Yoshi Japanese

2 stars for good service. decent ambience. decent sake selection.
sushi and sashimi is lacking. fish is lacking in taste, texture seems like the fish have been frozen.
i think if you go for sushi/​sashimi there are better options nearby.

Ambiance was great, service was friendly and helpful without being overbearing.
The food was delish, and presentation was fun. We had 4 people with us, so we got to try a little of everything. Everything was fresh.

Delivery was swift and we were looking forward to yet another yummy meal in our first week in NYC. Our lucky streak came to an end.
The edamame was fine. Udon noodles were good if the broth flavorless. The real letdown was the sushi and the mochi ice cream.
The roll was a stringy mushy version of peppered tuna avocado. The mochi was inedible. Not sure if it was freezer burned or what but it was spit-​out gross.
Oh well, one of our favorite things about NYC so far
Is the abundance of choices.

This place has a very good atmosphere and my glass was always filled with water. The music that plays during the day (or at least the day I went) was a bunch of popular 90s songs. The food was good and filling!

I went on a monday for lunch and the place was empty, but the food was good. I got the bento box and the tofu teriyaki was really tasty.

Try the Garlic Crispy Eggplant. Try the Garlic Crispy Eggplant. Try the Garlic Crispy Eggplant. …did I type that enough times for it to sink in for you? :) It’s really that good, and I promise you’ll thank me. I’m not even a huge eggplant fan (typically, I think it’s just aight). But, this eggplant appetizer is amazing! Order it now!!! =)
As for their other menu items, they feature typical sushi and Japanese fare – all tasty! One of the unique speciality rolls that’s noteworthy is the New York roll, which has spicy crunch tuna and avocado inside and is topped with lobster tempura — nom! nom! nom! They also have great soups, with my favorite being the Nabeyaki Udon. This tasty soups features thick wheat flour noodles in broth with chicken, egg, and vegetables… and it has shrimp tempura on the side (which I put down in the soup)! Yum!
As for atmosphere, the interior of this restaurant is very modern and inviting… and the seating is very comfortable– they have these long, soft couch-​like benches as seating for their booths. Very cool.

Bad diarrhea. Cheap fish that makes you sick. The yellow tail was actually white instead of the usual pink color. The hot and sour soup is bland with way too much slimy egg. Yech! :(

First time introduced to sushi at this sushi spot.
I ate the Shrimp Tempura roll accompanied by Chicken Katsu in the Bento Box. I have not tried other types of sushi due to the fear of eating raw fish. hence shrimp tempura roll (crispy shrimp)
I do recommend this place for the specific roll listed above. The service was very attentive. The waitress already knows what I am going to order based on my continuous visits when craving sushi.
I have tried the Shrimp Tempura roll at Ki Sushi a couple of blocks down but did not like it, the shrimp was not crispy instead it was soggy.

This place works. Not a mind-​blower, but not horrible. The Hot Saki seemed extra strong. The service was quick and attentive. The Crispy Eggplant appetizer was really good.
Not going out of my way to return but not going out of my way to avoid either.

Really like the set up of this place– very spacious, trendy, nicely decorated.
The waitress was friendly and attentive. The sushi quality was good and they have plenty of rolls and options. Would go here again.

We only experienced delivery, not at the restaurant.
Sushi — not authentic at all. prob. will not order it any more
Hibachi — pretty ok. Hibachi dinner special is a good deal
Miso Soup — little fishy. not sure what other ingredients are in it…
Overall, I will try somewhere else…

This is one of the better sushi restaurants on Smith. They have a great variety and more importantly, the fish is fresh. They have a pretty good lunch special, 3 rolls plus soup or salad for $ 9.90. I recommend the black pepper tuna and avocado and the white tuna rolls. Have been going to this restaurant since it opened and will continue to go back.
The only thing that confuses me sometimes is the décor. Sports bar on the right. Lounge with plush seats on the left. Sushi restaurant in the back. I guess they’re trying to appeal to everyone at once.

I must admit I am far from a sushi restaurant connoisseur seeing as I’ve only gone to a couple others before, but even so, I can safely say that I like Yoshi and it’s the best sushi restaurant I’ve been to to date. First off, the décor is quite nice. nothing over the top or pretentiously trendy, but there is still a loungey appearance complete with large suede couchlike seats, dim lighting, and dark furniture. And oh yea, lets not forget the lit «hole» in the ground haha. its definitely an unexpected design element!
Secondly, many asian places tend to be BYOB or beer/​wine only, so I was really glad that Yoshi had a full bar. The drink menu is pretty long, which is something I LOVE… I’m a sucker for a well mixed cocktail… or 3. The only thing I love more than a large selection of drinks, is a large selection of cheap drinks. $ 5 apple martini any day, any time… yes please!
I came here on a sunday night at about 8 pm and the dining area was completely empty (which is fine by me!). There were a couple of patrons sitting at the bar though. My decision to give yoshi 4 stars is based on mostly 2 factors – #1, as I happily mentioned before, the drinks are great and many of them are quite cheap and #2. they have an extensive list of sushi and rolls – its probably one of the most packed menus I’ve seen.
For me, the Pièce de résistance on the menu was the Tiffany roll. If you’re a fan of spider rolls and spicy rolls… this is a must try for you. Lets just say that even at the risk of sounding like lardbutts, my friend and I kept reminiscing rather loudly and giddily about the Tiffany roll on the train ride home –yea its that good.
Speaking of the food and such, I have to say that I can’t attest to tastiness of the non-​sushi foods on the menu because my friend and I ordered only rolls for the night. However, they do look like they have a large selection of other dishes as well. Seeing as it is an Asian restaurant, the other menu items are of course Asian influenced – mostly Japanese and Thai. So, anyone who isn’t a fan of sushi but does enjoy Asian cuisine may find find something to their liking.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that at yoshi, the price is right! I had 1 martini, 2 rolls to myself, and then I split a roll and desert with my friend and my portion of the bill came out to be $ 22 (thats with tax included!). Normally, at a NYC establishment, $ 22 would be what you would spend on 2 (overpriced) drinks alone, nevermind the food! That being the case, I’m sure you can imagine my elation when I had a meal, dessert, AND a drink for that price!
The final element that makes Yoshi 4 star worthy is the customer service. The staff, from bartender to waiter, seemed extremely personable and attentive. The woman who appeared to be manager came over to ask us how everything was during and after our meal. I don’t know – maybe the staff had no choice but to be attentive because we were pretty much the only diners there for a while lol. Whatever the case, it’s well appreciated and it’s all fine by me – I like the spotlight anyway ;).

I went here for a late lunch on a Monday. The restaurant had cool décor with soft seating and tables as well. The menu was extensive. Chinese, Japanese, & a little Thai thrown in. I decided to go with the 3 roll option for $ 11, a kani salad, & another salad that came with the rolls.
The waitress decided she would change my second salad to a soup even though I told her I wanted both salads. Strike 1. She got one of the rolls wrong as well. I was brought spicy salmon instead of spicy shrimp. Strike 2. My friend ordered a Lychee Martini which came with 3 lychee fruits. She was very happy with that. When we wanted to leave they took forever to bring the check and then more time to come and take the payment. Strike 3.
I was a bit turned off with the music selection. I didn’t mind that the genre changed drastically with each song that was played. That was kind of interesting because you didn’t know what to anticipate. However the unedited versions of songs with vulgarity as I was eating lunch gave them strike 4!
Will I be back??? Probably not. Food was ok though but other things turned me off.

I had dinner here after loads of happenstance walkbys. The dining room is cute and stylish with low lighting, comfy booths, and a populated bar where various neighborhood folks sip lychee tinis. The bento boxes look nice and come with the usual extras: rice, Cali roll, soup, salad w/​a big side of oniony miso carrot dressing; and the sushi was quite delicious. The volcano roll did not skimp on spicy tuna with extra crunch sprinkled about, and the three types of sashimi were good too, with the delicate fresh salmon being the standout (over the eel – good but not the best I’ve ever had – and the yellowtail – same but needed more flavor to give me that true Wow factor). Good for couples, groups, big meals, snacks and small meals, or drinkers. The hot house sake was pleasant and mild, and warmed by tummy on a cold winter snow day.

Not a bad place, but nothing at all memorable either.
Too many mediocre lunch spots line this street, I think. my friend was craving Japanese, so we just picked this place at random. The interior has a kinda lounge-​y atmosphere, with a bar on one side and cushion-​y seats and tables on the other.
The lunch special was a pretty good deal. About $ 9 for soup or salad and a bento (including the entrée, shu mai, CA rolls/​salmon skin rolls, and orange slices)– I ordered the chicken katsu and it came with a pretty big portion so it was definitely filling.
Service was decent, but I felt bad because it was pretty much almost empty during the lunch hour. I guess I’d give it 2.5 stars, partly pity points and partly due to my lowered standards for this neighborhood.

We were psyched for sushi and had a place in mind but apparently, they stop serving lunch @ 2:45pm. As we made our way up Smith Street, we stumbled upon Yoshi. It was a quiet, late Monday afternoon for them.
This place has comfy cushion seating and a full bar for those who enjoy a drink or two or three. We ordered off the lunch special menu which is a very sweet deal. The sashimi (tuna and salmon) was average. Not exceptionally fresh but I do love the fact that they offer brown rice as an option. Friend had the chicken terriyaki which was alright. A nice variety bento box for the price. Our waitress recommended the ‘sushi cake’ which I probably enjoyed the most from this meal. The chef’s special sauce was very tasty and the soy paper that we wrapped around the ‘cake’ (sushi) pieces made it kinda cool. Plus, I love spicy tuna and that was sandwiched between the layers of sushi rice.
Service was attentive (considering we were the only patrons). A decent place for sushi. There is plenty of variety on the menu. They also offer a few Thai noodle options.

This place started out with a stong 4.5-star restaurant. Great décor (plush seats!), friendly service, excellent salad. However all the little things that irked me started to add up. Our «cold» green tea was actually hot poured over a few slivers of ice. Friend and I ordered thier recommended sushi «cake». Bottom layer was rice, middle was spicy tuna with avocado, then another layer of rice, and then finally, option of different fish (es). While the chef was nice to give us white tuna as well as salmon on top, the overall cake tasted too heavy. There was nothing wrong with the idea of it, however i believe it would be better if it were to be simply cut into smaller pieces — and shared with more friends.
My friend’s sushi sashimi lunch special was nice. Simple and fresh fish with pretty big pieces — an excellent deal for $ 8.50. However, there were two cuts of salmon on the plate. One in rectangular shapes and the other sliced. If the sliced version was supposed to be King Salmon, I certainly couldn’t taste it. «Variety» fail and should have gone with octopus or something else.
I had the chicken teriyaki and while I felt the box was so huge that Yoshi, our Super Mario Brother’s pet dinsosaur would inhale this bad boy, but unfortunately the overall presentation was dwarfed by it’s lack of flavor. The chicken breast was too dry and the salmon skin roll also also failed as it should have had some actual bits of salmon in it for texture. The rice was also a little over cooked and unfortunately the best part of the dish was the two pieces of shumai that was lightly fried nicely and the orange that was cutely cut.
Good bang for your buck if you manage to catch their lunch specials and their draw is probably the nice full bar that they have.

Got delivery from Yoshi tonight and it was delicious.
My girlfriend and I ordered some Shumai, a Cruchy Spicy Tuna roll (I coulda eaten ten of these), she got the Salmon Sushi entrée and I got the Beef Negimaki.
I broke my rule of «always bet on seafood» and it cost me.
Her 8 pieces of salmon and salmon roll choked out my beef entrée two hours before last call at this bar fight.
The fish was so good and the nigiri pieces were HUGE. Bitter.
The Negimaki was kinda «eh», in comparison. It’s beef wrapped over scallions in a teriyaki sauce, and it was just about bland and needed salt-​n-​pepa to push it. Duh na na na. Push it real good.
Everything came in a nice looking presentation inside the plastic to-​go boxes. It all traveled well from Smith St. over to my apartment a few blocks away, too.
The miso soup, which came with the entrees– out of sight. Those enoki mushrooms in there were a good switch from the usual thin sliced shiitake or morels you sometimes get.
Total for the dinner was $ 52, which is kind of expensive if you’re thinking strictly about the volume of eats, but the quality of ingredients here is really high.
Two thumbs up. Great holiday weekend start for the 4^th. of July.

Walked in on a Saturday night around 9:30 p.m. and instantly thought there was a hole in the floor, but it was covered by glass. It was the first trick of the night by Yoshi.
We sat right away to these couch like seating areas that were actually very comfortable. We ordered edamame and three sushi rolls with an order of the red bean ice cream for dessert. They probably had about 35 rolls to choose from, from normal rolls to more elaborate rolls like the 2010 Roll or the Rock n Roll. We had both of those rolls, as well as a lobster with green apple roll. I have to admit though, the Rock n Roll was delicious, I highly recommend.
Besides that, you kinda have to take your time with the wait staff, they don’t really understand everything I was saying.
I was completely satisfied with my experience and probably will be back to this Asian Fusion sushi place.