The Top 8 Tasting Menus Near Pho Truc Xanh
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Rank 1. Lilo
New American
Guests circulate through heated patio and intimate counter to watch Chef Eric Bost work with kinmedai, wagyu, and abalone in a sequence that builds from savory precision to a striking orgeat ice cream crowned with celery root and caviar. The meal unfolds as theater—composed, ambitious, and engineered to surprise.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Eric Bost
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Rank 2. 24 Suns
Noodles
Chef-owners Nic Webber and Jacob Jordan compose a seasonally restless noodle menu in a converted dive bar, where shrimp jiaozi in fermented bean butter and a butterscotch black sesame budino justify the casual fine-dining tightrope. The wine and sake list rewards ordering without restraint.
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Rank 4. Hidden Fish
Sushi
A ninety-minute omakase unfolds at this narrow counter where the pace is brisk but the eating unhurried. The chefs work with San Diego uni and imported Peruvian scallops alongside Japanese staples, each piece arriving on a chalkboard's rotating manifest. Reservations vanish weeks ahead, a small price for sushi this deliberate.
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Rank 5. SOICHI
Sushi
Chef Soichi Kadoya works the counter with ease in this University Heights omakase spot, where casual conversation masks the precision underneath. Pike mackerel balanced with ginger, miso-marinated sea bass, and fatty tuna that melts confirm the seriousness of his craft.
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Rank 6. Sushi MARU
Omakase Sushi
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In a Laguna Beach shopping center, Chef Jordan Nakasone runs a quiet counter where tradition and invention coexist with ease. Nigiri spotlights pristine fish—yagara, nodoguro—while kitchen dishes like chawanmushi with black cod and miso butter show restraint and ambition. Service disappears into the background, leaving only the meal.
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Rank 8. Oliver's Osteria
Italian
A sun-lit room near the Pacific Coast Highway where Chef Erik De Marchi draws on Italian tradition without pretense: zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and anchovies, bucatini all'amatriciana that tastes both familiar and alive, house-made desserts that close the meal on an honest note. The banquettes and bar invite lingering.