Highly recommended Japanese restaurant with an assortment of curries, appetizers, and main dishes. Located right at the entrance of the Hillsdale Mall with lots of parking within walking distance of the restaurant. The food here is definitely worth a trip to the mall.The food here is excellent. The chicken katsu curry was amazing and they have several dishes focused around Waygu beef which were also amazing. The serve alcohol here too. They offer several types of sake. They also offer beer being Sapporo Light in a bottle or Sapporo regular on draft. The food was amazing.They also have an automated service model with robots serving the table. It’s definitely a cool thing to see at first, but you start to miss the personalized feel of a human server. Also, they ask for tips after you eat - but are you tipping the robot?Otherwise, great food and we were in and out very quickly. If you love Japanese food - definitely come through and try it out! Also check out the cool robots ?
Nice restaurant for the first time, but we will be
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set, Hitsumabushi
Carlyn Felisse Concepcion
My favorite japanese restaurant.especially the tonkatsu. Service is great and the place are very clean.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set, Kara Age, Yayoi Gozen a La Carte, Teriyaki Salmon Shima Hokke, Soup, Sauce, Takoyaki, Miso Soup, Kid’S Meal with Orange Juice, Beef
Jing Li
Nice little Japanese sit down restaurant inside the mall. Super kid friendly: almost every table around us had a small child with them! We ordered the wagyu udon hot pot and salmon lunch sets and a gyoza appetizer.This place is high tech! We ordered all on an iPad and our food came out expedited by the robot, then a waiter hand delivered it to our seats at the table.Given how many kids were at this restaurant for lunch, I was surprised that they don't have a baby changing table inside their restrooms. We had to go into the mall to find a changing table instead.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Lara Getselevich
I really love this Japanese-style restaurant, where you can enjoy all kinds of delicious, fresh, and healthy food. You can try everything, and I'm sure you'll be 100% satisfied, just like I am ?❤️
A lot of these menu items are great. The presentation of the food makes the experience feel special, and I've become a frequenter. The food usually comes by quick as well. If you like Japanese food give this a shot!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set
Love Dove
Had a very nice experience here with some of my favorite peeps. It wasn't busy, I asked for a booth and was pleasantly escorted to a booth.I REALLY like the ordering system. Each party has a tablet to order directly from the kitchen conveniently when ever you want. Everything we ordered was super delicious and well prepared. The presentation, the freshness and variety was very inviting and exquisite.The staff were also wonderful. They were polite and assisted with any questions we had. I loved that they frequently checked to clear our table of empty dishes.Would definitely return again ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ka Yan Leung
Good service, food can be a bit on the heavy side. They have kids meal which is great for family. Our usual place for lunch on weekend.Kid-friendliness: Kids meal is amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Nicole Liu
The food was really nice!!! The waiter’s are so friendly and comes by to see how you are doing! The food was so great I finished (I don’t usually eat a lot) ?
Hello viewers,I love Japanese Bento Style restaurant cause it offers the most variety selection, and they are enjoyable to eat, great presentation, and nutritional balance. YAYOI is no exception.I can definitely tell YAYOI quality has gone down after COVID, most of the foods taste like cafeteria prepared and re-heat from the kitchen. I tried out different dish from steam egg to Sukiyaki hotpot and yet nothing is that tasteful in my opinion. besides, they also cancel no Tip policy after Covid cause I remember that's one of YAYOI policy before.YAYOI still remind my top choice when I am feeling Japanese bento style, opening space and fast service. I will be returning to YAYOI. ???P.S - now they have Robot serving the foods now. ?Paul
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sukiyaki, Chicken Karaage
Kire
Waiter was standing and supervising to make sure i tipped. Terrible gesture. When robot is used to serve, i do not see reason to tip. But i did, now regretting ..too much. Food not that authentic anyway. There are better places in town.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Lilly G.
This place is perfect for a smooth sit-down experience for a big group, or by yourself! came in on a Saturday with a group of 5 at around noon, and we were seated immediately.The dining space is very roomy with plenty of booths, aisle tables, and window spots available.The food is simple, delicious, and well executed. I really like how you can monitor the cooking status of your dishes right on the ipad given to you when sitting down. This system is super flexible and allows you to add on more dishes if you want throughout the meal. I think this is a great experience for big groups because you can always add on more apps if you guys need more food. It's also a nice experience for introverts eating alone because you're not forced to interact with anyone if you don't feel like talking because a robot will deliver your food to you :)Sometimes retrieving the food from the robot is difficult due to the seating arrangement of some of the tables - e.g. my group of 5 were grouped around a booth, so only the people on the outer edge had access to the robot. However, since they sit facing away from the walking aisle, it was a hassle to get up, go around the chairs, and carefully pick up a big plate of food and give it to the person who ordered it. One of us almost dropped an entire plate of food because he's not very good at handling trays, but he had to because he was the one that could access the robot. I think some human attention to bigger groups may be helpful.Other than this, I think the food was quite good and my group had a nice time dining here before continuing our activities at the mall. I'd recommend a visit if you're in the area!
Kathleen P.
YAYOI is located next to the Cheesecake Factory with an entrance from the parking lot or from within the mall. I checked in at the front counter on a Friday afternoon with no wait. I was able to choose anywhere to sit and was handed an iPad mini and paper menu. You order from the iPad where you can track when the kitchen has received your order, when it's being cooked and when it's been delivered via the robot. There is complimentary barley tea upon request. I ordered the Wagyu Niku udon (wish it was a slightly bigger serving) and the matcha tea to go to be able to meet the $20 minimum and redeem the check in offer for a free salmon carpaccio (came with arugula instead of sprouts which was still good!). Don't wait too long to finish the tea or else the ice will water it down. Friendly and fast service, would come back again.
mark mu (VG Illuminator)
The staff openly asked for tips at check out, which is just laughable. Nobody showed up when we arrived, no human took the order for us since we ordered everything on the tablet, no human brought the food to us as we took the food by ourselves from the robot, no human brought the bill to us as we brought the bill to check out. These are all perfectly acceptable, but it becomes unacceptable when the human staff asks for any tips. All staff cost should already be covered in the bill. No human service and therefore no tips for you!
Highly recommended Japanese restaurant with an assortment of curries, appetizers, and main dishes. Located right at the entrance of the Hillsdale Mall with lots of parking within walking distance of the restaurant. The food here is definitely worth a trip to the mall.The food here is excellent. The chicken katsu curry was amazing and they have several dishes focused around Waygu beef which were also amazing. The serve alcohol here too. They offer several types of sake. They also offer beer being Sapporo Light in a bottle or Sapporo regular on draft. The food was amazing.They also have an automated service model with robots serving the table. It’s definitely a cool thing to see at first, but you start to miss the personalized feel of a human server. Also, they ask for tips after you eat - but are you tipping the robot?Otherwise, great food and we were in and out very quickly. If you love Japanese food - definitely come through and try it out! Also check out the cool robots ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Nice restaurant, it is our first
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set, Hitsumabushi, Miso Soup
Nice restaurant for the first time, but we will be
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set, Hitsumabushi
My favorite japanese restaurant.especially the tonkatsu. Service is great and the place are very clean.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set, Kara Age, Yayoi Gozen a La Carte, Teriyaki Salmon Shima Hokke, Soup, Sauce, Takoyaki, Miso Soup, Kid’S Meal with Orange Juice, Beef
Nice little Japanese sit down restaurant inside the mall. Super kid friendly: almost every table around us had a small child with them! We ordered the wagyu udon hot pot and salmon lunch sets and a gyoza appetizer.This place is high tech! We ordered all on an iPad and our food came out expedited by the robot, then a waiter hand delivered it to our seats at the table.Given how many kids were at this restaurant for lunch, I was surprised that they don't have a baby changing table inside their restrooms. We had to go into the mall to find a changing table instead.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
I really love this Japanese-style restaurant, where you can enjoy all kinds of delicious, fresh, and healthy food. You can try everything, and I'm sure you'll be 100% satisfied, just like I am ?❤️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mackerel, Teriyaki Salmon Shima Hokke, Saba Shio, Miso Soup
A lot of these menu items are great. The presentation of the food makes the experience feel special, and I've become a frequenter. The food usually comes by quick as well. If you like Japanese food give this a shot!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set
Had a very nice experience here with some of my favorite peeps. It wasn't busy, I asked for a booth and was pleasantly escorted to a booth.I REALLY like the ordering system. Each party has a tablet to order directly from the kitchen conveniently when ever you want. Everything we ordered was super delicious and well prepared. The presentation, the freshness and variety was very inviting and exquisite.The staff were also wonderful. They were polite and assisted with any questions we had. I loved that they frequently checked to clear our table of empty dishes.Would definitely return again ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good service, food can be a bit on the heavy side. They have kids meal which is great for family. Our usual place for lunch on weekend.Kid-friendliness: Kids meal is amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
The food was really nice!!! The waiter’s are so friendly and comes by to see how you are doing! The food was so great I finished (I don’t usually eat a lot) ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkatsu Set
Restaurantji Recommends
Hello viewers,I love Japanese Bento Style restaurant cause it offers the most variety selection, and they are enjoyable to eat, great presentation, and nutritional balance. YAYOI is no exception.I can definitely tell YAYOI quality has gone down after COVID, most of the foods taste like cafeteria prepared and re-heat from the kitchen. I tried out different dish from steam egg to Sukiyaki hotpot and yet nothing is that tasteful in my opinion. besides, they also cancel no Tip policy after Covid cause I remember that's one of YAYOI policy before.YAYOI still remind my top choice when I am feeling Japanese bento style, opening space and fast service. I will be returning to YAYOI. ???P.S - now they have Robot serving the foods now. ?Paul
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sukiyaki, Chicken Karaage
Waiter was standing and supervising to make sure i tipped. Terrible gesture. When robot is used to serve, i do not see reason to tip. But i did, now regretting ..too much. Food not that authentic anyway. There are better places in town.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
This place is perfect for a smooth sit-down experience for a big group, or by yourself! came in on a Saturday with a group of 5 at around noon, and we were seated immediately.The dining space is very roomy with plenty of booths, aisle tables, and window spots available.The food is simple, delicious, and well executed. I really like how you can monitor the cooking status of your dishes right on the ipad given to you when sitting down. This system is super flexible and allows you to add on more dishes if you want throughout the meal. I think this is a great experience for big groups because you can always add on more apps if you guys need more food. It's also a nice experience for introverts eating alone because you're not forced to interact with anyone if you don't feel like talking because a robot will deliver your food to you :)Sometimes retrieving the food from the robot is difficult due to the seating arrangement of some of the tables - e.g. my group of 5 were grouped around a booth, so only the people on the outer edge had access to the robot. However, since they sit facing away from the walking aisle, it was a hassle to get up, go around the chairs, and carefully pick up a big plate of food and give it to the person who ordered it. One of us almost dropped an entire plate of food because he's not very good at handling trays, but he had to because he was the one that could access the robot. I think some human attention to bigger groups may be helpful.Other than this, I think the food was quite good and my group had a nice time dining here before continuing our activities at the mall. I'd recommend a visit if you're in the area!
YAYOI is located next to the Cheesecake Factory with an entrance from the parking lot or from within the mall. I checked in at the front counter on a Friday afternoon with no wait. I was able to choose anywhere to sit and was handed an iPad mini and paper menu. You order from the iPad where you can track when the kitchen has received your order, when it's being cooked and when it's been delivered via the robot. There is complimentary barley tea upon request. I ordered the Wagyu Niku udon (wish it was a slightly bigger serving) and the matcha tea to go to be able to meet the $20 minimum and redeem the check in offer for a free salmon carpaccio (came with arugula instead of sprouts which was still good!). Don't wait too long to finish the tea or else the ice will water it down. Friendly and fast service, would come back again.
The staff openly asked for tips at check out, which is just laughable. Nobody showed up when we arrived, no human took the order for us since we ordered everything on the tablet, no human brought the food to us as we took the food by ourselves from the robot, no human brought the bill to us as we brought the bill to check out. These are all perfectly acceptable, but it becomes unacceptable when the human staff asks for any tips. All staff cost should already be covered in the bill. No human service and therefore no tips for you!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 1