YAYOI

If you're looking for authentic Japanese katsu, this is the place to go! The katsu has the perfect balance of crispiness and moisture, making every bite delicious. The rice is cooked to perfection not too watery or dry. One of my favorite appetizers here is the ikura chawanmushi (steamed egg) and the Agedashi tofu, both of which are outstanding.Today, I tried their new wagyu beef sukiyaki. While the presentation was excellent, I found it a bit on the salty side for my taste. Even so, I'm glad I gave it a try!

We came for dinner on a Friday evening a couple months back. There was a slight wait for a party of 4. Just in case you didn't notice, you will get a free appetizer for checking in with Yelp. We each ordered our own entree and a beer to share. I ordered the Katsu Toji which I throughly enjoyed. It comes with soup, rice and some tiny sides. I think it is filling enough and prevents overeating. I didn't have any leftovers though. I probably could have gone without the beer though since that's not really a necessity for me. :)The average cost per person was about $38. So, it is on the pricier end of the spectrum. Likely I would still come back to this restaurant but only for special occasions. :)

You have to be trolling if you don't like this place. Top tier melt in your mouth katsu. Sauce, motor pestle sesame. So fun! They even have metal mesh that holds up the katsu. Upleveled katsudon in the katsu toji dish. Salad was good. Rice was made really well with attention to detail. Great decor and vibes. Instantaneous service and food to your mouth. Literal 5 minutes. At least in the karsu world. If you don't want katsu curry (i would do demiya because of they have nuts curry) then this place is goated.It used to be a better value proposition when it was no tip, but Holy shit it's good. I

Okay food, nothing really stood out. For the price I was expecting something with a little more of a wow factor. Boyfriend said the eel is comparable to the precooked eel at H-Mart. Service is fine, you order everything on a tablet so interactions are pretty limited. I enjoyed the interior!

Unique Japanese dishes, so unique that they are usually out when I come. What Yayoi does have is delicious though. A tad spendy, but is a nice place for a quiet meal.

Everything comes with a bowl of miso soup which was quite filling. The katsu was fried with a lot of layers for a super crisp bite. The moment your teeth sink through the crispy outer layer you get to enjoy the juicy chicken underneath. The sauce for the katsu is quite interesting. Yayoi provides a bowl of sesame and a grinder for you to blend fresh seasame powder into the katsu sauce. Definitely tasted a bit more fresh sesame although not sure how much this mattered. The salmon was quite fatty and fresh. Each piece was deceptively thick. The service was speedy and the price was quite reasonable for the quality. Unfortunately, they were out of omaze don when I went and that looked absolutely beautiful so I will have to come back to try that.

Yayoi is a decent japanese restaurant for a casual dining experience with family or friends for those nights when you dont feel like cooking. The service was decent, and you order your food through an ipad on the table.I had the hitsumabushi, and while the setup was aethetic and the broth was good, the unagi was just okay. It felt only a slight upgrade from the H-mart frozen unagi although for 3x the price. Ive had their fried food before, and that was better value for the money.Overall, the food is nothing to be too excited about, but it's good enough if you feel like spending 30$ on a simple meal to save time cooking

I loved Yayoi, but I visited again recently and was sort of disappointed. They used to include tip within their prices (made sense, you order through an iPad so service interactions are minimal), but now have removed that policy (essentially, price increase). I have good memories of their food - their sukiyaki, when I first tried it, was soooo good. Unfortunately, I did not feel the same way this time. My normal order is the sukiyaki teishoku and an added egg - I love removing the whites and making a dipping sauce with the yolks, which I dip the meat in (like I learned to in Japan). My added egg had a broken yolk and the server replaced it without issue when I pointed it out. The meat was a little overcooked and the whole dipping situation was just not as tasty! Overall it felt like they tamped back on flavor. I think I will be back to try the miso katsu (my second favorite dish), but feeling a bit sad that it doesn't satisfy my taste buds like they used to.

I didn't know what to expect of this restaurant as I walked here from my hotel. But I was impressed. It seemed very traditional Japanese in the menu. I ordered the Katsu Curry, a salad and a side of Salmon Sashimi. I also had an iced matcha green tea.Everything met or exceeded my expectations. Service was quick and helpful. The ordering is done through a tableside tablet. That was easy.All in all it was a great choice.

I missed Hitsumabushi and found this place looks very similar to what I had in Nagoya.The presentation, taste are very legit, except small side dishes are not quite Nagoya level. However the grilled unagi is very good, and rice is perfect for this dish. And the broth is tasty. Everything in the set is good, except unagi portion is small.Highly recommend!