Blue Ocean Robata & Sushi Bar

Emy was our waitress and she was excellent. Great personality, helpful, efficient and soooo sweet.
This is our favorite restaurant in Carlsbad and we will ALWAYS eat here when back.
The caramelized eggplant is THE BEST eggplant dish we have ever had..third time here and third time we have ordered this "small plate".
Also great were the Korean ribs, thin slices of beef self grilled at table, sashimi served on ice with blue led lights, bacon wrapped asparagus..it was ALL EXCELLENT!
WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK!

This is our families favorite restaurant. The fish is super fresh and rolls are big and flavorful. A lot of variety. It's our absolute favorite place for oysters as well.
Service is good and great ambiance.
Cocktails are just so-so.

I barely ever give 5 stars... But this is one of my favorite place in North County, and it has been for years and years. The main reason? The quality and freshness of their seafood is top notch. At the end of the day, that is really what differentiate good sushi from very good sushi. Their rice is also tasty, with a great texture and chew, lightly seasoned and not bland. They have a black rice option as well for a different experience, with a unique mouth feel from the bite and chew of the creamier rice. And it also looks awesome :-)

On the non sushi menu, some very nice surprises, including one unique dish I have not seen anywhere else: caramelized eggplant app. It is awesome, no matter if you like eggplant or not... texture, temperature, seasoning. Something special.
The robata is pretty amazing too, with a char flavor that is unique. I have tried both meat and seafood and have not been disappointed.

We prefer to sit at the sushi bar because we have been eating there for years and know chef Harry quite well, adding the social to the food experience.
The only down point I believe is that when crowded, the ambiant noise is loud, probably because of the building architecture. The staff is friendly and caring and we have never had bad service at the sushi bar, table or bar. Efficient and helpful. I have very successfully recommended or brought colleagues and non sushi lover to Blue Ocean. It is even my boss's favorite when he travels to Carlsbad from the Bay Area.

Came for my birthday and I loved it.
Walking in, the restaurant is so beautiful, it's also by the beach. My friend and I sat at the bar, had a few drinks and when the food came we ate very good. The portions are not something crazy but we were full very soon.
Service was nice. It was too crazy busy when we went. The server was kind and did recommend a few things to try on our next visit.
The pineapple fried rice was delicious!!! Definitely different but a delicious good different. The bao's were so juicy and flavorful. These 2 items definitely filled us up. Will be coming back to try some more!

Are you keto? Do you eat low carb? Well no more needing to go all the way to San Elijo Albertsons for some "okay" cucumber sushi roll! Go here! We ordered online and it was ready in 20min! It's super cute and nice inside cool
Vibe but we wanted to order take out. We only wanted one roll each and we were very happy trying the summer roll which is wrapped in cucumber no rice! My hubby got the regular one but me I only wanted avo & crab.
They are sooo generous w the ginger which some
Places for sure are not! They gave us a ton and I loved that. We will be back, our new go to.

This place is so deserving of every star! We came in at around 5:30pm on a Saturday night to celebrate my 30th birthday! It wasn't too packed yet, but the restaurant was half full. We got seated right away at a cozy booth in the order, per our preference. The table was technically "outside," but you still feel like you're inside, and we were sat right under a heater. Both the outdoor and indoor area is absolutely gorgeous in this place. Dimly lit and appropriate for dinner with friends or a romantic date night.

The service was very fast and friendly, even though they for absolutely slammed shortly after we arrived. They don't take reservations, but I saw people finishing up their checks and new parties getting seated rather quickly.

For the food - everything was delicious? We ordered a few items from the robata menu. The wagyu meatball especially stood out. I love how each skewered item was served with a dollop of sriracha and of some sort of wasabi crema in the corner of the plate. The pork belly baos were fluffy and flavorful. Spicy tuna crispy rice was a hit. Edamame was spicy and was generously portioned. We ordered two sushi rolls, the "wasabi roll" being my favorite one. OMG that fresh wasabi was insane! Will clear your sinuses in an instant : )

The drinks and dessert were just as fabulous. It's so rare to find a good sushi bar with a full bar, so this was a delight. The cocktails were innovative and refreshing. We shared a bottle of sake as well, and they had such a variety. We ordered the red velvet dessert (it was gluten free - they had several GF dessert options), and the restaurant brought out a macaroon ice cream sandwich to sing me happy birthday! The strawberry ice cream inside was soooo good. I ate almost the whole thing even though I was so full!

All in all, a perfect night. If we ever find ourselves in the Carlsbad or La Jolla area again, 10/10 would come back!!

Little treasure that we found. Prices  are very reasonable. The atmosphere is tranquil and cozy. The waiter and waitress were very sweet. We had spicy edamame, sushi, sashimi and couple of drinks. Another to my list of must have when in the area. Everything was delicious!!!

Let's keep this short and sweet: There's a reason Blue Ocean's gotten on so many lists of 'Best Sushi Bar in the X area' awards. It's some of the best sushi you'll have, along with some very cool extras.

I wasn't there in the evening so can't comment on the robata part; however, the pork belly Banh Baos are amazing, with glazed pork belly, Napa cabbage slaw, and a spicy dressing that is to die for.

Aside from that, their interpretation of a Rainbow Roll - get the 'Rainbow Spider' so you can try the soft shell crab inside along with a mixture of tuna, salmon, albacore, and shrimp no the outside. Simply the best.

This place scores a 5 out of 5 on the 'CTJ Scale', as noted below.

5 out of 5 stars: Come-to-Jesus good. Would be OK passing away after finishing a plate here.
4 out of 5 stars: Come-to-Mary good. Would be OK having a nosh here with Mother Mary.
3 out of 5 stars: Come-to-Joseph good. Would be OK having a beer here with Jesus' Dad.
2 out of 5 stars: Come-to-the-Apostles good. Meh. Wouldn't have my last supper here.
1 out of 5 stars: Come-to-Nobody good. I wouldn't have my penultimate supper here, either.

Sushi yes please! Finally found a restaurant I like in Carlsbad. they had Santa Barbara uni on the menu it was fresh and delicious. The sashimi prices are very generous. Everything is cut fresh. Loved the tempura batter, light andcrunchy.
This is my favorite place to eat so I will be back.

Albacore delight is still our favorite roll here. I also enjoyed the mushroom soup!

We didn't love the screaming yellowtail this time. Drenched in sauce and the flavor profile was off. The pork belly bao buns we wouldn't order again. Sauce was overpowering.

But service was still great and we always like the vibe here!