Yamaguchi Restaurant

12/21/08

Great variety and excellent sushi, nice staff.

by puckliny at Citysearch

I am a little surprised by the negative comments on wait staff. While a little hectic in the restaurant (and every good sushi place I've been to is hectic). They were not rude at all and I had elderly parents and my 2 1/2 year old. Actually they went out of there way to accommodate my mom's low sodium requirement and even played with my daughter for a couple of minutes. I like the variety of the food and some of the more authentic dishes. Sushi was very good, not the best I've ever had but very good for Long Island for sure. It was a pleasurable experience not rushed and they filled my drink often. They even offered a complimentary fruit dish at the end of the meal which was fresh and tasty. All in all a very good experience.

Its funny I went there a few years back and did have a negative impression, but I gave it a second try recently and found it was unwarrentted. So if you did have a bad first experince i think its worth a second try.

• Pros: Vareity and authentic dishes.
• Cons: Sometimes very busy.

04/11/08

Horrible Service

by Melinda11 at Citysearch

I thought the food was very medicore and the staff was surprisingly rude. I went there with a friend and 2 of our well mannered children and we were certainly not welcomed. The waitstaff was curt and not attentive at all. I called to complain and they couldn't care less. I would never go back to that restaurant. Customer service is so important for the survival of any restaurant. A big thumbs down to Yamaguchi.

• Pros: Food won't make you sick
• Cons: Service, ambience, parking

04/27/07

Don't Believe the Hype!

by tedhanover at Citysearch

From the moment you walk in the scene is both frenetic and uninviting. The restaurant seems to cater to a large number of regulars. On its face, one could assume this is a vote of confidence in what the place has to offer, but I must say, I am mystified as to just what that is. After just one experience, we have no desire to attain the status that so many apparently crave. The hostess looked at us like we were aliens when we walked in and offered us a choice of lousy seating. We ended up at the sushi bar. From there, things went totally downhill. The food we ordered turned out to be just ok at best and in the end totally overpriced. The service is horrendous. The appetizer was average. The entrees were mixed with one below average and the other just average. One of the entrees was served and fifteen minutes later the second had yet to arrive. When we mentioned this there was no apology they just took the served entree and went to the back. Ten minutes later both entrees appeared but the previously served entree was now ice cold. To make matters worse, sitting next to us at the end of the Sushi Bar, an obnoxious elderly couple had arrived to take what appear to be their regular Friday night seats. After trying to impress us by loudly pandering to Yamaguchi behind the bar, from what we could hear, they were making snide remarks about our using forks and [our politely] complaining about the poor service. Meanwhile, they were being fawned over by the staff while we waited for our overdue dinners (the only satisfaction we got from this was a sense that in our humble opinions, Yamaguchi had an equally low opinion of them, but just enjoyed taking their money). That being said, we feel no need to give a second chance to this restaurant. We dine out frequently and there are so many other better choices there really is no need to go back. The experience was awful and we have had better Japanese food.

• Pros: None
• Cons: food, service, atmosphere