The call
Start with robata selections or seasonal small plates, and check the restaurant’s current menu before you go.
What to order
- Robata selections
- Seasonal small plates
Best for
- A relaxed dinner
- Sharing plates
Japanese
Robataya Oton
A longtime Convoy-area Japanese favorite for robata, small plates, and an intimate dinner that rewards ordering across the menu.
From Roger’s camera roll
More photos from Robataya Oton
Posted 2015-11-21 
Posted 2015-11-21 
Posted 2015-11-22
From Roger’s Foursquare
Roger’s tips on Robataya Oton
Black cod!
Posted
Source-backed notes
Visit history
Checked in 4 times on Swarm, most recently Sep 11, 2025. See the check-in log
2025year precision · source explicit
Food and service both received top marks in the original review.
2024year precision · reported
Visit documented in Roger's archive.
2016-01-08day precision · source explicit
“Great food! Very fresh fish. Great authentic Izakaya tapas! Have to try their 2 person hotpot next time.”
Roger's earliest documented visit here by nearly a decade: great food, very fresh fish, and great authentic izakaya tapas, with a note to try the 2-person hotpot next time. (From an unpublished Yelp draft review, never posted publicly. Matched to this existing place by exact name and address -- the draft's Yelp location tag read "Kearny Mesa," the site's own neighborhood tag for this address is "Convoy," the same immediate area.)
Stay in the neighborhood
More in Convoy.
RecommendedPrice varies
Convoy
Hongyuan Kebab
KoreanChinese
Roger rated this 5 stars, saying the Korean-Chinese style skewers are pretty close to Feng Mao in LA, right in the heart of Convoy.
- From the order notes
- Skewers
- Go for
- Korean-Chinese skewers
Latest recorded visit2024-08-01
RecommendedPrice varies
Convoy
Emerald Chinese Cuisine
ChineseCantonese
Though it had been years since his last visit, Roger rated this restaurant 4 stars from memory, recalling delicious, filling seafood and bomb dim sum.
- From the order notes
- Seafood · Dim sum
- Go for
- A filling group seafood and dim sum meal
Latest recorded visit2007-09-26
Keep exploring
More like this.
Browse the Japanese page, or continue to another place with a matching cuisine.
Roger’s pick$$$$
Old Town
Sushi Tadokoro
JapaneseSushi
One of the two omakase counters Roger named when asked where to take a visiting friend for sushi in 2022.
- From the order notes
- Omakase
- Go for
- A special sushi dinner · Letting the chef choose
Latest recordRecommended 2022
Roger’s pick$$$$
University Heights
Soichi Sushi
JapaneseSushi
Roger's University Heights omakase recommendation from 2022, paired with Tadokoro as his two go-to sushi counters.
- From the order notes
- Omakase
- Go for
- A special occasion · Letting the chef choose
Latest recordRecommended 2022