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Yamatani
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
13 reviews for Yamatani
Passing through Bishop after climbing off of Mt. Whitney earlier, I decided to treat myself to a Japanese meal (I'm Japanese so I'm quite critical of Japanese food). A friend who is a mountaineering guide recommended this restaurant so thought I try it out. When I entered, the wait staff and hostess were not available in the front so I stood there smiling at patrons while I waited...and waited. When the hostess came up, she didn't even look at me but proceeded to fold napkins. The place was about 1/3 full and they had plenty of wait staff so I don't know why I got the cold shoulder. Had to make myself known by clearing my throat and then the hostess asked if she could help me...I think she needs to be re-trained.
Anyway, sat myself down at the sushi counter and saw two sushi preparers busily working away. Robbie, the owner and sushi maker, a very quiet man but once you get into a conversation with him, so very friendly and funny. I was kind of surprised to get a cup of green tea w/a tea bag in the cup - usually it's a cup of just the tea or a tea kettle with loose leaf tea - the tea bag in the cup is kind of cheesy. I ordered nigiris: hamachi, maguro and seared albacore. Baked mussels and order of veggie gyoza. The sashimi on his sushi were very generous and very fresh, not even my favorite hometown sushi bar served as generously as he did. It was surprising to see the veggie gyoza was green, kind of limpy, not pan-fried but okay tasting. When I received my tab, Robbie gave me a small bowl of fresh, sweet strawberries - a nice ending to a delicious meal. Due to Robbie starting the conversation, I also made friends with my sushi neighbors and we are now fb friends.
Robbie also owns another Japanese restaurant in Mammoth called Shogun but I haven't eaten there...yet.
I was only in Bishop for an over-night stay because of work. My mom drove up with me and we decided to have dinner here since it was literally across the street from the Holiday Inn that I was staying in.
There is a lot of variety in the menu and service is friendly enough. However, the place was pretty empty (sure, it was a Thursday night) so it was a little awkward. We had three people ask us if we wanted hot tea and when we tried to order drinks with them they told us our waiter would help us. That was a bit odd.
My mom had the salmon collar, I had the veggie roll and the futomaki (eel, egg, bright pink fish flakes, various vegetables).
I've had better sushi and better rolls in Los Angeles and Orange County but I was still very much impressed with the variety and relatively cheap prices.
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Yamatani is much better than its sister restaurant Shogun in Mammoth. Ate here for the first time tonight with my family on the way up to Mammoth and was pleasantly surprised. It was crazy busy, and we were told that the wait would be between 30 and 45 minutes! Thankfully, there is seating in the bar area, and you can order from a smaller but sizable menu from there. We chose to skirt the wait and seating was comfortable, and service was on the slow side, but not terribly so. Even on the bar side, the atmosphere was nice and comfortable. Prices were reasonable.
We ordered a smattering of dishes between the five of us - chicken katsu, beef kushiyaki, spicy tuna roll, spicy tuna salad, sashimi appetizer with hamachi, sake, and tako, tamago sushi, uni sushi, an oyster shooter, and a salmon skin roll. The fish was surprisingly fresh and the cooked dishes were tasty. The sashimi was great, as was the oyster shooter and the tender flavorful beef kushiyaki. I've had much better spicy tuna. They sprinkle it with hot pepper powder, and I have no problem with spice, but the roll tasted sharp and a bit unpleasant.
Overall, this place would be an easy 4-star, but I'm docking one for the rice. The rice was noticeably bad. I don't know if it's the kind of rice they use or how they cooked it on this particular night, but it was terrible. It tasted like it had been sitting out for a day. How do you go and have bad rice when you're a Japanese restaurant? I can understand one bad roll, but rice is such a basic. In any case, I'd definitely go back, but I'll avoid the nigiri next time.
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It really is amazing that you can have delicious Japanese in a high desert town at the foot of the Sierra, of all places.
This place blew me away...for a small town, the fare was excellent!
Everything I tasted, especially the tempura and salmon, was fresh and tasty. The waiters were kind, courteous, and knowledgeable.
We ate here day 1 of our trip after 12 miles of hiking down in Big Pine. We returned the next day because we were craving something flavorful and fresh - and we knew Yamatani would deliver.
Highly, highly recommended if you're in Bishop.
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For a town in the middle of nowhere, I didnt expect much from a Japanese restaurant here. It looked nice from the outside.
Miso soup - good.
sukiyaki beef - decent. The sauce & tofu was done right. The meat was a little overcooked, and I could see how the other guy thought his beef teriyaki was like beef jerky. Thin slices of beef with a little fat around the edges, dark in color. This type of beef should NOT be used for beef teriyaki, and I know some places do that to make it easier on themselves. Anyways, for sukiyaki style beef, it's ok.
Strange thing --- there was a $1.50 service charge for take-outs..... ok...
All in all, it's one of the nicer places in town, so if you want the ambience, go for it.
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This Japanese restaurant wouldn't do well in populated places, but for Bishop, it's decent. I was itching to come here after researching the yelp reviews on Bishop restaurants. We got several cut rolls and the fried calamari. The sushi rolls just tasted very heavy-handed instead of the fresh flavors I expected. The calamari - eh. The service is very average, at the best. The hostess and server were not particularly friendly. Then again, they probably don't need to be since this is probably the only japanese restaurant in town.
Shogun sux, Yamatani sux, Robbie sux. Place is a joke and so is his other restaurant
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When you think of Bishop, sushi doesn't come into the equation. However I was thoroughly surprised. The food and sushi here was excellent! First, the sushi chefs are all Japanese, which makes it more authentic. The decor was cozy and clean. The service was excellent.
The salmon here is great! The Salmon skin hand rolls were mouth watering awesome. Also ordered the grilled salmon dinner combo with sweet miso sauce on top. Delicious!
If you're on the 395, please do yourself a favor and stop by here.
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For its location, this place was pretty impressive. Remember, this is Bishop, CA so you can't use San Francisco standards ;-)
Pros: Good food, prices, nice bar
Cons: They use those nasty curly lightbulbs that look so awful.
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I love this place its amazing to have a quality Japanese restaurant in a small town like Bishop. The decor is nice the restaurant is open and airy with fantastic sushi and the rolls are great, big selection.
Nice bamboo bar and the sushi chefs are Japanese.
Great tempura and Miso soup was good also.
This place has very good food and reasonable prices. The ambience has a bit of an open cafeteria food but the food is anything but and the service was great.
I had chicken teriyaki with tempura. The chicken was nicely done chicken breast with a bit of skin. The teri sauce was thick and strong. Nice heaping salad on the plate. Nothing fancy but appeared to be freshly sliced romaine and iceberg. The tempura was done right except one piece had a clump of batter but the other pieces were lightly coated and properly firm.
My boyfriend had steak teriyaki and it was a nicely grilled thin piece of steak with a bit of pink in the center.
If you are like me you are probably thinking that Bishop is a little far from the ocean and that sushi might not be the best idea in this small western town. Well, I gave a Bishop local a ride down from Mammoth and he swore by Yamatani, so our group of three decided to check it out. The decor is rather nice especially compared to most other restaurants in town. The food is reasonably priced and above average quality. Most of the rolls were around 6 to 8 bucks and we had the $11 rattlesnake roll which was the priciest one. Tasted great but the scallops kept on falling out and the roll ended up in numerous pieces. Great service and not a bad option if you need a sushi fix in this one mule town.
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This place was delicious! I was pleasantly surpirsed. Very decent prices and even better sushi for being on the other side of the Sierras. They were very accomodating since the group I went with was quite large.
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