Jo Sho Restaurant

Every now and then, you encounter something that surprises you. Tonight, at Jo Sho, was one of those times. We walked into this unassuming restaurant that was nestled in a strip mall, and expected an average sushi experience, but instead were offered a culinary experience that can rival some of the other more popular establishments out there. The sushi was incredibly fresh and all the right flavors were there. We can now officially be called bona fide fans of Jo Sho, and we can’t wait to go back!

Four of us went for dinner on a Monday night. Staff were courteous, and the food was great! Nice to find a place in the area with fresh, good quality sushi! The servers were friendly and helped answer any questions we had about menu items and choices. We will definitely be back!

They have fresh fish, but that’s honestly the only good thing about this place. Service is NOT good and everything is in Japanese so good luck trying to figure out the menu. The food is very overpriced and not worth it.

Our favorite Japanese/​Sushi Restaurant in Central Jersey! Sushi is always fresh, clean and tasty! Service is quick and attentive! Looks like a small family owned and chef look professional and authentic.

I love Jo Sho Restaurant. I eat here all the time and this great family run business treats me like a king. I have Celiac Disease and the two sushi chefs Yoshi and Nao know what to serve me. I love the Sushi Deluxe and the Sashimi Deluxe! The waiters are always kind to me and know exactly what I need so I think people who write that they are rude says to me that they are probably the rude ones. I have gone to every sushi place in Central Jersey and nothing comes close to this wonderful place.

Went to Jo Sho for lunch; quick service and I enjoyed my meal.

The worst spicy tuna I’ve had! Sloppy and mushy! Ordered the deluxe sashimi — 2 salmon pieces on the plate, like seriously! 4 slices of everything else except the salmon. Not worth the price! Food wasn’t even all that good! Will not be coming back.

I’m surprised Jo-​Sho hasn’t blown up more than it has. Japanese culture values the hidden; it’s not uncommon to find some of the best Japanese restaurants hidden away in train stations and alleyways, with barely a sign to give them away. It’s no surprise that Jo-​Sho is similarly tucked away within a nondescript suburban strip mall. The sushi is some of the best Central Jersey has to offer. Many suburban sushi bars serve substandard fish, so I stick to specialty rolls that hide the poor quality of the fish behind sriracha mayo and the like. At Jo-​Sho, where I know the fish is good and competently prepared, I like to order a la carte off of the daily special menu posted next to the sushi bar. There’s no need for additional soy sauce or wasabi; chef prepares it exactly as it is meant to be eaten. The cooked food is good as well, from a generously-​portioned daily lunch special to a superlative chawanmushi (savory egg custard) that is not to be missed. Either come early before the lunch rush, when you get the best selection of the freshest fish, or later in the evening.
A final note: Jo Sho is not Masa, it is not Jiro, it is not Nobu. It is what it is – a family run sushi purveyor serving good fish in Central Jersey where there aren’t many other places of comparable quality. Many of the sushi chefs are learning their craft, so don’t expect food similar to the top restaurants of the genre. All the same, however, I’d rather spend my money here than just about any other Japanese restaurant in Central Jersey.

By far my favorite sushi place in New Jersey and deserves a 5-​star. The food is very authentic Japanese and of top quality. They are on the pricey side but you’ll get what you paid for. It is Japanese owned with a friendly motherly Japanese lady usually at the register. Menu is offered in both Japanese and English with the occasional challenging conversation with servers. They have a sushi bar if you’re dining alone. Quite a selection of apps with natto (fermented soybeans) as my fave before I indulge on the heavenly chirasi deluxe! The interior is clean and reminds me of a crowded and noisy sushi place in Tokyo, minus the din.

I spent a lot of time considering a 1 or 2 star rating. In the end, Jo Sho really deserves only 1 star. It was so bad that I left no tip. I’ve never, in my entire life, not left a tip. But they truly didn’t deserve it.
Anyway, let’s start with some background. My wife and I went to Jo Sho for omakase on a Saturday night. We called ahead of time to reserve a spot at the bar. This is essential as part of the omakase sushi experience is interacting with the chef, and getting served fresh pieces as they’re prepared. Here’s a list of what went wrong…
1– The waiters are really bad. They spilled miso soup all over me (I’m not exaggerating here, he literally spilled soup on me, readjusted his grip, spilled soup on my phone, then readjusted again only to spill more soup on me. They also didn’t clear plates in a timely manner or offer for refill our green tea. It also took a good 10 minutes to get the bill as they completely ignored us.
2– I made one request for the omakase. It was simple enough. No Fluke. When the omakase came we had one piece of nigiri with fluke, and 3 pieces of makizushi with fluke. Seriously? Utter failure. To top it off, if I were to request a second piece to avoid it would have been sweet shrimp, which was of course on the plate. Not a big deal since I didn’t request it, and the quality was good, but I wasn’t pleased.
3– The omakase was really bad. Yes, it was really bad. Literally the worst omakase I’ve ever had. Why? Well, for one the fish isn’t bad, but we were literally served old, cold fish. What the hell is the point of omakase at the sushi bar when it’s served on a plate instead of piece by piece, and let to sit out for 10 minutes before served. While having some raw fish start to oxidize on top of cold rice may not be the worst this was made all the worse by 2 cooked pieces being included. How can you let seared toro and eel sit on a plate until it gets cold? Seriously, this is completely unacceptable. Instead of having hot, delicious seared toro that would melt in my mouth I got some cold, dry, and old seared toro that tasted more like old fried tilapia than toro.
In summation, while the quality of fish may be good, the service was not bad, but atrocious. I could have never imagined such a bad experience at a sushi restaurant. I’ve had omakase hundreds of times, and even when we were served much lower quality fish it was better. This was just a complete disaster.

Holy ****!!! I probably have been in this strip mall for at least 10 times but it never occurred to me that I would find such an authentic Japanese restaurant here. Last night I went there for the first time after a chef friend recommended it to me.
The fish was fresh and high quality. I ordered a Chirashi deluxe (rice covered with raw fish) and was surprised to see so many different types of fish that I normally wouldn’t find in other so-​called «sushi restaurants». And let me tell you they really use high-​quality fish and seashells. It was heaven on earth.
The owner is an authentic sushi chef from Japan. This is probably the only Japanese-​owned sushi place in New Jersey, outside of Jersey City.
The tempura was great and nicely done, the fish was great. The waiter was friendly. And the price was very reasonable. Sure, other sushi places are way cheaper, but you get what you pay for. And yes, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, because at Jo Sho, you pay for the high quality fish and the friendly service, not the overly priced rent in those high-​end New York sushi restaurants.
Five stars, no-​brainer.

This is probably one of only authentic the «real» Japanese cuisine in Jersey. The seafood is very fresh, every visit my must order item are:
1. Chawamushi — steam eggs with seafood and vegetable
2. Oyster soup
3.shishamo fish
There are just so many dish that we love to try. Almost every visit I ate more than I should have because the food are just so delicious and so japanese authentic.
Last night we placed to go items but they don’t have a menu on Unilocal or other website so I called the restaurant. Guess what? They offered to send me pictures of their menu right away to my phone. I thought it’s so thoughtful and so sweet. (I have uploaded all the pictures that he sent me to Unilocal so my fellow Unilocaler can peak at it when ordering to go order.
Love this place, one more reminder. Don’t forget to make reservation on Friday night and the weekend because it gets really crowded.

Really good sushi rolls; had my favorite, Rainbow roll. I also for the first time tried the Negitoro (fatty tuna) roll. I started the meal with a miso soup and finished with mochi ice cream. Not exceptional service, but not bad. However, the food from start to finish was really good.

I was conflicted about what rating to give Jo Sho– how much credit should be given to a sushi restaurant for having fresh fish, something ideally should be taken for granted but is rare enough that it is worth praising
overall, jo sho is pretty good place to score some great fish, i mean can you go wrong with eating some toro? yum, not really.
Also I thought they had a delightfully delicious eel; like really, don’t hate on the eel.
I am unsure if the appetizers were that great though to be honest; nothing to jump out of my seat for. They were fairly decent to fill up the space that thriftiness prevented sashimi from filling up, but there was nothing out of 5 appetizer dishes that were ordered which jumped out (the seaweed salad was particularly unremarkable, speaking as someone who loves seaweed)
the chiryashi bowl is a good portion that will fill you up, but it is $ 25. Add in a order of sashimi or two and suddenly its a pretty pricey meal. definitely not a $$ restaurant unless you are going for soup noodles or bento box or something (in which case, I am unsure if josho is that much better or worse than anywhere else)

Grilled mackerel and grilled hamachi kama (yellowtail jaw) are the superstars here: seared to perfection and served hot. The lemon, grated daikon, and sweet seaweed that accompany each dish are not merely garnish and should not be missed.
In general, order off the specials menu (on a white board in the middle of the seating area) for small, delightful dishes that can be shared with 2 – 4 people. The homemade oshinko (lightly vinegared vegetables — like pickles) are crunchy and fresh, a nice contrast to the hot, oily fish.

About as authentic Japanese as I have ever had… we were one of two tables of non-​Japanese people eating (and it was pretty full for a cold Wednesday night).
One thing I wish I would have read in other Unilocal reviews: they are BYOB. You can walk to a nearby market for beer, etc, but did I mention that it was a cold night in January? We decided to skip the alcohol and drink the never-​ending hot green tea that they serve included with the meal.
Service was good. I deducted that the owner was also also the head sushi chef, and his wife sat behind the register. I think his son was the sous-​chef.
We went for a few typical (anglo-​safe) items to start: agodashi tofu and edamame. Then we opted for the sushi deluxe dinner ($ 25). This was MORE than enough food. The dinner came with miso soup and salad with a unique ginger-​dressing. It would have been better if I didn’t see all of the salad, premade sitting on a shelf in the kitchen (how hard is it to pull the lettuce in the bowl and put the dressing on top ONCE people order it?!)
The sushi deluxe dinner was a great assortment of tuna, eel, yellowtail, scallop, mackerel, salmon roe, tuna rolls, and several other fish/​sushi. All was very good — I CAN be a picky eater and would certainly order any of the pieces again.
Other than the alcohol, and lack of ambiance, this was a solid 4 star place. All told, it was $ 32 each before tip.

I came here for a quick lunch. It wasn’t busy at all when I came in so I was seated immediately. I ordered salmon teriyaki and a sushi platter (to go).
I was immediately served with miso soup and the house salad. They were both okay. Nothing too special. Then I received the main dish. The presentation of the fish was excellent. When I took a bit out of the salmon, I was very satisfied because not many can flavor salmon well. It came with a side of fried potatoes and chicken. They tasted heavenly. I only part I wasn’t really happy about was that I didn’t get a refill for my tea.

I’m pretty much a regular here as my boy friend and I come here frequently on friday nights. We love the BYOB style, and the fact that there is a liquor store located in the same plaza. There are really not many options for Japanese in this area, but this is probably the best option around.
Personally, I like the dinner menu more than the lunch. We usually order whatever is on the whiteboard. In general:
Uni, toro, ebi sashimi– are always pretty fresh, although they come in small quantity.
Chawanmushi– is also amazing, it’s filled with eel, chicken, mushroom, shrimp, spring peas and the texture of steamed egg is very silky.
Foie gras with fried oyster– it’s a very nice french-​japanese fusion dish. The sauce is slightly salty but the texture and tastes of foie gras and oyster are great.
Fried japanese shishamo– crispy small fish that goes amazing when dipping with mayonnaise and squeezed lemon.
While the seafood and sushi deluxe are really outstanding, dishes such as ten-​don, sukiyaki and salmon teriyaki are very mediocre. They also have very limited option for desserts. The service is average, but I’ve been seeing new waitress coming in and hope that will improve their current service.
The price is not that cheap but I think it is reasonable with the quality and specialties they are providing.

If I could sum it up in a few words, I’d say: authentic but not life changing, yet still a hidden gem of New Jersey. If you’re looking for authentic Japanese, you can find it here. It won’t be on the normal menu though.
When you walk in, you don’t feel like you’re in New Jersey. Seeing 90% Japanese customers is an automatic clue that it is the real deal. That, and the fact that their specials menu has fatty tuna and other goodies you can’t get at most nj sushi places.
I ordered all sushi pieces. Otoro was a tender soft melt in your mouth fatty tuna but I have had better (just not nearby). The uni was superb (yet I’ve had better just not nearby). The aji (jackfish) was great but not special. The botan ebi sweet shrimp was fresh as hell like glass. They gave one sushi piece and one fried. The spotted shad (kohada) was spot on! The squid sushi was fresh but nothing to go crazy over. However, the tako wasabi is perfecto. I was happy to discover this spot though. Truly truly happy. Each piece of sushi ranged from $ 4 to $ 10. The white tuna is $ 2.50. Uni is $ 6 per piece. You do the math.
The do nots: do not order the pressed mackerel– total fail.
I’d like to try their omakase next time $ 50.
If you like good quality sushi and you don’t have time to travel to the city, come here for their uni and toro and ebi. Everything is def fresh and authentic. You won’t be let down. I save my 5 stars for life-​changing, so don’t be wary because I only gave four. Just look at the pics for reference.
Oh and it’s byob and there’s a liquor store in the same plaza that sells sake in addition to wines and beers.

Their fresh sashimi deserves four stars.
Now on to the rest of why they received two stars. When we came and got seated, there were not many patrons. As a couple of boisterous group came in, they were placed right behind us. Really!!! They have ab entire restaurant and it has to be directly behind us? Tick off a star.
Second reason: The waiters obviously don’t know how to be good and efficient waiters. Three checks were ready to be givenUnfortunately, their lack of organization took a star away. It took forever for any of the waiters to bring over the check to tables who we all requested for the checks. Instead, the waiters walked around with high chairs and didn’t bother noticing nobody needs the high chairs. Tick another star off.
We ordered monk fish liver — overcooked. Then came the sashimi deluxe. It was lacking in presentation and amount. I asked if this was their regular. It wasn’t very much but most pieces were quite fresh. Tick another star off.
We had to ask them to constantly refill water and tea. Another star marked off. To compromise they received two stars. Did I mention how small the portions were? Yikes!
No next time. Greatly disappointed. Will not go back mostly because of the service.