Yoshi Sushi and Yogurt
4.May.09
Collegeville Shopping Center, Collegeville, PA
As Rick noted when we were at Yoshi, we now have three places that serve sushi within about five minutes of our house. This is what happens when you live in a resort community.
Seriously though, how did this happen? Bonjung is a great standby (whose bento box lunch I had just t’other day and was reassured of its value and taste) and Jasmine also serves sushi (though we haven’t tried it). Now there’s Yoshi.
Which is a completely different kind of restaurant. With only a few small tables and a bar, it’s tiny; it’s obviously intended to be much more of a casual takeout place. And, I can see that — as long as they get their act together.
We walked in on what I believe was their first day, and were greeted warmly. As with many just opened counter service places, it wasn’t exactly clear where a line formed or where to order (despite there actually being a side; see Barrister’s Bagels for the same problem which has been slightly resolved). Once we finally came up with selections from the printed menu, the menu on the wall and the menu on the wall with pictures, we were told it was going to be a while — 15 minutes.
Not that big of a deal for us (we could do our Mother’s Day card shopping), but that’s not really going to work if you’re going to do takeout — unless you call ahead (which we’ll likely do in the future).
When we got back from Hallmark, we arrived to find a table waiting for us with complimentary soups and the first of our rolls. Nicely done. Our other rolls soon followed: we ordered a spider, Philly, California, and Alaska (salmon, avocado, cucumber) roll. To be honest, the spider and Alaska rolls where both overpowered by the accompanying sauce; the California roll is by definition pedestrian — strangely, the Philly roll was our favorite. The miso soup was just fine. Our salads were relatively standard in terms of ingredients — lettuce, cabbage, carrots, ginger dressing — but they were enormous and very fresh, if not a bit overdressed.
The prices were reasonable and the service a bit unpolished but awfully friendly. I don’t know if we can support three sushi places, but I hope Yoshi does well.
PS: you’ll note no mention of the yogurt: I don’t mention it because I didn’t see it on the menu nor anywhere else in the menu. Future expansion?
PPS (7/1/09): Check out my updates for another recent visit to Yoshi.
11.May.09 at 5.59pm
[...] a recent post, I noted how the addition of Yoshi brings to three the number of sushi-offering restaurants in our area. I also should note that with [...]
12.May.09 at 3.50pm
Some friends and I are getting lunch at Yoshi tomorrow… this should be interesting.
15.May.09 at 2.45pm
damn, they just opened up. give them a break. i have been here and they did just fine, obviously busy and trying to accomodate more than one person at once.
i can’t wait until my restaurant opens and i have customers having nothing better to do than write petty reviews on the internet!
15.May.09 at 8.28pm
I obviously didn’t think it was petty — I noted that they were just starting out, that they had some good food, and that the service was very friendly, and I ended the review wishing them well. I know how hard it is to run a restaurant, which is why I try to be honest but not overly harsh when people are obviously trying their hardest to put out a good product and succeed. I want restaurants to do well, so I hope that perhaps they will receive feedback like mine and improve. Sorry you didn’t like the review and I hope you continue to enjoy Yoshi, as I hope to do as well.
25.Jun.09 at 4.24pm
[...] made it back to Yoshi for some take out sushi, and it went well. They have put in a portable air conditioner, so I feel a [...]
6.Oct.09 at 12.35pm
the service is still slow. i was the only one there around 5pm on a monday. they must make everything to order including slicing the fish. i hope they do well too. the bento box for lunch was great, just hard to eat there when you only have one hour for lunch.