Japanika Sushi and Grill

Japanika just opened here in Philly and we had to check it out. At first we couldn’t find it because it is at the end of a shopping center and the view from Bustleton is blocked by the gas station, but after calling found it no prob. Headed north, just pull into the plaza right after the gas station and head for the end. It is VERY small with the kitchen taking half the space and under six tables with a lunch counter and stools at the window. The background Israeli music was a little loud for my taste since I wanted to eat, not listen to blaring music. Someone did turn it down after awhile though I didn’t mention it.
We tried a few things to get the gist; California rolls, Tuna rolls, veggie fried rice and the falafel platter.
The falafel platter was quite decent with two fresh warm pitas quartered up, a generous pile of quarter size falafel balls, hummus drizzled with olive oil, Israeli salad, and a really good carrot salad. The California rolls had a decent amount of veggies and imitation crab wrapped in very fresh rice and nori. The tuna rolls were the same with what tasted like extremely fresh tuna. Both types of sushi roll were excellent and reasonable; eight nice pieces each for $ 7.95.The fried rice was a bit of a letdown. Slightly fried with just some carrots, celery, and cabbage with what seemed like zero seasoning and no soy sauce used when making it. A bit of soy sauce from the container on the table did improve it to being pretty good, but would be a lot better if they used the sauce when cooking and change to some chopped Chinese veggies like snow peas, water chestnuts and the like. Nothing we ordered was over ten bucks.
We ordered the fried non dairy «ice cream», but after about five minutes were told they were out of it. Let that slide since at less than a week old, it does take a bit of time to see what stock goes faster than others.
With three cans of soda pop, the bill was under sixty for three people and we were not hungry when we left. I’m looking forward to checking out the other types of sushi, different Chinese dishes and some of the other offerings. I recommend it for a nice change of pace from the other kosher restaurants in Philly.