Yoko Sushi

Despite the mediocre reviews from several sources regarding the Minions movie, we still went to watch it with the kiddies.  Well, that and also the fact we had 2 free children's passes (from McD's)...  Yes, we just couldn't endure 2 McD's meals to obtain those passes without using them!  After the boring-for-adults movie, we thought of hitting up the nearby That Place for some pizza and pasta.  Once again, it was epic fail as the place was not open!  As a backup plan, we headed up the hill to Yoko Sushi on Austin Ave.

With my daughter raiding all the sockeye salmon from the Assorted Sashimi, we were left with toro, albacore tuna, tai and tako.  Although not prepared carefully in terms of knife skills not presentation, the slices of fish were mostly decent.  Despite not getting any sockeye salmon since my daughter ate it all, I was able to sample it on another dish and it was definitely the highlight of the assorted sashimi.  Next up was the Rainbow Roll consisting of a California roll topped with the aforementioned sockeye salmon, tuna and ebi.  The rice was actually pretty good texturally with an appealing chewiness and with just the right amount of moisture.  However, it tasted rather salty for some reason.  Inside, the imitation crab could've used a bit less mayo while the fish on top was decent like the sashimi.

For a filler dish of sorts, we ordered the Oyako Don which arrived looking more like  teriyaki chicken.  Typically, an Oyako Don is egg, chicken, onion on rice topped with dashi, mirin and soy.  In this case, everything was correct except the substantial drizzle of teriyaki sauce.  With that being said, the dish was alright since the chicken was tender and the egg was fluffy.  In fact, the rice was appealingly chewy as well.  It's just the teriyaki sauce that didn't taste right.  Lastly, we had the Chicken Karaage which arrived after everything else.  It appeared they took the same chicken they used for their teriyaki and deep fried it with a thin tempura batter.  Despite this, it was actually quite good with moist chicken and a lightly crispy exterior.

For the kiddies, we got them the Tempura Udon with carrots, onions and tempura bits.  Despite the addition of the veggies, I found that there was such a minimal amount, it didn't interfere with the udon (much like other non-Japanese versions that contain everything but the kitchen sink).  The soup base was sweet and tasted similar to chicken soup rather than a dashi, but it was okay nonetheless.  As for the noodles, they were still chewy and decently portioned.  The tempura served on the side was nicely prepared being crispy and not greasy.  I found the batter to be thin and not doughy inside.  Okay, if it wasn't obvious as you were reading this post that the food was far from authentic, then pay attention!  Although everything was completely edible and decent food-wise, there was very little to associate with actual Japanese cuisine.

The Good:
- Okay pricing
- Okay service
- Edible

The Bad:
- Plenty of liberties taken with Japanese cuisine
- Strange preparation of some dishes