27 Best Japanese Restaurants near San Clemente

“Delicious chicken bowls, caterpillar rolls and udon. Friendly cashier and someone just came around to the front to bring us an extra needed chair unasked which we appreciated!

Kid-friendliness: Casual. A bar-type counter inside with stools and tables outside“

“This place has some of the best sushi in town at reasonable prices! The staff is very friendly and fun and they're very attentive. It's definitely a hidden gem of San Clemente

Vegetarian options: There are many vegetarian options to choose from

Dietary restrictions: They can accommodate virtually any dietary restrictions

Parking: There is always parking available right at the store front

Kid-friendliness: Kids are very welcome there

Wheelchair accessibility: This place is ADA compliant“

“RECOMMENDATION - We have been here too many times to count and will keep coming back.
(5:30pm Monday night)
(2 adults)

VALUE - $28 - 3.5/5
- Bento Box dinner - teriyaki with a side order of vegi tempura - 4/5
We really like the dinner. We get it To Go and then eat it at home. It's nice for the two of us to split.

PORTION SIZE- 4/5
We add an extra portion of tempura and then split the whole meal. So, portion sizes are good.

SERVICE- 4/5
Their service is always great. Happy people. The whole place says, 'Welcome!' when you enter and, ' See you tomorrow!' when you leave. :)

ATMOSPHERE - 4/5
Typical small sushi place. Friendly environment. Not loud. We've eaten here many times, in the restaurant and To Go. They even have a few tables outside when the weather is nice, which is most of the time.“

“Oooommmggggg!! I can't believe I didn't know about this hidden gem!! The sushi quality is amazing, the prices are super affordable and the service was great. Lots of parking, no wait time and friendly staff. This is definitely a new favorite place that I will be visiting frequently!!! A+++“

“Best Tomo fried rice, smothered fries, and Ramen I've had since moving to south OC. And the staff is super friendly! I drive 15 to 20 minutes just to get their food.“

“This is my husband and I's favorite poke place ever. We've tried a ton of places throughout OC and on the east coast & this place is definitely the best. The family that runs it is always very nice when we come in and the food always tastes fresh. Also, The place is always VERY clean which is super important to me when being served poke. 10/10 recommend“

“Nice little speakeasy. The entrance is unique and we loved the decor and vibe. The service was standard and the drinks & sushi were good but nothing to blow you away. Recommend they change to paper menus! The phone menu was hard to read and it took away from the ambiance they're trying to create.“

“Fast ... very friendly... great foods and great prices... A+++++....“

“Super fresh, smelled clean inside. Owner is quite friendly and really cares about making a nice bowl.

Got the large bowl with brown rice, and a selection of great sides and toppings. Not *too* many, but each one worth considering. Flavors and spice level were spot on, not too salty or sweet, which highlighted how good the fish choices are.“

“Best sushi I have ever had“

“I don’t really live in the area but was craving some fish and this spot sounded real chill. Turns out it was more than chill, it was fantastic! Atmosphere was comfy and the man taking my order was nice. Food was 10/10 satisfied my craving for sure and would def come back again to eat if I come by here.“

“We have been there many times and love it! One of the best sushi restaurants I know! I prefer sashimi and the presentation is beautiful and mouthwatering!“

“Delicious food, fun and inviting atmosphere, excellent service and the friendliest owners Key and his lovely wife Grace. Our local reliable go to.“

“A favorite restaurant for our friends and family. Food is always consistently good and the atmosphere is fun!!!“

“Nice atmosphere and the food was very tasty 😋“

“Our go to Sushi 🍣 restaurant. Best in town, small, but great friendly, service oriented staff.“

“Fresh fish expertly prepared by friendly chef with equally cheerful service staff! We will be back“

“The food is very good and fresh. Ordering child menu you will have a real feast -with MANY dishes, like 2 types of chicken, shrimps, soup, salad and desert. I was impressed. Only one thing I did not like - it's too noisy but it's because everyone wants to eat there!

Kid-friendliness: My kid was happy because kid's menu is really super good there.“

“Great food! More like a "Sushi to go" restaurant. You order your food at the counter. There are only a couple of tables inside and out the restaurant and they will bring the food to your table if you are dining in. It is family owned and you often see Father, Mother, and Daughter working behind the counter. But every time I've eaten here, I've been very pleased with the food and service.“

“good food on the go. plenty of seafood options.“

“I’ve been ordering since they open years ago. Tonight I had an amazing and unusual experience that compelled me to write a review. Outstanding level of customer service, above and beyond all expectations to accommodate and correct a mistake that I made! To the tune of remaking my entire order complimentary! I’ve never had this experience anywhere. Thank you!“

“Restaurant is clean and open. Their sashimi bento box lunch special [includes miso soup, cucumber salad, tempura, half CA roll, and seven slices of quality sashimi served with real wasabi!] is the best and it was only $20. Thank you to sushi chef Obi for his recommendation. Now if they only served Kuronama or any other Japanese dark beer, they'd be perfect.“

“The food was so delicious.“

“Fresh, Friendly, Unique!
My sister and I became big fans of onigiri when visiting Japan, and ONIGURU did not disappoint.
Visited last Sunday and ordered a variety of onigiri; they were all delightful.
They were delicious and refreshingly fresh. In addition, the service was fast and extremely friendly.
The lady that helped us was a pleasure and made our visit more special.
Four thumbs up :)“

“We sat at the sushi bar and Joe-san was our sushi chef. He was fast, efficient and everything was tasty. We chose the Oh My God roll towards the end and honestly folks? It is OMG spectacular! And so was the Queen Imperial with yellowtail and mango. Great service!!!“

“My family and I usually love Jizake and have been to this place multiple times over the years. However after last nights dinner not sure if we will come back. The first issue is that the server forgot to bring us 3 of our appetizers. I also noticed that my hot sake wasn't very hot and that they have trimmed down the size of their rolls. During the meal it became obvious to all of us outside that they were using a wifi speaker and whoesever phone it was hooked up to must have been moving around since the music was going in and out. Lastly while asking for the check I instructed the server to take the appetizers off our bill since we didn't receive them. He said he would and when he came back I was given a hand written bill with the break down. To his credit those appetizers were shown but not charged. I totaled up each line item and everything seemed correct as the subtotal was $170 with tax total should have been $183.17. However after taking my credit card he came back saying they totaled our bill incorrectly and apologized. Our new printed bill after charging my credit card didn't show the pricing break down for all the items but it appears that they added back in the money for the appetizers as with tax it came to $196.11 plus tip. By this point we just wanted to leave. After getting home we started not feeling so well. We don't usually have any bad reactions to sushi so maybe it was some sort of cross contamination issue. Either way I would caution everyone while eating at this establishment.“

“Food quality under the new management is excellent. All of the tempura dishes were perfectly cooked and the sushi rolls were a nice consistency - not too loose and not too dense. Tuna quality was good.

New owner is very attentive.“