PRESS
THE 50 BEST RESTAURANT IN AMERICA, 2023
Don’t worry. You’re in the right place. From the street, you might see the drive-through for a fast-food spot, but Hitokuchi is squeezed in the back. Pass through the heavy door and you’ll find some of the most exquisite cooking in San Diego’s Convoy District. Chef John Hong does not hold back when it comes to premium ingredients, and the prices reflect that. But his uni-and-caviar dish is a local legend for a reason: Imagine a tower of sushi rice in which each individual grain has been coated in oceanic luxury. —Jeff Gordinier
5 New Restaurants and Bars That Have Opened in San Diego
BANKERS HILL— North Park Beer Co. has branched out with a new taproom and kitchen, open daily from 11 a.m. on, where the 24-tap bar is stocked with a large selection of the brewery’s beers including its award-winning Hop-Fu as well as guest beers, wine, hard kombucha, and cider. The full-service kitchen is serving up a brand new food menu that ranges from shareables like hand-cut French fries with beer cheese fondue and Thai-style or Buffalo chicken wings to salads and bun-based dishes like smashburgers, vegan burgers, and Nashville hot chicken sandwiches. 3095 Fifth Avenue.
KEARNY MESA— Convoy’s omakase sushi spot Hidden Fish has launched an adjacent restaurant called Hitokuchi, a sleek sake lounge featuring a menu split into raw bites like king crab and uni milk bread toast and amberjack crudo in yuzu ponzu and hot bites that include miso-sake Chilean sea bass with butter-dashi spinach, a rice bowl with Sichuan pepper broth-braised pork belly, and a creamy dish of lobster with Thai basil. 4764 Convoy Street.
Long-Awaited Hitokuchi Small Bite Japanese Restaurant & Sake Bar Sets Grand Opening Date
After more than 3 years in development, the owner of San Diego's omakase-only Hidden Fish sushi bar has outfitted a neighboring space to open Hitokuchi, an experimental small bite Japanese concept and sake lounge set to grand open very soon.
Hidden Fish opened in September 2018 within a small retail plaza off San Diego's bustling Convoy Street. The restaurant offers an intimate experience with only 13 seats and 50 or 90-minute seating options. Owner and chef John "Kappa" Hong has made a name for himself by offering a sushi experience where each piece of fish is hand crafted as an exhibition of culinary art, so much so that the New York Times published a glowing review of the 1,000 square-foot, omakase-exclusive restaurant. In later 2019, Chef Kappa over the neighboring retail unit last occupied by a massage parlor for the opening of a sister concept dubbed Hitokuchi.