Yama Zakura

I thought the atmosphere and service was nice for a date night. It’s dark and festive. The food was okay. The fish in the sushi is cut in big meaty chunks — I prefer it thinly sliced, but others might feel this is a value — since it is expensive. Prices for sushi rolls are around $ 18.

I can’t believe the recent comments. I question the veracity of sites like Unilocal.I have been a client for 5 years. Never a bad meal, always fresh. Usually people lined up on weekend so get there early or expect a wait. If the sushi here doesn’t meet your standards you should stay home.

After our dinner experience yesterday, we are completely lost on why everyone keeps raving about this place.
Décor is half way decent for a small town, 1 star.
Waiter kept rushing us on ordering even before we sat down, and it was Sunday 5:30pm and weather was gorgeous outside… (we should have left at that moment!)
We ordered the special sushi roll, I think it’s called the Johnny O… with broken fried soft shell crab pieces on top… TONS of rice (if you like carbs), super loosely rolled up, with tiny pieces of fish inside, LOTS of sauce and mayo (guess you would need that when you have so much rice), and soft shell crab had some weird taste… like fried with «old» oil… or non-​fresh batter or something… didn’t taste right at all.
Uni sushi — was the other ridiculous item, each sushi had one piece of uni on top and GIGANTIC piece of rice wrapped in soggy seaweed.
Sashimi was not cold, but kinda warm raw fish…
Check came, and it was dumped on the table… the girl even didn’t say Thank you! Obviously, our business was not appreciated.
Again, I really don’t see what most people see in this place. I am not returning… everyone else, good luck.

This is a great intimate place to have dinner. The owner is friendly and remembers everyone’s name. If she forgets you automatically get a free bottle of wine. Good thing she doesn’t forget. Great food and reasonable prices.

Well then… this happened.
So a classmate of mine recommended this place. I was in the area so I was like, «Sure! Let’s go for lunch!»
So I went in for lunch.
The best thing there was the presentation.
So the food in general wasn’t bad… but it wasn’t great either. It really was not worth the price tag attached to it.
Where shall I start? Appetizers! Well, I didn’t get any. I did read on here that people felt skimped by the sushi. I’m not a raw fish fan but I was curious so I got the Tako Su. I did not realize it wasn’t a sushi until I got a martini glass with food in it. Cool presentation I would say.
It had their Zakura sauce but it didn’t taste like anything special.
For my meal I got the bento box with chicken. So I got some of everything. Safe to say… the food did not impress me whatsoever. I’m just going to list it because I just don’t feel like writing everything in complete sentences okay?
1. The gyoza had so much room in it. Aka, it wasn’t filled all the way which made me annoyed.
2. The terayaki chicken… well it had pineapple in it, so that was cool and different. The chicken was dry though.
3. The tempura… was just tempura. Nothing to say about this.
4. There was something off about the rice. I eat a LOT of white rice and this was definitely not sushi sticky rice.
5. The california rolls was okay. Just average.
6. The salad dressing felt bland.
Also, I have to say, the price tag on the sushi itself was crazy. I’ve seen places in Manhattan with cheaper prices than that (and tastes better too).
Will not be coming back here again.

Very nice sushi

Delicious sushi! Went there for dinner and it was The best ever, The waitress was very nice I told her that it was my first time there so she help me out with the menu, at the end of the night she gave us A complimentary dessert for being out first time with them, and since then I been thinking about the sushi

Over Priced for skimpy sushi. I needed a magnifying glass to find the sliver of tuna and avocado in my sushi roll. They must cut their fish with a razor blade. I took a picture to put on this review but I don’t see how to upload it. It was just a ball of sticky rice. The fancy rolls are $ 17-​$ 19 each which I found outrageous for this area. We aren’t in Manhattan. Then they slather sweet sauce on everything thinking stupid Americans just like sugar on everything. When asked how everything was, we said, um… just ok…, and the waitress laughed and walked away. We had an American waitress, so it wasn’t a language issue. I was so disappointed. I will not be returning.

Some of the best sushi & sashimi in MetroWest. Servers are friendly and attentive. Creative sushi rolls and fresh, high quality sashimi.
Try the Yama Nachos, spring rolls and gyoza off the appetizers.
The Lobster bomb is one of their specialties for rolls. If you are not a sushi lover, order the Udon noodles or Pad Thai off the menu.
Nice selection of Sake wines as well as creative Asian flair cocktails!
Not inexpensive but I think the quality justifies the pricing.
Call ahead to make reservations otherwise it will be a long wait for a table. Always crowded… but for a reason. Take out is available too.

Being from the Pacific Northwest, I live for good sushi. This place was nothing less than spectacular! The rolls were done perfectly and rolled tight, as in not flaky or falling apart. And the best part was the cuts of sashimi. These cuts of tuna, salmon, hamachi, and scallops were the thickest I’ve seen in years. Definitely give this spot a 3 thumbs up rating

Went here Saturday, second time and hoping it would be better than first. Owner was at bar talking to a regular, and said something along the lines of «when I took over this place, I knew nothing about the food.» She should leave Northborough and go to some good sushi places to see what her restaurant could do better. They do a great business in that its busy, but I think people just don’t know what better sushi is all about. Try Feng in Hudson (lower cost, better sushi, less sauces and panko) for a sense as to what it should be.
Pros
Its local
Cons
Pricey. Throw some panko on fish and double the price.
Way too much sauce and panko.
They pre-​slice their tuna and salmon. It look dried out and «old».
The rice is barely seasoned, and my guess is its the wrong type of rice.

The best sushi I have had in MA, hands down. Better than Boston by far. Consistent and I love the new combinations they come up with. Pricey, but completely worth it.

By far my family’s favorite Northboro restaurant. The sushi is creative and delicious. My personal favorite is the deep sea bomb (a special from circa 2009 that is no longer on the menu but they’re always willing to make it). I also love the yama coco noodles if I’m not in a sushi mood. And the chocolate soufflé is amazing! Can’t say enough about how kind Anna is, she knows all her customers and is just another reason we all love Yama’s.

Anyone who lives out in the western burbs will tell you this is the place to go for sushi… however they are living in the past. Yama is not what it used to be. I don’t know what the deal is but they need a QC person. We started with the Yama nachos which used to be the go to starter. What came out was 5 pieces of slimly avacado topped on a crispy wonton. I couldn’t even see the fish in the mix. We then ordered 3 overpriced rolls. 2 of them were good– hence the 2 stars. One of which had tempora shrimp inside. The shrimp was so overcooked it was a chewy piece of rubber. Final order was some sashimi salmon that tasted good but was unbelievably oily. we sent back the 2 bad orders and the response was «everyone has an off day». I don’t want to eat a restaurant that serves uncooked food and is having an «off day».
Service was fair. This isn’t the 90s so mediocre sushi isn’t the only choice. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.

The sushi was fabulous, and there were a ton of options for specialty rolls. The cocktails are also delicious. I had a Zakura Blossom, which was probably my new favorite drink.
Warning: when it says spicy, it is spicy! I underestimated it and ended up with a lot of spice, which built up. Still, everything was great.
The restaurant is a bit small, and we were a group of 9, so we were very glad we had a reservation. I’ll make a reservation for groups of more than 2 in the future.

Great food, excellent quality, wonderful service, love the class. We had an awesome
Dinner with friends, very busy so be patient.

This place seems small because all the tables are sooo close together. Very cramped. Lighting is way too dark. I don’t care about «setting the mood» if it’s too dark to see. Sushi was ok. Overpriced. I felt like I was underdressed because this place was filled with business people or something.

Excellent quality
It’s the first time for me to be there. I took my fiancé on her birthday and the waitress recommended awesome rolls We got the My angel, Lobster bomb, can’t remember the 3^rd roll, one of their special appetizers, and the Tom Yum Seafood soup. Service and food were great. They that made it memorable for us.
For my fiancé’s birthday, they gave us a complementary Soufflé topped with ice cream

Excellent sushi!
Yama was recommended to me by a friend, and I took a client there while in the area. I am a sushi fan, and this was very good, and the service was outstanding! I was also impressed by the sushi specials named Brady and Belichick! Nice touch!
Very nice wines as well, had the Stags Leap Cabernet.

Talk about FALLING OUT OF GRACE!!! Service is still wonderful, but when you charge what they charge and the sushi rice is a day old, and some of it its NOT at its freshest peak — FORGET IT. We didn’t mention it to the server, because she was so bubbly and happy, we didn’t want to burst her bubble.
My business companion would frequent this place with his Northborough main squeeze, and since the bitter break up, had not returned. But we needed to cross the t’s and dot the I’s and were starving and in the area, so we stopped here. Last stop for me. With other good options in the area, less expensive, I refuse to have sushi where the rice is worth less than what I can have at the food court at the Natick collection. Seriously, the rice was that poor…
Too bad.