Yama Sushi on the Lake

I’ve been here quite a few times and I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed this place yet. This is just based on my most recent visit. This place was empty on a Sunday afternoon, which was kinda weird. My Mom had made reservations, but it looked like we didn’t really need them. We got a nice seat outside since the weather was nice. The view out on the patio is always nice, we watched some sailboats out on the lake. I checked in here and got their free small hot sake which was cool. I wasn’t really in the mood for sake though and I ended up giving it to my Uncle who wanted it. It’s nice they give out some free perks for Unilocalers.
Apparently they have a different and smaller lunch menu for weekends, which was kinda lame. My Mom wanted on their usual lunch menu, but they didn’t serve it on weekends. There was only like five or six items to choose from. I got the sashimi with spicy tuna crunchy roll, miso soup and salad.
To start we all got our miso soup and salad first. They were alright, nothing special. Shortly after finishing our starters our entrees came. My sashimi was in really big hunks which made it a little hard to eat. The tuna was good, but the salmon was flavorless and gristly which was disappointing. Normally salmon is my favorite. The roll was good, it was crunchy and not too spicy. I liked the tempura shrimp inside the roll the most.
We ended the meal with some mango ice cream mochi desserts. They were topped with whipped cream, pocky and a cherry. I normally don’t like mochi, but I gave it a try since I love mango. I really liked the mango ice cream and the mochi wasn’t bad either.
The service was very quick and precise here and I loved their patio area, but the food was just alright.

Horrible service, mediocre food, and significantly overpriced. It took 30 minutes to get two rolls. That was after our «server» took the order, came back to repeat the order back to us a few minutes later, then proceeded to disappear for the rest of our time there. We were told the «ticket» must have been lost by some other server. I worked in the service industry for years… methinks not. No acknowledgement of our wasted time, even after we informed them of the time we had been waiting for our two rolls. No apology, just a quick drop off of the rolls and an expedited escape. The lack of sincerity and customer service blew my mind. Food was, as I stated, mediocre at best. I’ve had better quality/​tasting Salmon Sashimi in COLORADO. We walked from the patio through the entire restaurant, past multiple servers and sushi chefs without as much as a «thank you,» «goodbye,» or «come again.»
Save your time, money, and a heck of a lot of frustration and GO ELSEWHERE where your patronage may actually be appreciated. Its a shame that such a great spot with a pretty view is occupied by this establishment.

My wife and I went to celebrate our anniversary to use a gift certificate that lived in our cupboard for over a year. The place was busy, but the hostess was nice and attentive and seated us quickly. To be honest, we were not at all impressed with the sushi and everything was extremely overpriced. We have other local sushi restaurants that are half the price and better quality food. At one point, the server brought over a dish that we did not order. When we called her back to say we did not order it, she replied «do you want it?». We said no and she took it to the back only to bring it out a few minutes later to the table behind us (who obviously ordered it). That was unimpressive to say the least. Also, it seems like they could not wait to get us out of the restaurant and we felt rushed to leave immediately after we finished our food. Overall, it was a very dissapointing experience and we will never go back.

I had really been looking forward to eating here after hearing and reading so many raving reviews. After dining here, I have learned one thing: the people of South OC know nothing of sushi!
Very overpriced.
Limited selection.
Imitation crab.
Tastes like ‘grab n go’ sushi packs from grocery stores.
Décor is outdated (80’s).
Dining area is very small and crammed.
Service leaves much to be desired.
There are better places in Mission Viejo for sushi at half the cost that also have weekday happy hour specials. $ 80 mediocre sushi for two is far too much.
*If you feel like Bill Gates and lack taste buds, they have a check-​in offer of free hot sake.

Best sushi in Mission Viejo! Fresh fish! Spanish mackerel, hamachi, uni, Japanese scallops, super good!

I should have checked the reviews prior to coming here — but was brought over by a friend who knows I have a serious love for sushi.
Unfortunately — we do not have the same understanding as to what sushi means. Yama is a mecca for rolls, which sushi it does not make (seriously) but I was presently surprised at how nicely constructed their nigiri was. Definitely surprised when I wasn’t greeted with the wasabi-​already-​under-​fish which I’m used to … so that was new, not my preference (since I’m a «sushi-​snob») but it was fine.
The fish selection is your pretty standard salmon, tuna, albacore, etc. affair — nothing incredibly impressive to write home about. What they lack in variety, they do make up with their signature dishes. The albacore tataki was nice, the sesame dressing it’s served with was delicious and pungent (in a good way) but I think they should do away with the raw red onion and the spicy sriracha-​like accompaniment. The oysters on the half-​shell served with ponzu … NICE. A change from the American obsession with cocktail sauce. I would recommend that — the oysters were a good size for the price.
Other than these few things (didn’t have much of an appetite) I would necessarily diss this restaurant. It was fine. I have my own favorite sushi restaurant (SHUNKA), but it can be fun to try new places every once in a while. The servers are incredibly friendly and attentive. Yama is a little too far south-​OC for me, but I’m sure the view is beautiful in the day time.

Went here last night for the first time and we loved it! We just moved to the area and have been looking for a good sushi place. This definitely hit the spot. The fish was fresh and delicious. I prefer the more traditional sushi and the husband likes the «fun» stuff.
Negi Hama Maki– amazing! The fish was fresh, simple flavors that really brought out the flavors. So simple but so good.
Spicy scallop hand roll– also amazing. The scallops were fresh and delicious. Just the right amount of spice and sauce. I would go back here and only get 3 of these for dinner and be just fine.
Shrimp tempura crunch roll– good flavor. Its always our go since since its hard to mess up and this one hit the spot.
Salmon sushi– also simple and delicious. The salmon was nice and tender, not stringy or hard to eat.
I can wait to go back and try more from the menu… or just get the spicy scallops hand roll.
Minus one star because for price. Its worth the buck, but that means I can’t justify more than 1 visit per week, or every other week.

Sushi was just ok. Service was terrible. Took forever to have someone take our order and it wasn’t crazy busy. Sushi came but still no napkins or even chopstick. Bad enough to where I may not come back.

LOVE this place!!! The food is amazing & the service is fast. The lake view is also beautiful.

Don and his team do a really nice job overall. Food is consistent and delicious. It’s our go-​to Sushi spot; Yama salad, ninja roll, soups, garlic edemame, or omakase at the sushi bar are all great choices.
Service can be a little hit and miss as can greet and seat, which is why I can’t give 5 stars.

My favorite go to on the lake mission viejo. Love the crunch roll a must try. Service is fast and friendly atmosphere is quaint not noisy or bright. Perfect place to relax and enjoy some great sushi.

This place never disappoints but today was above and beyond.
The miso soup here is always perfect!
Yama salad– I ordered one and then ordered a second. No joke. Amazing.
Albacore tatami– so good, we took the cilantro off made it way better.
We had the Mexican roll and shichimi maki roll, both were very delicious.
Yellowtail was unbelievably fresh today. We ordered one and loved it so much we ordered two more orders.

For the 3^rd time, yes 3^rd time I’ve walked into Yama, placed my EXTREMELY simple order, pay for it, wait, wait and wait some more only to find out they forgot to place my order. I could see if it was a night they were busy, but it happened again tonight. Oh my gosh, what is up with them forgetting my order. They are not sympathetic at all either.
I use to love this place but it’s really gone down hill. Just my opinion.
PS: All I order each time is 1 an order of California Rolls to go.

My husband likes more «traditional» sushi and I like more «Americanized» sushi… This place makes us both happy. I didn’t think it would be very good because the location is so awesome with the view and being on the lake, but the quality of the sushi matches the quality of the venue. My husband had the lunch special which came with a fresh-​tasting seafood salad and miso soup. I had the baked scallop roll which sushi purists will mock but which I love. Service was great, very attentive and nice. This will be our go-​to sushi place from now on. My husband said it’s some of the best he’s ever had and the fish was incredibly fresh and excellent quality.

Absolutely love Yama! My girlfriend and I come here often and love the service, the food, and the view.
This is hands-​down our favorite sushi in the area (not to mention they have fantastic miso soup as well). The pricing is alright, average for the area (10 – 15 for specialty rolls). We never have to wait, which is nice, and we always sit outside and enjoy the beautiful view of lake Mission Viejo. The place is family friendly, but also works well for a date night. Pepino’s next door can be a little loud at times but it’s not enough to detract from the experience.
All in all — it’s a great place to enjoy sushi, highly recommend it.

I’m very picky about my sushi and OMG… the sushi here is excellent!
We sat on the patio which looks over Lake Mission Viejo, which isn’t too shabby for a man-​made lake. I recommend the ninja, titaka, and spider roll. All were delicious and fresh. Bonus: they have fresh wasabi (although it’s 3 bucks extra).
Service was great, but I’m taking away a star because the sake wasn’t very good.

This place has a beautiful view of the lake — hence the name Yama Sushi on the Lake. Great place to bring a date I must say.
I came here with a couple friends after getting a pedicure as was craving sushi and sat at the sushi bar. We ended up getting the sashimi roll, philly roll, and spicy tuna. Naturally, I’m not going to rave about the spicy tuna roll because I’m not a fan. I did give it a try and my opinion on spicy tuna remains the same. I did enjoy the philly and sashimi roll as the rolls are beautifully presented.
The rice to filling was a bit off as there was a lot of rice and the roll wasn’t evenly cut. Not every philly roll had cream cheese or not every roll had avocado. It was good, but had I wanted a salmon roll, that’s what I would of ordered.
The sashimi roll was beautiful with all the different colors. But it was hard to distinguish the different flavor of fish as I normally like to taste.
A-​Ok.

So FridayI met my boss for lunch at Yama Sushi. This is the second time I have been here and both times they did not disappoint.
There’s plenty of patio and inside seating, and we’ve never had to wait
We sat on the patio overlooking the lake amazing view.
They were gearing up for Friday dinner and had an amazing stack of fresh fish being prepared for the evening.
When we ordered I ordered teka maki, …my favorite!
They brought out the teka maki and just the aroma, like that of a sweet skunk bud, coming from the fresh sushi and the wasabi was great with out even a taste yet! 6 little pieces of sweet yama goodness.
My boss ordered a Poki salad with an abundance of assorted bite-​sized sashimi pieces with house poki dressing, I will be ordering that next time!
We both ordered Yama’s Mahalo Ahi Tataki which had Seared cajun-​seasoned ahi tuna with sauteed spinach it was delightful.
We finished with several Salmon skin rolls, nice, salty crispy delight fulness wrapped hand roll style.
I was so enamored by the food I didn’t take my normal amount of pictures, both times!
cant wait to come back and dig into that Poki salad!

Yama Sushi is in a great location overlooking Lake Mission Viejo. We don’t often go out to eat on Wednesday nights so I don’t really know how busy it is during the week but it was completely dead while we were there for dinner. There was only one family at a table and one other person at the Sushi Bar with us. And despite that, the service was still extremely slow.
The food is lackluster, with too much dressing on the salad, and very little passion put into the making of the sushi. I realize that the sushi fad has been in a decline over the last couple of years but I was still hoping for some excitement from the sushi chef. It wasn’t to be.
We ordered the Mission Viejo Roll, and it lacked flavor (compared to other baked scallops on top of California rolls that I’ve had in the past). Next we got the Sushi of the day, which was alright, except that we didn’t order it, my son just asked what the sushi of the day was and then several minutes later the chef handed it to us. After that we tried a combination plate with beef short ribs but they were on the dry side.
With one last try we ordered a spicy tuna roll but that left us uninspired as well.

Yama Sushi on the Lake is a wonderfully located sushi restaurant in Mission Viejo. They have one of the best Sushi-​and-​Japanese-​fusion menus in the area, something for everyone. I’m happy to report, they have vegetarian dishes besides just veggie tempura and rice.
There’s plenty of patio and inside seating, and we’ve never had to wait long for a seat. That said, if you’re in the mood for some interaction, their sushi bar staff are all great hosts. We usually sit with Johnny, whose picture I’ve posted as «Supermodel Sushi Chef». Very entertaining host, skilled chef, knows his sake! But they’re all good hosts, and you’ll have a great time no matter where you sit.