Pricey but in Southern California everything is expensive
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Alexis Zepeda
Super disappointed with my visit to Shokunin. I was really looking forward to trying the sushi bombs I saw all over their Instagram and TikTok—they looked amazing online. But in person, it just didn’t live up to the hype. I placed my order at 8:00 PM for three sushi bombs/inari and didn’t get my food until 8:50 PM. Nearly an hour wait for something that should’ve been quick. I didn’t even complain—I just went up to ask for a water refill since it was really hot inside. That’s when they finally apologized for the delay. I mentioned that I saw two people who ordered after me get their food before me, and the guy said it was because another customer had a big order. That didn’t really make sense—why would that delay mine if I ordered first? He apologized again and offered an extra sauce for free, which honestly didn’t make up for the wait. What made it worse was that it wasn’t even busy. Just one person waiting and two people inside. Meanwhile, the cashier and one of the staff were just chatting and laughing while I sat there waiting. At one point, someone sitting near me actually asked if the food was good and mentioned they noticed how long I had been waiting—especially since my friend, who ordered at the same time, had already gotten their food way earlier. By the time my food finally came out, I honestly wasn’t even hungry anymore. I still gave it a try, but the presentation looked rushed. Overall, not worth the wait.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Kristin
Food was excellent and the chef explained all the dishes well to us. It was my boyfriends first time to eat omakase and he loved it! I just dont like the idea that theyre inside haven city market. I tried omakase before in nyc and what made the experience so much better is the ambience. If you love japanese food and want to try out omakase and you really dont care about the ambience, you should definitely try it out here. But if its your anniversary, you want to savor the food, and enjoy the moment, maybe try out their other location in redlands. Overall, excellent food! 🤩
Ana M
One of the places to have authentic Japanese food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Frank
My wife and I had a spectacular meal for our anniversary! Peter did a marvelous job and every course was delicious and each one had its own unique flavor and presentation. We were also served a delicious yuzu cheesecake gratis for our anniversary!
Drew
uided us to the perfect one. We opted for the premium Omakase for two, and we thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. Our chef, John, was very interactive and described all the dishes to us. The dinner was amazing! Each course was beautifully prepared and perfectly balanced with the previous and following courses. One of our favorites was the black seabass, another course that had crispy garlic, complemented by truffle oil and a course featuring three different types of citrus. Honestly, everything was delicious and this was my favorite sushi experience in years. As a pleasant surprise, they even offered us an uni course at the end of the meal on the house. The entire staff was extremely nice and professional. I can't believe a place like this is located in Haven City Market. They could easily charge $300 per dinner in Hollywood for their Omakase. While it's not cheap at $80 per person, I consider this dinner a superb value for what we received. If I could give this place a sixth star, I would!
KATRINA
I love Shokunin, so this review is based off my reservation on Friday, 6/27/25 for 3pm. I got here 10 min early. When I got there I could see it was busy. The lady said I could sit where I want. She gave me my drink & I waited. There was 1 sushi chef there & she confirmed my order specifications with me. I could see they were busy making take out orders & didn't really start serving the customers. She asked me if I could wait for another sushi chef to come back from his break, so I said ok. He came back & went straight to working. I waited about 10-15 min, did not get any service. No even a "sorry we'll be with you shortly." Since I didn't get any service, I left. Ive never received service like this before. If they were busy, they should have removed the 3pm reservation time from their booking apps.
Sky
Had an amazing time here! They offer an affordable and delicious omakase and our chef Peter was the best!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Erika Dawn
The Omakase was so amazing! Worth. Every. Dollar. !! 🍣 And the sushi chef was so friendly and informative about every piece of fish he served us. Will definitely be back!
Susanne N
I genuinely want to enjoy this place, as it shows promise—but there are some fundamental details that need attention. Some of the sushi rolls had rice that was noticeably undercooked, resulting in an unpleasant crunch that detracted from the overall texture and balance of the dish.
The Tuna Toro Sashimi was delicate and flavorful, a definite highlight. However, the Yellowtail Sashimi was unexpectedly tough and overly chewy, lacking the smooth, buttery texture that’s characteristic of high-quality hamachi.
On a positive note, the fresh wasabi was excellent—aromatic and subtly spicy, a standout accompaniment.
This spot clearly has potential, but consistency—especially in something as foundational as properly cooked sushi rice—is essential. With more attention to detail, this could become a go-to destination for sushi lovers.
Great service from the wait staff and the chef preparing the food. He told me about each piece I was having.
The salmon belly was amazing. I didn't know halibut could be this food. The sashimi halibut piece has a nice crunch to it and the halibut fin had all that fatty goodness. I was pleasantly delighted by the albacore smoked with wood chips; fantastic aroma and show!
I highly recommend dining in if you're in the area!
jason lee
the salmon was alright but the premium scallops were a bit slimy and got extremely sick for 3 days with unpleasant bathroom visits.
marina st.cyr
Hidden gem and one of my favorite spots. This is my feel good place to treat myself. Each piece of sushi from the omokase menu is immaculately delivered. The phenomenal touches like lime zest or truffle oil or roasted garlic chip adds such an enjoyable flavor profile. I've never once had a piece that didn't melt in my mouth. Sooo good! Tony is my favorite sushi chef!
Alejandra
This was about our 4th time going and like alway it was amazing! The food, the ambience, and drinks are always superb and leaves me wanting to come back everytime.
Christina
Omakase was excellent, well paced and each piece was explained well. Tony was our chef and made the experience very enjoyable!
Pricey but in Southern California everything is expensive
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Super disappointed with my visit to Shokunin. I was really looking forward to trying the sushi bombs I saw all over their Instagram and TikTok—they looked amazing online. But in person, it just didn’t live up to the hype.
I placed my order at 8:00 PM for three sushi bombs/inari and didn’t get my food until 8:50 PM. Nearly an hour wait for something that should’ve been quick. I didn’t even complain—I just went up to ask for a water refill since it was really hot inside. That’s when they finally apologized for the delay.
I mentioned that I saw two people who ordered after me get their food before me, and the guy said it was because another customer had a big order. That didn’t really make sense—why would that delay mine if I ordered first? He apologized again and offered an extra sauce for free, which honestly didn’t make up for the wait.
What made it worse was that it wasn’t even busy. Just one person waiting and two people inside. Meanwhile, the cashier and one of the staff were just chatting and laughing while I sat there waiting.
At one point, someone sitting near me actually asked if the food was good and mentioned they noticed how long I had been waiting—especially since my friend, who ordered at the same time, had already gotten their food way earlier.
By the time my food finally came out, I honestly wasn’t even hungry anymore. I still gave it a try, but the presentation looked rushed.
Overall, not worth the wait.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Food was excellent and the chef explained all the dishes well to us. It was my boyfriends first time to eat omakase and he loved it! I just dont like the idea that theyre inside haven city market. I tried omakase before in nyc and what made the experience so much better is the ambience. If you love japanese food and want to try out omakase and you really dont care about the ambience, you should definitely try it out here. But if its your anniversary, you want to savor the food, and enjoy the moment, maybe try out their other location in redlands. Overall, excellent food! 🤩
One of the places to have authentic Japanese food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
My wife and I had a spectacular meal for our anniversary! Peter did a marvelous job and every course was delicious and each one had its own unique flavor and presentation. We were also served a delicious yuzu cheesecake gratis for our anniversary!
uided us to the perfect one. We opted for the premium Omakase for two, and we thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. Our chef, John, was very interactive and described all the dishes to us. The dinner was amazing! Each course was beautifully prepared and perfectly balanced with the previous and following courses. One of our favorites was the black seabass, another course that had crispy garlic, complemented by truffle oil and a course featuring three different types of citrus. Honestly, everything was delicious and this was my favorite sushi experience in years. As a pleasant surprise, they even offered us an uni course at the end of the meal on the house. The entire staff was extremely nice and professional. I can't believe a place like this is located in Haven City Market. They could easily charge $300 per dinner in Hollywood for their Omakase. While it's not cheap at $80 per person, I consider this dinner a superb value for what we received. If I could give this place a sixth star, I would!
I love Shokunin, so this review is based off my reservation on Friday, 6/27/25 for 3pm. I got here 10 min early. When I got there I could see it was busy. The lady said I could sit where I want. She gave me my drink & I waited. There was 1 sushi chef there & she confirmed my order specifications with me. I could see they were busy making take out orders & didn't really start serving the customers. She asked me if I could wait for another sushi chef to come back from his break, so I said ok. He came back & went straight to working. I waited about 10-15 min, did not get any service. No even a "sorry we'll be with you shortly." Since I didn't get any service, I left. Ive never received service like this before. If they were busy, they should have removed the 3pm reservation time from their booking apps.
Had an amazing time here! They offer an affordable and delicious omakase and our chef Peter was the best!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Omakase was so amazing! Worth. Every. Dollar. !! 🍣 And the sushi chef was so friendly and informative about every piece of fish he served us. Will definitely be back!
I genuinely want to enjoy this place, as it shows promise—but there are some fundamental details that need attention. Some of the sushi rolls had rice that was noticeably undercooked, resulting in an unpleasant crunch that detracted from the overall texture and balance of the dish.
The Tuna Toro Sashimi was delicate and flavorful, a definite highlight. However, the Yellowtail Sashimi was unexpectedly tough and overly chewy, lacking the smooth, buttery texture that’s characteristic of high-quality hamachi.
On a positive note, the fresh wasabi was excellent—aromatic and subtly spicy, a standout accompaniment.
This spot clearly has potential, but consistency—especially in something as foundational as properly cooked sushi rice—is essential. With more attention to detail, this could become a go-to destination for sushi lovers.
Restaurantji Recommends
Quick and delicious omakase during lunch!
Great service from the wait staff and the chef preparing the food. He told me about each piece I was having.
The salmon belly was amazing. I didn't know halibut could be this food. The sashimi halibut piece has a nice crunch to it and the halibut fin had all that fatty goodness. I was pleasantly delighted by the albacore smoked with wood chips; fantastic aroma and show!
I highly recommend dining in if you're in the area!
the salmon was alright but the premium scallops were a bit slimy and got extremely sick for 3 days with unpleasant bathroom visits.
Hidden gem and one of my favorite spots. This is my feel good place to treat myself. Each piece of sushi from the omokase menu is immaculately delivered. The phenomenal touches like lime zest or truffle oil or roasted garlic chip adds such an enjoyable flavor profile. I've never once had a piece that didn't melt in my mouth. Sooo good! Tony is my favorite sushi chef!
This was about our 4th time going and like alway it was amazing! The food, the ambience, and drinks are always superb and leaves me wanting to come back everytime.
Omakase was excellent, well paced and each piece was explained well. Tony was our chef and made the experience very enjoyable!
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