Lionfish Modern Coastal Cuisine – San Diego

Lionfish exceeded my expectations thanks to the incredible service from Juan!! From the moment he stepped in, his warm hospitality, professionalism, and genuine care made our experience unforgettable. He truly went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect. If you’re visiting Lionfish in the Gaslamp Quarter, I highly recommend asking for Juan. His service made all the difference, and I’ll definitely be coming back because of him. Delicious food, espresso martinis , great atmosphere, and top-tier hospitality!

This was a VERY fancy dinner. Delicious, but expensive, and small portion sizes. The drinks were also fantastic

I had an absolutely wonderful time at Lionfish while staying at the Pendry San Diego for a little staycation. Since I always travel with my furry buddy, I really appreciated that they offer patio seating with heat lamps! I booked a dinner on a weeknight, and the patio was clean, cozy, and well-kept. Honestly, I usually don’t expect much when it comes to hotel restaurants, especially when the prices are on the higher side. But Lionfish totally surprised me. The hostess and our server were both friendly and knew the menu inside and out. I’m not usually a whole fish kind of person, but our waitress highly recommended the Angry Whole Grilled Fish, so we gave it a shot. Wow! It is the best fish dish I’ve ever had. The presentation, portion, and flavor were all on point. It even came with freshly grilled flatbread (kind of like garlic naan), which made it a perfect dish to share. And while it might seem odd to order duck at a seafood place, our server suggested we try the Peking Duck if we were fans of duck. So we did. It’s not the traditional Chinese-style version, but more of a Hong Kong-style duck; it's juicy, fatty, and deboned. It came with Vietnamese rice wrappers instead of the classic bao buns, but it still worked. All in all, this place blew me away. Great service, incredible food, and dog-friendly patio. I’ll definitely be coming back the next time I’m in San Diego.

Suuuper good food! The service was great, everyone was super attentive & kind. Happy hour was 12/10. Got to try so many things! Ordered the duck buns, crab hand roll, bang bang shrimp, dynamite roll and LOTS of oysters (sooo good!!). Ended ordering a full entree of the Peking duck because the buns were so good. Love it here!

Lionfish is an upscale seafood restaurant in downtown San Diego inside of the Pendry hotel. The staff were very friendly and brought us a few special appetizers to try for our birthday. The ambiance of the restaurant is perfect to celebrate any special occasion or a nice date night. We started off with the Mariscos Al Fuego and Wagyu Beef Tataki. The Wagyu melted in our mouths and the garlic ponzu it was served in was great. The Mariscos had shrimp and scallops in a delicious Togarashi Butter. These were two of my favorite dishes and a great way to start the meal. All of the sushi we ordered was AMAZING, the Geisha roll was my personal favorite. All of the mains we had lived up to the hype but the Spaghetti Lobster pasta sauce blew me away. The cognac cream sauce and tender lobster was amazing. I can’t wait to go back, the food and service was amazing!

First, I have to mention that there was a slight issue with an allergy. It happens, but it’s not always handled correctly. Lionfish handled it, not just in the correct manner, but went above and beyond to rectify the mistake. I really commend the service culture they have created at Lionfish. I would recommend this place to anybody. Now onto the food and drinks. I had the Iberico Pork Secreto and some sushi starters. The fish was fresh and super high quality. You know, that ruby red tuna with little to no connective tissue? That’s Lionfish. My daughter had the filet and it was PERFECT.

Food and service was on point. We tried all the appetizers and sashimi. Everything was excellent. Can get crowded but not bad for the gaslight district. Will definitely partake again on next visit.

The Wagyu Beef Tataki, Specialty “King” Salmon Sashimi, Spicy Grilled Octopus were absolutely amazing. Would highly recommend. The flavors were just out of this world and the octopus was cooked to perfection. We also tried all of their sushi rolls: Bezerk and El Maniakz were absolutelu fantastic. Honorable mention to the Surf and Turf roll and Bonecrusha. They were also very good. Bonecrusha is well known and the ingredients are top notch, but I wouldnt say one roll is worth $50. The presentation was pretty cool though. The drinks were also 10/10, although could have benefited from a little less ice. I'd say 80% of the glass was ice. My only annoyance with the atmosphere were a bunch of influencers that were taking pictures the whole time they were there --- using a super bright handheld FLOODLIGHT. This thing was BRIGHT, very similar to a light that you'd use to work on a car or something similar at night. It was literally lighting up half the restaurant repeatedly & the servers were not addressing it. Other than that atmosphere and service was great. Also enjoyed the music they were playing. Would return, but Lionfish please do something if you see people use crazy flashlights/floodlights during dinner!