Cafe Japone

I will say right away I am a little biased because I come here all the time (usually once a week) so I know most of the staff, the owner, etc. But that is also one of the reasons I love it, because if you come and treat everyone well, they will welcome you as family friends.
First, I am only commenting on upstairs; downstairs is mostly a bar and I come for the karaōke upstairs (I don’t like the karaōke downstairs as much).
Second, yes, the accommodations are not the nicest looking, but I think you get used to it after the 3^rd or 4^th time there. Plus, it adds to the ambiance and the «divey» feel that you are probably there for anyway.
Ok, the food. I am not sure why people are bashing it soo much. I think the roles are pretty darn good, especially for the price. I know people who get the soup and salads there also and liked them. And I have had multiple people order Raman and love it. Some of the chefs have been there for 20 years so they know how to make stuff.
However, the main reason I come here is for the karaōke. I am a huge karaōke person and there are many things I love about this place from that prospective.1) They have a HUGE song book in English, Spanish, and Japanese. 2). Even when it is crazy busy, you can get into sing. And you don’t usually have to wait an hour between songs to sing because not everyone is there solely for karaōke. I usually go on Wednesday nights and me and a group of friends can literally rotate among 4 or 5 of us singing and get a ton of songs in. 3) I always meet friendly people here. In fact, I have gone alone many times and through singing, I end up getting invited to some groups’ table and becoming their friends. Yes, they only have one mic working most times and the sound can be wacky depending on the song, but overall, it is a good experience. You also have to stand (or sit) in the middle of the room to read the words, but I like being the center of attention and performing so it is perfect for me.
I believe they are working on getting the place a little spruced up which would go a long way to easing some people’s fears. But, I have always had good sushi and good Japanese beer here for almost 3 years with no problems.
Also, while there are a lot of college age kids who venture in, I mostly see business and professional people in there, whether they are wandering in after their convention, late night work, etc. so lots of suits and ties and fancy dressed women. But they come to sing and get drunk and that is what this place delivers.

This is a fun place! Happy hour starts at 9:30 on Fridays. Yes, it’s a pretty average looking place, and they really should replace some of the karaōke books, but the people who go get really into the singing and you have a good time! Sushi is pretty good.

SO, originally I wasn’t planning on writing a review for this place, considering the rating for it is already so low, but I really just couldn’t help myself. Really, what I experienced here was one of the oddest, most outrageous dining experiences I’ve ever had.
I got a Groupon deal for this place before realizing how bad this place is supposed to be. While being a bit skeptical, I visited the restaurant with an open mind. But well, here is what happened today:
I got into the restaurant at around 6 PM, and the place was about half filled with people there for happy hour deals. I looked at the happy hour menu, and there were only THREE drinks: Sapporo, Sake, and Absolut. Nope, you didn’t read it wrong, that was exactly what the menu said. three drinks, and yup, Absolut. While waiting for my friend, I decided to order a bottle of Sapporo. It wasn’t cold, just barely chilled and felt like it’s been sitting at the bar for a while.
After my friend arrived, we ordered the Dragon Roll, Rock n’ Roll, Japone’s Tempura Roll, and Rainbow Roll. The only one that was acceptable was the Rainbow Roll, it was just, mediocre. However, the other three rolls were a disaster. The sushi rice was hard on the bottom of the rolls, and the tempura were VERY stale, to a point that it was almost like chewing on shrimp shells. We also ordered the Tonkotsu ramen, and oh my gosh it was SO bad. The soup base was so watery you can barely tell it was supposed to be tonkotsu, and instead of meat slices, they gave us um, 3 strips of pork fat?
But above all, what was the most outrageous was that, when we were about done with our meal, we realized that the sushi chefs who were working at the sushi bar were drinking beer while working. My friend and I saw with our own eyes that one chef poured a glass of beer for himself, took a sip, attempted to make a roll, then passed the beer to the other chef to have a sip of it while the two of them joked around. Seriously, WHERE IS THE PROFESSIONALISM? With people like them running the kitchen, no wonder the sushi tasted like crap.
The whole experience was just so ridiculous that it was actually pretty funny. But honestly though, Groupon, please don’t screw me over again, thank you.

I like this place, I like the employees and it is right up the street from my apt. I walk or cycle here a few times each week. It is an average establishment that has stood the test of time. Nothing is amazing but it is reliable sushi and karaōke and I LOOOOOVE to sing. It is my belief that you will never meet a good person in a bar with one exception, and that is if karaōke is involved. I’ve made good friends here and I like this place.
Pro’s: karaōke, food, and average drinks…
Cons: It is a well used restaurant definitely not fancy and not the cleanest but that is to be expected from any well used establishment :) divey bar karaōke style

Decent happy hour spot. Beers are cheap and sushi rolls are $ 3 or $ 4 bucks. Our group left pretty tipsy and full on $ 30.
The service definitely needs improvement. Even though it was not that crowded, we literally had to flag down our waitress every time she came remotely in our vicinity (which was not often) to get served.

Café Japone is great for a fun time or a unique experience either with a group of friends or even if you wander in alone, I’ve done both.
First great reason to go is for their happy hour, 5:30 — 8:00pm! Come on, who the hell else in DC does happy hour that late! No, it’s not a huge selection, but you get the essentials that most places give happy hour deals on. Big bottles of Sapporo for $ 5, sake (hot or cold), great deals on sushi rolls and other appetizers like edamame and gyoza.
Then of course there’s the karaōke. Don’t even bother showing up if you’re expecting your own private room where you can only embarrass yourself in front of your friends because everyone sings right there in the bar, so bring your courage and get up and sing.
Trust me, it’s great! I’m a huge fan of karaōke and love to sing. Most times I get annoyed if others sing along with me, but it’s hard to get upset when you sing a song that EVERYONE knows and the whole bar starts singing along. Then when you’re done, your sure to get a rousing applause and cheers from the crowd. As I mentioned in the beginning, it doesn’t matter if you walk in alone and put a song in the machine, you’ll instantly have a bar full of friends cheering you on!

Does anyone still eat here? Please tell me what da heck I am supposed to do with my groupon.
My bf got me a $ 20 for $ 40 groupon deal a couple of months ago. I told him about what I read on Unilocal,and he later apologized to me for buying it without reading Unilocal reviews first.
Well, I didn’t want to waste money, so I figured I should explore the place first. I saw some delivery guys coming out of the restaurant, so despite the place looking like a haunted house from outside, I decided to go in and ask about happy hour.
Unfortunately, the inside looked worse than the outside.
It looked like it was about to get demolished and the carpets (the ugliest and dirtiest thing I’ve ever seen) were rotting. To the left of the entrance, there were some pictures of people (maybe some famous celebrities from the 80s?) on the wall, which were falling off.
The door would not open properly and made a creepy squeaky and almost sticky noise. Like many fellow Unilocalers pointed out, it SMELLED AWFUL inside. It was dusty and plain disgusting.
So, please tell me. What am I supposed to do with this groupon? Should I go in there and buy $ 40 worth of can soda!!!
I refuse to believe that anyone eats here anymore. I’ve never seen anyone go in or come out from this place for the past 2 months I’ve been in the area, and I don’t know how this place survives. It’s shocking to see a SUSHI place like this, and if they still serve food, I feel bad for the fish.
This is probably the worst review I’ve ever written, but then this is by far the worst of the worst restaurant I’ve seen. This place should be on an episode of restaurant impossible.

This place is kind of dingy and dirty looking, so I never ate there. I’ve only been for the karaōke. As others have pointed out, the sound system is awful, and the layout is really cramped. There’s also no discernible order as far as which song comes up. The staff also gives priority to certain people, maybe based on how much they spend on drinks or food. It’s definitely not a first come first serve type of thing, where you wait to sing in the order you submitted the song request. Also, I think most people only come here when they’re extremely drunk (maybe that way they don’t care how gross the place is or that they have been waiting forever for their song to play), which makes for an extremely annoying crowd of people yelling out lyrics at their top of their lungs, instead of an enjoyable karaōke night.

This is the type of place you go when everything else is closed and you know your fridge at home is empty.
We walked in and couldn’t even tell if it was open or closed. In one corner there is a group of loud out-​of-​town college kids who don’t know how they got there. Since they’re here, why not belt out awful karaōke songs and do more shots — it’s the nation’s capital, baby! A despondent loner sits at the sushi bar ordering grey looking rolls.
We sit, and stay clear of anything raw, as the place does not inspire confidence. For everything that surrounds us, the teriyaki steak is passable, and the beer is cold. Nothing sticks in my mind to make me come back. I feel this place has seen better times, or maybe I was just an out-​of-​town college kid…

I went a couple of times with groupons that I bought. You can get a lot for your money in that regard, but I am not in a hurry to go back again, nor would I ever go there and pay full price.
The sushi is fine, but nothing special. They don’t have any must have rolls. The environment is really weird though. It is one of those places that you are constantly wondering if you in fact have arrived in the correct place.
It was fine, but probably won’t be back and wouldn’t recommend unless there was a Groupon to purchase.

Only reserve taking someone here if your heart is filled with hate.
Just to preface, I’ve worked in restaurants and bars on and off since I was a teenager and have to say that café japone is the most disgusting place I have EVER eaten. I swear I thought I was on an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen nightmares. I could write a novel about everything that is wrong with this place but some quick highlights:
1. WTF is that smell? The downstairs was even worst because it smelled like it was doused in bleach and I get that now due to the
2. Baby roaches that were crawling on the sushi bat near the end of our dinner.
3. I watched the sushi chef take three attempts before he was able to cut the roll because his knife was blunt (having worked around notable sushi chefs this is the ultimate affront to their profession).
4. The food is fucking awful. Seriously, if you think the food is good here you have the palette of a dung beetle.
5.the restaurant was staffed by one server who also acted as a host. The bad service is the fault of management so I can’t blame the young guy for being slow, since, you know he had to run around for 30 other guests.
6. The place relies on paper tickets so forget about getting your check in a timely manner. I ended up leaving cash just so I could get leave ASAP.

So I was having a craving for sushi, when a groupon popped up for Café Japone in Dupont. I bought it ($ 15 for $ 30) and went to dinner there with my boyfriend. When we got there a little after 5pm and tried to walk in, one of the employees snapped that «we are not open yet» and turned back around. Not seeing a sign or any other indication, we were confused. Turns out, they just don’t open for dinner service until 5:30pm… that would’ve been nice to know.
Anyway, we came back the next day (at the right time) and had dinner. My first impression was the smell: it was sort of like an old smoking-​only hotel room that had been converted to a non-​smoking one. The interior was run down and had many odd things on the wall — a clarinet, a fish, a mirror etc. It didn’t seem to have a theme and was poorly lit. We waited quite a while for our food when we were only the 2^nd couple there that night. When it did come, the sushi was mediocre and his Chinese food was bland. While the waiter was smiling and nice, he wasn’t the most attentive. I am going to think twice before recommending it or returning there.

One day last spring, the family tried to eat at another restaurant on the block to no avail. I spotted Café Japone’s happy hour poster, and we decided to try it out instead of heading home.
Big Mistake. Here are the two words that every seafood fan should shudder at: BAD FISH.
I have been eating sushi a long time, and I have eaten it at dozens of restaurants. I have never experienced the amazing experience of realizing the fish just placed into my mouth is rancid and tastes like the gagging I am about to experience. I came, I gagged, and I spit that crap right into my napkin. I almost ralphed on my toddler. I went home hungry, and I will never, ever, triple-​dog-​dare-​me eat here again.

Came here for a large group event after making prior reservations. I was very disappointed and disturbed by several things:
1) Interior is gross. The minute I stepped in, I was taken aback by the bad décor, weird funky smell, and small space. The place is not well-​kept at all.
2) The menus smelled like wet towel… you can tell people spilled their beers on the menus. It was so damn strong. The menus were also damp. In fact, it killed my appetite. Disgusting.
3) The seats we sat on were crap. I was constantly sinking to my left because the cushion/​springs couldn’t support me. I’m only 160lb.
4) Service was excruciating. Granted, we had a large party and there was only ONE server… ARE YOU KIDDING ME? There were at least 60 people in the restaurant later in the evening including us, and they only had one server…
5) Food came out extremely late. 2 of my associates got their foods 1 ½ hour AFTER we all got our food. I exaggerate not. And the worst part is that when the waitress served them the food, she was so nonchalant about it. She literally handed the plate and walked away. She didn’t even apologize for having the food come out 90 minutes late. Ridiculous and unacceptable.
6) The karaōke sucks. I am Korean and my parents do own a karaōke bar so maybe I’m a bit spoiled, but holy crap. The sound system SUCKED. We could barely hear the music. They also had only one mic.
7) Food was… alright. Good for the happy hour price I suppose.
Never coming here again. Management, please consider these constructive criticisms.

I came here for one thing and one thing only — karaōke. Yep, I am a true karaōke fanatic. You can name the time and place and I will be there with bells on. So with that being said, I had high hopes for this place.
I met up with my friends there, chatted a little bit and then took a look around the area. The place was pretty small with 3 small tables towards the windows across from the bar with only a narrow (and I mean narrow) hall that separates the two. The back has two long tables. Anyways, I chalked it up to «bar» atmosphere and one of the main reasons why I don’t attend bars.
So once we sat down, I wanted to order some sushi. I know what you’re thinking. Why would you order sushi at a bar-​like place? I was hungry and my stomach is made out of iron steel. What can I say — I like to take risks. =P Much to my surprise, the sushi was not too bad. Rice was soft and the rolls did not fall apart. I did not get any stomach problems after — all in all, a good plus. =D
Ok, now it was time to get down to business and sing my heart out. Fair warning, this place is not like most karaōke places that you can rent a room to sing privately. You will need to bring your A-​game to sing in front of crowds. You’ve been warned. =P
They brought out several books of song to choose and you’d write the #‘s down on paper for them to enter the numbers into the keypad. The song selections were not too bad and they even have newer songs especially Adele. Major plus already. However, I wish the sound could be better and when I say better, I mean 80% better. Most of the time, I could not hear myself sing especially when the crowd loves to sing with you. Kinda defeats the purpose of karaōke. Ah well, it was still a fun night, however I would choose another place to go for better sound.

I like Japone a lot because their prices are great. The happy hour is limited but totally worth it since their sushi is pretty good too. I like their outdoor seating and chill environment– it becomes lively very quick! The environment isn’t the nicest for a date but the place itself is in a nice location. Service is pretty good and it is family owned.

It had been years since I have been to Café Japone, but a friend wanted to sing karaōke so I went last Saturday.
The karaōke is good with a large selection. Instead of having an MC who calls you up to sing, you have your song plugged into the machine and grab the microphone when your song come up. More traditional and much more fun.
The sushi on the other hand is at best average. There are many other places with much better and more imaginative selections. However, it is not outright bad.
I would rate it lower, but this is the first place I ate sushi, so I have to give them three stars.

I did not actually take a bite of food here nor will I ever.
It is stank up in here! It smells something like rotting fish and cat piss– disgusting! The carpet is filthy, as is the restroom, and I don’t think this restaurant has ever been cleaned. Someone must have a cozy relationship with the health inspector to still be open.
If you bring noseplugs and/​or sit outside, you can at least enjoy a large Sapporo for $ 4 during happy hour. My advice is to chug a few of those, breathe through your mouth, and enjoy the karaōke.

2 times in two nights. The ambience was perfect for a late 11:30p snack after arriving from NYC. Karaōke singing in the background and a delightful menu to choose from. it really was perfect considering i had just gotten off the train and checked into my hotel. i went to 4 diff restaurants and they all had either just closed the kitchen or only had skimpy bar menus available.
I ordered ramen and sushi a la carte. The ramen was great! Comparable to some of the top spots in nyc really. The sushi was fresh and service was laid back and friendly. The toro was fantastic. IM here for a second night and waiting for a sushi deluxe w chef recommendations.
I really don’t get all the reviews trashing the ambience here. If you want a quiet candle-​lit romantic dinner go somewhere else. Don’t trash the place…

We were trying to go to Uni for sushi in Dupont… umm yeah that didn’t quite work out being there was that pesky fire and all
So we didn’t do our research that night and made plans with a group of 9 to go out and eat! On the fly we saw Café Japone and jumped at the chance (it was also pretty cold so the 1^st place open was getting most of the groups vote)
The place was empty on a Saturday night and had karaōke in the back room we could hear. I was scared. They say us in this «trendy» (term used losely) area that looked like the batcave updated by a designer in south beach /​set designer for Mork & Mindy.
It was weird and I was skeptical of the sushi but we ordered (after being moved to a table in the front that was a bit more comfortable and had this weird IKEA bed net thing over it.
We got our sushi and I was severely underwhelmed as the rolls were cheap but they were tasteless. I get better sushi at Wegmans.
DON’T GO!!!