JP Seafood Cafe

Such a terrible experience that I vow to never return again. Just moved to JP and hoped to find a great neighborhood place for dinner. I was utterly disappointed by JP Seafood Café.
Tea is probably the cheapest etiquette to welcome your guests/​customers on a cold winter night, especially if you’re a Japanese restaurant. Now, I don’t mind paying for my tea, but please give us a decent tea cup to drink our tea without burning our fingers when we are paying for it. Apparently restaurant ran out of tea mugs/​cups, and gave us these glasses that are not suitable to lift up with hot liquid. Awful start.
Miso soup tasted like salty water that they just scooped out from their fish tank. Miso texture was grimy. Temperature was cool (not hot as soup is supposed to be). The broth smelled fishy. There was exactly 1 small tofu piece when I searched the sea water in my bowl. It was clearly the bottom bit in the pot. I asked the waitress if they could help us somehow dilute the soup to make it edible (maybe just simply add some hot water to help washing out the smell, the salt, and the grimy-​ness.) She came back with the soup tasted worse than before, b/​c it seemed like they just added a few drops of cold water. The soup still tasted like fish water, except this time the waitress had her fingertip DIPPED in the soup when she handed to us. GROSS!
My husband actually suggested maybe we should pour our hot tea liquid into the miso soup to help balance out the fish flavor/​heat. Maybe we should have done that and call it a night.
I couldn’t finish more than ¼ of my Miso Grilled Salmon dinner — the noodle was soggy, miso flavor reminded me of that fish tank stuff from earlier. salmon was overcooked (it tasted like a dry piece of cardboard soaked in miso fish water.)
NEVER again JP Seafood Café. Never again will we be back.

Not what we expected at all! Good sushi and small plates and just very warm and welcoming. Looks like it’s going to be very different from the outside — I really don’t know what we expected — maybe fish and chips kind of stuff from the awning and sign? But instead it’s another great JP gem full of friendly staff and good eats. Can’t wait to go back.

PJ’s I don’t know what to say about the restaurant itself. It’s small but comfortable. The fishtanks along the wall add a nice serene touch.
What’s exceptional about this restaurant is the quality of the dishes. The ingredients are fresh, prepared deliciously, and in a combination that is authentic and different.

The atmosphere is very tranquil. On one side of the restaurant, there’s a very long table in the middle of the room that seats 20 people. There is also a small bar with 5 seats.
Now, on to the food… We started with the Sexy Shrimp Special — shrimp wrapped in fried potato strings with a homemade sweet and sour sauce. They were delicious.
We also tried Shocking Maki (sushi) and it was subpar. It definitely wasn’t fresh, was on the warm side and it came out way too fast. Considering that a great portion of the menu was sushi, this was very disappointing.
I had «Teriyaki & Grill» salmon that came with vegetables and rice on a sizzling skillet– awesome! My best friend had Spicy Salmon StirFry. The presentation was great but she felt that the level of spice/​hot was overwhelming. She described it as «All spice but not enough flavor.»
The people sitting next to us had Bibimbop which looked amazing. Definitely going to try the next time I’m in!

At first, I was hesitant to stay as I noticed the beloved cartoon octopus had been removed during JP Seafood’s latest renovation. Thankfully, the owners decided to replace the majestic mural with five unique aquariums. I was extremely grateful that our generous host sat me facing a tank with a clownfish. Immediately, my demeanor changed as I began to remember the heroic journey of Nemo’s father, as he traversed the costal waters of Australia to find his beloved son Nemo.
The animated flick starts by showing the tragic night when a young family of clownfish has their lives forever altered. This is a grim reminder of how quickly life can change course, and how often this change is painfully out of our control. We see Nemo’s father holding Nemo as an unborn egg, mourning the loss of his wife, and clinging to hopes and dreams that he and his wife shared only moments earlier…
As I ate my Sunshine Maki, I began to reflect on my life. Have I made good choices? Am I a good person? In the face of great tragedy, could I have the courage of Nemo’s father?
Overall, this self reflection made for a five-​star dining experience and four-​star existential crisis. Make sure that you sit at the fourth aquarium as all other clownfish are basically knockoff Nemos.
I recommend the Fatty Salmon sushi, ask for it torched for a special treat. You won’t be disappointed.

Nice little spot to get some nice bento box meals. They’re a great deal at around 10 bucks during lunch!
When you walk in, if you don’t see anyone, don’t feel shy and just walk in. I was silly enough to wait at the host desk for a very long time until I realized you could just walk in and then get helped lol (What was that host desk for anyways?)
Staff are very nice and they even let me stayed longer after I finished my meal to get some work down. Thank you!

Service was great but I wasn’t impressed with the food. I was expecting more varieties with the dinner menu. There were a lot of options for sushi but not much for the dinner menu. My boyfriend got the Salmon Ok-​Dol Bibimbop and I got Seafood Japchae. My dish didn’t have much seafood besides shrimp, fake crab meat, and calamari. Don’t get me wrong, the food tasted good and this place is a great for dates. But I can think of other restaurants for seafood/​korean food.

Food and sake were delicious and Gaby was awesome! if i ever go back to Boston, I’ll be sure to visit here!

I’ve only gotten take-​out here. The service is rather quick and the staff helpful. The sushi rolls I’ve gotten (usually Sake Avo) have been pretty tasty but nothing special. A great go to spot for affordable sushi in JP.

I absolutely love sushi, and JP Seafood delivers authentic sushi in a relaxing environment. I had my first bento box there, and was very impressed. The tempura vegetables were crisp, the fish was fresh, and the presentation was lovely. I did not have one poor-​tasting component to my lunch. The prices are essentially what you’d expect from a fresh sushi bar. It’s a good place to try a variety of well made sushi and Japanese dishes.

Decided to drop by for a very late brunch. Ordered the fatty tuna nigiri, sexy shrimp, JP Blues maki, and both of us had bibimbop. Bibimbop was solid, probably better than the bibimbop I’ve had at the Korean restaurants in Allston. Delicious fatty tuna, maki, and sexy shrimp. Waitress was really nice. I really enjoy this place!
Edit — This was my first visit!

Currently seating at this place…
Pros: staff is great!
Cons:
The name of the place is misleading «JP seafood café» no seafood really and it’s not a café…
–Nothing special about the food… you can get better service and food anywhere else.
–we ordered and now 1 hour later… NO food…
You guessed it right, my wife and I won’t be coming back here!

Much better tonight. Fresh, flavorful shashimi made for a delicious dinner. Great staff. Attentive.
Cool aquariums that fascinate kids and adults.

I am writing this review for myself and my boyfriend.
The reason for the single star rating is that the last two times my boyfriend ate at JP Seafood he got very sick the next day.
We both ate their this past winter and were nauseous for the next 24 hours. We assumed this was a fluke and my boyfriend took his daughter there for a «daddy daughter date» for lunch this past Sunday.
She has a gluten allergy and got simple sweet potato and avocado rolls. Thankfully, she had no ill effects. HOWEVER, my boyfriend, AGAIN got very sick for the following 24 hours.
He ordered the Godzilla Maki, Spicy Tuna Maki and the Double Trouble (?) Maki, just in case you are venturing over and want to avoid what he ate!

JP Seafood was a wonderful stop in for lunch. The prices are difficult to beat, especially once you see the quantity and variety of food that you receive.
I got the salmon bento box. The salmon itself was nicely cooked though not overly interesting. It also included miso soup, sushi, tempura, crockets, and rice. Everything was a good flavor, even if not overly interesting. However for the price, they did a great job.
The wait staff is friendly and food arrives quickly. It’s a great atmosphere inside the store with the aquariums. However don’t expect much elbow room as the tables are on top of each other.

I can’t believe I almost skipped giving this review until I was reminded. What a great option to have in this neighborhood.
On this particular visit, we shared the following:
Spider maki — Pretty darn decent. No surprises — tasted great, just as it should.
Iron Chef’s maki — Loved this one. Typically, restaurants offer a specialty maki that’s made with shrimp tempura and spicy tuna but I loved how this was made with spicy salmon instead.
Salmon stir fry — Awesome yummy goodness! Great flavors! You can’t go wrong with this one.
Overall, fantastic experience and I’d definitely become a regular if I was local.

this is a well-​reviewed well-​loved bastion of JP that has some modern inlaid seafood tanks and a funky diner-​esque atmosphere. and they serve sushi and korean food. okay! the waitresses are white and some of the staff are hispanic. as an asian, i was a bit surprised — nothing wrong with diversity, but the usual asian restaurant with asian staff wasn’t quite the ticket here. maybe because JP is so cool. the green tea was an individual serving from a tea bag (shrug). the dolsot bibimbap was on key and tasty. the sushi was oddly cut, with several cuts having two different colors aka probably a sushi cut with some extra/​other part of the fish that i’m not used to seeing — i don’t know enough about sushi cutting to say particulars but it didn’t quite look right. the sushi wasn’t very fresh, either, but i didn’t die, so at least three stars there.
what else. very busy. lots of people, lots of families, prime location.
it was okay. 3 stars overall and one more star for the fact that people seem to like it and the bibimbap was good. more like 3.5 stars overall here.

Holy crap! I’ve been to JP Seafood Café a few times before and thought it was pretty good sushi, but I ordered the Torched Jalapeño Salmon Maki special for takeout tonight and it just blew me away! The flavors were amazing, and it was prepared perfectly. Please consider making this a regular menu item!!! I would be ecstatic.
The takeout process was also very prompt, so kudos for that too.

JP Seafood is a great restaurant firstly because of whats on the outside. For instance,
their fancy logo as well as their fresh, beautiful plants and sparkly lights around the fence.
Secondly, I like JP Seafood because they have good food on the menus. For example, miso soup which has seaweed and tofu in it. Also, the party boat which is a mix of seafood and salmon eggs wrapped seaweed.
Most importantly, JP Seafood’s decorations. They are beautiful. They even put in new fish tanks near every table as well as a really good seating area. They also have very clean floors and tables.
Another reason is the neighborhood it’s in. For instance, there are very nice people that are very polite and live in the neighborhood. JP Seafood also isn’t so, so busy or noisy. The workers are nice and they help you out with anything you need.
After you read this, you should go have seafood at JP Seafood!!!
— Written by Alexa, a third grader in Ms. Taryn’s class

I’ve lived in Jamaica Plain for my entire life and passed by JP Seafood Café on several occasions. Today, on a Friday around noon, I finally took the plunge and went on in to try them out for lunch.
We found parking easily in the lot behind the restaurant — I confirmed with one of the waitresses before being seated and she said that we won’t be towed and that parking there is just fine. Otherwise, 2 hour parking is available on the street as well as in a lot behind Blanchards Liquor Store.
There were already a good number of people occupying the restaurant. Most of the items on their menu are of Japanese nature with a bit of Korean flare thrown in. Everything on the lunch menu in particular comes with miso soup and the Bento boxes includes not only the soup, but also salad, your choice of brown or white rice, 3 Pieces of Avo-​Kyu Maki, Vegetable Koroke, and Fried White Fish. Everything is also either $ 10.95 or less, which is pretty reasonable.
We ended up ordering the Bulgolgi (Korean marinated beef) Bento Box ($ 8.95) as well as a Spicy Seafood Yaki Udon ($ 10.95). Within the short amount of time that we waited to receive our food, JP Seafood had a full house; not a single table or chair was left unoccupied. Impressive! The food too, was good.
The boyfriend and I always count the number of shrimp we get whenever we order a seafood dish. We were impressed by finding 4 good sized, well cooked shrimp in the Seafood Yaki Udon! I was also anticipating the dish to be drier, but rather it came pretty saucy, which allowed the flavor to permeate through every bite. The bulgolgi also tasted good. I was more impressed by the fried white fish in a tempura like batter. Light and tasty.
Overall, the quality of the food was impressive. Everything tasted good and the service was just fine. My only complaint, and the reason why I’m deducting a Unilocal star, is because I wish the portions were bigger!
Other than that, go here around lunch time to get a tastey, decent priced meal!