Yokayama Japanese Restaurant

Went to lunch here today. Ordered the sushi and sashimi lunch. The miso soup was not a miso soup. It’s a miso soup wanna be. There’s no taste… No tofu. No seaweed. Just pieces of chopped green onion. It was more of a hot water that was used to wash the miso mix container. Sushi was so so… Sashimi was sad. 3 pieces was decent size. The other 2 was like the end of the fish. About have the size of others.
The fish was mediocre at best.

I should have known better when we walked in and the place was completely empty. We ordered Udon and it had no flavor. The edamame tasted old, looked like they had poured a whole bag of salt on it and they served us tap water. There was a tv on the wall with Access Hollywood on really loud. I really didn’t enjoy having to listen to why Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise were splitting up. It didn’t really make sense why that was on since we were the only people there and the employees were not watching it. The waitress was pretty inattentive and food was overpriced. It also had a strange smell like a public restroom. They also took my daughter’s bowl away without asking if she was finished and big surprise: she wasn’t.

The miso was tasteless
The tonkasu was dry and tasted like freezer burn
The tempura was eh…
Will not go back. Horrible food.

I wanted some Udon, but for some reason, they didn’t have any for lunch time. This restaurant is situated in a sketchy part of RWC.
I unwillingly settled for ramen, and it was «okay.» Not bad, but just «okay.»
The place is your typical Asian restaurant, lacking the ambiance you feel at a higher end Japanese restaurant.
The workers (owners?) were Chinese, and they were talking very loudly among themselves, which was rather disturbing.

The food is decent, nothing fancy. But their customer service is fantastic. This is a family run business and it makes me happy to see them greet us
and others like long time friends. Very polite and happy staff. One gal always goes out of her way to play with and entertain my son. Two thumbs up!

I’ve had lunch here at least three times by now. Each time service has been great, the food has been excellent. I work nearby so a group of coworkers and I come here now and then.
At lunch this is a quiet place with usually less than a dozen other patrons. The sushi chef seems like a alright guy and makes an effort to make eye contact with his diners, even the ones sitting far away. Wait staff is very attentive and takes good care of us when we go. That’s why we keep going back. Good food, great service.

My co-​worker treated me to lunch here today. It’s kind of in a weird place and probably very easy to miss. It’s next to a pink night club and a nail salon.
The place was pretty spacious and clean. The service was quick which is perfect when you gotta clock-​in and out for lunch.
I ordered the tempura and CA roll bento box. It came with a bowl of miso soup, some rice, and a salad. I liked the dressing on the salad it wasn’t too sweet or tangy. The tempura was good, some pieces were a little too oily though. The CA roll was your standard CA roll. Nothing really stood out but it was a good meal and very filling.
The prices were average.
Good place for a quick bite during lunch time.

The sushi was not ok. There was no one in the resturant. They were watching TV as they waited on us. Plenty of selection on the menu. The service was great. I won’t be back unfortunately.

My hubby and I were craving sushi and we wanted to try a new spot. We were looking for Yokohoma but my confused self brought us here. It’s funny that these both almost have the same spelling and are on El Camino.
I ordered the spicy tuna rolls and an tempura roll. I wasn’t too pleased. The staff looked very tired and bored. One man, who was probably in the back dishwasher, even came out and started watching tv. For the quality of the sushi, it did not match the price. I probably won’t be going back, unfortunately.

Yay for being open past 9pm in RWC. For some reason, most places close at 9pm and it drives me nuts (considering I don’t get home till late on weekdays)
Friendly, attentive staff (yay!)
Decent presentation and food (another yay!)
slightly priced higher than normal (not so yay)
Overall, it’s a good place. I have other places that I would go to first but again, if you’re hungry past 9pm and you don’t want fast food, this place is a pretty good option.
Oh! Forgot to mention… fast service too.

My best friend and I came here for dinner on a slow Wednesday evening and were excited to try out this seemingly hole-​in-​the-​wall sushi joint by our apartment.
We started with tempura soft-​shell crab, which was to die for and probably the only reason for three instead of two stars. They served it with a dark broth that provided a nice sweet and salty balance to the crab. For sushi, we had the lion king roll, which I must admit was not as great as some reviewers have said. If you want a truly divine lion king roll, check out Dancy Sushi in Palo Alto. For me, the sauce is what truly makes or breaks this dish for me, and Yokayama’s was too bland, and when drizzled on top of the already bland salmon on top of a california roll, it left my taste buds wanting more (some soy sauce, in particular). We also tried the spider roll, which was ok, except the chef completely covered it in avocados, which normally, I’m a big fan of, but when the volume of roll-​to-​avocado ratio is close to 1:1, I’m going to have to pass.
The ambiance is very typical of what you would expect from a sushi restaurant – sushi bar, japanese decorations, waitstaff wearing japanese-​style garb. There were only three other occupied tables when we went, so service was great the whole way through and the price is pretty reasonable. I’d definitely come back to try more tempura from here.

Over the past two years I have been to Yokayama several times. The food is pretty consistent in terms of taste, quantity, and quality. Have had their salmon teriyaki, tempura, Chirashi, and several of the sushi rolls.
Went there recently with a group. Had chirashi which was fresh. Others had tempura udon, seafood udon, and lunch specials. Everyone was happy with their food. Only problem really was service. Once we got our food, I think they forgot about us. I had iced tea and wanted a refill. Waitperson came back to the table and filled my tea glass with water instead of tea. Not sure what that was about. I had specifically asked for my tea to be refilled.
Otherwise, I have been happy with the food here. It’s a good staple for Japanese food, but not outstanding. Prices are reasonable and dining room is pretty standard. Someone commented on the back entry hallway needing improvements, and I agree. It needs to be cleaned up, painted, and a bit more welcoming. However, I’ll keep coming here.

My wife and I go sometimes twice a week ever since 2003. Jack and Amae are like our family they have watched our daughter grow up ever since my wife was eating sushi pregnant they are always welcoming to old customers or new arrivals, Very affordable and great food/​sushi.
They come highly recommended by ME and My Family and Friends!

Today was my second visit to to Yokoyama. I’m less impressed this time than I was last time.
We enter through the back door, it’s closer to our work. That hallway smells bad. A little moldy. I can live with that, I don’t smell it from the dining area.
Last week I ordered. hamachi, which I generally like. However, this was nearly frozen! I should have skewered it and made a hamachicicle.
Today, it was cold and windy and I ordered BBQ pork udon. She brought me grayish pork ramen. The broth had no taste. I was really bummed out.
Time to find a new Japanese restaurant close to work.

Nothing here is great… I’ve had the chirashi, California rolls, tempura, salad, miso soup, spider roll, spicy tuna, and sashimi. You won’t find much outside of Americanized rolls and the core tuna/​salmon/​yellowtail. It’s not dirt cheap so compared to all the other great sushi places in the Bay Area, it’s hard to justify a visit if you’re hankering for some raw fish.
But this place grows on you. The food is consistent and I’ve never gotten sick from eating the fish. The service isn’t friendly, but it’s certainly efficient and fast. You could do worse looking for sushi in Redwood City.
Would I recommend Yokayama to a friend looking for a sushi recommendation? No way. Will I be back? Definitely.

The location of this restaurant makes it easy to pass by as one drives under the «Redwood City» arch on the way into downtown.
The food is decent and indicative of its mid-​range pricing. I had a sashi and chicken teryaki (sp?) combo «box» and it was good. I think I got out of there for under $ 10…which is not bad for Japanese food.
If you work in the area, include this place as a good, standard, Japanese place for when you can’t stand eating another burrito for lunch in RWC.

Best Japanese place I know of! Hands down! An undiscovered treasure known to only a few elite sushi hounds!
Because it is undiscovered, and is quite spacious, IT IS NEVER CROWDED for dinner! So the experience is far calmer and more relaxing than the usual tiny crowded noisy room. Also there’s an aquarium full of calm, happy, silly-​looking fish that telepathically create a pleasant aura.
The food: you will get larger portions for less money here than at any other place I know of, yet the quality is also very high. Service is fast and friendly, kind of an informal family atmosphere. Salmon sashimi, mmm-​good here! And huge portions!
Don’t get the idea that this is some scruffy cheap place. Décor is really nice, with attractive wood tables and wall lanterns and paintings and ship models giving a pleasant ambience. The only negative, as others have mentioned, is the babbling TV over the bar.

Yokayama is located right around the corner from my ghetto-​apartment in the upper-​lower class neighborhood of RWC. As a self-​proclaimed sushi snob, I would never even consider eating at a Japanese restaurant in my neighborhood. My boyfriend and I had even made sarcastic remarks about he place when we drove by.
Lucky for us, our crazy roommate doesn’t have so many hang ups when it comes to Japanese food. He introduced my boyfriend to Yokayama a few weeks ago, and yesterday he finally convinced me to give it a try.
As far as peninsula sushi goes, this place is on par. We each had a bowl of miso soup, which was the low point of the meal. Next, we shared salmon nigiri ($ 1.95), which was as good as any you can get at other local sushi stops. I ordered a special roll with yellowtale, avocado, crab, fish eggs, and some sort of radish grating called «volcano roll» (4.95) as well as a Philly role (4.95). The former was decent but I wouldn’t order it again; the latter was pretty good. My boyfriend had a bento box with teryaki chicken and veggie/​shrimp tempura. He was satisfied, I didn’t really like his tempura.
In conclusion– I was nervous about the quality as well as the freshness of Yokayama. I still worry about the freshness, despite the lack of food poisoning, because they seem to have a very minimal amount of customers. We both decided that we would return for cheap sushi, but I’m still on the hunt for *excellent* sushi on the peninsula!!!

Lunch Review…
This place got pretty different reviews, so I felt it was my duty to please the booty, and to provide another assessment of this place… and it was a hop, skip and jump closer than TacoBell.
Dropped in about 12:30p for lunch… the place was pretty full, probably 15 out of about 20 tables were filled (I thought… good sign). Ordered one of the lunch specials (chicken teriyaki/​tempura bento box).
THE FOOD.
I thought we were on the right track when the piping hot miso soup came out. Many places serve luke-​warm miso soup, so the fact that this soup was actually almost too hot to drink right away, was definitely a plus.
The bento box came… was a bit disappointed… the tempura (though it was hot and fresh) definitely had the wrong type of batter. It wasn’t the flaky panko coating as one would expect, but more the Fish n Chips variety of batter… actually, I’m pretty sure it is the same type of batter fish n chip places uses… plus there was nice puddle of oil forming underneath the tempura.
The chicken was «okay» definitely not the best… actually barely average. The salad was «okay» as well.
Two «unpleasant» ways to end my lunch (might cause me to decrease my rating to a two — currently at mid-​review it’s at a 3)… one, the bill was brought out way too early (I think I was just starting on the chicken). Two, no refill on my water (and I NEED my water). Oh, I guess there’s a #3 too: most of the lunch crowd had cleared out, as it wasn’t that busy anymore… but I waited a few minutes and ended up having to take my check to the counter myself.
I WANT to lower this review to a 2-​star review, but some of the people around me were complimenting the server on the sushi/​sashimi/​rolls, so I will (for the time being) give them the benefit of the doubt… though I probably wont venture back for a second opinion.

This is my favorite sushi place by far. We eat here all the time and the sushi chef and waitress know us by name. They are very accomodating, even creating new rolls for us upon request. They even make my rolls for me without seaweed which other restaurants refuse to do. The fish is FRESH and the rolls are made when you order. I actually ate raw here for the first time ever and was pleased. Its usually quiet which I dont mind but has a fair amount of space. Would be fine for large groups.
Friendly, affordable. I reccommend the lion king roll, you cant go wrong, its absolutely delicious. The special sauce is so good I could eat it with anything.