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    Sushi Joa Restaurant

    4.0 (226 reviews)
    Open 11:30 am - 8:30 pm
    Updated 3 weeks ago

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    Steve S.

    First time visitor to this restaurant today. Stopped in for lunch to meet some friends. We were there during the middle of lunch service and things moved quickly. Menu featured, sashimi, bento boxes and some nice rolls. We ordered a Poké bowl and four different rolls. They were all delicious. Fish was fresh and each one had a unique sauce and flavor. Server was very attentive and kept our glasses full and removed empty plates. Highly recommend if you are in the Mercer Island area.

    Chicken Teriyaki & Chicken Katsu Bento Box
    Jay S.

    Pretty good sashimi and rolls all around, with nothing spectacular and nothing terribly negative. I think if one wants to look for a quick bite while craving sushi instead of looking for anything exquisite or amazingly delicious, which was what my friends and I did, then this establishment would be a good option. We ordered the sake (salmon) and o-toro (fatty tuna) sashimi, and we were given a reasonable amount with the price that was charged. The sashimi was pretty good in a standard manner. We quickly devoured it. The chicken teriyaki and chicken katsu bento box was also pretty standardly good, with a fair amount of chicken and basic salad with dressing, along with two pieces of oranges and a little bit of rice. Once again, good in a standard way. In fact, I could say the same about everything else, from the red dragon roll to the Seattle tempura roll and to the tempura ice cream. I thought they all resembled what I have had elsewhere in the United States when looking for a Japanese food place located in an outlet-looking type of place, so if you know what I mean, then this is what you would expect here at Sushi Joa as well. That's about it! One plus I will give was the playlist, which I even asked about. They put "Snooze" by SZA on Apple Music and all it played was R&B songs by similar musicians and I was totally down for that haha. But of course, that is purely my personal preference so I just want to throw that out there!

    Red Lantern Roll
    Patrick S.

    This place is awesome! I am only tempted to give it a lower review just to keep it a secret still! haha. This is really good sushi at really good price point. It is much more affordable than any comparable sushi in either Seattle or in Bellevue! Once we came here for dinner, and now it is a monthly staple. We bring people from out of state here and they too are impressed. The service is very friendly and quick. You can usually come here at dinner time and get a table for two either right away or very very quickly. For apps: recommend the agedashi tofu for vegetarians, and the tempura jalapeno poppers with spicy salmon inside for those feeling adventurous. The tempura vegetables are also really great! When it comes to choosing a roll, there are too many good ones to recommend. I personally like the firecracker, Island, red lantern and red dragon. But honestly you cannot go wrong. If you are vegetarian try the crunchy asparagus roll. The nigiri and sashimi are also all great and never fail to dissapoint! Try this place out! Bring your friends, (just not too many so this place can still stay somewhat of secret)!

    Kim T.

    Hidden gem on Mercer Island! Very fresh and nicely presented rolls. Tempura also tasty and lightly crispy. Restaurant is also clean and casual. Service was super friendly. Must visit for reasonably priced rolls!

    Annie R.

    We love love love sushi joa! We live nearby and used to order from here all the time- still do a lot! Their bento box is a ton of food for like $25. And they have a ton of not sushi options too for those who don't eat fish. This is one of my fiancés favorite places and he doesn't even eat sushi! The bento box he gets comes with tempura veggies and chicken karage, it is delicious! I eat sushi and I love their sushi. It's our favorite sushi place on the island.

    Miso Soup, Spicy California Roll, Firecracker Roll
    Hannah O.

    Our service was super fast and food was great! The restaurant was fairly empty but lots of people stopping by to pickup orders. The food tasted fresh!

    Menu
    Kamara S.

    I had a class to go to with limited food options in the near vicinity. Because I had time and Mercer island was the second to last stop, I decided to eat at Mercer for a change in pace. A place that was open on a Monday afternoon was Sushi Joa. I found out later that it was a sister restaurant to Kiwami in Kirkland which I had for takeout previously. According to Google Maps, they were in the same vicinity as the Walgreens I needed to go to. However, when there you will notice that the sushi place is upstairs on the left side of Walgreens next to Pogacha Restaurant. So keep that in mind if you are driving or walking there. When I arrived, the place had no outdoor seating and the inside was nearly empty (it was Monday after 3 pm so not surprised). It was a quaint place with a good amount of tables and a sushi bar. I chose a table for the day. They had hand sanitizer at the front and the music was playing pop/modern hits (Taylor swift anyone). Because I had a class that required physical activity, I didn't eat much. I had a nigiri sampler which was good and affordable. I had miso soup which if I chose a meal option, I could have had it come along side instead of a la carte. I also had the hand rolls which I had an albacore version a negitoro one. I really enjoyed those and wished I had more space in my stomach for those items. When it came closer to 4/5 pm, more people ended up coming in either for takeout or dine in but not packed. But I remembered seeing someone's roll and though it looked pretty good. I like that they had the options to replace the normal white rice with brown rice for the rolls and it gave a standard price which isn't too common. If it ate differently, I might have considered it. They also had specials which they had a special board for. So definitely have the possibly of trying something new if you plan on being a regular. Also funny enough, I liked the chopsticks they had for eating. It wasn't typical and came rounded and pre-separated. One thing I wanted to call out is the bathrooms. I believe they are shared with Pogacha and they are weird. Though they had non unisex bathrooms, inside the door was only one stall. Plus in the ladies room, the garbage can was huge and in the actual stall while you relieve yourself. It was a small thing but I remembered it. Overall, i wouldn't mind coming back to this establishment if I am in the island especially as one of the few, relatively healthy open places on a Monday for dinner especially one where you can dine in.

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    19 days ago

    Great sushi, sashimi, Bento box and udon noodle lunch at reasonable prices and with excellent service. A favorite on Mercer Island.

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    8 months ago

    Fresh fish! Delicious rolls! Amazing service and so happy we stumbled upon this spot! Will be back! Fast service too!

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    Greg K.

    Thank you for great review and see you again soon!

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    3 years ago

    So good! Consistent. Great service! Weekly indulgence! Highly recommend! Go fill your belly!

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    4 years ago

    Ordered salmon, tough to chew, not my expectation for sushi. I can't say that I really enjoyed my food.

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    5 years ago

    I really like the Tsunami roll here! Not sure if this is the only sushi place on the island!!! But all I can say is Delicious!!!!

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    2 years ago

    This has been a consistent go to Sushi and bento place on MI. I love the bento choices and presentation and the hubs loves the sushi.

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    3 years ago

    Best sushi in Mercer Island . One of the few places to get great blue fin tuna sashimi. Would recommend

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    Page 1 of 6

    Ask the Community - Sushi Joa Restaurant

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    Wild Wasabi Signature

    4.2(115 reviews)
    3.0 mi
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    I was looking for somewhere to celebrate an exciting new job and this was the perfect spot! Wowwww…read morewowowowowow The ambiance is incredible, from the decor, food, space, service, even down to the menu. Our server was so incredibly sweet, so accommodating and so patient with all of my questions and requests. I started off with the Lychee Sake-tini and I will be thinking about that drink for a longggg time, for someone who loves a fruity lil sweet drink it was perfection in every way. Then the FOOD. You can do hibachi or you can be seated in the dining room and I had my heart set on sushi (but now will be back to try hibachi for sure!). My partner ordered the pico sushi tower and the fried calamari. Both were very impressive serving sizes! She was feeling ambitious and was going to order 3 tapas, but ended up not even being able to finish the two. I ordered the sake bento box and WOW. I had had my heart pretty set on trying it going in because I had looked at the menu ahead of time, and was sad when the menu didn't have it listed as gluten free BUT I mentioned it to our server and she was happy to accommodate. I got to live my sushi bento box dreams We already are thinking of all the reasons and times to come back, 10000/10!!!

    Early dinner on a Wed…read more - Very attentive and courteous service - Ordered from regular and happy hour menu - All dishes tasted great - Single-ingredient rolls (hosomaki) were good but tiny - that might be OK, based on what you like

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    Japonessa Sushi Cocina

    Japonessa Sushi Cocina

    4.0(1.4k reviews)
    2.5 mi
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    Outdoor seating
    Happy hour specials

    Everything is incredibly fresh here at Japonessa. Their lunch prices are pretty good and you save a…read morefew dollars for many items. I got the Chirashi bowl with chef's choice of fish and it was really good and fresh. The chef picked scallops, tuna, yellowtail, surf clam, salmon, and I was very pleased with this option. Located in the mall so it may be hard to find, but you'll see it.

    Japanese sushi restaurant in the 1st floor of Lincoln Square South. Pretty spacious modern looking…read moreinterior, with a sushi bar area and a good amount of table seating. Not a lot of people there for a random weekday lunch. Lots of different rolls and sushi on the menu, along with beverages. The happy hour menu is also valid during lunch time. We tried a bunch of appetizers. My favorite was the calamari. There isn't much batter but there is a sweetness from orange zest. The edamame and takoyaki were decent. The chicken kaarage was not particularly flavorful nor did it have much of a crispy skin. Also tried the Cos-no-politan mocktail which definitely had that grapefruit flavor. For mains, I got the bento and the Super Bad Boy roll off the happy hour menu. The bento box has good portions. The contents change day to day, but I got chicken teriyaki over rice, 3 pieces of a crab roll, 2 pieces of fish nigiri, seaweed salad with some small octopi. Everything in the box was decent except the teriyaki, which was a bit rubbery. As for the Super Bad Boy roll, it's one of their fried rolls, and the frying made the roll taste a bit dry. Should have ordered a non-fried roll. Overall, service was good, portions okay. Some items were good, some were not that great.

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    Takai by Kashiba - Beautiful.

    Takai by Kashiba

    4.2(193 reviews)
    2.3 mi
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    Came here with family for a late birthday celebration and was glad I finally made the trip. Takai…read morehas been on my "to try" list ever since hearing that Chef Shiro co-partnered opening a restaurant on the Eastside a couple of years ago. Reservations were made ~3 weeks in advance for a reasonable dinner time slot on a weekend. We opted for the A La Carte Menu option which gave us the ability to order individual menu items while still offering omakase options. Our party of 4 ordered 2 omakase's (nigiri choice), a nigiri set, a salmon moriawase, and seasonal tempura. I personally ordered the omakase and the experience was well worth it with the sushi quality being extremely high. There were ~7 to 8 courses served throughout the omakase experience including 3 courses involving nigiri and the remaining courses involving a blend of small bites (egg, fish cake, tempura, sashimi, miso soup, dessert egg, hojicha ice cream to name a few). What especially stood out to me was the outstanding service that was displayed throughout the course of the meal. Our server was notably attentive and even went as far as switching the presentation of my nigiri courses after noticing I was left-handed so that I could eat from left to right while normally advising guests to eat from right to left. Every time one of us went to the restroom, our tablecloths were folded by our server and placed back onto the table. Tableware was immediately cleared upon finishing a course and every course in the omakase set came with a detailed description of the food you were about to eat and where in the world it was coming from. In all, the great food makes me want to be back soon, but the high level of service for the night completely made the experience that much more memorable.

    Overall: If you value fish aging, quiet technical execution (he's efficient but mostly quiet), and…read morea variety of fish, this place is worth a visit. Nothing stands out though, so you may not walk away "wowed". I think if this was half the price it'd be 4 or 5 stars, but for what you pay, I don't know if it'd crack the top in the greater Seattle area. Missus says it's on the same level as I love sushi - there's nothing special about this place. The booking and setup: One of the missus' acquaintances scored an OpenTable reservation for three. Getting prime dinner spots here usually requires deliberate timing or alert tracking, so having someone else handle the booking logistics was a welcome relief. The restaurant operates on strict seatings (roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes), situated on the ground floor of the One88 building at 180 Bellevue Way NE. We parked at the pickleball / orange theory parking lot - just steps away from the front door. Parking cost was $6.62 for 2 hours. Arrival & room vibe: We were seated promptly after arriving at 725pm. The background vibe is some kind of jazz track (that has gone on the whole time). Bathrooms are individual gender neutral - two at the back. There's 7 seats at the sushi bar, probably 6 at the drinking bar, and a smattering of sit-down tables. Drinks: just still water. I ordered a Mikan ale for $12. The meal (Omakase progression): 23 courses total. Starters / Cooked courses: right to left - persimmon with shimeji mushroom, tuna belly, some kind of snail. The sashimi: akami from Spain, amberjack, yellowtail / blue snapper. Missus liked the amberjack. One more course before the Nigiri! Chawanmushi - with freshwater eel, shrimp, and shimeji mushrooms. Nigiri highlights: 18 pieces of sushi! - 1st: knifejaw bream from Chiba - chewy, - 2nd: chutoro from Mexico (medium fatty tuna): as expected. - 3rd: shima aji - jack mackerel: missus liked this piece. - 4th: shiroi - squid from Japan. Chewy. Definitely squid. - 5th: iwashi - sardine - from Chiba Japan (missus likes the saltiness). - 6th: king salmon belly with onion on top - fatty and nice. - 7th: hotate (scallop) with Yuzu zest and lemon juice - colder than I expected. - 8th: Nodoguro from Akita Japan - missus favourite Tempura break! Fish, shishito pepper, mushroom. Dip into the salt! The shishito is mega spicy - missus is unfazed, but my mouth is on fire. OK back to sashimi (he's cutting more as we eat tempura) - 9th: akamizuke, marinated in special soy sauce, from Mexico. - 10th: kinmedai - golden eye snapper from Chiba Japan - - 11th: amaebi - sweet shrimp - 3 days aged - chewy and silky? - we also got a tempura version of the head, which was crunchy. - 12th: otoro (fatty tuna) - I'm a sucker for this kind of piece. - 13th: kohada (gizzard shad) - the texture and depth of flavour was good in this one. - 14th: Kisu (Japanese Whiting) - 15th: Katsuo (Skipjack Tuna / Bonito) with scallions on top, - 16th: handroll - Hokkaido uni, ikura, shiso leaf, tuna. Dang uni is good. Miso soup break! It was decent. - 17th: anago (saltwater sea eel) - grilled - 18th: tamago - egg - dessert - with hojicha ice cream Service & pacing: decently fast. It's 8:05pm and we're already into sushi. Jun asks if the sushi is rightsized (rice wise). Overall service is good but I'm sitting in the corner so it's kinda awks for the wait staff to refill water, etc. Jun will wait until you finish your current piece before moving on. We fully finished the last course and paid by 9:10pm. The damage: normally $195/person for the omakase, before drinks (I ordered the ale), tax, and tips. They don't auto add tips. We ended up Venmo'ing the person who got the reservation $290 for us two, so that's $145/person? I guess not the worst. Final verdict: variety but less size? Nothing stood out to either myself or the missus. The upside is that we were all full, though.

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    4.0(131 reviews)
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    WOW! Not often do I get blown away by a restaurant and immediately text friends and family about…read moreit, but Itadaki IS that place. From the moment I stepped inside to the decor and service to the taste and quality of food, I was impressed the entire night. Most bbq places are laid back and loud, but this place is refined, sophisticated, and everything you'd want for a date night or celebration. Starting off with service, everyone we spoke with was lovely and inviting. We felt welcomed and our server kept checking on us, but wasn't too invasive, so we were able to catch up. We were greeted with hand towels and 3 options for water. Cutlery and tableware were nicely set up and I'm obsessed with their plates! I was blown away by all of the dishes we ordered but my favorites were definitely the Uni Toast, Wagyu Volcano, and honestly all the meats we ordered to grill. They grill your meats for you, so it is a bit awkward because the person stands there until everything is done, but it's cooked to perfection! Highly recommend for a nice date night or celebration dinner.

    Three of us did the Omakase (chef's choice). You choose the price and then they add items based on…read morethe tier. Everything we had was excellent. We started with a wagyu toast and the meat just melted in your mouth. We also had alaska king crab with A5. Kind of a surf and turf nigiri. The uni toast was a little too much toast but it was a generous amount of uni. The Rubik's cube was a literal cube of meat. They cook it to perfection in front of you. Lots of sauces and sides to try. Everything was very good. It's amazing how different each cut of meat tastes. I loved the silky egg yolk in the volcano. They offer bottle service as well as drinks and their drinks were excellent. Would definitely go back!

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    4.3(591 reviews)
    2.6 mi
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    Coming in for last call and the staff was still super friendly and attentive, great options for…read moresingle bites if you don't want a dozen of something minimum. Great selection of different oysters. The prawn was gigantic, all the accoutrements were great. Rockefeller were on point!

    Good sushi and excellent oysters, served by the most condescending and hostile server I've ever…read moreencountered in my life. Server: "Welcome! Would you like to start off with some sourdough and butter for the table?" Us: "Eh, we have a lactose issue, so maybe not" Server: "That's not a problem. We can just bring out some olive oil instead with the bread" Us: "That would be awesome thank you" (Bread gets dropped off while we are reading the menu and its got butter instead of olive oil. No biggie) Server: "How's the bread?" Us: "We haven't had any. They haven't brought olive oil to the table yet" Server: "No problem" [Returns with olive oil] Us: "We're big fans of your Kumamoto oysters, but we have a little trouble with spicy food. Would it be possible to -" Server: [Interrupting] "No. I already know what your question is going to be, and the answer is no." Us: "Can we order oysters without any of your horseradish sauces?" Server: "No. All our oyster sauces pre-mixed with horseradish, and they cant make a new sauce just for you" Us: "Could we just have an order of the oysters with your migonette?" Server: "There's horseradish in that too, and you're not going to like it" (which is untrue - Migonette is not made with horseradish) Us: "OK well we'll keep looking over the menu for some options then. While we are looking things over, can we order the Trojan Sushi Roll without wasabi?" Server: "Will you be having any wine tonight?" Us: "Just the sushi for now please, we're going to look at the menu some more." Server: [Snatches the wine glasses off the table, and is clearly agitated] "Fantastic." Server returns with the sushi: "I went ahead and told the kitchen to take out the cilantro from the roll for you too. Did you guys want to take this to-go?" Us: "Why would we want the cilantro taken out? We just asked for the horseradish to be removed." Server: "You guys told me you cant handle spice and cilantro is pretty spicy to some people." Us: "We just wanted the wasabi left out. Everything else was fine." Server: "You know what, I'll just bring you some cilantro stalks, so you can decorate it yourself." Server comes back and drops a ramekin of micro greens in the middle of the table. I've waited tables myself for over 10 years, from diners to fine dining, and I wouldn't have dreamed of ever acting like that with a guest. At this point I spoke to the manager and he took the server off our table. The manager was very understanding and acted quickly to switch us to a new server, and they let us order the oysters with just the migonette. Even though the manager comped the oysters, and was trying to salvage our experience, our visit was pretty much ruined by that server. I've never been openly disrespected by a waiter like that before, and I've played the interaction out in my mind multiple times, and I still have no idea what made him crash out like that. Servers are the face and the personality of any restaurant. And to see a waiter get so openly hostile when someone is trying to I ever encountered a server who was even a fraction as rude as this guy was - he went from zero to hostile in a matter of seconds, and I still have absolutely no idea why.

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