Chez Yasu

Excellent and accommodating service. Delicious variety of food.

Topeka is my home but sadly overrun with chain restaurants so a place like this is a treasure.
It is pricey, but it is so unique & has a special feel that it is well worth it. I usually have to travel away to get this level of good food.
I tried the French onion soup. It was served without holland rusk or melty provolone, but it was so delicious & cheesy bread comes with it. The onions were not giant chunks, which I enjoyed greatly.
I got the crab cakes as an entrée, as I was not very hungry, and could only eat one. It was one of the best I have had, light & lots of real crab I took the other home & my daughter loved it.
My visiting friends from Jersey said they have tried every dish on the menu and all are good. So I will be returning to try some other dishes.

The food is pretty good and the restaurant is cute and well decorated. However, we sat in the main dining area and it was so quiet in there we were afraid to talk because everyone in the room would’ve been able to hear our conversation. I also felt it was a bit overpriced for where it’s at and what you get.

The food was delicious and far exceeded our expectations — don’t let the exterior fool you. Beef filet was tender and perfectly cooked, veggies were fresh and not overcooked.
The interior was nice; tables were set with linens, real china, silver flatware and ambiance was complimented with soft, soothing lighting. No TVs in view which was really nice for a change.
We will be back the next time we drive through Topeka. Yum!

One of our favorites! Definite choice for romantic dinner!

We have visited several times. Every visit was great. Cute and quaint, has a romantic setting or you can chose a more relaxed space. Food was amazing, service was above and beyond. We have recommended to several friends who all agree one of the best places to eat in Topeka.

Our Topeka friends told us to stop here on our cross country drive, that it was a gem treasured by locales. We were not disappointed! The dining room was simple and nothing special but the food and service were exquisite, just what weary travelers needed. The restaurant is hidden in an out of the way neighborhood but worth the effort to track it down.

Our first visit for a special family event. Would recommend a reservation even on a week night. The small room filled up quickly and most tables were reserved, with a nice sign with your name on the table.
Highly recommend all of our dishes: escargot, calamari, goat cheese salad, and the soups. Bread was warm, yummy, and frequently refilled. Also appreciated the frequent refills on our water glasses.
Negatives would be the attire of the staff. Very casual for the menu prices. As mentioned in other reviews, the lump of plain mashed potatoes and string beans were less than flavorful or appealing on every.single.plate on the table. Beans were included in the salad and I didn’t need a repeat. I think other potato and green vegetable options could easily to offered, too.
We’ll keep Chez Yasu in mind for another special occasion celebration.

The peppercorn chicken was very good. The prices were a bit higher than I would like to pay for lunch, but the food is very good. It’s definitely a place I’d like to try again.

Chez Yasu (Topeka, Kansas): Good, Overpriced French Cuisine With A Japanese Flare
Prices: $$$
A French restaurant in Topeka, Kansas with a Japanese chef? Seems a bit odd, but hey, it works!
We arrived exactly on time for our 7:30pm reservation, but had to wait 15 minutes for our table … STRIKE 1! While we waited, we had a view of the prep area where a server was taking cherry tarts out of a box that looked like something from Sam’s Club … STRIKE 2! The prices on the menu were significantly higher than the menu on their website … STRIKE 3! Normally an «out», I have to admit that we enjoyed our dinner and may very well return to try Chez Yasu again … MAYBE.
I love escargots (snails — $ 7.95 online, $ 8.95 in reality) and their buttery, garlicly goodness, rarely having the opportunity to order them in culturally challenged eastern Kansas, so I did (as an antipasto). Sans shells, they came six on a plate accompanied by a couple sliced mushrooms and doused with a savory garlic, parsley, and butter sauce. They were good, but nowhere near the best I have had and definitely some of the priciest at $ 1.50 a pop.
My wife had the potato and leek soup (potage — $ 3.95/$ 4.95) which apparently comes either hot or cold because when it arrived, it was ice-​cold! We asked the server to please bring her the warm version. The soup was decent, moderately flavorful, but a little too watery for my taste. It could have been thicker with a bit more seasoning, but the bread made up for it. The server brought more freshly baked bread as needed and was actually one of the highlights of the night
The Poulet Sauté, thinly sliced chicken breast served with a light teriyaki sauce ($ 16.95/$ 19.95 — also available with an herb or peppercorn sauce), was moist, light, and succulent with just enough teriyaki to flavor the dish without overpowering the poultry. I would have preferred the herb or peppercorn sauce in a French restaurant, but my wife does not appreciate pepper as much as I do and because she was eating it, I happily succumbed to her decision. The potatoes, not plentiful enough to last as long as the chicken, were light, good, and creamy and the green beans crisp with just enough butter and seasoning. In my opinion, $ 16.95 for a basic chicken dish is probably at the top of the scale, but $ 20 is excessive. Not a great value.
Boeuf Borguignon ($ 21.95/$ 24.95), braised boneless beef short ribs, onions, and mushrooms in a red (burgundy, hence the name) wine reduction. Accompanied by the same mashed potatoes and fresh green beans, the plate was pleasing to the eye and very good. The burgundy sauce was perfect, but for such a small and inexpensive cut of meat, a couple mushrooms, potatoes, and beans, the price we paid was easily six times the food cost and again not a great value in my eyes. I believe the advertised $ 21.95 would be more appropriate and $ 19.95 would be a much better value, earning an extra bomb, maybe two in my book (or blog in this case).
The house wine (Root: 1), a deep red, full bodies Chilean cabernet with intense fruity tones was the perfect accompaniment to the boeuf borguignon, but at $ 28 it was the least expensive option on a small wine menu with most bottles coming in at $ 40 or more.
Now do not get me wrong, I have no trouble paying top dollar (or Euro) for a top-​shelf meal worthy of a Michelin Star or two, but Chez Yasu will not be getting that star any time soon. I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world … Brussels, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Seoul, Budapest, you name it … and although decent, this small French restaurant in Topeka, Kansas is overpriced in my opinion. By comparison, one of my favorite French restaurants, Le Central in Denver (Colorado) has a much more extensive and affordable wine list, a menu offering a comparable number of options (plus an elaborate offering of mussel dishes, with unlimited French fries by the way, for under $ 10) all under or close to $ 20, and superb cuisine prepared by real French chefs. In that comparison, Chez Yasu does not even come close, hence my rating of «value» …
CombatCritic Gives Chez Yasu 6 Bombs Out of 10 … Les Bombes Sont Bön!

Perfectly okay, but I’m not overly impressed with any aspect of the operation. Basically, this place has no Moxie. From the dining room (plastic table coverings) to the presentation (my veal liver was buried under a pile of supermarket bacon and onions), to the overly bitter espresso coffee its all fine without being at all wonderful. The meat of my entrée was properly cooked as were the veggies but nothing exciting about the flavor profile. Moxie-​less. The starter salad had an interesting dressing but ultimately was a pile of knife-​chopped lettuce. Crème brûlée was the same goodness without greatness — no chance of the dessert redeeming the entire affair. The largely Japanese wait staff is just a weird touch (presumably family — the chef is apparently of Japanese extraction). Everyone is nice enough.

Did Valentine’s Day lunch here. Wife had the quiche and it was too shelf. The crust was like eating a croissant — to mix French food metaphors.
I had the beef medallions which were very tender and marinated to perfection. The salads and vegetables were perfect with a hint of cinnamon. Fresh bread was great as well.
Prices were a bit high but service and ambience get high marks.
If you go for lunch — not a huge need for reservations. Dinner — best to call and get reservations.

Cozy, great food, the bread and butter is amazing, great service! I love this place but it’s a little pricey for the plates on the dinner menu. I’ve had similar priced dinner menus at much much nicer places. For example, we dined here with friends, all of us ordered a different dish but we all were served mashed potatoes and green beans as our side. Not usually the standard at a «nice» restaurant with high prices but still, love it love it love it! Romantic, delicious, quaint, perfect date night in Topeka!

I really liked this place. I had the veal piccata and the veal was very tender… the hint of lemon and capers was outstanding. Nothing was overpowered. I also had the french onion soup for starters… this was my only complaint, the soup had flavor, but was missing the best part. the cheese! The soup had very little onion in it as well. Probably should have gotten the squash soup instead.
The atmosphere was good, the waitress was outstanding, great service. Go and try it,

Such an elegant and scrumptious little restaurant! My time in Topeka was ending and we went out to dinner here this week. My friends who frequently come here said that there’s not been once that they’ve ordered something that wasn’t absolutely delicious.
We started out with the scallops appetizers and of course, some fresh-​out-​of-​the-​oven sliced baguette. The scallops were so tender and yummy and I had no shame in dipping the baguette into the sauce leftover. I restrained myself from licking the plate.
Next we had soup –my friend ordered what she always orders: the cold potato and leek soup, and I tried the squash soup. And boy am I glad I did. It was so, so good. It tasted like fall season in the summer. So creamy and buttery and yummy! More bread-​dipping ensued to get every last drop of that soup off the bowl.
And finally, I ordered the teriyaki chicken. The chicken was cooked just right and came with a sweet teriyaki sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans, all on a bed of rice. It was good but I think next time I’d try some of the seafood that my friend ordered! My chicken was good but slightly chewy in some areas. We had attentive service and it was so lovely to find a good French restaurant in the middle of Topeka!

Best restaurant in town.

I have been to Chez Yasu approximately eight times in the past three years. Tonight dinner was as exceptional as it always has been in the past. There were five of us dining. We shared two soups, three appetizers, main courses, and three desserts. Everything was perfect. The favorite of the night for me was the carrot soup (but also loved the squash soup), sea bass, and the goat cheese salad. Everything is always fresh. The service is exceptional and each course is sent out in perfect timing. The portions are just right. So many of the sauces are so good you think about how great it would be for them to be served as a soup. And… the bread is always fresh and served warm.

Really — I’ve experienced so much better in a restaurant that is trying to portray themselves as classy. Don’t get me wrong — the beef medallions were very tasty! However, the menu said they were made with a red wine sauce but really it tasted like a good old fashioned brown gravy.
My cappuccino tasted like burnt coffee (but after four packets of sugar it was alright). I was really disturbed when I looked at the ceiling fan and saw that it literally had clumps of dust hanging from each wing. My mother would have had a stroke if she saw that mess.
The menu had very little selection. I think there were about four or five entrees to choose from. Maybe I’m not up to par with the french restaurant norm, but I didn’t think it was very classy to have my side items as a pile of cooked baby carrots and thin pea pods either.

Only being visitors to Topeka (chain city) once a month or so, my wife and I are always looking for great local places. You won’t find us at Olive Garden or Carlos O’Kelly’s. A friend recommended Chez Yasu to us when he heard us complaining about all the chain restaurants in Topeka.
This was a great little place in an old gas station near the university. Reservations were a snap and we had a great table in a private side room. The outside of the property looks a little dingey, but the atmosphere inside is perfect.
We had a career-​server who knew her trade; that makes a big difference when compared to uninterested college kids. Wine, salad and soup were delicious, and the main course of salmon for my wife and scallops for me were unforgettable.
Chez Yasu is now on our Topeka shortlist.

I am not a French Restaurant connesieur, but I would say this place ranks up at the top of lot of the fancy restaurants that I have eaten at in the Topeka area. The restaurant is a little small and has that intimate feel to it. The lightling is a little on the dim side which adds to the ambience.
The quality of the food was excellent !! Their menu selection is a little limited and consisted of about 2 – 3 salmon dishes, seafood crêpe, a sole dish that I can’t pronounce but was a piece of fish that was wrapped in a pastry and served with a cream sauce. There was also a chicken dish, beef dish, rack of lamb dish, and the chicken Picatta.
I went with the Veal Picatta which came with a mashed potatos, green beans, and a small house salad. I also had the Gâteau Formage for dessert and to wash everything down, I went with the house Pinot Noire wine. The veal was very tender, and coated with a glaze/​sauce that really brought out the flavor of the dish.
I highly recommend this place if you are looking for a fancy dinner. Your total dinner bill will be expensive compared to the other restaurants in the area, but the quality of the food will more than make up for it. If you are looking to impress your date or want to celebrate a special occasion, then this place is worth checking out.