YO! Sushi Whiteleys

Having seen those colourful rings everywhere around the city, I’ve always been dying to visit YO! Sushi but never had the time (or the money!) to. So when a friend alerted me to a 50% offer I literally jumped at the chance – twice!

My first visit was to the Whiteleys branch which was open and bustling with customers. Good sign. The second visit was to the Brent Cross branch which is a lot smaller and cramped, and we had to queue for 15 minutes on a weekday. We were sat on high stools with full access to the conveyor belt (would we have it any other way?) and lustfully eyed the food gliding in front of us. First of all, may I just say that I love the concept of Japanese conveyor belt food, and I’m sure YO! does play on some of those hunter-gatherer instincts to boost its profit margins.

After making the fatal mistake of asking for water (water, though unlimited, costs £1 here while unlimited miso soup only costs 75p extra), we were hesitant as to who was to draw first blood and catch the moving prey. The gari, wasabi and soy sauce were also unlimited so we just ended up eating gari by the boatload while waiting for something interesting to float past.

Between the two trips I tried almost everything off the belt. The classic assorted nigiri (with rice) was fine, although nothing special – just a bit fresher than boxed sets from M&S or Pret. I also had an assorted sashimi (without rice) which was the first time I’ve had hamachi (yellowtail), and I must say I was quite surprised at how tasty it is raw. The isos (reverse rolls) were all pretty good, just remember to take your time in eating them rather than swallowing them whole without chewing, otherwise you’ll lose the taste. I only found one hand roll off the belt (at the Brent Cross branch) which was very nice but for some reason had too much mayonnaise.

Out of the hot dishes, I think the chicken teriyaki was the star favourite. I managed to grab one coming straight from the wok so it was steaming and swimming in sauce. It was so good that I decided to buy some teriyaki sauce so that I can make it for myself at home. The chicken katsu was nice, but I didn’t see any difference between it and normal fried chicken, so I ended up pouring some of the leftover teriyaki sauce onto that too. The prawn tempura was not that great – it came ready-made, straight from a packet and all they did was deep fry it – basically battered prawns. The prawn yakisoba (noodles) was filling but the sauce was a bit too tangy. Both the chicken and the vegetable gyoza (dumplings) were cold and flabby by the time we got them so if you want them, only get them when they’re fresh from the fryer.

In the salads, the fried aubergine was fine but I’m sure whether it’s meant to be eaten cold. The tofu was a bit tasteless. The spicy chicken salad was just boring chicken breast and not Japanese at all. The squid salad on the other hand was a lot more exciting, but unfortunately didn’t have enough squid and too much greens. Finally, the crayfish salad was lazily made – you can still taste the brine out of which the crayfish tails were no doubt fished out of.

    Since everything was half price we ended up eating to our hearts’ content and stuffed ourselves to the limit of 10 plates. We just chose whatever looked good and were blind to the coloured rings. My total came up to £18 which is fair for the amount I had eaten, and had there not been the half price deal I would’ve eaten less anyway. Still, eating at YO! is pretty expensive and at full price, I definitely wouldn’t visit it. The food is fine, just not that value for money. The sushi is about average and the hot dishes are often just ready-made foods popped in the deep fryer.
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Arthur
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Sunday, February 17, 2008

I went to this restaurant last weekend and the experience was just average. There were a variety of sushi to order as well as off the table. Miso soup and green tea were bottomless which I thought was a good idea. However, the ambience was nothing to shout about. Seatings were too close to one another, waiter needs to be more attentive and not all the sushi were fresh.

Will I visit again? Hhhmm... maybe... maybe not...
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

I go regularly to Yo Sushi with my girlfriend and expected the same quality and service as with their other restaurants. How wrong! We came 1/2 an hour before they were due to close their kitchen and they couldn't be bothered to make any more food for us. There wasn't much left on the belt and most of it looked like it had been there a while. We were hungry, so we had no choice but to tuck into the least old food on display. Every request seemed like too much effort for them and when we complained about the quality of the tuna, the manager stated that they had changed suppliers recently and we could complain to head office. When I did that, I got no reply. Won't stop me going to other Yo Sushi restaurants, but I won't be coming back to this one.
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Nick Thatcher
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Thursday, February 22, 2007

yo sushi only gives you half a roll when you order one, and then puts the other half of it onto the conveyor belt so if you want to eat the other 4 peices you have to pay again. now THAT is a rip-off.

and the miso soup tasted like onion, not miso. uck.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Friday, October 27, 2006

You can't go wrong woth Yo!Sushi for inexpensive but delicious sushi in London. The mouth-watering black Cod is only £5 a dish, but the Yo!Roll, Vegetable Tempura and Special Tempura Rolls are my favourite.

I always find the service to be swift and polite.

If it is full, it can be a little cramped, and the Sushi still doesn't compare to what I have tasted in other countries. But in London, on a bit of a budget, it is perfect.
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Jayme
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 17, 2006