Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

That time the affordable sushi didn't sell out

Prices already too good to be true

Poke bowl with ahi, spicy crab, and spicy tuna
Poke bowl with ahi, spicy crab, and spicy tuna

The man had a problem that I could help solve. And all I had to do was eat good, well-made sushi at a bargain price.

Place

Yoshino Japanese Deli

2913 State St, Carlsbad

I’d shown up to Yoshino Japanese Deli, late, like I always seem to do. The locally beloved fixture of Carlsbad Village closes in the early afternoon, at 1pm, or maybe 2. Really, whenever chef/owner sells out of his slim assortment of maki rolls and poke bowls.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A tiny sushi deli in Carlsbad Village

On this afternoon, I got lucky. Here it was nearly 2:30, and instead of the familiar shut-up storefront, I saw him bustling around inside the tiny sushi deli, with the door open. He hadn’t sold out yet. And he seemed in a dealmaking mood.

One of the reasons Yoshino’s sells out often is that its prices are pretty incredible for what you get. Simple maki rolls go for $6.50, and the especially popular poke bowls $8.50.

You can call them poke bowls, you could call them donburi or chirashi. They’re made with a base of sushi rice, topped by an assortment of fish and garnishes. The one I grabbed featured ahi tuna sprinkled with sesame seeds, spicy crab, and spicy tuna; along with avocado and seaweed salad. It comes in a plastic bowl with a clear plastic lid.

Sitting inside Yoshino’s glass counter, alongside similarly packaged maki rolls, it resembles grocery store sushi. Except this is way better, and cheaper.

I don’t want to say how much cheaper, because the guy was a motivated seller this afternoon, and gave me an exceptional price. But I didn’t pay anything close to $8.50 for that poke. I can say the sushi rice had that lovely rice vinegar tang, and the spicy seafood salads had some legitimate kick, a fine antidote to the overly sweetened bowls served by the faddish spate of fast casual concepts named Poke [fill-in-the-blank].

Of course, the maki was even cheaper. But even at Yoshino’s regular prices, it’s well worth grabbing and going. I’m not saying we should all show up at 2:15 and hope Yoshino had a slow day. But if you happen to walk by some afternoon, and spot a sushi chef eager to sell out of food so he can close for the day, help the man out, and eat some cheap seafood.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Poke bowl with ahi, spicy crab, and spicy tuna
Poke bowl with ahi, spicy crab, and spicy tuna

The man had a problem that I could help solve. And all I had to do was eat good, well-made sushi at a bargain price.

Place

Yoshino Japanese Deli

2913 State St, Carlsbad

I’d shown up to Yoshino Japanese Deli, late, like I always seem to do. The locally beloved fixture of Carlsbad Village closes in the early afternoon, at 1pm, or maybe 2. Really, whenever chef/owner sells out of his slim assortment of maki rolls and poke bowls.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A tiny sushi deli in Carlsbad Village

On this afternoon, I got lucky. Here it was nearly 2:30, and instead of the familiar shut-up storefront, I saw him bustling around inside the tiny sushi deli, with the door open. He hadn’t sold out yet. And he seemed in a dealmaking mood.

One of the reasons Yoshino’s sells out often is that its prices are pretty incredible for what you get. Simple maki rolls go for $6.50, and the especially popular poke bowls $8.50.

You can call them poke bowls, you could call them donburi or chirashi. They’re made with a base of sushi rice, topped by an assortment of fish and garnishes. The one I grabbed featured ahi tuna sprinkled with sesame seeds, spicy crab, and spicy tuna; along with avocado and seaweed salad. It comes in a plastic bowl with a clear plastic lid.

Sitting inside Yoshino’s glass counter, alongside similarly packaged maki rolls, it resembles grocery store sushi. Except this is way better, and cheaper.

I don’t want to say how much cheaper, because the guy was a motivated seller this afternoon, and gave me an exceptional price. But I didn’t pay anything close to $8.50 for that poke. I can say the sushi rice had that lovely rice vinegar tang, and the spicy seafood salads had some legitimate kick, a fine antidote to the overly sweetened bowls served by the faddish spate of fast casual concepts named Poke [fill-in-the-blank].

Of course, the maki was even cheaper. But even at Yoshino’s regular prices, it’s well worth grabbing and going. I’m not saying we should all show up at 2:15 and hope Yoshino had a slow day. But if you happen to walk by some afternoon, and spot a sushi chef eager to sell out of food so he can close for the day, help the man out, and eat some cheap seafood.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Comments
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Oct. 22, 2018
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.