Sushi Ota

This low-key sushi spot is owned by celebrated Japanese Chef Ota, who worked in some of the best restaurants in Kobe, Tokyo and Osaka before moving to San Diego in 1982 to open his own. Impressed by the quality of the local uni (the Japanese word for sea urchin), Ota has perfected the dish, which has remained one of the restaurant’s best for nearly three decades. While Sushi Ota’s location is hardly a draw—the store is in an unassuming strip mall just off the interstate of Mission Bay—the food itself is well worth the jaunt. There’s a great deal of ornamentality to the preparation, as the prawns are pulled apart in view of the sushi bar, and dishes come adorned with a deep fried shrimp head (or even an entire sea urchin).