On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
1221 Park St
Loading...
Definitely one of the best-deal sushi places I've come across in the Bay: fresh, fast, cheap, large quantities!
Came here for dinner Friday night just before 7:00pm -- lucky we beat the rush because we were able to get a table. By the time we left, there were a few people waiting to get seated.
---FOOD---
Huge portions. Great deals!
1) Wakame Salad, $3.50ish
- OMG...HUGE portion! And they serve the wakame literally over a salad! Such a smart idea because it allows the juice from the wakame to drizzle on to the salad...allowing the savory/sweet taste to last a lil' bit longer. Tastes fresh and great, too!
2) Sashimi Bento Box, $9.95ish
- Served with miso soup, salad, and rice*
- 15 pieces of sashimi (3 slices of 5 different fishes: salmon, tuna, and 3 other delectible fishes I can't recall the name of) -- very fresh tasting!
3) Chirashi, $9.75ish
- Served with miso soup, salad*
- 15 pieces of sashimi (same as the bento box) + egg tomago slices served over sushi rice! (That's right..sushi rice! Not plain rice!)
NOTE: As you can probably tell from the above descriptions, the Sashimi Bento Box and Chirashi are pretty much exactly the same! I'd suggest you opt for the Chirashi because it's cheaper...and you get it with tomago and over two times as much (sushi!) rice!
*The miso soup was perfectly seasoned with chunks of tofu + seaweed; not too overly salty as most places mess up and served piping hot. The salad was hugeeeeeeeeee and drizzled with a nice, creamy miso/sesame-mayo dressing.
BONUS POINTS for the cute bowls/plates they use!
---AMBIANCE---
This place is REALLY small. That is...they only have 6 tables total in the entire place. Granted, there's not very much they can do about it...so that's something to forgive. Although, it is definitely MUCH less cramped than Geta Sushi in Oakland on Piedmont.
Again, we were lucky we came just before the dinner rush and were able to get seating.
Aside from the limited seating, the decor was very hip: abstract, random paintings covering pale yellow walls -- with anime playing on a random screen in the background.
BONUS Points! for playing Jason Mraz's "Lucky" and "Live High, Live Mighty" in the background
---SERVICE---
Quick. Efficient. Friendly.
Took less than 15 minutes to get both our meals.
---FINALLY---
Will definitely need to be back to try the sushi rolls!!!
I came here cause I wanted some cheap sashimi that would be edible and not make me pull worms outta my ass a week later. The reviews of this place state that it's cheap, but can quite possibly be the top sushi joint in alameda...which is quite a feat since there's like 5 or 6 places within 3 blocks of YoJimbo.
The place has a very casual atmosphere that houses some local artwork to keep your eyes occupied while waiting for your food. The place is small and houses only 4 tables, but service is quick and efficient so you don't have to wait too long for your food.
I ended up ordering a wakame salad and a chirashi. The portions they gave out were large and the wakame came with a coleslaw mix underneath which tasted really good. The chirashi came with miso soup that wasn't overly salty which I happen to like. Now the Chirashi itself...wow. We got 5 different types of fish with 3 slices each...15 pieces in total for 10 bucks! In addition you also get tamago and like 2 cups worth of sushi rice! This is an absolutely awesome deal. The quality and presentation of the fish tasted and looked like something that costed much more.
Absolutely shocked at the quality of food here for the price. Give this place a try next time one of your friends comes to you begging to try alamedas overrated sushi house.
We went based off of a recommendation.
Maybe we went on an off night, but I rarely am this disappointed (the only other time was Kai's re-opening where I sat for an hour waiting because they didn't have enough rice and people who came later got served my meal before me).
I loved the ambiance. It was a cozy little hole in the wall with great artwork (that's basically what they are getting any stars for).
Service-almost non-existent. Had to flag down the waitress for some tea and then realized it was because she was waiting for the water to boil. Only time we saw her was half an hour later to receive mediocre to almost disgusting food.
We ordered:
Chirashi-took half an hour to arrive and the cuts were not uniform. The fish was slimy and the rice was hard and slightly over vinegared.
Leftover Roll-took another 15 minutes for something that looked like it was slapped together in an instance (I understand the name, but it didn't have to look like it). The seaweed was already becoming undone before I even laid my chopstick on it. It was filled with oversized avocado and tamago (it was very dense) and the unagi was overly broiled but still remained slimy on the bottom (I checked if it was the fatty portion, but it wasn't). I shouldn't have expected anything from this roll, but if it's not meant to be eaten, it should not be served.
After ONE entree is almost complete, my ramen is still no where in sight. They noticed the almost empty table and lack of chopstick movement and quickly served us a big bowl of slaw they called salad that was dredged in dressing. I started playing with it like the big blob that it was to keep myself entertained. I saw the chef scoop some broth, so I had hope it was my ramen.......
I'd say another ten minutes we were served their so-called miso (tasted like they put less than one teaspoon of miso paste with an entire bowl of water) and I saw the ramen get served to another table. I had lost all hope that I will ever get my food and did not want to wait another hour to get it and canceled the ramen right away.
Summary: it took an hour to get barely any service, slimy fish, undone roll topped with dry unagi with a slimy bottom, overly dredged slaw, and watered down miso. I never leave restaurants that angry and disappointed unless service and food was really bad. I did not even sense they were sincere with their apologies....... and walked out of the door without saying a word back even though they said "thank you".
I really wanted to support another small restaurant within the community, but I really have nothing nice to say about this place besides their artwork.
IF (and this is a very unlikely IF) I ever do try it again, it would be take out because that was the most service I saw. People who were hardly there got ALL of their food. The last time I was this pissed off was Kai's re-opening (I have not returned since and will not consider returning).
I heard really good things about this place and since It's just a hop, skip, and a jump away... I thought I'd check it out.
Pros:
~The place is small and cozy, which I kinda liked
~ I love the art on the wall and the dishes they use.
~The Sushi is above average. but nothing to go crazy over.
Cons:
~What I dislike is how busy they can get and with only one waitress, it gets really hard to get decent service.
~They messed up my order.. BAD! They gave my order to someone else and to fix it... the waitress just switched the dishes. She gave me theirs for what I would of paid for just mine. So I thought it was going to be ok... I think I'd rather have had what I ordered.
I'm going to try it agian tonight... so I may do another review. I keep you posted :)
~Vitto
Maybe I'm jaded by SF, but holy moly this place is cheap!
$9.95 for a chirashi bowl (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) with six different types of fish, three slices each. And it comes with a salad (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and a miso soup (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). Crazy.
Service was quick and friendly, the sushi (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) was fresh, and they didn't cringe when we brought outside food/drinks in (though I wouldn't recommend it...I was too hungry to wait).
Great place to stop before a Warriors game!
BTW, totally love the name. We definitely used to use that phrase a lot to say hello to our coworker Jimmy :)
The first thing I noticed, is that there are MANY sushi restaurants lined up on Park. And while I can't tell how Yojimbo fares against these others, I can vouch that you'll get fresh sushi, friendly service, and decent portions.
My boyfriend and I were looking to grab a late dinner, when we finally discovered Yojimbo at 8:59. They close at 9. We must have had a look of dismay on our faces but suddenly the sushi chef waved his hands at us, telling us to come in anyway. Needless to say, we were stoked. But when we were handed the menus, the prices and variety made it an even better deal. Chirashi for $9.95?? Combination of 6 pc. california roll and your choice of 6pc. tuna or salmon rolls in addition 5 pieces of nigiri. The rolls are also decently priced, at around $7-$9. It can get a lot more pricey than that, depending on where you are. The thing that made us laugh was the "leftover roll" with a description that read: dependence on your luck!
I say hole in the wall because it really seems like it. With homemade art that use what seems to be bookshelf shelves as canvases, you'll find a pretty good rendition of Superman and Tarzan watching you as you eat your sushi. Oh, and a cute bunch of asian animated kids.
All in all, it was a good experience.
If you're brave enough, you'd get the leftover roll. Maybe next time.
The people are really nice at this place. We went in at 8:58pm because my gf and I were craving some late night sushi and they close at nine. But they still opened the door for us and served us without any dirty looks or rolling eyes. They dinner combinations were pretty legit and filling. They give a good amount of portions and would definitely go back. I recommend their yojimbo roll which is unagi on top of a spider roll and they use real crab.
[FIRST OF ALL, WHAAAT IS ALL THE HYPE ABOUT?!?!?!]
The gf & I decided to try this place because evvvvvveryone and their dog is raving about Yojimbo!....
So.
I resisted giving them 2 stars....
..... Well, let me start from the beginning......
When we walked in and sat at our table, they were playing country music. Yuck. (The rest of the music they played throughout the night, though varied, wasn't great either).
The inside atmosphere is... alright.
They took a little over 5 minutes to ask us if we had decided what we wanted to order. There was only one waitress in this little place.
We ordered salmon teriyaki bento box, a California roll & Rock 'N Roll (eel & avocado maki) --- all to share between us.
They accidentally gave us two salads in advance (we thought it was strange but started chowing anyway (maybe the sushi came w/ salad???)), then noticed the waitress looking over and talking to the person who brought us the salads. I guess not haha.
The salads were OK.
The bento box came with another salad in it, two miso soups and a good portion of salmon teriyaki.
Unfortunately, the miso soups taste way below preference: Very salty and much less flavorful than our favorite sushi place...
The salmon was good but not great. We weren't crazy about the teriyaki sauce (not bad but.. meh).
About the sushi:
- Cali roll was NOT as great as we thought it'd be (a poster outside the restaurant said it won an Alameda 2009 award for this roll. . .)
(To be honest I didn't even like it.)
- The Rock' N Roll was good, though a little too salty (even without soy sauce).
We actually paid more total for the whole meal than at our fav place (Kai's a few blocks up the street) while getting even getting nigiri (at Kai's a combination salmon teriyaki box w/ Cal roll & 4 piece nigiri is less than our order here......... And BETTER!).
THE EXTRA STAR is for the good size portions, friendly service and because they're new.
~~ * ~~
Moral of the story: WAKE UP PEOPLE! THIS PLACE IS O.K. BUT NOT THAT GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Try our fav if you haven't already and you'll see.
[ Ambiance ] - What I loved about this restaurant was the different calligraphic art that surrounded the entire place. Each one was interesting to look at and very finely crafted. Whether it was Heath Ledger's rendition of The Joker or Superman, each art piece was exquisitely done. The venue is small so get there early to get a seat! [8/10]
[ Service ] - The service was fine. When I went we were the only ones there. They attended to us whenever we needed something [9/10]
[ Food & Drinks ] - I am pretty judgmental when it comes to sushi since I've had the freshest in Japan myself! When I got here we ordered a good amount of rolls and nigiri. The fish was very fresh (which is one of the reasons why i wanted to come to Yojimbo. I heard it was really good!) This place did not disappoint. If you live close to this establishment, I suggest you come here regularly! [10/10]
[ Overall ] - Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Yojimbo. The great decor, service, and food would make me want to come back again with the sole purpose of trying more of their menu! [9/10]
Over and Out.
I've lived on the island for almost 5 years now, and checked out every sushi spot. I had a huge favorite before the owner sold out, and I've been looking ever since for a really good place for sushi in Alameda. I think I've found it. I rolled in here on a Saturday night and the place was mildly crowded, got a table almost right away. I immediately noticed the decor in there, and I loved it, made me wanna decorate my house like it, hah.
Anyway, I ordered the chirashi, which is essentially chef's choice sashimi over rice. Unbelievably fresh fish, and the rice was absolutely perfect. I wish every sushi spot would have the rice that good. My brother and I also crushed a couple of maki rolls and they were also top notch. I saw a couple people having ramen as well, that will be definitely ordered next time I'm in there, being that I'm a ramen junkie and all. The service was also great, the woman helping us had everything to our table with the quickness, and everyone there was super friendly. Can't wait to head back!
Meh.
I don't know what the big deal about this place is. Yeah, it's decent sushi, but certainly not the best I have had in Alameda. The portions were large, which was good. That was the only part that impressed me.
The inside was really small. While we were eating I noticed that a couple came in and they had to wait to be seated because there was no more seating. We waited for a good amount of time before anyone came to even take our drink order. I was just about to get up to leave when the waitress came. The only reason I stayed was because I wanted to see what all the hype was about, but again, I was not impressed.
The people preparing the sushi were very nice though, they said hello and goodbye to us as we entered/left.
My friends and I ate at Yojimbo tonight to try out the pork ramen that everyone on Yelp seemed to mention was fantastic.
Have the previous reviewers ever had Shin Ramen? -http://http.cdnlayer.c...
As much as they tried to dress up the fact that it was Shin Ramen, they couldn't. I could practically see those ramen bags stored under the counter, the taste was so authentic to the Shin Ramen above.
All day, my friends and I had been anticipating this new ramen experience. If it was a hit, I'd have a great ramen joint oh-so-close to home. I guess the authentic Shin Ramen taste was just a major shock, and disappointment, to my taste buds.
Admittedly, the marinated pork and slew of veggies really helped to enhance the overall flavor. If not for the toppings, this ramen experience would have been a complete bust.
To try, I ordered some sushi (nigiri): tuna, white tuna (albacore), yellowtail, and salmon.
Tuna: not bad / nothing to write home about... though for $1.50 per sushi (not pair), this was still a good price.
White Tuna: Forgettable. Try White Tuna at the nearby New Sushi King: tastes like toro (fatty tuna).
Yellowtail: Also forgettable. Also try the yellowtail at New Sushi King: far superior.
Salmon: Actually surprisingly creamy. I enjoyed the flavor as it felt like the salmon melted in my mouth without any effort to chew. This was by far my favorite of the sushi tonight.
Needless to say, I was stuffed after having finished the $8 version of Shin Ramen and the sushi, though still managing to enjoy the salmon nigiri.
2 Stars for disappointing me thoroughly on the ramen.
the first thing you should know about this place is that it's a hole in the wall. so expect it. i'd say it's main island competitors are kai's, kobe-ya (is that still considered a japanese restaurant??), katsu, and any other of those not-quite-authentic, almost-fast-food japanese restaurants. kamakura...ehh, that's really stretching it (i'd say they're still in a different class). and sushi house, i don't know. i'm still trying to figure out where they belong.
anyway. yojimbo blows it's competition off of the island. it's cheaper than the rest, fresher than the rest, and the portions are sufficient (kai's may give more, but they sacrifice quality with quantity imo). yea, there's not much to the ambiance (it looks like they put somewhat of an effort though), and you can only do so much with an old cheese steak shop, but remember what i said? it's a hole in the wall. so expect it.
i tried this place when they first opened in the summer, and i'm happy to see that, at least from yelp, they're doing pretty well.
Went back for a second round and was not disappointed. This place has really awesome fish, and very friendly service. I got take out this time because we have a newborn and my wife wanted to try this place out after having to avoid sushi for months during pregnancy. She said it was the best sushi she's had in Alameda, and we've been to at least five other places around town.
Love this place! I think we've found our new sushi spot :)
I checked this place out the other day for lunch, and I'm glad I did. I love sushi, but have had… Read more »
3.5 stars
Been cravin' ramen. Santa/Santokua... why you gotta be so dang far! Local search... Shin ramen? How do you still have all those stars? Must find out. Didn't want to waste money trying their ramen. But was craving Japanese after my snack at Kansai the other night (I know, 2 Korean operated Japanese places in a row right?)
Parking was easy. Parked right outside. I still don't know how Alameda does it for $0.50 an hour while SF runs at $2.50 with Oakland catching up.
Came in for lunch. Place is small and decked out with FANTASTIC paintings. What otherwise would be a dank hole in the wall is now an interesting nook. Came in with no other expectations, aside from not ordering ramen.
SERVICE: Pretty attentive waitress. Greeted and seated promptly. Filled up drinks. Never kept us waiting -- given that there were 3 other tables.
FOOD: Hmm. Nigiri here comes in singles. There's a first time for everything. We ordered a Chirashi, 2 Shake, 2 Hamachi, 1 Unagi, 1 Tamago. Waitress brought us comp salads, then comp miso along with our food. For some reason, I REALLY liked the sesame seeds in the salad.
The nigiri DOES NOT come with wasabi under. Bummer (or great if you're not into wasabi --http://www.yelp.com/bi...). Rice was a little dry but otherwise pretty standard. Cuts were pretty good. SALMON was fatty -- the way I like it. HAMACHI was standard. TAMAGO seemed like it was cut from a package (common, but dang!). UNAGI was good, but could be broiled a little longer.
The opposite was true for the chirashi rice: seemed over vinegared -- http://www.yelp.com/bi.... The cuts were more irregular compared to the nigiri. SABA -- coated with lemon (FISHY) and an abnormal (weird) thin cut. SALMON -- same cut, albeit a bit less fat (more towards tail end?). MAGURO TATAKI -- BOMB,com. RED SNAPPERR -- juicy?. YELLOW TAIL -- same as above. SALAD -- again? TAMAGO - BORING. Overall, it's a pretty good chirashi, esp. for sub $10.
PRICE: The meal for 2 hit at a notch under $20, pre-tip. I was surprised. Should have ordered more, but wasn't hungry enough.
NOTES: First, ignore the hype -- whatever it is. Food was decent. TRY the MAGURO TATAKI. I don't know if it's on the menu, but it was BOMB in the chirashi. Looks good for pickup/takeout. Haven't tried the MAKIMONO. Music was a mix of 90% Japanese and 10% Korean. The movie they put on (Nausicaa) gave me goosebumps of reminiscence, even though they muted it. Expect to see Alameda High students.
So is this Korean? Whatever. Food is decent. Price is good. I'll be back.
The Boyfriend and I were in Oakland when I started to crave Japanese food. Yelp led us to Yojimbo in Alameda and I'm glad it did. It's a small place on Park St., just past all of the main stores. It's run by very friendly Koreans. The waitress is very sweet and she'll help you pick out something good if you have no idea what you want/what you're doing. The Boyfriend tried the chirashi bowl and I got chicken teriyaki. We were given complimentary salad with a nice peanut sauce and then the meal came. The portions are ginormous, especially for the prices. The teriyaki was good but more in the Korean style than the Japanese style (but this is fine by me), meaning the sauce tasted like Korean bulgogi (grilled marinated beef) or kalbi (beef short ribs). I have to admit that I'm still trying to like sashimi/nigiri but I did try some of the Boyfriend's tuna. It was pretty good - I've had fresher sushi but it was definitely edible. I didn't taste any fishiness and it was pretty tender. I'm giving the place four stars because of the wonderful service, the large portions and low prices...and because they played Miyazaki films all throughout the night!
I come here for the fresh and afforadable chirashi. Comes with a good selection of fish: tuna, salmon, yellowtail, white tuna, and chef choice. I believe one time i had mackeral, the other time octopus. All this for $9.75! Also comes with soup and salad. Chirashi portions are slightly smaller than other Japanese restaurants, but still definately fills me up, and you can't beat the price.
Also tried the pork ramen. LARGE portions. Broth is spicy but very flavorful. Nice to have a ramen spot in Alameda now.
Place is small. Only 5-6 tables. service is attentive, but still green. Waitress forgot to give me a spoon for ramen and
soy sauce holder for the chirashi. All items were brought promptly upon asking. I like that each table gets teapot, so you can refill your tea on your own.
Overall 5 stars!
I never eaten fresh sashimi before I got there.
They offer very very fresh sushi I never eaten before.
I don`t think the price is reasonable caz too cheap !
They have to increse the price.
I tried a lot of Japanese restaurants but most of them offer not fresh one. I thought they buy just cheap one caz of the money.
However, there are two brothers who are very honest offer super fresh one. I don`t think they are such a greedy people as other oweners.
Caution :be patient on Fri. and Sat. too busy !
Recommand : Mon thru Thurs
Ok, so I came back to Yojimbo recently, and I have to say that I'm impressed with the improvements! They pretty much addressed all of my concerns in my previous review, which is awesome. They now have a more concise and focused menu, and the new waitress is great - very friendly and attentive. The ramen description seems to have been updated to be more realistic (they are now all listed as being spicy), and I believe that the price may have been slightly reduced. I was also happy to see that Yojimbo seemed to be doing MUCH better (hopefully partly because of all of these changes?) - when we went for dinner, the restaurant was almost full, and there was a good steady stream of customers coming in.
Due to my experience last time with the ramen, I decided to stay away from it for now - maybe I'll try it again next year just to compare - but the sushi here is still great, so I will definitely be back. My only *small* concern left is that the service was pretty slow, probably because there are only a few people working operating the whole restaurant, but the chef and waitress totally made up for it by giving us free salad and miso soup while we waited. Now that's what I call good service! I would give this place 4.5 stars if I could. The only thing that remains for me to try out before giving Yojimbo a 5 is to taste the ramen again...
I was really excited to come to Yojimbo because I saw they served ramen here... FINALLY a restaurant… Read more »
Quite possibly the best sushi in Alameda is not the East Bay. WOW! And the people are so wonderful there! *hugs*
This place is incredible. Entire business owned and operated by an absolutely wonderful family. The teenage daughter serves, the dad and teen son(s) cook. The place is decorated with the son's cool pop culture paintings (audrey hepburn, heath ledger, etc.) Always friendly, and they bring free treats (salads, sashimi, etc.) to regulars, compliments of the house. This feels more like eating at someone's home than going to a restaurant.
Sound good? It gets so much better. I've eaten sushi all over the bay and can honestly say this is the best I've ever had. Everything is so flavorful and fresh, the portions generous, and they have unusual menu items (like ko chi, barbequed skewered bacon) as well as the usual fare.
Even better? The price. Really inexpensive. A rolls range from 6-8 bucks, and most maki, etc. range from 2-4 dollars.
Rare that the cheapest is the best. Combined with outstanding service, they get a perfect score. The place is usually packed with young japanese folks, which should tell you something.
Only drawback might be lack of alcohol and ice cream, but call ahead and get it to go if you want booze.
Let me preface with this: You ever have something that does exactly what you want it to so well, without any issues or extraneous bells and/or whistles, that you absolutely loved it? Regardless of the "upgraded model" or the "Eddie Bauer package" ?
That's sort of like Yojimbo.
If you want a small, authentic, welcoming, casual, hole-in-the-wall, well-priced, extremely delicious sushi joint - this is for you: 5 stars.
If you want a high-brow, elegant dining experience to take your party of 8 - this is not for you: 1 star.
Delicious fish, delicious prices, quaint location, quaint ambiance, easy-goin', and 100% awesome.
My favorite sushi joint. Hands down.
They got a new website too! http://www.yojimbosush...
The best part about this place is their combination of fresh fish and low price. The two usually don't come together. I went there for 2nd time today and got the chirashi bowl again - amazing. octopus, salmon, yellowtail, red snapper, albacore, tuna, egg. All of it was very fresh, flavorful. on top of that we got spicy white tuna roll and yellowtail roll (both were fresh and excellently flavored w/ the right amount of heat. All this for $18! Really can't beat it. Yojimbo is set up like a hole-in-the-wall, family owned, casual place, but the food resembles more fine dining! 5 Stars!
The reasonable prices are the only reason to go here. If you are a fish snob at all (wanting high quality) Do Not go here. The ramen, if that's what you're after, is worth going here for. I don't know why they didn't just decide to be a ramen house. Alameda has plenty of other sushi restaurants.
The reviews here weren't wrong--we got takeout from Yojimbo tonight and it was delish. Loved the futomaki and tamago. Minus one start for not having more vegetarian items--I would love to partake of some vegetarian ramen or noodle dishes. The person on the phone was apologetic though, so I'd put back a half a star if I could for courtesy and service. :)
You should come to this place if you like to WAIT. I mean seriously, if you really enjoy waiting. I just came here on a Friday night. Granted, it was Friday night and it is the night where people come out to eat, but please, it was ridiculous. My friend and I arrived at 7:30. We wrote our name down on their little pad and waited outside for a table. We waited for 45 minutes and our name wasn't called. There were two other parties of two before us. Their names remained on the little notepad. Finally, after 45 minutes, my friend walked into the restaurant, saw an empty table, and asked if we can take it. The lady working there said yes. What?! So all we had to do was walk straight in, look for an empty table, and seat ourselves. What is the point of the little notepad? If she never asked, I'll still be waiting.
We sat down and waited. No automatic menu or water delivery. Just to be courteous and not be one of those pushy people, we waited for 5 minutes before finally asking the lady working there if we can have a menu. Menu was delivered. We then waited another ten minutes before the guy (looks like the son of the owner) decided to bring us a water. Waited some more and then our order was finally taken. So from arrival to the restaurant to finally placing our order, the total time was 1hour 15 minutes. There were another couple that sat down right before us. They got tired of waiting and got their butt out of the restaurant. After all this time, we could have went to Sushi House. We initially wanted to go there, but skipped it because we didn't want to wait. Funny, how things turned out.
This place is tiny. I mean tiny-tiny. It can seat about 15 people or so. So definitely avoid this place if your party is more than 4 people. it is best to come here with only two people.
If it wasn't for the waiting, I would have rated this place higher. The son working there is a nice kid. He was friendly. They seriously need to work on the customer service end. It's not easy being a server and the kid needs a lot more practice. My gauge of wait staff customer service is always on water. If you can refill my water without asking, the service is good. My water was only filled once and I had to ask for it. So not good. I don't like being without water on the table.
Since the food was actually good, I give it three stars. I ordered the chicken teriyaki bento box and it was yummy. The portion was generous. Their basic rolls are good too. Basic rolls are around $3. The special rolls ~$8. Bento boxes ~$8. The prices are definitely reasonable.
In summary, good food but poor delivery on customer service. If you do come here, try to avoid the peak times. Or wait it out another few months so the kid could get more experience as a wait staff. Then you can get some customer service and good food at the same time.
I come here because my son is a big fan of theirs.
This is a very small place but well maintained and clean. The paintings on their walls are pretty cool, I believe it's done by one of the owners, which adds a personal touch to the place.
They could get pretty busy when they are filled up, but service is always prompt and friendly.
Food is quite good and portion is generous. I love their complimentary salad. My 4-year-old always gets his teriyaki chicken bento, gyoza and avocado roll, they are decent. I usually get some nigiri sushi along with the red dragon roll (their version of spicy tuna roll), their fish are fresh, although not of top quality. I was happy to find out that they just started to serve uni on Thursdays and Fridays, yeah!
Overall, I like this place for their friendly, efficient service, reasonable price and relatively good food.
My family and I still enjoy coming here, and I really like supporting the non-chain eateries. However, I'm finding there are some things on the menu I won't be ordering again. Among them is the unagi donburi, which seems nuked to a flabby consistency.
Yojimbo is a great addition to our little Alameda. A tiny place with anime on the telly and funky… Read more »
Great service for low prices - they are very generous! My husband ordered a salad and I decided not to, but they brought me one anyway! It was delicious - not that nasty iceberg lettuce but a real lovely fresh leafy blend.
The portions are great - just because the prices are lower doesn't mean they make everything smaller - the food portions look the same size to me.
I tend to eat tuna and salmon mostly. My husband will eat unagi and salmon skin. You can also request shiitake - sometimes they have it.
We love the artwork on the walls, which was created by one of the owners! They often have some sort of anime on the television, with the sound turned off, and pop music playing.
I, as well as my husband, come away repeatedly satisfied with the food and service we've gotten at Yojimbo.
The noodles tasted like it was from a package. Everything else is good. Noodles make the ramen. Goodnight sweet prince.
OK, finally came back and ate here. There are definitely some things to like about this place. For starters, they are very friendly, as previously stated. They just opened within the past month. It appears that it is two young brothers that opened the place. At least one of the brothers, and possibly both, have several years of experience working at sushi restaurants before.
The rolls are on the smaller side, but that is also reflected in their very inexpensive price. They aren't the monster western-style rolls that some places have, but they are also from $3-$7, instead of $9-$12. That allows you to sample more rolls. The fish seems very fresh. They have some unique roll ideas that I had not seen before, like the "Grace" roll, with tuna and raw onions. I thought it was a good idea and very tasty. They also have plum and mint rolls, which I like, and a lot of places don't have them. The spicy rolls are very spicy, and the spice is placed sort of on top of the roll and not mixed in with chopped fish, as is typical. The rice was good, with nice individual kernels, and not all mushy. But, some of the rolls were not rolled as tightly as might be optimal. The salad was fresh and the dressing was good and tasted homemade too.
The physical space could be either a positive or a negative. It was an old cheesesteak restaurant in a past life. It's definitely not huge; there are only a few tables inside. It's not a fancy sit down "date" type of place, to be sure, but there is wait staff. They have done their best to make it cute inside, though, adorning the space with their own artwork. They also have a tv on the wall which was playing an anime film, "Castle in the Sky," the night we were there.
I really would like this place to succeed, but as we all know that this is a tough economic environment to open a new restaurant in. They definitely aim to please, and hopefully they will develop a following large enough to keep them going. I could definitely foresee them doing more take out business though than eat it. And they do have same noodle soups (ramen, I think), though we didn't order any. I could see it being more of a noodle-type place too, instead of primarily a sushi place. At any rate, we will see, and I certainly wish them luck!
Very friendly. only open for about two weeks. cool art that two of the brothers that work there… Read more »
In my quest to try every Chirashi bowl in the universe, I put Yojimbo through the test. For $9.75 a bowl, its a winner! Good fish, good price, great salad. It is not like Sushi House's 5lb slabs of fish Chirashi, but this one hits the spot when you dont want to break the bank.
This place has a perfect spot in Alameda's plethora of Japanese restaurants.
Just tried this place for the first time tonight. The food's outstanding and the staff is very friendly. We got some take-out to enjoy at a craftathon, Chad had the teriyaki chicken bento -- good portions, tasty sauce, and very nice cuts of meat [I never order teriyaki because so many places give you a plate of gristle and fat -- what is up with that?].
I thought it was very tasty and Chad thought it was "fine" [I think he was underwhelmed by the portion size, which was a plenty big as far as I'm concerned but he likes a LOT of food and tends to judge restaurants based on sheer mass of his serving -- he would pick the dagnasty place with a giant plate of crap over the outstanding reasonable portion every time if I let him].
They gave us two extra side salads for some reason [the girl we were crafting with received an extra miso, too -- maybe they like to give out free food], those were pretty basic. Chad also had a tuna roll, and I had the poke maki and a salmon/avocado roll -- both tasted super fresh and very flavorful. Total was under $20.
Yojimbo is a welcome addition to Park Street, we'll definitely be back.
Alright, I haven't been to a sushi joint in like months. I almost forgot what a place like this looks like. Yojimbo's was a perfect reintroduction for me from the stale sushi bars I usual go to. Yojimbo's makes the best of its surroundings with hand drawn black and white paints of Audrey Hepburn, Afro-Samurai, Bruce Lee, various Miyazaki characters, and Yojimbo himself by the chopsticks. Just cramped enough for like 6 tables, I sat with Yojimbo himself so I could pilfer the chopsticks for later . Decor is one thing, but what makes a place good is the food. Flip flopping back and forth between the Spicy Ramen or the Chirashi, I pick:
Chirashi - it was good, just the right portion ever though my first impression was dude... that's not a lot
After a road trip through the midwest, the complementary salad of fresh greens was a welcome sight. The midwest has a seriously poor definition of what a salad is (loads of fried meat on a slice of pulverized and wilting iceberg lettuce). I so missed that crisp snap of lettuce from California as I bite into it, but I digress. The Chirashi comes with Miso soup and the sashimi included 3 slices each of tuna, salmon, white tuna rolled into a flower with thin lemon slices, mackerel with thin lemon slices, and two other mystery fish I couldn't put my finger on. Mystery or not, that's a lot of different types of fish if you ask me. They also separated the fish from the rice with a nice bed of vegi's so your rice doesn't get all fishy before you get to it. I was initially under impressed with the serving size but in the end, I thought it was just right and good. In fact there was nothing left in the bowl except bits of wasabi after I ravaged through the bowl like squirrel with a nut. I had enough mercury laced fish for the day, but plan on coming back to try more stuff. Yojimbo's is a cool place to bring friends to admire the artwork, hang out, listen to an eclectic mix of jpop, Guns N' Roses, and hip hop while you enjoy their food.
This is HANDS DOWN the best sushi place in all of alameda. Its fairly small and quaint . The people that run this restaurant are just soooo nice. The food is extremely reasonable for what you are getting. What you are getting here is seriously delicious sushi. I mean the kind that absolutely melts in your mouth. I'm not the biggest fan of sushi b/c i havent really had that much luck with good sushi places. But this is going to always be my go to sushi place from here on out. My wife is definitely the bigger sushi fan and she compared this place to Blowfish (restaurant in SF/LA) quality sushi. We had the following...
*Miso Soup--Delicious but pretty standard for any sushi place
*Fried Tempura (shrimp/mushroom/carrots)---very good stuff
*Spicy Tuna Maki--Excellent Melted in your mouth and very spicy goodness
*Deep Fried Spicy Salmon--Both of our favorites absolutely delicious
*Maguro--Melted in your mouth
*Shiro Maguro---Melted in your mouth and made you want to go back and get more.
and our bill was ONLY 20.00 which is insanely cheap for the quality and quantity you are getting.
We HIGHLY recommend this spot for the best sushi Alameda has to offer.
I recently had surgery and needed something to lighten up my day. I walked past this newly opened restaurant and saw two cute men working the counter, smiling at me and encouraging me to come in. Boy, they make me so shy every time I walk by!
I ordered the chicken bento because I'm Elva and I like chicken bentos. I didn't know what the chicken bento did to me, it was out of this world!--that was my second hardest confession ever!
Skip the ramen, as it is packaged Shin ramen. You can probably find those in any Asian grocery stores. Try the chirashi. It is such a great deal and quality.
This place makes VERY fresh sushi, pretty traditional Nigiri and Maki. Their special rolls are inventive without being stupid. They don't slather nasty sauce from another dimension devoid of anything tasting remotely Japanese. The people who work there are all extremely nice. The price is a bargain for the quality+quantity. NOW...this is a small place, so call if you have a large group. It's better suited to small groups, but if they have space in the back tables then I've seen larger groups accommodated. Also...since it is a very small place that also does takeout, the kitchen can get slammed. Prepare yourself for this mentally - you may have to wait a bit longer for your sushi than you expected. This is a by-product of the place being so good at such a good price. If you want your sushi in a flash and don't mind overpaying for skanky mush, there are a few other 'Sushi' (cough) places in Alameda I could send you... Oh, and as stated, takeout can take longer than they think. I add 10 minutes and it works out fine.
This is my first time to write a review on http://Yelp.com because this is also my frist time to have such bad dining-out experience.
My boyfriend and I went to this store today for lunch. We order one Tempura Ramen and a tuna on rice. The tuna rice bowl is just ok. The fish is not super fresh but ok to try. As for the ramen, it is too bad to finish. It tastes not like ramen at all. Ramen's noodles and soup taste like made by famous Korean instant noodle "Shin Ramyum" Because we have the instant noodle, Shin Ramyum almost once a week, we know how it tastes like. We were angry and thinking "how stupid we were that paying $10 to buy a instant noodle here?"
If I can give them 0.5 start, then I will do it.
I am pretty sure that we would never come here again.
i was concerned about underrating them the first time so i gave them another try with a different menu item
sampling:
-chirashi (9,75) sliced raw fish atop rice.
about 5 kinds of sashim" tuna, hamachi, salmon, albacore, bass? were placed atop a bowl that is smaller than that used to hold soon tofu. all the sashimi were very fresh, and bite size (bigger than the fish on the nigiri. you could taste the "sweetness" in the fish as the sashimi portions were adequate and not too small.
-miso soup (comped) not bad
-salad (comped) fresh but not great. hey, it's free!
leftovers:
-rolls looked huge at 7.95ish?
-open kitchen
-nice friendly staff
-mexico coke is in the house.
-avoid the nigiri here, fish portion very small, thus unable to get a good taste of fish.
yojimbo is named after a japanese wandering swordsman(ronin) popularized by toshiro mifune. this… Read more »
a subjective overview of my experiences on the…
Here's a list of some ramen places around the Bay…
Sorry but you've gotta be sheep-minded to rave…
