In a newer strip mall near many many other sushi restaurants on sushi row in the valley is Yen Sushi & Sake Bar. From the outside it looks like a typical contemporary restaurant in a 2 story strip mall. Inside it has a much warmer feel with dark wood furniture, although not the most comfortable seats. There was an impressive sake selection, but for some reason our sake cups had rounded bottoms??? Yes, that makes it quite difficult to keep the sake in the cups! Especially the later the night goes! The menu had many appealing photos of their dishes but didn’t have labels which made it difficult if you wanted to try one of these dishes. All the dishes we had were descent with a few standouts and everything had a good presentation. The long narrow plates made for nice dramatic appeal for the rolls and the dark dishes really made the sushi ‘pop’. A few of us strayed from sushi into chicken teriyaki and their feedback was that the chicken was dry…so maybe stick to the fish here.
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What We Ordered
- Seaweed Salad
- Salmon Sashimi
- Tuna Sashimi with Garlic Ponzu Sauce
- Seared Albacore with Crunch Onion
- Japanese Yellowtail Sashimi with Diced Chilis
- Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna
- Rainbow Roll
- Salmon & Spicy Scallop Roll
- Rock & Roll
- Alaska Roll
- Boston Roll
- Las Vegas Roll
- Hawaiian Roll
- Scallop Volcano Roll
- Caterpillar Roll
- Baked Salmon Roll
- Chicken Teriyaki
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Our Favorites
Seaweed Salad
Although fish-less, this was probably one of the best dishes of the evening. Served in a large bowl with lots of yummy extras including small carrots and sprouts in addition to a variety of different types of seaweed. This was passed around and around as people took in seconds.
Yellowtail Sashimi with Diced Chilis
This one was so good we ordered two! The yellowtail was extremely tender and the bite given by the small slice of jalepeño on top was nothing less than awesome.
Rock and Roll – Roll
As beautiful as it is tasty. This is a rice-less roll, great for those watching their carbs! It is also a seaweed-less roll. It uses thinly sliced cucumber to hold everything together. With a variety of fish, veggies and even a little orange peel umbrella, how can you go wrong?
Salmon and Spicy Scallop Roll
Mix the cool calmness of the salmon with the spicy qualities of the scallop and add some smooth avocado on top to create a delicious combination of flavors. The presentation was also nice with the long platter to add drama to the roll.
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Sushi Gallery
(click image to zoom)
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- Salmon Sashimi
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- Seared Albacore with Crunch Onion
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- Salmon & Spicy Scallop Roll
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- Rainbow Roll
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- Suzi presenting Las Vegas Roll
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- Caterpillar Roll
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- Ceedar presenting Baked Salmon Roll
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- Alaska Roll
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- Rock & Roll
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- Tuna Sashimi with Garlic Ponzu
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- Jake with Boston Roll
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- Japanese Yellowtail with Chilis
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- Scallop Volcano Roll
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- Teriyaki Chicken
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- Dessert
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- Brian, Ruth, Tiny & Kris
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- Cat, Skip & Ceedar
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- Kris & Tiny
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- Suzi & Jake
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- Everyone
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- Signage
Points of Interest
Sake Sake Sake
Self proclaimed sake bar, Yen has a wide variety of sake options, but they also let you BYOB which is something we haven’t yet seen at any other sushi restaurant. The corkage fee is $15 (funny because sake doesn’t even have a cork!) As mentioned above, the only real disappointment here was the round bottom sake glasses we had for the cold sake. I mean, round bottom? REALLY?
Lots of Roll Options
WOW! Not for the indecisive! There are over 40 roll options at Yen. Everything from raw, baked, and tempura. They even have chicken teriyaki roll those squeamish about sushi! As you can see we gave it a go and tried as many rolls as we could. There are so many rolls on this menu in fact that it can easily become a main topic of conversation at the table!
Above Average Way to End the Meal
Some restaurants offer nothing more than a dessert menu. Others will offer a nicely cut up orange to finish your meal. But at Yen, they pony up oranges AND STRAWBERRIES with whipcream! Now that is a good way to end your meal!
Where’s the Server?
Yes, unfortunately, it seemed as if there was only 1 server for the whole restaurant. There were several busboys, but they weren’t all that attentive either. We had to ask for things like wasabi and soy sauce even after the dishes started arriving. Those things should be given and we shouldn’t have to ask. Especially considering we there on a Friday night, not our normal Wednesday night. For a Friday, I would expect more staff.
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Summary
Date: April 17, 2009
Restaurant: Yen Sushi & Sake Bar
Desserts: Strawberries & Cream and Oranges (complimentary)
In Attendance: All Founding Members plus special guests: Brian, Ceedar, Tiny and Jake
Price: $$$ – Seemed a little expensive compared to other places we have been to with just as good food at $44/pp. Probably because of the whole ’sake bar’ angle. Sorry to those of you who just ate the chicken teriyaki 
1 Comment
June 25, 2009 at 7:37 pm
[...] Bill wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIn a newer strip mall near many many other sushi restaurants on sushi row in the valley is Yen Sushi & Sake Bar. From the outside it looks like a typical contemporary restaurant in a 2 story strip mall. Inside it has a much warmer feel … [...]