sushi house with a fabulous menu. Very creative rolls and awesome sashimi. Everything is very fresh and very pricey. I don’t dig the décor… I like the darkness of the place but the seating is oddly arranged. Nonetheless, I had a great time here sampling a little bit of this and a little bit of that with friends.
Dine to a background of rock music with a full bar to boot.

Really good but not fantastic. Sort of modern fusion sushi. They have a roll called «the everything but the kitchen sink roll.» While I appreciate creativity I prefer traditional sushi bars.