Animae

San Diego, California

📍 969 Pacific Hwy, San Diego, CA 92101
🍽 Asian-inspired Wagyu Steakhouse
📅 Visited: August 21, 2026

🍴 Forks Given: 🍴🍴🍴🍴☆ (4.3 / 5.0)

A night out that actually feels like a night out.

Overview

Animae delivers on the promise of the space it occupies, a futurist Art Deco interpretation of cinematic glamour designed by people who wanted every guest to feel like they’re stepping into something special. The restaurant sits beneath the Pacific Gate Tower, a 2013 landmark designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. Executive Chef Tara Monsod (Filipino-American, James Beard Best Chef California Finalist 2024, San Diego’s first-ever finalist in that category) has built a menu that treats the Japanese robata grill and coal-fired oven as the heart of the kitchen.

This is the Puffer Malarkey Collective’s answer to Asian-American fine dining with West Coast sensibility, and on the dishes we ordered, it mostly nailed it.

The Space

The restaurant is beautiful, especially the bar. The interior channels high-gloss maximalism with a futurist Art Deco energy, and the architecture of the Pacific Gate Tower above is its obvious muse. There’s cool artwork everywhere, and the whole space leans into a theatricality that makes you want to stay for a drink even if dinner is technically over. The name itself is a double tribute, to anime’s visual energy and to Chinese American actress Anna May Wong. It’s a lot, but in this case it works.

Cocktails

We started with Conktails (Animae’s signature cocktail line). They were pretty good: well-crafted, visually appealing, and a nice way to ease into the meal. We wanted to try the 7 Star Sling specifically, but they were out that day, which is a disappointment for a cocktail that’s apparently part of the draw. Worth trying if you’re in the area.

The Food

Seabass Cha Ca

Score: 9/10

Amazing. Cooked to perfection. The Thai sauce paired really well with the fish. This dish proves the kitchen knows what it’s doing: the robata grill and coal-fired oven aren’t just set dressing. The seafood came out with that clean, high-heat char that only works when the grill is properly tuned, and the Thai-inspired sauce had enough brightness to keep it from feeling heavy. One of the better seafood preparations we’ve had at a steakhouse-adjacent concept.

Wagyu Corned Beef Fried Rice

Score: 8.5/10

Excellent dish. A great take on a classic that turns fried rice into something you’d actually order at an upscale restaurant rather than an afterthought. The wagyu corned beef brings that rich, umami-packed depth, and the execution was tight across the board. It’s not show-stopping, but it’s reliably delicious.

Manto (Steamed Buns)

Score: 9/10

The steamed buns at Animae are excellent, easily one of the best starters we’ve had in a while. Perfectly steamed, well-seasoned, and good enough to make you wish more restaurants took starters this seriously. If you only order one thing besides the main, make it these.

Crispy Potatoes

Score: 8/10

Very tasty, with a nice crispy texture and a great sauce. Solid, unpretentious, and well-executed. It shows the kitchen’s attention to detail extends past the headline dishes.

Coal Roasted Cabbage

Score: 6.5/10

Really good at first, but the flavor gets very strong and overbearing after a while. There’s something about the coal-roasting that works brilliantly in the early bites and then just keeps hammering you. It’s not a bad dish (it’s cooked well and the cabbage itself is good), but it lacks the balance to carry you through the whole plate, the one item on our order that felt like a single note in a meal that was otherwise well-tuned.

Chocolate Crèmeux (Dessert)

Score: 9.5/10

Amazing. Incredible balance of flavors, and if you’re not into black sesame, this dish might change your mind. The crèmeux itself was perfectly set, the black sesame was front and center without being abrasive, and the overall composition showed real pastry skill. Kylie Cablayan, Animae’s pastry chef, knows what she’s doing. We would have stayed for dessert alone.

Forks Given Score Breakdown

Category	Score (1–5)	Weight
Food Quality	4.2	40%
Value	4.0	20%
Service & Experience	4.3	15%
Ambiance & Environment	4.8	10%
Execution vs Intent	4.3	10%
Return Factor	5.0	5%

Final Forks Given Score: 4.3 / 5.0

The Verdict

Animae is one of San Diego’s better recent dining experiences. The space is special: beautiful, cinematic, and unapologetic about wanting to be a destination. Chef Tara Monsod’s kitchen delivers consistently good food, with standout dishes in the Seabass Cha Ca, the Wagyu Corned Beef Fried Rice, the Manto, and especially the Chocolate Crèmeux. The Coal Roasted Cabbage had issues with intensity, but even that was better executed than most restaurants’ full menus.

The bar is a highlight. The cocktail program is solid (even if you have to hope they’re not out of your go-to). And the whole thing sits beneath one of San Diego’s more architecturally interesting buildings, which doesn’t hurt.

Would we go back? Absolutely. This is a restaurant you bring people to when you want to impress them. Book via OpenTable: opentable.com/r/animae-san-diego.