Jap One is among the very best Japanese restaurants in Napoli and one of my personal favourites as well. In late 2018 the restaurant opened at a new location in Via Calabritto n.7 close to Piazza Dei Martiri in Chiaia, Napoli. Previously, I dined at the old location in Vico Santa Maria a Cappella Vecchia, which is just moments away but definitely off the grid in a hidden backyard. Now it’s located in the center of the posh nightlife area, it became even more tempting to try it once again.
Amazing Moriawase Dinner
The dinner started out with some light appetisers, such as edamame and absolutely amazing gyoza dumplings. Although the gyoza were very nice and had an excellent texture, the wakame had strangely perfumed taste, almost as if it was marinated in meat stock. But even before we could think to much about it, we were served the sake (salmon) carpaccio with ikura (salmon roe) and caviar. The salmon was smooth and very tasty but the caviar was uninspiring. It felt more like a collection of buzz words than a well composed dish. So all in all the appetisers were nice, but not amazing.
Then we had some gunkan bytes, all of which were absolutely great. The ebi (shrimp) maki with caviar was very intense and way above average ebi around. The sake (salmon) maki with ikura (salmon roe) was nice but easily surpassed by the breathtaking suzuki (sea bass) with hotategai (scallop) with green tobiko (flying fish roe). It was simply amazing. The kappa (cucumber) roll with kinoko (mushroom, and I don’t remember what kind) was also a nice piece to try.
When our main moriawase plate arrived, we were presented with amazing ebi (shrimp) tempura maki (deep fried roll) with quail egg and caviar topping. It was outstanding and set the bar very high for the entire plate.
And what an amazing plate it was. It covered all we could hope for. We had some maguro (tuna back) uramaki (inside out roll) with caviar, maguro (tuna back) uramakai (onside out roll) with ikura (salmon roe), some sake (salmon) maki with caviar topping, ebi tempura (fried shrimp) uramaki (inside out roll) with green tobiko (flying fish roe). We were really impressed by the tarabagani (king crab) maki (roll) with green tobiko (flying fish roe) as well as with the simple but great sake (salmon) nigiri. Then there was ebi tempura (fried shrimp) uramaki (inside out roll) with ikura (salmon roe), sake (salmon) maki tempura (deep fried roll) with ibodai (butterfish), some maguro (tuna back), sake (salmon) and hamachi (yellowtail sashimi) as well as some ebi tempura (fried shrimp) and sake (salmon) foto maki (big roll).
Sushi Guide Verdict
Dining an Jap One is an amazing experience. The sushi bar is absolutely outstanding and offers very limited seats at the bar and various table on two floors for groups of different sizes. The menu options are extensive and cover all basics and some exquisite dishes to choose from. The taste and quality os very good and outstanding for some select options. The drink menu is excellent as well as the restaurant also features a nice and chic cocktail bar. The service was very friendly and forthcoming but remained a bit detached, something that I felt as the main loss compared to my experience in the previous location. All in all, I highly recommend this restaurant as one of the best in Napoli.
Atmosphere
Menu Options
Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Review Date: February 21, 2019