Jo:a Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington

I've been to Jo:a a few times now during lunch. A couple of times during some daytime shopping trips in Silverdale with m'lady and once with family from out of town. All of our visits have been during the lunchtime shift. As we tend to make our own dinners, but seek out great places to enjoy a lunch break, this has become one of our go-to lunchtime hangouts. We've never had to wait to be seated every time we've visited, and were immediately greeted by staff as soon as we walked in.

The decor and ambiance of this place is very clean, very Japanese and super laid back. You can choose to sit at a booth, a table, or at the sushi bar to watch the talented sushi chefs assemble their creations. The concept here is open and no matter where you sit, you have a view of the kitchen, the sushi chefs and the cooks behind them. Although there's a hustle and bustle going on throughout, there's a sense of relaxation and calm. The waitresses are friendly and accommodating, but some have thick accents. There's nothing wrong with asking them to repeat themselves, as they are patient and cordial. Many people are intimidated by places like this, but if you're new to sushi, new to Japanese or even just Asian cuisine, this place will put you right at ease as long as you're curious and ask questions.

Onto the food. So far, every meal has started with a complimentary order of edamame. It's warm, seasoned well with salt and very satisfying when you're super hungry and waiting for your meal. The menu is expansive, as with most Japanese places, more than enough to suit any palate or diet. I'm a big fan of the ramen and my lady loves the sushi here. There's the standard fare sushi, and then the more extravagant rolls that are unique to this place. The gyoza and sauces are also very good, as well as the sticky chicken wings (a new obsession of mine). They even went so far as to accommodate my son who's still learning chopsticks with the little learner devices, and forks and spoons for my family from out of town who loved the food, but couldn't navigate chopsticks.

Their lunch specials and prices are very fair, almost unbeatable for what you're getting. The sushi can get a bit pricey, but the quality is on par with or better than a lot of sushi I've had. We're big fans of this establishment, a bit hidden, but still easy enough to find from the main drag in Silverdale. I suppose my only reason for not giving them 5 stars, is that, although the food and sushi are tasty, they aren't mind blowing or craving inducing. However, you'll never leave here disappointed, I promise. From bento boxes, to sushi, to ramen to anything else your heart desires, this place will hit the spot for you consistently.

Combining this with it's great location and proximity to shopping, this place should be on your radar when you're looking to do a day trip to Silverdale, do some shopping nearby and have a great lunch. You'll have a great day, or evening, coming to Jo:a and experiencing the food and atmosphere. Parking is plentiful, as it's located in a giant strip mall. Bring your family from out of town, your work friends or just your wife and kids, and you'll be treated well, eat good and have something reliable to stick with. Just be sure to check the hours of lunch vs. dinner so that you're not turned away at the door, which they seem to do to a lot for people strolling in a bit too late for the...

As a restaurant manager, fully aware of the reality of the shortage situation behind the scenes at many restaurants right now - from product and packaging to labor - this place was TERRIBLE. I was so excited to try it, the menu seemed delicious and unique but I should have known from the second the host waved her hand at the entire restaurant and said “your table is over there” when we arrived for our reservation that the service would be appalling.

We sat, we ordered. The server did not seem to know the proper order in which to ask guests for their orders (“would anyone like a drink to start?” I’m not talking rocket science..) and she had no idea what allergens were present on the menu that was not marked in any way. Ten minutes later she dumped menus in front of two of my friends and said something mostly unintelligible. We eventually determined she was letting us know that the entree 4/6 of us had ordered was unavailable - and somehow she had dumped the menus on the only two of us who had NOT ordered that item.

It took three tries to order something they actually had. Again, I get shortages, but typically one is presented with this information up front not after they’ve settled and ordered and their friend’s food is already being produced.

The sushi was delicious. Everything else seemed bland but ok.. except my entree, which arrived overcooked and cold well after everyone else had already finished their meals. The presentation was dismal as well - I had ultimately settle for Pork Katsu assuming that at $25-$30 a plate, the entrees would at least boast some garnish and a little flare. Nope. This was literally two thin pieces of breaded pork, sliced and dumped on a plate with a tasteless sticky sauce in a cup on the side and a separate bowl of rice. I understand food cost.. the typical markup on food is 3-4 times the food cost. As presented, this plate should have cost about $12 dollars and I would only serve it to a very picky third grader.

I expressed my displeasure when it arrived late… “Oh, sorry.” I ate one bite and put it aside… “Do you want a box?” I said, this came very late and was served cold, I would like you to take it off the bill… “Oh. Ok.”

That’s it. There were maybe 8 other tables with 2-4 guests at each in addition to our 6 top. 4 cooks, 3 servers, a busser and a host. No one asked if we wanted another drink at any time, no one asked if we wanted dessert, our waters were refilled once after we got the check and no one said or did anything at all to attempt to rectify the issues with our food.

Again - restaurant manager - I can be both hyper critical and VERY forgiving. It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to turn a situation like this around for me - everyone is human, these are difficult times.

These people DID. NOT. CARE.

Zero stars. Trust the negative reviews. You can deep fry your own flavorless skinny pork and dip it in ketchup and corn syrup at home for like 3 bucks. ...

Has anyone eaten at JO:A, located in Silverdale, Washington, before? Because my hubby and I went for dinner there last night and half of Silverdale was there! Ok, so perhaps that's a stretch, but not far from the truth. We arrived around 5 pm and were promptly seated, Chopsticks staring us in the face, and the aroma of all the seafood swirling around our heads, a little intense at times. There weren't many empty tables around the room, but those empty tables quickly filled up throughout our time there. The restaurant itself looked clean and unpretentious, the menu a little extravagant. Still, I admit, a little intriguing with all the funny names given to many of their dishes, such as Angry popcorn shrimp, Spider, Dragon, Playboy, and Shogun, just to name a few. I have always stated that more on a menu isn't necessarily better and can often lead to feeling overwhelmed and lower quality food due to fulfilling a more extensive menu; something has to give somewhere. For that said, I noticed many people working in the kitchen, how packed the restaurant was, and how quickly we received our food, which was great, by the way. So JO:A seems to have their rhythm down.

For our dinner, we played it safe (for now) and shared two dishes, Yakisoba noodles with Chicken and Curry Katsu with Pork served with white rice. Although knowing how to sort of use chopsticks, I am not comfortable eating with them, meaning the restaurant would close and I would still be working on my plate, slowly but surely. Our server gave us forks, phew! I honestly don't know which dish I liked better; each dish was unique in taste and exuberant in flavor but lacking spiciness, nothing that wasabi didn't kick up.

I stuck to water; my hubby had a beer called Kirin Ichiban and stated it was a good beer. I would have loved to have more ice in my first glass of water and any ice at all in my second glass of water that I drank at room temperature; It was 91 degrees out; that was my fault to assume they would have made sure of something like that; I kept forgetting to ask.

Kassandra was our server; she was friendly and was relatively attentive. I liked the fact that she had tried everything on the menu. Despite not liking everything, she explained she felt better recommending a customer about a dish and knowing how it tasted versus telling a customer she had no idea what it tasted like. So two thumbs up to you, Kassandra!

By the time we were ready to leave, the restaurant was packed, and more people were coming in to eat.

JO:A Restaurants location is 10516 Silverdale Way Northwest Suite 120...