22 Best Japanese Restaurants near Aptos

“Akira ended up being a great local sushi place, highly recommended. The food was fresh and delicious, the service was great, and the location is nice. HIGHLY recommend the spicy edamame appetizer, it's fantastic. Will definitely come back!Parking: Plenty of spaces within the shopping center Akira is located in, easy peasy!“

“What a pleasant surprise!!! I was driving from Watsonville back to San Jose and was hit hard with lunch time hunger. I made a last minute decision to exit the 101. I pulled into this shopping center and stumbled upon this restaurant. I had no expectations and was going in completely blind. Upon entering, I was greeted by a very friendly hostess. She said that I could pick anywhere to sit. I almost sat outside in the patio area but instead I elected to sit at the sushi bar so I can watch some sports on the TVs behind the bar. The server was very pleasant and brought me a glass of water and complimentary edamame. I thought to myself: so far so good. I decided on the lunch combo with three entrees. My selections were Tuna Sashimi, Salmon Nigiri and Salmon Teriyaki. Along with an a la cart order for a Salmon skin hand roll. When the food arrived I was surprised at the quality and presentation. The combo was $22 but I paid an extra $6 for the nigiri and sashimi. The salmon hand roll was $10. The meal also included miso soup. Overall everything was excellent and tasted VERY fresh. And for the price the portion was very nice. I highly recommend this place if and when you’re in the Aptos area. Two gigantic thumbs up for this hidden gem.“

“Awesome sushi and fast service. To be honest, you are really missing out if you are in Scott's Valley for dinner and don't come here. Service: Fast, polite waiters have your food out in minutes and always check to make sure you are enjoying the food. Food: Undoubtedly the best sushi place I've been to. The popcorn lobster roll is great but the chicken katsu is incredible. Bento boxes come with tons of food: salad, fruit, rice, sauce, extra veggies, and choice of two main dishes (rolls, tempura, etc.) Sushi rolls are packed with ingredients and are super tasty. You will always leave feeling full. Ambiance: Red lights on shelf close to ceiling, creating a strip light like effect. Walls are filled with Japanese paintings. Seats are red and black, including booths. There is a sushi bar to sit at, and multiple TVs playing sports games. Price: A bit pricey, but definitely worth it. Ingredients are always super fresh and leave you super full. In reality, you won't find a sushi place much cheaper anyways. In all, amazing resturaunt!“

“Back again, as this is a regular spot for my family and I. Once again food didn't disappoint. I got my go-to roll which is the warriors roll. Coconut and pineapple sauce is such a great combo and would highly recommend. This time I did try a new menu item: the tofu salad. It was a fairly big salad for an appetizer, but I was a little disappointed in the dressing. Might have just been base we got takeout, but I personally think the dressing was a little bland. I would still highly recommend this restaurant as there are so many other delicious items on the menu to meet anyone's sushi cravings!“

“Solid spot! Very reasonably priced, for a good quantity of food. It's very busy, so come prepared for that. The food itself was good, but not amazing. You'll leave there happy, would definitely recommend if you're craving some comfort food.“

“Food tastes GREAT! A little more expensive that Sushi Garden, but I really like the taste here. WE had the tempura combo as an appetizer, and then I had flank steak and a sushi roll. My friends had Donburri and pork Tonkatsu. Not much on ambience or atmosphere, but you come here for the food. Parking in the back sucks - there just is not enough because Ace hardware, Real Thai Restaurant, the Bagelry and laundromat are here also.“

“Yum, yum, yum!This spot is in between my sisters house and the beach. It makes for the perfect quick stop with top notch food. There were quite a few choices (even more if you like spicy). Just looking at it, you could tell the ingredients were high quality. Bright colors on the fish. Well prepared. Packaged safely. I got two full rolls and that was plenty for a light lunch. A packet of soy sauce is included in each pack, which was plenty for each roll. They had a small selection of beverages and cure little toys and trinkets. I couldn't resist a cat magnet to hold your keys and a set of chopsticks with a chopstick holder of a cat laying on its back. I was impressed with how clean the store was also.I look forward to heading back in for another treat soon!“

“We've been out of our house for three nights. No power up in Boulder Creek decided decided to stay at the Hilton tonight. Didn't know what we wanted to eat. We wanted sushi. We ate it all of them but we decided to try wasabi went there when they first opened. We got signed up for all you can eat sushi you get three rounds of sushi. All you could possibly ever want. We left with two bags of food. I had to pay for the to go containers which I'm not quite sure what that was all about, but all in all it was $104 so a little bit more for the three of us to eat good time. The waitress was wonderful very accommodating and sweet. Felt really bad. She got kind of bullied by some takeout orders, and we kind of heard about it because the restaurant so small.“

“I only ordered the chicken katsu, but it was S tier. It was perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The curry that the katsu chicken sat on was salty, savory, and a tiny bit spicy which was just right. Paired with the rice, the meal was great. Really really good chicken katsu and the portion size was very generous. The waiters were nice, so service was good. The place was pretty calm like a generic restaurant, nothing special, but it did have a nice Japanese feel to it with the decorations and setup around the sushi bar.“

“Kaito is such wonderful ramen and sushi. I sure do miss their 41st location but am grateful they found a way to survive the pandemic and moved into the mall. Their ramen is my favorite for a cozy night at home with a movie. I love the spicy miso raman, spicy garlic and black garlic raman. Also their gluten free ramen is not just rice noodles! Its really great!!!Dietary restrictions: Gluten Free ramen !“

“Decent spot! I ordered the teriyaki chicken lunch special. It consisted of chicken teriyaki, rice, and a California roll. What worked:-- pretty tasty! I thought the rice in the California roll was nice and soft and the teriyaki chicken was good-- good portion size-- cute spot! Lots of photos on the walls and the theme was fun-- they gave me a free sticker! There's nothing more exciting than thatWhat didn't work:-- my only complaint is that I wish the meal came with a fresh element. Both the chicken and the California roll are pretty sweet so I feel like it needs something fresh or acidic to create balance“

“too much rice. I don't know if it's just when you order the all you can eat, but the sushi pieces were disproportionately large, with way too much rice. same goes for the California roll, disproportionately large and too much rice. it's in all you can eat so they charge you for what you have left on your plate. so they make the sushi difficult to eat ?other than that everything was fine.I can't say anything bad about it really.Kid-friendliness: there is a kids menu if you consider teriyaki beef or teriyaki chicken bento box a kids menu“

“Good service and good sushi located in what one might easily mistake for a dental office But once you arrive it is comfortable and peaceful replete with koi pond, sushi bar, western bar, and a menu that leaves nothing to be desired. If you are not in the mood for sushi they have tasty Udon soup and other delicacies.“

“If you are craving for freshly made sushi and an authentic high quality Japanese cuisine. This is a place that you can’t missed! The best sushi experience I had so far around the area. Foods are really fresh, which is the key of a good Japaneses restaurant!The spider roll were stunning. Highly recommended to try! The other dishes we had were also amazing too!Will absolutely come visit again soon!“

“We ordered takeout on a Saturday night. The person taking the order was very helpful and the order was ready at the estimated time. The vegetable tempura was hot and crisp and the 4 different rolls were outstanding. Delicious and tastefully prepared. We were Just passing through but if we lived here this would be our first choice for Japanese food!“

“The ambience is very well put together with cherry blossoms decorating all surfaces. The view is spectacular as you get to look over Capitola Beach. The service is very good. The fish is sustainable and pretty yummy. I would definitely recommend this restaurant! even though their wheelchair ramp is in the back, it's still accessible for wheelchairs. Manual wheelchair might have a hard time, navigating the ramp in the back by themselves.“

“- combo#1- special sushi deluxe #3- sake sushiI've ordered from here multiple times now in-person, but mainly delivery. Pricing is solid and honestly I have no issue with it for the quality and amount of sushi I get. I usually get the sushi deluxe box, because I like getting a variety of nigiri. There's usually one nigiri that I don't super like but that's because I'm usually someone that just likes salmon. The rice isn't densely packed like some other places and the fish is actually pprreetttyyyy darn good. Salmon nigiri is really good. Spicy tuna roll is so good. The maki rolls I got in the combo was basic but like...that's what a maki roll is. Whenever I'm craving quality sushi, MG sushi is both accessible and able to provide quality sushi...it's hard to beat. (When ordering in person...they were done making it really quickly too!! 10-15min max)Plus the lil pudding cups they give for each combo or deluxe box is my favorite touch“

“Our sushi was great. They could really benefit from hiring a native speaker to proofread their menu, though. An unclear menu plus owners who don't speak native english is the perfect recipe for confusion when you are ordering a meal.One of their sushi menu items is called "Real Crab". Is it a roll? A salad? A bowl? Perhaps no one will ever know.I can't dock a star though, because the sushi tasted great and the owner was friendly despite the language barrier.“

“We stopped by Sapporo Ramen after a day at Capitola Beach, and we were very hungry. My daughter and I both got our own bowls of ramen and an order of gyoza. The gyoza was top tier, very crunchy with a healthy portion of filling, and the sauce complimented them well. When our ramen arrived, we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the bowls and the portions of meat. One bowl had a large fried chicken leg in it, and the other had an abundance of pork belly. It was definitely a unique style! Everything was very fresh and delicious. The broth could've been a little more flavorful for my taste. The spicy miso in particular didn't have any kick to it. Nice little restaurant with a few tables to dine it at. Will definitely come back next time we are in Capitola!“

“My boyfriend and I stopped in for lunch and they have all you can eat! Haven't seen that since before the pandemic. The fish was so fresh and the portions were larger than I expected. Our server was Alyssa and her service was the best I've had in a long time. We will definitely be back! This might be our new sushi spot.“

“Wonderful food and service told the owner that we were celebrating my son's birthday and he brought him free CA roll with a candle and even sang to him! I would definitely recommend this restaurant.Kid-friendliness: Definitely great with my boy“

“Their portions are large! The meat is not dry like other local Japanese restaurants. It is pricey but you get enough food to maybe even take back home. We had good service too. It does take a little longer than usual to get your food but I think it's because it's nice and fresh. You also get free small plate of edamame at dine-in service“