
When my friends told me about their new favorite sushi restaurant, I was skeptical. First of all, it was called “Love Boat” and that just didn’t sound very Japanese to me. Oh, how wrong I was.
Love Boat has two locations, Oceanside and San Marcos - we went to the San Marcos location. It is situated just off of the Las Posas exit right off HW78 in this relatively new mall. You would never guess from the outside, the quality of sushi you would get there.
They say that the best sushi restaurants are made up of two important factors: the quality of fish and the chef preparing them. I can personally attest that the quality was outstanding and the chef… Our chef was… Well, let’s say a picture speaks a thousand words:

Meet Sho, aka Jonny Depp. My friends specifically requested to sit at his station and have him make all our orders. We ordered up some beers for him and he delighted us with his style of weird humor and EXCELLENT sushi. After that night, I can say that the best sushi chefs are usually the most social, fun, and/or eccentric ones.
When we sat down, we were immediately given warm edamame as appetizers.

I’ve had them chilled before at other restaurants, but I must say, having them warm makes it a lot more tender.
The first order up was the bluefin tuna sashimi with fresh wasabi. Yes, that’s fresh wasabi on the bluefin and it was pretty fantastic. In fact, we requested more fresh wasabi and they did not skimp on it. After that, I really can’t go back to the green pasty wasabi from tubes anymore.

The bluefin was super fresh, tender, and just plain delicious. I think I could have eaten just this bluefin all night and I would have been happy.

The next order up was off the menu. This was Jonny Depp’s special agedashi tofu. The sauce was more on the sweet side and they put a ton of bonito flakes. The tofu they used was more firm than other restaurants, but nevertheless, it was very yummy. The portion was very generous and can easily serve as an appetizer dish for four people.

The next order that came was “the” dish that my friends were raving about. It’s the “Albacore Delight” roll and you simply must order it. The albacore sashimi on top was just as tender as the ultra ripe avocados they used. The inside crab filling was unbelievably soft as well. This roll simply melts in your mouth.

The next order was something my friend Patty invented. She loves seaweed salad, so she ordered a wasabi roll and requested to have it topped with seaweed. Not only was this done, but the amount of seaweed was overflowing. Let’s just call this one the “Patty” roll.

Next up was the Kobe-style beef sashimi. It’s probably not authentic Kobe beef from Japan, as that would overly inflate the price tenfold. Regardless, it was as tender a beef as I have ever had. This picture really doesn’t do it any justice.

The next dish up was on the house (see, it pays to buy the chef beer). Jonny Depp grilled me up some hamachi kama, which means yellowtail collar. It was grilled just right with a tangy dipping sauce. Drool.

Our next entry was some of the freshest hamachi (yellowtail) that I have ever eaten. So good, that I didn’t even want to eat it with soy sauce. Instead I put a little bit of fresh wasabi on it and enjoyed it as it was.

Love Boat only had two live scallops in the house when we got there. Jonny Depp made it into handrolls for us. At first he made them the standard size, but with our party of seven people, there wouldn’t be enough to go around, so he REMADE them smaller to accommodate us and made sure everyone got one.

My friends asked me what my favorite sashimi was, and I told him it was salmon. Salmon is hard to screw up unless you have have really bad quality fish. Jonny served us up of the most tender and buttery salmon I’ve ever tasted!

I mean, look at it!

Since my friends did all the ordering, I didn’t know what was coming up next. To my delight, they had ordered some chirachi! Chirachi is a sort of salad dish with sashimi. You typically get a lot of salad with some sashimi. Jonny Depp basically hooked us up with sashimi with a little bit of salad. The dressing was lightly salty and sweet and very delicious. The sashimi included were salmon, yellowtail, tuna, and quite a few salmon skin for the crunch factor.

The last order of the night were fresh oysters with uni and uzura. I don’t like oysters, so I’m not sure how to review them, but my friends told me they were great, so I’m going to take their words for it.

All in all, Love Boat isn’t in a place where I would expect to find great sushi, but here it is. Also, it’s technically not in San Diego, but it’s well worth the drive. We went on a Tuesday and the bar was full, so there was a little waiting time. If you go, you must sit at the bar. If you sit at the bar, you must request Jonny Depp. With him, you get a great dinner AND a show.
In terms of ambiance, this is not a quiet, romantic date location. There were two birthdays in the house that night and they employees turn on some disco music, flashed the lights, and sang with enthusiasm. No, this restaurant is a noisy cacophony and we like it that way.
For a sushi/sashimi restaurant, the price was reasonable. But for what we got and the quality of the food and service, the price was a bargain! The seven of us split the bill and it came out to be around $30 a person including a nice tip. I’m still amazed it was that low. Highly Recommended.
San Marcos
121 S Las Posas Road #122
San Marcos, CA 92078
Phone: 760-471-7722
Reservations: 760-471-7701
Fax Orders for Pick–up: 760-471-7701
Hours of Operation - San Marcos:
(Open 7 days a week)
Monday through Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Sunday: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
View Map
FRESH!
A Bargain for the Quality
Albacore Delight Roll Melts in Mouth
Cheerful Service
Jonny Depp Will be Your Personal Sushi Chef
BONUS - Extra Pictures:
Jonny Depp and Johnny Depp:

Jonny Depp with Birthday Hat and Two Live Scallops:

Jonny Depp with Two Live Prawns:

Jonny Depp with Fresh Hamachi (Yellowtail):

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