Whole in the wall with great sushi. Definitely a place to stop by if you are in the area. The interior makes it seem like an average sushi place but as a sushi lover I can tell you it's insanely good quality fish.

Pretty random spot in Scotts Valley. The exterior was so appealing that led me very curious.

We sat at the bar and was greeted by the super friendly staff. We ordered two rolls and demolished them very quickly. The fish was super fresh and the price was insanely low for the quality of the fish.

It happened to be a birthday/anniversary celebration and the chef/owner got us a free dessert. The cake was great too.

Strongly would recommend this place as it's quick, high quality, great service!

Wow, I didn't expect to find such delicious sushi at a great value in Scott's Valley.

Came here during lunch on a Friday at 11am and were immediately acknowledged by one of the servers who pointed us to sit a a booth. This set the tone for the entire meal service, which was speedy and very friendly. The ladies and the younger guy working there are delightful.

I spotted their uni special on the board and of course had to add it to our order which consisted of shrimp tempura appetizer, Sushi Deluxe entree, and Sashimi Sampler entrees.
-Uni: Fresh, sweet uni from Hokkaido. At $17.50 well priced. The rice was beautifully seasoned and definitely one of the best in the Bay Area.
-Shrimp tempura: perfect batter to shrimp ratio. The shrimp was fresh. The accompanying sauce was very flavorful.
-Free miso soup and salad: I was surprised to see that the miso soup was rather large (more of a bowl vs cup) with a generous amount of tofu. We it was also more flavorful compared to other places. The complimentary salad was also delicious and included tomato and cucumber slices which you won't find at other places.
-The sushi: yes, the rice was the star. Perfectly seasoned with just-the-right sticky texture to ensure successful plate-to-mouth delivery. Most of the fish slices (with one exception) were very fresh and tasty.

I highly recommend this place for the value, service and food to anyone looking to enjoy a lovely sushi meal.

We were passing through, decided to stopped by for lunch, and were pleasantly surprised by their sushi quality.

Protein roll: our favorite. I'm not one to usually go for no rice rolls but this was surprisingly very tasty, light and refreshing. The dipping sauce in the middle was also tasty. I found myself dipping sushi pieces from the other rolls we ordered in the dipping sauce until they took the plate away lol. 5/5

Playboy roll: my second favorite. Another tasty roll. The raw fish tasted fresh and the shrimp tempura added a nice crunch. Could have used a little less sauce toppings in my opinion. They were very generous with the spicy Mayo and eel sauce. 4/5

Surf n turf roll: personal preference but I would have liked the angus beef to be more tender. When I think of a seared protein, I usually expected it to be lightly cooked. The beef was well done which is probably better for health safety concerns but it made the texture more chewy then tender. The overall flavor of this roll was slightly underwhelming compared to the other 2 rolls. 3/5

Would definitely be open to going back next time I'm in the area!

Busy but worth the wait. We came here on a Sunday night and you could tell we were lucky to get a table as we walked in. Lots of big parties were going on and the staff was so attentive despite how busy they were. We ordered the sashimi platter and sushi platter along with the hamachi carpaccio and volcano roll. The volcano roll had cream cheese in it and I am not a fan. Other than that the meal was great. Coming back as much as we can.

Delicious food! The prices are fair and the service is very good. Love this place. They recently got punch cards to get rewards if you come more often, too, which is fun :)

Love the scallops wrapped in bacon
Had the poke salad with seaweed salad
Both were a bit overpriced tho

Best Japanese food in the Santa Cruz area. They flavor their rice properly offer fresh wasabi. I've been eating here for nearly 15 years. Never had a bad meal.

Great lunch special and their lobster roll is the best! When I  Scotts Valley stop by and try it out. One of our weekly spots.

Otoro is my absolute favorite sushi place in the States . . . period! Sure, you can pay a few hundred dollars for two people in LA or NYC (or even over the hill in San Jose or SF), but, for delicious, fresh, high-quality sushi that you can easily incorporate into your normal restaurant rotation, I've not tried anywhere better.

My favorite dishes are the Chirashi Bowl (assorted sashimi on top of warm, seasoned rice), their unagi nigiri (grilled eel on rice), and their tuna belly (when available). If you are a fan of buttery sushi, their fish is delectably marbled and melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Though, frankly, just about anything there, from their rolls to their bento to their desserts (especially the fried oreos and icecream) is at minimum pretty good. Their food is rich and mouthwatering on any part of their menu.

On top of amazing food, the service is great! The owners both work at the restaurant most days - the wife manages the front-of-house and parts of food service in the general kitchen and her husband runs the sushi bar. They're both very friendly and efficient, and the rest of their staff is friendly, timely, and accurate.

The ambiance is the only thing not perfect, as it looks like just a normal strip mall sushi place. However, it is pristinely clean, the furniture maintained, and has a good organization and flow. For the location they have established in, they have a great presentation and maintenance of the space.

If you want a delicious sushi experience in Santa Cruz county, you can't miss visiting Otoro!