Yamato

I ate here for the first time on ⁶⁄₂₁. I ordered both sushi and a dinner for takeout. Sushi was the Broadway roll with spicy tuna inside and eel on the outside with eel sauce on top. It was phenomenal. The sushi rice tastes great as well, better than most. For my dinner I ordered the crispy duck. It came with a brown sauce and various vegetables. It was delicious, but a little rubbery once i got it back to my hotel. If eaten at the restaurant I’m certain it would have been crispy. Ambiance is nice and casual. Restaurant is dated but clean, and the staff is very friendly.
Now I am writing this on ⁶⁄₂₂ while waiting for the 4 sushi rolls I ordered.

Hands down the best Hot and Sour soup you’ll find. I always get the Human Shrimp and it’s great.

nice people
food was good
I ordered General Tso’s Tofu. It was not on the menu but they were nice enough to make it
probably best meal your gonna get in Altoona
only other thing is fast food and disgusting chain restaurants

I’ve had sushi from all over the east coast. This is one of, if not my favorite restaurant. It’s surprising that sushi can be this good in Altoona. The different types of fish are fresh from vendors on the east coast. The Chinese meals and soups are great as well.

Yamato is something of an institution in Altoona. They offer an excellent Chinese menu as well as sushi.

If you want decent sushi, yamato is the place to go in Altoona. I have had better sushi in other cities, but since I live in Altoona, my choices are limited.

Bones in my sushi? Eeep! I must have unwittingly ordered one of the more adventurous special rolls…
Aside from the crunchy, boney surprise in my eel, my buddy and I felt the sushi wasn’t particularly fresh. The fish ranged in temperature from warm to cold, a feat I didn’t realize could be accomplished in a single roll. Two of the rolls had so much rice in them that it was hard to taste any of the other ingredients. Additionally, our agedashi tofu appetizer was really strange: it seemed like the tofu had been drained poorly, tossed in some flour, and unsuccessfully fried because of the amount of water left in the tofu. And the sauce’s consistency and flavor was suspiciously similar to won-​ton soup broth…

Overall, we didn’t expect anything spectacular coming in (we’re originally from Central PA, so it’s not like our sushi expectations are way out there), but I just can’t fathom an excuse for the lack of quality we experienced at Yamato.
Definite 1 star for the sushi experience. I’m ultimately giving 2 stars for two reasons: 1. the guys felt the Chinese fare was «ok/​not bad», and, 2. the exterior of the building was one of the stranger and most unexpected things I’ve seen recently (weird typically wins points with me).

I’m a tad bit sad to drop a star on my review– but really it’s because they somehow changed the egg drop soup to be a very generic, flavorless recipe. I was pretty disappointed. But not to worry! The dumplings were still one-​of-​a-​kind and I will still call this my favorite restaurant in Altoona!

Ordered an appetizer since I had some dollars left on the per diem. If you think this place is good, you need to get out. Big city guy like myself coming to good ‘ol Altoona. Where the weather is humid and the restaurant is… well, on the corner under a billboard. Nice?
Ordered the teriyaki chicken a la carte for appetizer… or should I say, flavored chicken skewers. I’m not going to hate, but is this how they like it out here. Seriously, I would tell you what I had for dinner, but I couldn’t get the taste of the chicken out of my mouth.
I’m sure the other food is great, I just… oh my gosh… RUNNNN, the billboard is trying to eat me!!!

When in Rome…
… my family does not do what the Romans do.
We ended up at a Chinese restaurant.
No joke.
So take a Chinese family and stick ‘em in Central PA and you know they’ll be craving some Chinese grubbin’.
Yamato is the epitome of Asian fare in a predominately white, rural-​ish area.
Brown sauce on everything. Very Americanized.
Not so fresh sushi and uninspired rolls (I heard not many ppl venture to the sushi side of things here).
But sometimes, you take what you can get.
Especially when it’s one of the few restaurants open on Christmas.
And one of the few Chinese restaurants in town.
Sad times.

Very good Chinese/​Japanese/​Sushi place in Altoona. The one or two times that I have gotten Chinese food while coming here it was very good. When I go I almost always get Sushi. The Sushi is excellent with a very wide selection. The soups are also probably the best in Altoona.
If you are eating a bunch of Sushi it can get a little pricey, but it is well worth it and the regular Chinese and Japanese dishes are very well priced.