Yo Sushi

Yo Sushi is a Korean owned, Japanese cuisine restaurant. The interior is quite nice and the renovations do not look cheap. I would have taken photos of the good stuff but I dropped my phone too many times and since the lenses are kind of scratched, my photos look blurry. The restaurant is spacious and has comfortable booth seating arrangements as well as wooden chairs with divider walls. Also, the restaurant offers a few games such as table foosball to keep customers occupied for possibly pick up and take out orders.

TUNA AND SALMON SASHIMI ($11.95). 

The salmon sashimi could have been cut thicker (the slices are folded in half) and resembles nigiri filet, which gives the impression of cheap sushi. As for the tuna sashimi, the upper body portion is served and the cut is usually for only rolls or spicy tuna. The reason is because the upper body portion has more tendon which tastes chewy, and the bottom cut is more rich and is always reserved for sashimi. Only.

SALMON ($1.50), TORO ($2.25) AND TUNA NIGIRI ($1.50). 

The slices are pretty much the same as the order of sashimi. If anything, the rice tastes a bit too warm despite that the firmness and formation of the nigiri is perfect.

HOTATE BUTTER YAKI, GRILLED SCALLOP WITH LEMON BUTTER SAUCE ($7.75). 

Although the scallops have a slight charred taste, they are too small, dry, stiff and wrinkly. Restaurants should only use medium or large sized scallops for proper skewering since the small ones fall apart. Underneath the scallops are sautéed onions which oddly enough, does not taste very good. Generally simple sautéed onions in butter with lemon sounds simple and good, but it was not. Weird right? Plus, I never say there is too much butter, however, the onions are very wet and should have been cooked on a higher heat or sautéed longer.

NABEYAKI UDON, EGG, CHICKEN, FISH CAKE, PRAWN, SHIITAKE MUSHROOM, SPINACH ($10.95). 

The nabeyaki udon does not have a clear rich flavour and instead, there is a weird seaweed broth taste… which is not usually "nabeyaki udon". As for the ingredients, there are three thin slices of grilled chicken meat which tastes chewy, one sliced white mushroom (not shiitake like stated on the menu), two prawn tempura, a couple of egg swirls, and one crab stick. Tentatsu's nabeyaki udon is cheaper by $3.00 and tastes a lot better. If anything, the nebayaki could have been served in a nabe, rather than a ceramic bowl.

LOBSTER ROLL, CUCUMBER, AVOCADO, CRAB MEAT, LOBSTER TAIL AND TOBIKO WITH ORGANIC GREENS ($15.95).

This is the only item that we enjoyed tonight, really enjoyed. The sushi roll has an actual strong, flavourful and natural lobster taste, despite the saucy presentation. Furthermore, the tail is lightly battered and not soggy one bit. The lobster is an Alaskan lobster tail which used to be expensive for importing and is now much more than reasonable.

Asides from the lobster, there is black dyed tobiko which provides some color and a good amount of spring mix and arugula salad. This is a pretty good value and I am glad that the sauce did not affect the flavour of the lobster, unlike what I read on most reviews about the other rolls!

COMPLIMENTARY HI-CHEW CANDY. 

I am a sucker for anything other than cheap mints and usually the Hi-Chew candies would win me over to revisit. I also like the stamp card system as well (which I am a sucker for too), but 10% off is not really luring unless the bill is over $60.00. I think a free non-speciality roll is more eye catching but this is coming from someone who would not come back. If I liked the restaurant, I would be raving about the stamp card and saying I love it LOL. The lobster roll is a must order for those who visit though!

POSITIVES

- Stamp card 

- Lobster roll is good, really good

- Games to keep those occupied when waiting for take out

NEGATIVES

- What service?

- Scallops are not worth $8.00

- Only the lobster roll was good

- Nigiri slices for sashimi? Come on..

- Prices are mid-high and not worth it (if the quality is here, no problem, but it ain't)

LITTLE THINGS

- I rather spend an extra 5-10 minutes going to Tentatsu

- Some drink refills would have been nice and proper change for tip

Food: 2.5/5 

Service: 2/5