Yama - repulsive
For a variety of reasons, I found myself dashing into Yama on Houston yesterday for supper.
I found the whole experience a disaster. The pieces are so huge - might as well get a raw side of beef. I asked the chef if this is the way he was trained - he laughed and said "of course not." "This is American style - big cars, big macs, big TVs, big sushi." All the chefs laughed. We talked some more - he said that their customers just don't know any better, and assume that bigger is better.
The piece of fatty tuna I got, for example, had all the sinew still running through it (of course it did, it was 6 inches long, how could it not?) - which meant that I couldn't even bite through the sinew. I couldn't pick up the pieces with chopsticks.
This is a disgusting way to eat. I just don't understand it at all. And it's not as if the fish was all that good either.
I think it took less than 3 minutes for the chef to prepare my plate of sashimi and sushi - ridiculous.
Nina W.
May 19, 2004 08:16AM
Oh, I forgot to mention the flavorless, neon-pink articificially colored ginger, and the lowest-of-the-low quality wasabi - also an oddly unnatural color.
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Hey Nina-we get it!
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You should have tried Petrosino...yama sux
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yama doesn't try to be anything close to authentic.. you know that..
yama has decent cooked food and their special rolls are fine but nothing great..
the place is relatively cheap, although how it got as popular as it is, offering what it does, i don't get..
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I watched them make plenty of those "special" rolls. Gross.
I know they're not trying to be authentic. But I found it barely edible.
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the reality is a lot of people can't afford to go to places like Sushi Yasuda or Sushi of Gari. places like Yama serve a purpose (as do McDonald's et al): feeding hungry patrons affordably. Yama doesn't rank high on my list of sushi places, but neither have i had "repulsive" food there.
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I'm sure you already know this, but Yama-Houston is the worst. The one on Carmine is better and the one on Irving is the best of the 3.
All still make too-big pieces, but I've never had a bad meal at Irving's location.
Sorry your experience was so awful.
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No matter how much "better" those other Yamas might be, the size of the pieces is enough to turn my stomach.
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This sounds like a place to avoid at all costs; thanks for the warning - the food sounds horrible. How, then, could Yama get a 25 rating for food in Zagats? Maybe it's for one of their better locations? Still, 25 seem way out of line, judging from the responses here.
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Zagat's is a POPULARITY contest, judged by the "masses" - note that McDonald's is the most popular eating venue in the country. Zagat's is not "critical" in any way...I use it as an address book and nothing more.
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Im sorry you had such a bad experience there. While i have never been to the Houston street location, I have never had any problems with sinew at the Irving Pl one(you should have sent it back if you had a problem with it). I have eaten there many times and always have a pleasant experience. I find the fish to be extremely fresh and I am not paying an arm and a leg for it unlike other places. While i understand your aversion to larger pieces of sushi, some people do like it. I have had both styles and i would say i enjoy them both depending on what mood i am in. Sometimes i feel like biting into a big piece of fish the same way i get a craving for a large seared porterhouse.
Basically the appeal of Yama is good quality fresh fish for a decent price. They also have good cooked and sushi bar appetizers, I enjoy their white tuna tataki and hotate mille feuille(sp?).
I think calling it repulsive is a bit much simply because you dont enjoy larger pieces of sushi. If Yama is repulsive i shudder to think how you would describe some of the garbage you get around the city.
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I agree with the above poster. I have only been to the Yama on 17th street, and it has always been fresh, delicious, affordable and the staff is lovely. I'm no sushi expert in the least but I've been to a lot of sushi restaurants in NYC (from very bad to very amazing) and I don't think Yama's pieces are THAT much bigger - though I am more of a sashimi girl so maybe it's less noticeable?
Can those of you who hate Yama recommend some places that you find to be superior but that are in or around the same price range? The only other place that I thought was somewhat comparable was ISO and I thought Yama was better - I have not tried it since it changed over. We don't go in for those fancy rolls much, just a fresh interesting selection of sashimi at a reasonable price. I'm curious to try others b/c truthfully, when I crave raw fish I go to Yama. I'd hate to think I can do better for the same price.
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Yasu
Cotan
Miyagi
Tsuki
But if quantity is your thing, including those gargantuan pieces, rather than quality and artistry, then nevermind.
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Considering Yama is famous for its 'super-sized' sushi and sashimi--its forefront in every review or mention of the restaurant--why go there for any reason if you find very large pieces of sushi repulsive? There are certainly plenty of other restaurants within a one to two block radius that would be less offensive to you. Not to criticize, but it's like going out for all-you-can eat at Red Lobster, then complaining about the quality and preparation of the fish. IMHO, people go to Yama for one reason, and that's for large quanitities of sushi at low prices, and many seem to not mind--even like--the large pieces. This post strikes me as little more than an opportunity to boast about one's superior knowledge of sushi, and say "this is a disgusting way to eat" about others.
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You can believe what you want, but I had never before set foot in a Yama, and I had absolutely no idea that the pieces would be *that* large. There's large (like Tomoe), and then there's absurd.
Nor did I know how lousy the service would be, by the way. Or how bad the other things were (wasabi, ginger, no garnish of any kind, etc.)
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I know lots of people who think Yama is a great sushi place irrespective of fish size, so I think it's good to have a balancing post once in a while. Yama was my first sushi experience, and I liked it until I was introduced to better, but now I wouldn't set foot in the place.
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Yes but a lot of people go around saying "Best sushi in NY? Yama." NOT qualifying that with, "I think it is the best because I think biggest is best".. So there is nothing wrong with hearing the other side of it.
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This has been driving me nuts for years. I am so tired of going for sushi and getting massive pieces. The most inelegant thing I've ever witnessed is people trying to cram a sushi roll the diameter of a small orange into their mouth in one bite. Worse yet, the site of trying to eat the said piece of sushi in two bites with it falling all over the place.
Figures it's the american 'big' thing---just had this conversation at a restaurant and figured it was something like this.
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