Topsl Seafood Bar

There aren’t many restaurants on Friday Harbor to begin with, and there are less during the winter months. We’d already been to Cask & Schooner three times, so we went to Tops’l for «something new.» We shouldn’t have. It was a waste of money. Food was expensive and mediocre.
Don’t expect authentic sushi, of course. This is not that place. I didn’t even have that expectation, and I still felt let-​down.
We had the long beans, a spicy tuna roll, and a crunchy fusion roll that had jalapeño and cream cheese — I don’t remember what it was anymore, but it came with two dipping sauces. I’m very forgiving when it comes to sushi, and I honestly thought the rolls we got were okay, but I hated the price I had to pay.
The long beans were good. They had a lot of garlic, but I’ve had better-​seasoned and bigger portions for the same price.
The service we got wasn’t bad either. I thought our server was attentive and quick. The restaurant was nice-​looking and could even be suitable for a romantic date. It just wasn’t a good value for the money, which is why I won’t be coming back.

Despite some one– and two-​star reviews, we deci decided to give this little spot on Front Street a try. And, we are happy to report a positive experience from all angles.
First — location. Located on the 2^nd floor of a small complex facing the harbor — serene views from practically every seat I n the house.
Second — service. The hostess was friendly and accomodating and our server, Anne, was on top of our experience. She new the menu, answered our questions, gave recommendations and kept our iced teas full the entire meal.

Avoid this place. Service is awful, so is the food. I could not find an example of anything else this bad. Go around the corner to Cask and Schooner and get a great meal with good service.

I like this place. Quality seafood and sushi. Good service. A lot better then the majority of the restaurants in Friday harbor. I would highly recommend this place.

We have been to Tops’l four or five times. The food has been very good. The reason for three stars is the service. it has always been sketchy at best. They don’t seem short handed, although this may be the case. They seem discombobulated. The staff must always be either very new or totally untrained. We recently went and were told it would be a 15 to 20 minute wait. After 30 minutes we got a table. This is not their fault. However, we sat there for over 30 minutes without being acknowledged. My wife had an empty drink in front of her the entire time and definitely wanted another. We did everything possible to act like we wanted service, but everyone just zipped by. This was not an isolated occurrence. We only go back because the food is good. We love the Spicy Ika, the mussels, and the broccoli. They are all stupendous. The sushi is fresh, and very well prepared. The Island is lucky to have a place like this, but they need to put a little focus on the service. The food won’t always be able to save the experience.

I have been here several times before I decided to write a review so it could be based on several consistent experiences and not just one good or bad one.
Yes, I find this place a bit overpriced even for the island. The usually economical California roll is $ 11 but uses real crab instead of surimi. The nigiri is of high quality, but every single time the chef is way too liberal with the wasabi– I should taste the delicate flavor of each fish, not a pea-​size wad in every bite.
Also, the rolls need to be cut into smaller bites. Seriously you would choke if you shoved a whole piece into your mouth, or else you would look like chipmunk storing food for winter.
The miso soup is some of the best I’ve had; tastes like homemade fish broth and not instant powder.
The service here has usually been excellent and has not been an issue; attentive, know the menu, and polite.
One final comment; I wish their menu was a little bigger, More variety in the rolls.

Wife & I eat a lot of sushi. Would rate this a 3 to 4 score if available. This sushi house was pretty good and quite fresh given our location. The rainbow roll was absolutely delicious. The softshell crab was also a delight. And yes even a spicy halibut cut roll hit the spot. The service was very friendly and overall my wife and I enjoyed the whole experience. Negatives would be that it was quite pricey given the size of the plates. I would also say that the menu lacked some creativity in the rolls. Pretty much straight fish in each roll without too many sauces… Overall a great place on San Juan island to eat…

Second time here. Great experience both times. Excellent service, excellent food and drinks.

First time at this place. What we ordered was delicious!
For starters we had local seaweed (Sumamono seaweed I think), spicy Ika, and poke. The seaweed was tossed in a ginger soy chili mix. It wasn’t too spicy. The spicy ika (squid) was flash fried and tossed in ginger, sake, soy, and mirin mix (it was so good… was tempted to ask for the rest of the sauce to go). The poke was good too — fresh and the seasonings were not overpowering.
We also ordered California roll (with real crab) and crispy 5 spice duck breast. The duck breast was cooked perfectly — crispy skin, tender meat and slightly pink in the middle (as it should be).
House sake was smooth and dry. The Ivan the Terrible Stout was good by itself or paired well with the duck.
To top it all off, we had a very attentive server, Jeremy.
The place is pricey, but it’s in the heart of tourist town so it’s expected. The food is fresh and well prepared so it’s worth it to splurge every now and then.
If you want good seafood, with Asian flare, stop by; and ask for Jeremy as your server (I think he only works there in the summer… he’s heading to St. Thomas after the summer).

I was hoping for much more, given the island’s access to fresh fish. Everything was overpriced and not terribly tasty. Not terrible or anything, just bland.

This place is an absolute tourist trap and should be avoided at all cost. I just spent $ 120 for myself and my wife for the worst meal I have had on my vacation yet. We ordered the 9P nigiri and can you believe it? They brought a piece of macro and an egg omelette as 2 of the 9. Totally unacceptable. The waiter Jeremy saw we were unhappy; however, took no action to correct the meal. We had to order an extra maguro at the end of the meal just not to be hungry and it took 20 minutes for them to get the order wrong. When I tried to cancel, the waiter forced us to take the corrected order anyway and then charged us for the more expensive mistake he made. We didn’t dispute the charge, We just wanted to get out of there. This business is clearly built on a tourist, one time only visit, and if it were not for tourists would completely go out of business. Stay clear of this restaurant. You have been warned.

Great views of the water and ferry. Nice décor, clean and well put together. The sushi is beautiful and the chef is energetic and views his sushi as art. The sushi tasted really good. However, the place is extremely, extremely overpriced. Some rolls cost $ 18.00 and it is a small portion, a bowl of edamame is $ 7.00. We went with friends and left feeling hungry.

We had an excellent dinner here, service was excellent and very impressed with their food. I had the miso salmon with house made Kim chee, rice, and veggies. My husband had smoked albacore wrapped around a spicy tuna roll, and both of us were very happy with our choices and the seasonings they used.

Melt in your mouth sushi! It’s on the pricey end but it’s worth it. The best rainbow roll I have ever had. The edamame is very unique and a must try, great view and service!

TERRIBLE.
I went to Tops’l for the first time last weekend with a few friends. We grabbed a couple appetizers and I decided to pick up the check of $ 75. first off, the food is wayyyy to expensive for what you get. totally not worth it. While i was waiting for my check to be received, I saw our server fumbling around with the table next us with their check. I didn’t think anything of it until the next day. I took a look at my bank statement and saw that I had been rung twice, one for the amount of my check and another for $ 123! Tried to call the restaurant and of course no one answered. The restaurant wasn’t going to be open until thu…
I called the bank and the money wasn’t able to be refunded as the transaction was not yet finalized. I waited a couple more days, and finally the money was refunded. Never once was i notified by the restaurant.
I understand people make accidents. I have been a cashier before and have rung people up incorrectly. The issue was that i was never informed of the mistake! $ 123 is quite a large sum of money to be missing. If i was informed of the mistake at the time, than at least i would be prepared for it. This is terrible service, lack of common sense…

I’ve eaten at Tops’l many times and every time I think it can’t get any better, but it does. I decided to have my New Year’s Dinner at Tops’l. Sitting at the Sushi Bar, I was pleasantly rewarded with the best squid dish I have ever eaten… and I always get the Calamari wherever I dine. The Spicy Ika was a preparation I have never seen before and was a tender delight. Also, big on my list of favorites is tofu dishes, and the Tempura Tofu was simply amazing. Both dishes were accompanied by an appropriate sauce that enhanced the delicious bites. Miso soup and a ginger beer rounded out a perfect meal. As always the service was perfect. The background music provided by guitar and sax enhanced the experience.

Absolutely the highlight of my trip to Friday Harbor! After eating very bleh meals at Cask and Schooner and Blue Water and seeing the condition of the outside areas at the Friday Crabhouse, it was so nice to find a place that took some pride in the cleanliness and food in their establishment. Yes, the sushi here is overpriced because you’re in a tourist area. But would you rather pay more for good food, or pay more for being surrounded by senior citizens, where your table was washed down with a moldy rag, swarm of gnats around your head, and your food bland or drenched in horseradish mayo or blue cheese? The staff was very helpful and polite. I tried to find something wrong, because I was expecting something to go wrong from the reviews, but there was only one small error, which was no big deal and I ended up getting more food from the error anyhow. I ordered the poke salad, which had the salmon in a spicy sweet sauce, with avocado and seaweed salad, wow was I surprised, it was so good. Nobody except Sushi Café in Renton could get this right, and this was different, BUT as delicious as I am used to. It was a different twist but similar. AND, they have quail eggs! My favorite!!! I did order salmon nigiri with the quail egg, but they misunderstood and gave me salmon egg nigiri with quail egg and a side of salmon nigiri, which they apologized for, but it was all delicious and I just wanted my salmon and quail eggs, mmmm so buttery. I also ordered the Hamachi, which was $ 5 more than I usually pay for Hamachi, but it was very fresh, very soft and silky, not a bit of chewiness. And anybody who knows cuts of fish, sometimes you can get cuts that tend to get a tiny bit chewy as you get closer to the tail. These were super fresh and up closer to the head. AND to top it all off, I had one heck of a hangover earlier in the day from karaōke night at Herb’s (Wednesday night karaōke, don’t miss it, cash only), but then I discovered the most delectable drink I have ever had in my life. It was called «Hot» sake martini. I believe it was some tasty sake, with some cinnamon liqueur, jalapeño slice and a pineapple cube. It was spicy sweet and delicious. I would have had 2 if it weren’t for the recent pain I endured from the previous night’s indulgence. Treat yourself, GO HERE!

There are few times… Maybe just two in my life that I have walked out of a restaurant for simply not feeding me. Tonight makes it number three. Service was very bad. I waited for more than 30 minutes — no food, no drinks, no nothing.
I hope management gets to read this because I come to Friday Harbor at least twenty times a year and I do love sushi. Common guys… You can do better!

Skip the touristy restaurants near by and climb the stairs to this great Japanese restaurant with excellent views of Friday Harbor. We were on San Juan Island for a few days and had to wait till Wednesday for them to be open (closed both Monday and Tuesday like several other Friday Harbor restaurants. The sunomono was very tasty albeit a little pricey ($ 5.50) compared to the other dishes, but the star of the evening was the Spicy Ika which was the best squid salad that I have ever had. We did not get a chance to check it out, but they have a late night happy hour as well.

This is a good sushi bar in FH above Cask and Schooner with the same owner. Very clean and upscale inside. The crunchy roll was my favorite, rainbow was good too. Non-​filtered sake was Ok. Service was a bit slow, but we were not in any hurry. Would be sure to go back again.