Yama Japanese Restaurant

Had the Yummy Yama Roll and the Trio Tuna. Both were fresh and amazing!

The prices are good and the service is on point, but this is mediocre sushi. I see where it’s decent if you are in the area and want your sushi fish without paying $ 50 dollars for two, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for this sushi.
First of all, the sushi rice is all wrong. Warm, too much rice wine vinegar overpowering the rice. It warms up your fish which is kind of unpleasant when you’re eating something like the chirashi bowl, which I had. The fish pieces were tiny little bites which allowed variety, but did not have the appropriate fish to rice ratio.
I was impressed that they had uni and ikura sushi but they weren’t very high quality and you can tell just by looking at the picture. The nori stuck to each other so we had to yank em apart. The rice to fish ratio was off, and once again, if it’s warm and sour it doesn’t provide that refreshing contrast to the salty, umami fish parts.
The sashimi lunch box was a bargain but I found it rather salty and bland in other respects. It has tempura, age tofu, goyza, sprouts, 3 pieces of California roll, rice, and your choice of entrée. There was not a standout star amongst that selection unfortunately.

Two trips in one weekend. I’d say I enjoyed it! Did a sit down lunch trip with my siblings and cousin who were visiting for the holidays; everyone loved their dishes. We had edamame, eel, Oishi roll, California rolls, Alligator roll, chicken teriyaki, and some other bits and pieces, along with drinks. Food came out fresh and timely and was deeelish, hence the second trip a couple days later.
The second order was for take-​out for two; eel and Oishi roll again. spicy tuna, and yellow tail. Everything was yummy again! The take-​out rolls weren’t as beautiful and full as the sit down rolls but the flavor was 100% there. This will be our new go-​to sushi noms.

Yama is yummy! Located in a strip mall in Vienna (note — plenty of parking when the lot isn’t full), it serves up some delicious Japanese cuisine. The sushi is very delicious and inventive with super unique items on the menu. I got there just as it opened at noon on a Saturday and it was already filling up by 12:30! It’s super popular and it was very worth the drive to Vienna.
I ordered the Yummy Yama roll (spicy salmon & avocado, topped with salmon, avocado, white tuna, and minced scallions) from their House Specialty rolls and LOVED it! So delicious and filling. A lot of other patrons seemed to order the sushi lunch box specials, so I would probably opt for one of those the next time I visit.
So delicious and totally worth the drive to Vienna /​Fairfax. I’d certainly visit again in the future!

Another sushi-​ppointment (that’s sushi and disappointment put together if it isn’t obvious)…
My parents were in the mood to try a new sushi restaurant for dinner instead of frequenting the usual Sushi Yoshi, which is just a few minutes away from Yama. First, I must say that service is embarrassingly slow. My mom, dad, and I arrived at Yama at 5:01pm; they literally just opened the doors, so as you can imagine there were only two other parties already seated. It took a good ten minutes for a waitress to even notice us and it is quite difficult to flag down one of the many servers in the restaurant despite the establishment’s small size…
The moment I heard the sushi chefs and waitresses conversing in Korean, I started to have a bad feeling about the way this meal was going to go. Korean-​owned sushi restaurants tend to be, for lack of a better word, bad. I’m not trying to insult my own peoples, but I have yet to try sushi at a Korean-​owned sushi restaurant that is decently good.
Anyways, my dad ended up ordering the Stuffed Squid (appetizer), a couple rolls, handrolls, and some yellowtail nigiri. The Stuffed Squid sounded interesting; as the name suggests, rice, roe, and imitation crab are stuffed inside sliced up pieces of calamari. This dish really fell flat for me because the squid was incredibly difficult to chew. Not good. The yellowtail, if you can even call it that, was so low in quality that it was almost laughable. The rolls were better — specifically the salmon skin roll… that was pretty much this meal’s saving grace. The hand rolls were also a fail for me and my family. The nori was oddly thick and difficult to chew; the fish to rice ratio was poor.
Be prepared to wait 30+ minutes for your sushi to come out even when it isn’t busy. Yama seems to be quite the popular restaurant with many regular customers, so if you’re thinking of making a visit on the weekends, I advise making a reservation ahead of time. The restaurant really started to fill up as we were nearing the end of our meal. As for me, I do not think I’ll be returning to Yama again.

**3.5 stars**
Yama is located at the end of a strip mall and can be easy to miss while driving. Make sure you slow down to find it while driving on Maple Ave!
Food options are priced fairly and affordable, just disappointed by the options that were available for special rolls. Found myself struggling to decide on which rolls to order not because there were so many options available, but rather the lack of.
I shared three rolls (two were special) with a friend: Godzilla, Yummy Yama, and Oishi. Godzilla was my favorite out of the three, I tend to like rolls with a hint of a sweet sauce. Service was great and I would love to come back to try some of their other items. Just don’t come here expecting a variety of special rolls. If you’re craving some simple Japanese entrees or rolls, you should probably check it out.