Yamamoto Japanese Cuisine

This is one of the better AYCE options in Markham.
1. The food was above average for AYCE. Their extensive menu gives you a lot of food to choose from — more than most AYCE’s. The sashimi/​fish was very fresh and served on ice — though they usually gave us fewer pieces than the amount we ordered.
2. The service was nice and prompt.
This is what you should be getting for $ 30+; Yamamoto sets the standard and serves as a good yardstick for all AYCE’s. Will def. return, but will probably try other critically acclaimed AYCE’s first.

Went to this place with my family and overall had a larger group. which as we all know is the best way to experience all you ca eat buffets. Now onto the food. The sashimi at this place was actually pretty good. The fish was decent and fresh and the herb salmon was a nice touch. The sushi and maki rolls however was definitely something i would not try again, as it was not really that good in terms of rice make up and combination of materials.
the cooked food here was not bad. they had a lot of interesting options, and although it doesn’t always work out, i do applaud them for trying. The wasabi mussels were pretty good for what it is.
The overall atmosphere of the place was good. as it is spacious and had a lot of room. However the service was bogged down to be quite a bit slower at this dinner time on a monday. The food took longer to arrive then most locations.
The deserts i would suggest try to crème brule, although not hot, it is a decent selection of desert, and there overall desert selection is not bad.
If in the area this place is definitely not a bad option but i would not go out of my way to come here.

My boyfriend and I decided to go to Yamamoto for New Year’s Eve and boy was that a decision we regretted. We planned early and made sure we had reservations before venturing onward to the restaurant. When we got there we were seated quickly and noticed most of the tables were vacant; a few tables here and there. We were seated near the middle of the restaurant and next to a family on our left.
We scanned over the menu and got excited as we discovered a lot of our favourites would be available for order on the AYCE menu. After reading a few reviews as well on Unilocal,I really wanted to try the chicken cartilage. So we order that alongside a large order of beef tataki (20 pcs), some salmon, sweet shrimp, and scallop. We also order some rolls (spider and spicy salmon), and of course, some of the cooked goodies consisting of the baked seafood avocado, cubed beef, tempura, grilled squid, etc.
We get our soup/​salad orders really quickly, even before our pop orders arrive. And not soon after we start getting more dishes. Our sashimi order arrives and it’s displayed beautifully. On a small bed of ice, it’s thoughtfully plated and looks really beautiful. I’m quick to note that I’ve never seen an AYCE spend so much time on making the dish look this impressive. Despite the lovely display of food, the taste wasn’t that great. The salmon wasn’t the freshest and the temperature (despite being on a bed of ice!) was lukewarm. The tataki had the ponzu sauce on the side and we only received about 8 slices even though we had ordered 20. The ponzu was the same as the bottled Kikkoman’s brand of ponzu straight out of the bottle. They skimped out on the ponzu which made the beef really dry. The slices of beef were slightly overcooked and starting to brown while the cuts of the meat were inconsistent and often chewy. The scallops tasted fishy and were difficult to get down.
After devouring our sashimi, we eat our order of rolls and cooked food. The tempura squid rings came out cold and were nothing worth raving about. All the other foods we had just seemed lackluster and we had disappointment setting in. We wait on our order of chicken cartilage before getting hungry enough to submit our second round of orders. We try again to order the cartilage which doesn’t appear but we do get our other orders consisting of the seafood baked avocado, enoki beef wraps, spider roll, and some more sashimi (in hopes we get more tataki). I quite enjoyed the seafood avocado bake as this was my second round of ordering it. The creamy avocado melded well with the salmon and kami in the mix. It was nice and way and went down easy. Our second round of tataki ended in up disappointment as we only got 10 out of our 20pc second order. Again, it was inconsistent and overcooked. We were served the end piece of the tataki which was completely cooked and was more like a dry piece of beef teriyaki, minus the teriyaki sauce.
We inquire about the chicken cartilage and our waiter says that he can’t find our order sheet and that we should just order it again. Frustrated, we try one last time for the order of the chicken cartilage along with our dessert. As we receive our dessert, a waiter comes and tells us that it’s our last call and inquired if we had any more orders. My boyfriend and I, still eating our desserts, were caught off guard and we make a small order of repeat desserts. We again inquire about the chicken cartlidge, and the waiter tells us that they’re sold out for the night… Couldn’t this be something they had told us when we placed our first order?
We check our phones and notice that we had only been there for an hour and 20 minutes. We check the menu for a seating limit and realize that it states that 2 hours is the seating limit. The table next to us that had been there since we walked in were still making orders while we were being rushed out. Not wanting to cause a scene on New Year’s Eve, we leave. As we’re leaving, we notice about 6 or 7 tables that were vacant. Our initial thought was that perhaps they had a different policy on the holiday so that they could get faster turnover rates; however, after seeing the empty tables, it was clear that wasn’t the case. They just wanted us out.
How disappointing that we spend $ 65+ to eat there on a holiday and we’re the only ones being rushed out the door? Just like my 3 orders of chicken cartilage that never came, I won’t be going back to Yamamoto. No thanks. Next!

UPDATE: Yamamoto at Market Village is closed due to the end of their lease. Sad. Their Scarborough location is still opened at Warden and Finch.
It is my favorite Japanese AYCE place. Food and price are decent. Service is usually quick. They recently changed their menu. Pop is now included. A couple of their new items are definitely a must-​try. Their rice paper sushi is really good! But the portion of some food is sometimes inconsistent. Love their desserts except for the green tea pudding, which taste too much like jasmine. Don’t forget to ask for their VIP card if you don’t have one to get 10% off (when paid with cash).

Decent AYCE sushi. The space is massive and plain located in the parking lot next to the Pacfic Mall. The quality of the fish is good and the price is fair. OK but I wouldn’t seek it out.

I‘ve probably been here several times already and they never fail to disappoint. Yamamoto is honestly never my first choice when it comes to AYCE. I would choose Matsuda or Ten Ichi. Yamamoto’s fish is average at most and their food is decent. Sometimes it comes cold… hello? grilled?
I went once for lunch hoping that I could get AYCE because when I looked online it said that lunch was from 11:30am to 4:30pm. When we got there (it was probably 3pm) we were told that if we wanted to have AYCE, it would be dinner price. We then looked at the AYCE menu and realized that it did say until 3pm. I went home to check online and if you click on their «PDF» of their menu you will see it.
They do offer bentos for lunch which are REALLY CHEAP! totally worth going for. Their fish is probably just what they use for AYCE but it isn’t bad. All their bentos are under $ 10 which is great. I ordered 2 because I was starving ! hehe.
They have pretty much kept most of the interior from the previous restaurant «Mongolian» so there isn’t much to say about the décor.

For Japanese AYCE, this restaurant isn’t bad. We came here on a Saturday evening and was seated right away.
The good:
— Servers were overall friendly, and surprisingly, they didn’t miss any dishes we ordered (never happens at an AYCE restaurant in my experience)
— Sashimi — salmon was fresh, herb salmon had a nice flavour to it, scallops were tiny but they were yummy, octopus and sweet shrimp were good as well
— Ice & fire maki — available on weekends only. This was actually really good!
— chicken cartilage — this was yummy! The flavour was perfect
The bad:
— Sashimi — red snapper, white tuna and tataki beef were all evidently pulled from the freezer shortly before serving. Felt like I was eating ice…
— Wasabi mussels — this was just some tasteless wasabi mayo slathered on cold mussels
— The desserts — the only ones I enjoyed was the mango yogurt and crème brulee. Everything else had a funny taste to it.
Everything else we ate was fairly decent. The weekend dinner price isn’t bad compared to the other AYCE restaurants — $ 26.99 + 10% service charge (be mindful of this because it’s already included in your bill).
Overall, it was a pleasant experience and will think of this restaurant next time we crave for Japanese AYCE.

Not very fresh fish, with poor and slow service. For a weekend dinner rate of $ 26.99/adult, I’m better off going to Sushi on 7 or A&W for a few chubby chicken sandwiches

Well. You walk in, and get a good wiff of dead fish. But once you get used to the smell its not so bad.
I was excited looking at the menu cause the options were new and looked so appetizing.
The beef cubes were not so good, not cooked and chewy .
The ‘jumbo shrimp’ is the regular small sized shrimp but tastes good
The kalbi is 98% fat, u may get a piece of actual meat on one of them if ur lucky
The mushrooms with cheese is actually mushrooms and garlic. No cheese. All garlic.
But on the bright side, the spicy mayo is LOVELY. Im a huge fan of spicy mayo and i loved theirs.
& crème brûlée is always a plus.
The place is also big and nice.
Service? Pretty good. Theres just one issue and thats that many of them do not speak english. I asked for salt, and made like salt shaking motions when he got confused. And he brought me soy sauce & looked deeply into my eyes with confusion.
Okay?
But the english speaking one was very nice and polite.
Overall good service
Would i be back? $ 30 for dinner menu?
Slim chance.
Spoon & fork and 168 is highly reccommended.

I must say, I do not understand any of the negative reviews. This place I great!
We went here for dinner and it was delicious! There is great variety and the food is fresh and delicious. We ordered TONS of sashimi, and the order came out fast and was fresh. The tuna was amazing!
The maki rolls are inventive and the teriyaki salmon is sooo tasty. Also, you can get free lobster, or 10% off, if you are a VIP member.
I would definitely return here!

This place deserves the 5 stars. Not everything is great, but they have way too many great items to not be a 5 star in the category of ayce sushi. Nice décor and atmosphere, good privacy with the layout. Quick service, mostly accurate. Would come back in a heartbeat while the lobster special is still going on. On a weeknight, 24.99 per person for dinner.
1. Free half lobster when in season — cannot emphasize how good of a deal this was — and it was so delicious. Lots of tomalley mixed in with mayo. genius! I even asked if I could buy another serving but that would have been costly ($ 10 per half serving)
2. Many unique items done very well:
–seafood salad sushi (a combination of crab salad, octopus bits and salmon mixed in with mayo)
–baked avocado with SALMON (changed the texture of the dish compared to other places doing it with bits of other seafood. and the serving is smaller so much easier to handle and re-​order if need be)
–great soups, loved the fish soup which was different, it had a very strong cilantro (?) taste. very refreshing
–cappucino flavoured ice cream, kind of sorbety in texture, all their desserts were not super sweet which was great
3. Other stuff done well:
–octopus was cut nice and thick, texture was great and the taste of the lemon slices seeped through into the meat nicely
–scallop sashimi is available. nuff said
–mango pudding, although no real mango chunk, was very good
–crème brûlée was light
–agedashi tofu light in texture and the fry was thin
–baked butter mushrooms. yummm
–chicken wings nice crisp on outside and tender on the inside
–if you like chicken cartilege, the grilled chicken bone is a must order
Stuff NOT done well/​would NOT recommend:
–beef tataki not sliced thin enough and overdone
–sirloin steak cubes tough
–samna fish overcooked (pieces of flesh did not break apart easily)
–muscles in special house sauce (sauce was a tobasco mixture. didn’t enjoy this)
–eel handroll made with canned eel (taste is very distinct if youve had canned eel before. but they used fresh eel for the caterpillar roll)

First post and thought it should be here! Went here for dinner on Saturday night. Compared to NY places, this is a pretty good place to eat. Lots of fresh sashimi to choose from and dont skimp on the slices… in NY, a lot of the times, when you ask for 15 pieces of salmon they give you 10… here, they’re more exact so PROPS to you on that.
Décor was a plus… had an asian oriental feel to it. added nicely
Servers were ⁸⁄₁₀ attentive. Lobsters special is a big plus! My friends didnt even get it because they were too full after all the other food to eat more. I would suggest eating it first so you dont waste lobster if youre a big fan like I am! i am very happy about this place as the price for me in a group of 6 was only about $ 25 USD dollars.
The only thing i would be wary about it ordering only as much as you can finish. we realized a lot of the dishes came in doubles after because they were from our last order so we ending wasting about two rolls. I felt bad wasting the food even though theres no surcharge for wasted food and the other customers didnt care too much.
Deserts in small quantities like they way they gave us was also really smart and good. LOVED their coconut milk pudding!
Would def come back next time im back in CA!

Foods are good but service is terrible. Never got a «you’re welcome» from the waiter as many times as i said «thank you» every time my foods are brought to the table. Also, they have the promotion about getting free half lobster but the waiter said i have to pay using cash to get that offer. It wasn’t stated on the promo board so i was still able to pay with my credit card. They really do give you a hard time if you’re paying with credit card. Btw, i wasn’t offered the free lobster promo until I’ve asked my waiter about it. Not a very friendly place to dine but the foods are still ok. The sushi and the dessert are the best. I love my steam coconut milk dessert.

Food is decent. About average for a Japanese buffet. They now have a special with half lobster for dinner. Came here for AYCE lunch $ 13.99 + 10% Service Charge.
They kick you out after about an hour and a half. Arrived shortly before noon and was told last call at 1:30pm.
Note there is already 10% Service Charge added to the bill.
I really miss the Mongolian Grill buffet that used to be here.

It was my first time here. It was a typical AYCE sushi. Service was decent and the food was pretty good. The only thing was that our orders were wrong that they never brought us our sushi. Or when we ordered one dish they would give us two
A very good selection of desserts which I was quite impressed with.

Very standard Chinese-​run Japanese AYCE. Nothing really stands out for me here. Regular menu, standard price, waiters running around that you can’t get the time of day with.
I’ve been here a few times, first they give you a worn out menu and you get these little sheets of paper to write down the number and the amount of an item you want from the menu. My biggest problem with this place is that the communication path between the waiter and the kitchen is definitely flawed. We’ve made many orders and something is always missing or comes long after. For example we ordered the soup and salad first but it doesn’t come until well after the sashimi and tempura. Of course 10−20% of the times you order never comes. And often we don’t even remember what those things were.
The quality of the food seems decent. Sashimi seems okay (but I’m not some sort of expert), tempura fresh and crispy, I love the yam and pumpkin. I really like the scallop sashimi here. The rolls seems okay. The beef tends to be a bit chewy but don’t expect sirloin at these places. I ordered the baked avocado with seafood, it was okay it had fish in it, kind of weird. If you like unagi rice order more than one portion it’s like a two-​bite bowl of rice. Fried chicken wings are ginormous and heavily breaded. They have a variety of desserts: tiramisu, crème brûlée, ginger milk, coconut steamed milk, mango yogurt, mango pudding, green tea pudding, durian mousse, chocolate mousse and a variety of ice cream: green tea, mango, red bean, vanilla, chocolate, cappuccino. All seems pretty standard, I tried the coconut steamed milk doesn’t taste like coconut more like milk and steamed egg. I’ll come back since there’s not that many decent places around and this place is big and you can make reservations. Also cause of the VIP 10% off discount. Unfortunately, washrooms are a bit dirty for my standards.

I don’t understand all the hate, but my experience at Yamamoto was decent, We came for dinner on weekend. The wait for table was long; insane if you buy all the negative reviews. When seated, the services was prompt. We ordered a variety of items. I clearly recalled that the sashimi was fresh, and at least on par with other good AYCE Japanese restaurants. The sushi was loaded with rice as expected. The maki rolls were decent. We loved the grilled eggplant. The grilled beef (any kind) was disappointing as the meat was dry and chewy.
The price was on par with other AYCE Japanese restaurants.

Saw the many great reviews and was extremely excited to give this place a try.
Restaurant is fairly big, as it used to be a Mongolian Grill, and the current restaurant uses that large cooker to make their cooked food.
Service is prompt, and food came very fast, only had about a 5 minute wait after we placed the order.
But we went to eat late lunch at about 3PM, though they charge it as «All Day Dinner».
Sashimi was not as fresh as I imagined it would be, and I was extremely disappointed with their noodle in soup. My boyfriend and I ordered one beef udon and another «spicy» beef udon. Even by the look of it, we were a little surprised when it arrived. After we tasted it?
It was basically two same bowls, except the spicy bowl was added with siracha & tobasco in the soup.
DEFINATELY not what I was expecting. The beef with the noodles were so dry and chewy.
We ordered Salmon roses, my favorite, and they arrived fairly large. Salmon roses are usually cut with thin slices of salmon but the size that they cut was the same size as you would get on a sashimi cut.
Sashimi Scallops were diced up (also not what I expected) especially after eating at Dragon Legend before.
Their desserts…
We tried their mousse, pudding, yogurts, ice cream, and steamed coconut milk.
Awkward enough. they put jelly on the bottom of steamed milk (weird)
Mousse and pudding tasted watered down
Ice cream didn’t even taste that great either.
The only plates I enjoyed here were the enoki mushrooms with rolled beef & their grilled eggplant.
Everything else was average or below average.
Definately not coming back here. not after paying over $ 60 for 2 people eating a late lunch for AYCE with such food quality.
And may I also mention that they REALLY need to clean and freshen up their washrooms, extremely unhygienic for a restaurant.

I had dinner here once again last night with my bf, and i decided i had to give yamamoto one star up giving them 5 stars.
Never a disappointment when i eat here.
Fresh food, and best crème brules.

Came back a year later and tried a lot more cooked foods. Pleasantly surprised and satisfied with the quality and variety. Also comes with free baked lobster (?)
I liked:
— steamed egg with enoki
— chicken bone skewers
Rolls are ok.
Desserts:
— Crème brûlée — perfect little size with a nice crispy coating
— Steamed coconut milk is ok but not much coconut taste
— Fried banana — the inside is sweet and soft but again the batter is really hard and weird! Doesnt go with the banana
Definitely one of the better AYCE places.