Cancel

Open app

Search

Japonica

4.6 (16 reviews)
Closed • 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Updated a few days ago

JAPONICA · YELP ASSISTANT

Ask Yelp Assistant

Japonica Photos

JAPONICA ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Outdoor seating
Happy hour specials

You might also consider

Recommended Reviews - Japonica

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

Cantaloupe spritzer
Susan S.

Wanted to like his place but it was just ok. A bit disappointed for the prices for counter style. Staff were friendly. Place clean with jazz playing. Prices are a bit higher for a counter order place. Yuzu lemonade $6.50 - 8 oz with lots of ice. Cantaloupe spritzer good. Tasty but pretty expensive Bento box #1 $28 - 3.5 stars; a little boring and expensive for what you got. Ahi bowl $24 - 3 stars. I think the ahi was frozen and the rice was a bit hard. Small portions for the price points. Not necessarily a place that I would go back again but there are limited options on the Island.

Nikki S.

SUCH a special place clearly crafted with love and we had very high hopes after trying Mommafish. I can say that the food definitely lived up to those expectations (the rolls were delicious and so was the mixed bowl we got!) but the dessert (a chocolate cake) did not. Perhaps more disappointing was the fact that we had to wait 45 minutes from sitting down and ordering to get our food - and the miso soup & edamame never came until we mentioned. My husband also noted in our reservation that we were celebrating my birthday and they did not acknowledge, so no candle for me. Overall, I would go back though, especially if I didn't have a hungry toddler in tow!

Lunch Menu
Michele L.

Japonica is relatively new - opened on April 8th! They have a really nicely decorated, serene space. Originally we wanted to try mommafish - more poke style, but I think they may have rebranded themselves as Japonica. Their space is relatively big - both indoor and outdoor seating, small and large seats available. We stopped by around 1PM on a Saturday (Farmer's Market is actually right next door if you wanted to check that out too) and there was a few people there. A pretty intimate setting. Ordering is done at the counter, they provide you with a number card, and you're free to sit wherever there's an open space. Between my partner and I, we ordered a Seared Tuna Bowl and a 100% Real Crab Cali Roll. I'm not usually one to opt for Cali rolls, but the Blue Crab sounded delicious. We also got the Cantaloupe Spritzer and the Yuzu Lemonade. Both entrees were pretty delicious. Everything was really fresh. For the Seared Tuna Bowl, the ginger dressing they poured on top of the Ahi Tuna slices paired deliciously. The tuna slices had a seasoned, crusty outer layer, but was still raw otherwise. Neither the sauce and seasoning was overwhelming. I really enjoyed the seaweed salad it came with too. It's not the usual vibrant (almost neon) green seaweed salad you can find at Costco, but the kind that looks more real. Not sure how to describe the difference other than how it looks, but it was refreshing! The cucumber was simple and added a different kind of refreshness and crunchiness to the overall mix. As for the Cali roll, that was better than any other Cali roll that I've tried. There's a kind of bite you get with real shredded crab meat and you definitely get that with this roll. You don't taste much of the avocado mayo, but it does glue all the ingredients in the roll together. Rice to ingredient ratio is on point! You get more ingredients than you get rice, which is how it should be in my opinion. As for drinks, they were really generous with their portions of it. Neither of the drink was overly sweetened by syrup, but the flavor of the cantaloupe really came through in the Spritzer. As for the Yuzu Lemonade, it was refreshing and light. A delicious, great meal overall. We're glad we stopped and tried Japonica and we definitely recommend it to people looking for fresh sushi or a light lunch.

Patty K.

My husband and I went to Japonica on Saturday night for the first time and we had such a good time. The food was amazing. I ordered a spicy tuna roll and my husband had fresh crab California roll. Mine was very yummy and I tasted one of my husbands and I loved it. You could really taste the fresh crab. We also split a special bowl, which I don't think is on the menu, but it had a little bit of everything in it. It had yellowfin tuna, sashimi, shrimp, a little crab on a bed of seaweed salad, and rice underneath. It was big enough to split. We also shared the jellied coffee dessert. I'm not sure what is called, but I'm not sure I liked the texture of the jelly cubes. The taste was good though. The service was a little slow initially getting to us, but after that, Lily was great. She kept checking on us to make sure everything was OK and it was. The ambience was cozy and they did a great job refurbishing the Restaurant. We will be back! I told my husband, feels like we're in the Bay Area again. lol! It's nice to have a good restaurant on the island. Much appreciated.! P

Night Special

See all

2 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Douglas B.
107
28
53

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

8 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Curt H.
0
19
11

11 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

10 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

The food was excellent, service was very smooth and efficient. The patio is wonderful under the trees.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

11 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

Ask the Community - Japonica

You might also consider

Callen's Restaurant - Deviled eggs

Callen's Restaurant

4.0(374 reviews)
14.3 mi
•$$

Great food and friendly staff!…read more We love Callen's! It's a favorite of locals and travelers alike. One of the coolest things about Callen's is that -- although the have stellar seafood selections -- they also have high quality non-seafood selections for people like my wife who don't care for seafood. The drinks are really good too!

Doesn't look like much from the outside but everything we had was so delicious! Plus, immediately…read morete first restaurant available off the Coupeville Ferry. We enjoyed the HH menu. The fresh albacore brioche, rockfish taco with chips, fishwich (fresh fried fish sliders my favorite of all) pork sliders, wedge salad (amazing amount if dressing if you like it drenched), and garlic cheese fries, plus a kids cheeseburger/fries for the little one (which was a decent size) Drinks: Watermelon Mojito and Raspberry Lemoncellio (not on HH but so tasty and flavorful) All three in our group enjoyed ourselves. Our server was attentive without being overbearing. There are signs that say to expect an hour for your visit because everything is freshly prepared. We would've gladly waited an hour because everything tasted well, but we didn't have to. Items came out a good pace. There are two dining areas, the one to the right is bigger called the chandelier room with the bar, dining tables and two restrooms. The one to the left is gives off diner vibes with one nearby restroom.

Photos
Callen's Restaurant - Waiting area for seating, likely busier during warmer months.

Waiting area for seating, likely busier during warmer months.

Callen's Restaurant - All the goods!

All the goods!

Callen's Restaurant - A bad restaurant

See all

A bad restaurant

Freeland Café and Lounge - Chicken salad

Freeland Café and Lounge

3.5(175 reviews)
3.0 mi
•$$

This place is so quaint! I am very grateful that we stopped here!…read more I ordered their Blueberry, Bourbon, Bacon and Swiss burger. - It was so delicious!! Never had anything like it! I love that they took on their own spin to create this elevated burger. No doubt, I would return here just for that! Love the soft lighting and the ambiance had a comfy warm-feel. Service was so friendly with indoor/outdoor dining. Highly recommend.

Stopped here on the way out of Whidbey. There's not a ton of food options in this area, but this…read moreplace is still a great option. The staff are super quick and friendly. Although there is not a ton of seating options, and even on a Monday morning we had one of the last tables. Food was solid. 2 of our friends got the breakfast sandwich which looked pretty standard maybe a little on the small side? but flavorside neither of them had any complaints. I had the XL country fried steak, and it is indeed XL. It's more like a double portion, rather than 1 giant steak, but still the portion is massive. The scramble was done perfectly where it was still fluffy. My only critique would be the pancake. It is large, and comes with an unfathomable amount of syrup (so if you love syrup that's perfect). But my only note is the texture? it felt kinda spongey rather than fluffy. I'd probably consider hashbrowns and toast over the pancakes.

Photos
Freeland Café and Lounge
Freeland Café and Lounge - Chicken topped salad

Chicken topped salad

Freeland Café and Lounge - Outdoor seating.

See all

Outdoor seating.

China City - Egg Flower Soup (very good)

China City

3.5(201 reviews)
2.6 mi
•$$

Conveniently located in Freeland, great food, and in a really cool Building!…read moreI can't believe we haven't gone there sooner, their almond chicken is incredible.

We went here on July 2nd and our first impression wasn't a good one. The person at the counter was…read moreon the phone but didn't acknowledge us at all when we arrived (as I would have when I used to work in restaurants, but I guess that's just my customer service experience talking). Then a man came up to pay while we were waiting and after she hung up the phone, she immediately started helping him, again without acknowledging we were standing there. Pretty poor form if I'm honest, and was a not-great introduction to the business. The place was pretty packed so we had a 20-minute wait. Fine, not terrible, and we needed to eat and had no guarantees anywhere else would be faster. Tyler was our server and was one of those servers with the superhuman trait of being able to hold a table's order in his memory. I will never know how they do this. We ordered the dumplings and egg flower soup for the kiddo and veggie chow mein and crab cheese wontons for me. The kitchen was backed up so everything was coming out piecemeal (which is fine with me, I'd rather have it when it's fresh). The egg flower soup was good and the dumplings as well. My chow mein was delicious and while maybe could have used a LITTLE more sauce, was well worth it. My kiddo who isn't a chow mein eater even had some! We never got the crab cheese wontons, so whether that was a kitchen issue or a server's possibly human-after-all's memory, I'll never know. Either way it wasn't an issue as I was pretty full at that point and it would have been too much food. It was a bit overpriced for what you get but it was what we needed so I can't complain (except for that service at the front desk, which have I mentioned was terrible?).

Photos
China City - Also in the enterance.

Also in the enterance.

China City - Crab Cheese Wanton (rich, very good)

Crab Cheese Wanton (rich, very good)

China City - Part of the dining room.

See all

Part of the dining room.

Japonica - comfortfood - Updated November 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...