Super cool little place that we have been wanting to check out! I tried the sidecar specialty cocktail they had on their menu and I loved it! My hubby ordered an old fashion and he loved it! We got a few of the hand rolls to try. My fave was the spicy tuna hand roll but they were all tasty. We ordered the wings too. They were spicy but yummy. This place is great for drinks and a couple of finger foods imo. I didn’t have the urge to try their main entrees not sure why. Might come back and I’ll update.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Jillian David
Great atmosphere. Sake was served in a wine glass and hand rolled sushi was just okay. Spicy tuna hand roll was recommended, most likely because the sauce is tasty but hides the not-so-tasty fish. Salmon on hand roll was hot which I thought weird. More a bar than food place. Overall a white-washed, quasi-bar restaurant.This review is my own representative of my own opinion
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Hand Rolls, Spicy Tuna
Chunky
Finally got to try this place out. Great vibe. Fun atmosphere. Creative cocktails and inventive food.Only got to try some drinks here but it was a nice place for sure. Great first date spot with dim lighting and chill ambiance.Definitely have to come back and try some of the food as most of what they serve here you won’t find in Ventura.Kid-friendliness: NOT KID FRIENDLY AT ALL. 21 plus only.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4
Debra Cardosa
Three of us had dinner . Two had ramen which was lukewarm ( not hot enough) . The other diner had the rolls . One of those was discolored and dry . Not fresh and hesitant to eat it. That evening the two that ate ramen got sick. Nausea, vomiting ect. The other person was just having nausea all night. We also had two cocktails which were decent. Our waiter disappeared after serving us.. the busboy (?) ended up tending to our needs. He had longish curly hair that he kept finger combing it back with constantly. Perhaps teach your staff that playing with hair is a big no no around food. He needs to tie it back while at work . Our bill was over $100.00 dollars . Not cheap for the outcome. Again, no waiter insight so we had to ask for our bill from the bus boy and he eventually brought us the card scanner to pay . First and last time .
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Elizabeth Hernandez
Love this cozy cocktail bar. I’ve loved every single cocktail I’ve had here. Unique, strong flavors. The Sama wings are some of my all time favorite. The prices are fair.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sama Wings Soy-Tamarind Glaze Butter Cilantro
Recommended dishes: Cucumber Sunomono, Hand Rolls, Seasonable Vegetable Tempura
Johanna A.
Awesome aesthetics, great music, friendly service. Downfall was the portion sizes were small. Go there for a great drink and a quick bite. Not for a full dinner.
Chip Meadows
I'm not picky or particular but I do have things that I like and are important to me in an establishment. This place came through with flying colors. The food was amazing, came out hot and quite quickly for how busy they were. They also went out of their way to make sure I got the cocktail that I wanted even though it took an extra bit of work. Really true professionals behind the bar and serving. I was also lucky enough to go to the bar while karaoke was going on and I was just blown away. Their karaoke guy Joe was fun and engaging, my entire group had a great time. The place was smaller than I expected but everyone there is an absolute Rockstar.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sama Wings Soy-Tamarind Glaze Butter Cilantro, Hand Rolls
Jennifer M.
Have always had a great experience up until last time when they took over 15 minutes to bring us the drink menu even though the place was half empty. One of the waiters was rude. Highly recommend the millennial falcon fizz though.
Food is ok...service is at best minimum (Mainly slow). With the menu prices and tips based on cost....I didn't want to ruin our evening by complaining or short tipping incase my children knew the workers...but I truly over tipped. Never going back...I want to enjoy my dining out experience...and that place didn't seem to be concerned about customers.
Logan The Machine
Great place to spend $100 on snacks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Leslie D.
This was an exciting and fresh experience. From the first step into the restaurant I felt a cool, chill, but upscale vibe. I loved the art work on the wall and the casual seating. The service lovely. I went with a girlfriend for a fun girls night and it was the restaurants 1 year anniversary. They provided a free lemon shot that was really yummy. Such a nice touch. The menu is small but impressive. I was wowed by the presentation of the sushi hand rolls and honestly, the crab hand roll was divine. I also ordered the Plum Martini and the waiter warned me it would be strong but I wasn't prepared and I think I had a cosmo on my mind, I don't know, but it was very strong too much for my taste BUT the presentation again was beautiful and appealing. Maybe a more comfortable chair for the tables with booths but again that could just be a me thing. Will be back.
Susan West
Great drinks using Japanese spirits. Food is delicious, staff is attentive and fun atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sama Wings Soy-Tamarind Glaze Butter Cilantro, Hand Rolls, Spicy Tuna
Margaret S.
TLDR: Just not that good. Food is bad given price, portions are small, can find better. Waitstaff uncohesive and untrained. If you come, stick to the drinks. I was really excited to try this place given the many many many positive reviews. Ambiance: really dark inside, and they even turned down the lights further at night. Had to use flashlight to read the menu. But maybe that's your vibe, so that didn't affect my rating. Service: the waitstaff is friendly (pulling the rating up!), but severely untrained. It didn't seem like they were working cohesively, making it really hard to get anybody's attention for service. The main waitress was wearing a huge bucket hat to boot and literally couldn't see us waving at her. One dish came so slowly that we had to cancel and leave since we waited 20 mins after we finished the other food already. The food: thoroughly mediocre, but I'd rate it bad given the price point. The handrolls arrived quickly but didn't taste very fresh, which was immediately a bad sign. The portions were small and primarily rice for the bowls, the dishes unimaginative and unrefined (super thick tempura batter) and after spending $30 per person on just food we were still hungry. Overall, I cannot imagine how people call this food amazing, especially given Ventura's proximity to LA and excellent Japanese food. There are also definitely better places within ventura even
Awesome staff, super chill and delicious food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hand Rolls, Sunday Ramen
Super cool little place that we have been wanting to check out! I tried the sidecar specialty cocktail they had on their menu and I loved it! My hubby ordered an old fashion and he loved it! We got a few of the hand rolls to try. My fave was the spicy tuna hand roll but they were all tasty. We ordered the wings too. They were spicy but yummy. This place is great for drinks and a couple of finger foods imo. I didn’t have the urge to try their main entrees not sure why. Might come back and I’ll update.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Great atmosphere. Sake was served in a wine glass and hand rolled sushi was just okay. Spicy tuna hand roll was recommended, most likely because the sauce is tasty but hides the not-so-tasty fish. Salmon on hand roll was hot which I thought weird. More a bar than food place. Overall a white-washed, quasi-bar restaurant.This review is my own representative of my own opinion
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Hand Rolls, Spicy Tuna
Finally got to try this place out. Great vibe. Fun atmosphere. Creative cocktails and inventive food.Only got to try some drinks here but it was a nice place for sure. Great first date spot with dim lighting and chill ambiance.Definitely have to come back and try some of the food as most of what they serve here you won’t find in Ventura.Kid-friendliness: NOT KID FRIENDLY AT ALL. 21 plus only.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4
Three of us had dinner . Two had ramen which was lukewarm ( not hot enough) . The other diner had the rolls . One of those was discolored and dry . Not fresh and hesitant to eat it. That evening the two that ate ramen got sick. Nausea, vomiting ect. The other person was just having nausea all night. We also had two cocktails which were decent. Our waiter disappeared after serving us.. the busboy (?) ended up tending to our needs. He had longish curly hair that he kept finger combing it back with constantly. Perhaps teach your staff that playing with hair is a big no no around food. He needs to tie it back while at work . Our bill was over $100.00 dollars . Not cheap for the outcome. Again, no waiter insight so we had to ask for our bill from the bus boy and he eventually brought us the card scanner to pay . First and last time .
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Love this cozy cocktail bar. I’ve loved every single cocktail I’ve had here. Unique, strong flavors. The Sama wings are some of my all time favorite. The prices are fair.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sama Wings Soy-Tamarind Glaze Butter Cilantro
Cute Kaiju decor, friendly staff, vegetarian options and tasty cocktails. Highly recommend ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cucumber Sunomono, Hand Rolls, Seasonable Vegetable Tempura
Awesome aesthetics, great music, friendly service. Downfall was the portion sizes were small. Go there for a great drink and a quick bite. Not for a full dinner.
I'm not picky or particular but I do have things that I like and are important to me in an establishment. This place came through with flying colors. The food was amazing, came out hot and quite quickly for how busy they were. They also went out of their way to make sure I got the cocktail that I wanted even though it took an extra bit of work. Really true professionals behind the bar and serving. I was also lucky enough to go to the bar while karaoke was going on and I was just blown away. Their karaoke guy Joe was fun and engaging, my entire group had a great time. The place was smaller than I expected but everyone there is an absolute Rockstar.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sama Wings Soy-Tamarind Glaze Butter Cilantro, Hand Rolls
Have always had a great experience up until last time when they took over 15 minutes to bring us the drink menu even though the place was half empty. One of the waiters was rude. Highly recommend the millennial falcon fizz though.
Restaurantji Recommends
Food is ok...service is at best minimum (Mainly slow). With the menu prices and tips based on cost....I didn't want to ruin our evening by complaining or short tipping incase my children knew the workers...but I truly over tipped. Never going back...I want to enjoy my dining out experience...and that place didn't seem to be concerned about customers.
Great place to spend $100 on snacks.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
This was an exciting and fresh experience. From the first step into the restaurant I felt a cool, chill, but upscale vibe. I loved the art work on the wall and the casual seating. The service lovely. I went with a girlfriend for a fun girls night and it was the restaurants 1 year anniversary. They provided a free lemon shot that was really yummy. Such a nice touch. The menu is small but impressive. I was wowed by the presentation of the sushi hand rolls and honestly, the crab hand roll was divine. I also ordered the Plum Martini and the waiter warned me it would be strong but I wasn't prepared and I think I had a cosmo on my mind, I don't know, but it was very strong too much for my taste BUT the presentation again was beautiful and appealing. Maybe a more comfortable chair for the tables with booths but again that could just be a me thing. Will be back.
Great drinks using Japanese spirits. Food is delicious, staff is attentive and fun atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sama Wings Soy-Tamarind Glaze Butter Cilantro, Hand Rolls, Spicy Tuna
TLDR: Just not that good. Food is bad given price, portions are small, can find better. Waitstaff uncohesive and untrained. If you come, stick to the drinks. I was really excited to try this place given the many many many positive reviews. Ambiance: really dark inside, and they even turned down the lights further at night. Had to use flashlight to read the menu. But maybe that's your vibe, so that didn't affect my rating. Service: the waitstaff is friendly (pulling the rating up!), but severely untrained. It didn't seem like they were working cohesively, making it really hard to get anybody's attention for service. The main waitress was wearing a huge bucket hat to boot and literally couldn't see us waving at her. One dish came so slowly that we had to cancel and leave since we waited 20 mins after we finished the other food already. The food: thoroughly mediocre, but I'd rate it bad given the price point. The handrolls arrived quickly but didn't taste very fresh, which was immediately a bad sign. The portions were small and primarily rice for the bowls, the dishes unimaginative and unrefined (super thick tempura batter) and after spending $30 per person on just food we were still hungry. Overall, I cannot imagine how people call this food amazing, especially given Ventura's proximity to LA and excellent Japanese food. There are also definitely better places within ventura even