Yoshida Sushi Bar

Tried it last Vday. The wait was horrendous. Well, it was Vday. I called for reservations, and they said they don’t take them, but when we got there, some people had reservations! I guess they take a certain number of rezzies, then stop.

I wanted to try Yoshida mostly for the live uni. But when we finally got seated, they ran out. Great.

The thing to do here is ONLY order from the specials on the board, do NOT order from the regular menu. Got a couple of standard items from the regular menu—tuna, salmon. They were just very ok, the fish tasted fresh enough, but not much flavor, the rice seemed a bit hard. The specials were better, except the rice. But nothing really stood out.

The person I went with ordered the sushi combo off the regular menu. It was gross, all the sad mini-sized pieces of nigiri looked like rubber. They looked pre-made and had been sitting around for a long time. Who goes to a sushi bar and orders this??? Oh yeah, really boring eaters.

We were at a table, but the bar is the place to sit. Not exactly the best sushi, but for the hood it’s good.

My personal sushi policy as I have stated here is a quirky, one might say. I feel that you should stay with one particular sushi restaurant to develop a personal relationship with the place. Get to know what comes in usually fresh and unique, get to know the host/owner for the best seats in the house, and lastly, pick & stay with a good sushi chef/master. The last one, and most important one, you would hope, that your sushi chef remembers you, as well.

Anyways . . . about Yoshida. Many people have been raving about how Yoshida is the best sushi restaurant in San Gabriel valley. They are talking about how fresh his this and that is. They also talk about the uni, which is my personal favorite and what I usually order first, is bomb-diggity! (gotta add the diggity, if you say bomb).

I must admit, I did like the sea urchin, served in the shell. You don’t see many places with sea urchin, Uni, with the spiky shell. They crack it open and prepare it in front of you. Nice touch and presentation. I don’t know many places that serve in this manner nor have the sea urchin in the shell. It taste fresh and not as saltly as how I usually have it. It is more refreshing. I do like it. This is a must-order.

The other sushi was standard. Nothing special. The oysters with fish eggs and a quail egg yolk was different. I am not a big fan of oysters. The halibut, another personal favorite, was good. Sushi, like anything else (I will explain more later), is good when you don’t remember it. I like almost anything with ponzo sauce.

As I mentioned before, I talked about remembering something and expecting it. People enjoy the foods that they remember. People will remember that taste and experience from the meal, which drives future cravings. Though in remembering a meal, they won’t mention it to others, unless it was a bad experience. Luckily, I didn’t remember anything bad at Yoshida’s.

One last thing, Yoshida also had a good green tea tempura ice cream. I thought this was pretty good.

I think Yoshida’s bit overrated – with a heavy emphasis on price. I think our bill, for 2, with alcohol was about 120 or so. If I was going to pay that much, I would go to Sushi Gen. For a neighborhood sushi restaurant, I think the price was too high. I would rather go to Sushi of Naples, in Pasadena.

One of better sushi restaurant in San Gabriel Valley area. (Hard to find good sushi here) Fish are usually fresh, you can ask owner Yoshi what are the must-try first. Only choose to sit at sushi bar, the sushi chef can serves you better that way. They have popana sushi, you better try that. You don’t often see this at other restaurant. Mirugai (giant clam) is fresh, crunchy and sweet~ dynamite is good too. ($31-40/p)

Rating 2.5 actually

Went to Yoshido Friday night, 6-5-09..
Met some members of Sushi meetup.
As I was Sushied out,and did not want a $30 dinner so I ordered Chicken Teriyaki dinner plate $ $12.75…

The place was filled to capacity.
Every table and Sushi Bar filled!
Servers were stressed out- my take!

The Green tea came, and not only warm (not hot) but tasteless for my palate.

The Miso came, warm also~ and worse was without flavor.

My Chicken came, and the chicken was tough, overcooked, and tasted as if it sat in some MCDonalds type holding oven, brought out and Sweet sauce poured over it. The sauce tasted like out of a Kraft Bottle…

On the table was ordered a Sushi Plate, a Sushi Pancake thing, and desert, and a Oyster- Sushi Desert with not only caviar type uni but other types also complete with a Quail Egg…

Being a Wasabi freak, I tasted the wasabi, and it was SOSO. I asked the waitress – and the wasabi was mixed from powder!
I assumption is then this is not real Wasabi, but a powdered mix of horseradish- mustard and artificial color!

The prices are over the top and what I viewed of the Sushi Plate- just was cut thin, not that much, and looked like something at Todai!

I am not impressed, and would never return!

What do people see in this place…
When I go for Japanese food, it is not only for quality but for Ambiance,and energy of the place…

Why would I want a SUSHI bar filled to capacity, with people walking up and down nearly brushing into me?
I would like something more traditional, with Japanese soothing music playing.
Maybe a place with tasteful design, not set up to maximize the space to hold maximum people!!!
Si is Yoshida!!!!!!!!!!

Try Sorafune on Garvey in Monterey Park!!!

Sushi bar has 5 chairs.
Table capacity say 25 people max…
Nice Ambiance, very clean, A DVD running playing old classic Japanese style music, and—- A true Japanese couple running it, and a traditional polite caring Waitress- in the purest Zen for a Japanese Sushi Bar……"

_~