20 Best Japanese Restaurants near Pacific Grove

“My kids love sushi, so we decided to stop by this place on our way to Monterey. I ordered sushi, a California roll, fried chicken... and finished with ice cream for dessert. Everything was very satisfying. The side miso soup was a nice touch, helping with digestion and adding to the overall experience. The server was polite and attentive. After the meal, I felt comfortable and full the whole day.“

“Friendly staff, excellent food.“

“Very happy to have Maido Sushi here in Marina. Staff is friendly, food is tasty, and it feels like an actual cafe you would find in Kyoto or some parts of Tokyo having visited. Thank you :3!“

“Very good food quality. What was disappointing was the forced 18% gratuity for my family of 5. Then was given attitude when I didn't tip additional over the 18%. The best part was food quality. The service was just ok. We are a very low maintenance family to wait on.“

“This place has been here for decades and is now under new management I think. Much improved decor, food quality, brighter and cleaner, but prices are still worth it. Definitely give it another try if you haven't been here in awhile. I only wish they did delivery!“

“Delicioso 🤤 cuando lo disfrutes con las personas adecuadas para ti 🥰🥰🥰“

“I love this place... simply the best!“

“First time visited Monterey and decided to have sushi for dinner. Randomly walked in this restaurant and their food is amazing! The salmon belly literally melted in my mouth! Staffs are kind and friendly. Had a great dinner here. Will definitely come again when we’re back in town.“

“Amazing food, fresh, delicious, good presentation - everything was great. The place itself looks very basic and unassuming, but the food surely exceeded our expectations. Service was good, but I can see how some reviewers could describe it as “stoic” or “authentic Japanese”, anyway to me it was a part of the charm of this place. Highly recommended overall.“

“Oishii!
Ordered the 3 item comination plate for dinner on a Tuesday night. This was our second visit to this restaurant. It was not too busy, and we were promptly seated and given menus to look at. I oreded the teriyaki chicken, combo tempura, and inari plate.
The inari with a little wasabi was very good. The combo tempura consisted of shrimp, mushroom, green beans, onion rings, carrot, and zucchini. The tempura was very good, especially with the provided dipping sauce. The teriyaki chicken was alright. Nothing special with light and dark meat. The salad and dressing were very good as well as the rice. Service was good as we were asked how everything was or if we required anything else several times. I put Harumi as one of the top of my list for Japanese food on the penninsula and look forward to another visit.“

“This is a very friendly restaurant. The food is good and reasonably priced. I really enjoy the broiled eel and spider rolls. Ignore the food snobs writing bad reviews, who expect every restaurant that they go to be a James Beard-Michelin Star Food Network experience.“

“Fun sitting at the Sushi Bar! Great team, great service, and of course great food!“

“Crystal Fish is my go-to when I want good value and tasty sushi. The setting isn't overly fancy but neither are their prices.

I took a star off of service because the last to-go order had a mistaken roll. I still enjoyed it. I've also seen mistakes on the bill when I ate in-house. Nothing egregious but I now double check.

Bonus: they are on door dash, now“

“Went for date night and split 3 apps and a stone pot with seafood and veggies. Ordered the pan fried oysters which were unfortunately not my favorite item because I found them to be a bit bland. We also ordered the shrimp tempura with veggies which was delicious. The last app was the coconut curry soup (not pictured) which was my favorite of the 3 apps. It was slightly spicy and very tasty. The stone pot was delicious and we ate the whole thing. The clams and mussels were just a bit overcooked. Service was very good.“

“Excellent food!!! It beats what we had in Maui recently.“

“today an amazing couple paid for our tab. We are a family of 6 trust when I say our bill was not cheap. Thank you so much and may God bless. The service is always great, the food is always on point.“

“exelent service and the food it's grate.“

“Overall very good sushi spot. Plenty of rolls and other items to choose from. I will be back. The it’s a little off ocean ave and the inside looks a little dated in my opinion. The walls are covered in pictures which makes it look cluttered. I’m sure that’s a local thing. The service was pretty good although a little slow due to it being a little busy in there. I need to come back during their happy hour- three rolls for $20!“

“Honesstly i don't know what kind of ingridients they use but,it tastes way better than the one in salinas.Noodles not greasy as the ones at salinas the vegetables have more freshness and the tofu was really tasty diferent flavor might be the tofu but,it was crunchy in the out side and soft from the inside.The chicken just on its point the one in salinas to dry.“

“My wife and I will be paying a visit to the Presidio in a few weeks. We have many fond memories there from 1986/1987 when I was a Polish student and she was a Czech student, both of us U.S. Army. We met there and were married in Pacific Grove on our lunch hour. In our minds it's a magical place (and a superb language school) that expanded our horizons. We're returning to the U.S. after many years overseas.“