Yoshoku

Sad to learn this place closed. It was a convenient place to eat after shopping at Target just a few blocks away.
Guess they could never find a menu that worked for them as I noticed they kept changing their format & dishes. My favorite was their original Nanban chicken plied with tartar sauce.
Too bad. Will keep my memories & photo posted here.

Oh my goodness, the Garlic Shrimp was delicious. Staff was so polite, and the food was great.
Do you deliver to California? I’m having withdrawals. Lol!

What a great find! I am visiting my daughter here on the island and was looking for some place close by for lunch. I came across this on Unilocal and decided to give it a try. So glad we did!
Very convenient location. Its a little place tucked away in a strip mall and only a couple minutes from her house. She didn’t even know it was there and now she has a new place to eat.
It started great with free samples of their nanban chicken. Added bonus was that all bowls come with a serving of the nanban chicken, macaroni salad and haupai (which I had no idea what that was, but its a pudding that has a texture of flan and tastes lightly of coconut, so yummy).
I had the nanban and garlic shrimp bowl and my daughter had the spicy ahi. Both were served on a generous serving of rice. There was so much food, that neither of us could finish our bowls.
Service was quick and friendly. If I lived here, I would certainly make this a go to place!
Thanks again Unilocal,for another great find.

Great little take away spot! Prices are great and you get a ton of food. Hubby got the pork katsu and I got the beef sukiyaki. Both good flavor and generous portions. Clean and fresh atmosphere. Staff wasn’t really friendly or unfriendly, just there, but no complaints about them as everyone can have weird days. Lots of parking, only a couple tables inside, but I have a feeling most people do take away like we did. Military 10% discount. Can’t wait to go back and try more!

Thank you Fran for sparking the seed of this little restaurant planted in Salt Lake Stadium Mall! Actually was next door for the close out sale and since Fran gave it such high marks I wanted to make sure his taste buds were still functioning.
Standing at the counter of the shop the server started plying me with samples, oh yeah. I was wondering if I stood there long enough if I could try everything and not really order… maybe that’s been tried and he could read my thoughts… sigh…I placed my order of the regular bowl of Nanban Chicken with Yakisoba noodles.
Winner! The Nanban chicken was awesome. I loved the texture of the small bites of marinated chicken dipped in tempura batter and fried. Because I love all thing pasta I wanted to try the Yakisoba noodles. Excellent choice. The bowl was served on a bed of wonderful noodles, finely shredded cabbage, Nanban chicken topped with their own TarTar sauce and a couple of dill pickle pieces. A side of macaroni salad was yummy, not too much mayo, a little bit of carrot and a small square of Haupia topped with a couple of Goji berries. Loved those berries too, nice touch!
This small shop has an entire wall of menu items most in your choice of regular or large bowls, the regular was as much as I could eat. So many choices from chicken to steak to lobster and rice or noodles. A lot of different sauces even yogurt in the cases. Sodas on «tap» and bottled water to purchase.
Since I was already making pork chops for dinner I got some noodles to take out. Next time it will be Nanban Chicken with the noodles to go. Thanks Fran for the review that peaked my interest to drive down the hill and try this shop. Next door to Starbucks replacing the take out Genki Sushi spot.

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We found ourselves drawn to Yoshoku after reading a review from fellow Unilocaler, Fran C. I remembered this restaurant from its original location in Kaimuki from a couple years ago and had «stored» its signature Nanban chicken into my memory bank. So luckily, I was catching up on reading reviews.
I’m told that «nanban» means European Countries in old Japanese. Nanban chicken originates from southern Japan (Kyushu) and marries European-​style fried chicken with Japanese flavors. The chicken is battered and fried like tempura then splashed into a sweet-​sour-​spicy sauce then served with a tartar sauce. Hmm, it seems that fried chicken is indeed a Southern favorite in many countries.
Yoshoku’s chef comes with great culinary credentials. Chef Ito was formerly with Nobu, Hyatt Regency Japan and Restaurant Kihachi. Apparently, this location of Yoshoku used to serve plate lunches but have recently changed their format to offering their meals in a bowl. Their menu shows you how to order. It’s as easy as counting 1 through 5.
1. You choose your entrée (type).
2. Next, choose your starch either rice or yakisoba.
3. Your choice is the size of bowl: Medium or Large.
4. There are several soft drinks, iced tea or juice.
5. Finally, after following the steps above, you get a free sample of Nanban chicken which is like a sweet-​sour-​spicy marinated fried chicken topped with their tartar sauce, macaroni salad and haupia (Hawaiian coconut pudding).
We stepped into this restaurant which is clean and set up like a cafeteria line. There were several tables and chairs as well as a dining counter. There is a parking lot fronting this restaurant and service was friendly. It didn’t take long for my husband to place his order for a large bowl of shoyu garlic chicken on rice whereas I stood in silence while ogling the menu. I ended up ordering a combination large bowl of nanban and furikake chicken over yakisoba. We both received samples of nanban chicken, macaroni salad and haupia.
— Shoyu Garlic Chicken bowl: The chicken was fried golden brown but I think they didn’t drain the oil off as the rice was oily. Yuck! The battered skin slid off the chicken pieces when bit into but the flavor of garlic was good. Each chicken piece was tender albeit greasy. He managed to eat at least half of his bowl before pushing it aside to toss out.
— Nanban Chicken & Furikake Chicken Combination: I really enjoyed the Nanban chicken while it was hot and fresh but as it cooled, the batter slid off the tender chicken pieces. The Furikake chicken was a disappointment in this bowl… I found the chicken to be over fried, tough and VERY salty. Adding insult to injury, my yakisoba was «swimming» in a soy sauce based sauce. I wasn’t expecting to find a broth. Bleah! And I ended up tossing out more than half of this bowl and wasn’t willing to take it home as a leftover.
The saving graces to our meals were the Nanban chicken samples and Nanban chicken in my bowl (maybe we’ll return to order JUST this instead) and the haupia. The macaroni salad was fine as it was not an overdose of mayonnaise… there was a light sweetness from carrots and chopped dill pickles balanced it. The generous portions for the price would have been better served with less saltiness.
We both left feeling like we had been licking salt tablets as we stepped next door to Starbucks and guzzled down 2 Venti iced green teas. I think the next time we try Yoshoku, we should order JUST their signature nanban chicken.
#398

After seeing my long time friend, & Unilocal buddy — Jennifer Y. post her wonderful review on Unilocal about Yoshoku, I had to check this place out for myself…
As luck would have it, my buddy texted me the other day, as he had a free pass from da wifey…
I told him — «Yo I’ll swing by your crib & pick you up so we can get some grindages». Upon picking him up, I told him about Yoshoku… and off we went to check this place out. Lucky for us, we got there around 6:30 PM, and found out they actually close at 7:00 PM on Sunday. Phew, lucky we got there just in time!
Upon walking into the restaurant, I noticed it was very small, with just a few tables (3 or 4 tables) inside the place. Outside by the entrance area, there was another 3 tables… not much seating here, but no matter, because since we got here just before closing, it wasn’t crowded at all.
I gotta say, the original Yoshoku restaurant was much bigger (when it was located on Waialae Road, just at the bottom of the St. Louis Heights area), now that the new location is in the Stadium Mall… it is more like a «grab and go» takeout kinda place.
The menu items were posted on the wall… and the selection is quite extensive. Upon scanning the menu, I decided on the Shoyu Garlic Chicken ($ 9.99), and my friend got the Grilled Salmon ($ 15.99).
When we ordered our food, the clerk asked if we wanted rice or yakisoba? We both picked the yakisoba ($ 1.50).
All menu items came with Nanban Chicken, Mac Salad, Haupia, and a regular drink.
What can I say about the grub?
This place serves MASSIVE ono grindages! My Shoyu Garlic Chicken was more that enough to feed two people! I really underestimated the amount of food they served, as I did have an option to choose a large (which I ordered), or a medium… folks, let me give you a tip! Get the medium! The bowl didn’t look real big, but I guess it’s real deep… because the amount of the delicious Yakisoba noodles was massive!
The Shoyu Garlic Chicken had very nice texture, as it was crispy & light. The garlic flavoring was not overpowering at all (which is a good thing). It was a very delicious chicken, and I would gladly come back here to eat this again. Besides the Chicken & Yakisoba, there was a pickled cucumber & cabbage salad mix on top of the noodles.
My friend who got the Grilled Salmon said my dish was better than the salmon. I did sample a small piece of his fish… and I’m glad I got the chicken! Lol! The Salmon had some kinda glaze over it, and I’m not sure what it was. Of course my friend also got the same sides as me… the Nanban Chicken, Mac Salad, Haupia, & a regular drink.
The sides —
1. Nanban Chicken — Was some kind of dark meat chicken which was breaded, and it came with some sort of «white» sauce on it. I’m not sure what was in the sauce, but it was delicious.
2. The Mac Salad — was not your ordinary Mac Salad… something tangy was mixed into this salad, and I could see very small vegetable bits chopped into the salad. I actually ate it all… which is saying a lot, because I don’t like mayonnaise.
3. Haupia — Just an ordinary bite size slice of coconut pudding… but bonus, as you get a little dessert after your meal!
Overall, I enjoyed my meal tonight… but I could not finish off all that Yakisoba that they served up. I should have asked for a cover to take the rest of it home, but since they were closing up, we both ended up throwing away half of our noodles.
Would I come back again… definitely!

This eatery, located at the stadium Kmart plaza in between Office Max and Starbucks, is a real toss up for me. On the one hand, the lot parking is convenient, the food is somewhat tasty, the portions can be generous, and the counter service was friendly and attentive. However, on the other hand, the air conditioning in this grab-​n-​go establishment either needs servicing or needs to be turned up, the photo cut-​outs of the menu items were visually difficult for me to sort through, and the prices are steep for the actual amount of protein on the plate.
Initially, we decided to give Yoshoku a try based on the good reviews, but I can’t say if we’ll be returning. If we ever did return and if it’s possible to customize an order, for myself I’d ask for just the Nanban Chicken with all tossed. While the 4 lb. chicken bento we ordered looked impressive at first glance, upon closer evaluation, it’s really $ 25 for three medium-​sized pieces of dark meat chicken and a whole lot of starch. Here’s what we received:
NANBAN CHICKEN
This method of preparation was the most flavorful and well balanced out of the three selections included with our bento. Even without any of the house made dipping sauces, the medium-​sized piece of dark meat Nanban Chicken is reminiscent of a tender, juicy Mochiko Chicken.
FURIKAKE CHICKEN
The medium-​sized piece of dark meat Furikake Chicken reminded me of a typical, crispy skinned garlic chicken – minus the garlic shoyu sauce – topped with a hefty sprinkling of furikake. It was good and satisfying to the palate, however the uncut portion was very difficult to slice with a small plastic disposable knife… this little detail also applies to the other two uncut pieces chicken.
CHICKEN KATSU
This was probably my least favorite. Although the medium-​sized piece of dark meat chicken was perfectly deep fried and coated in a crunchy panko batter, the filet was smothered in melted cheese and was tasteless as if it had not been marinated or seasoned or even salted.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
A small portion of scrambled eggs about the size of a ¼ cup measuring cup was included. The eggs were tender and nicely cooked, but bland tasting as eggs tend to be.
SEASONED FRENCH FRIES
Nicely deep fried to a golden crispy exterior with a tender interior, a small handful of seasoned fries was included as one of the starches. They were neither too salty nor too bland, In all fairness, if I were eating starch with my plate lunch style protein, I personally prefer white rice as it compliments the flavors without competing.
MACARONI POTATO SALAD
A generous scoop was included in our bento. I think there were rehydrated raisins in the recipe? Now granted we are low sodium diners, but this creamy almost runny concoction although good, it lacked the proper amount of salt.
PICKLED CABBAGE AND CARROTS
I like pickled vegetables, however I did not like these pickled vegetables. For starters, the vinegar was overwhelming, as if the cabbage and carrots had been soaking in straight distilled vinegar for about a week. Although perfectly salted, it was missing any hint of sweetness… not that pickled vegetables are supposed to be sweet, but sugar works to tone down the acidity of vinegar as well as bring out the savoriness of salt.
SLICED RAW ONION
I don’t know if the generous pinch of sliced onions included in the bento were pickled, salted or plain, but we discarded them because they’re just not our thing.
MIXED GREENS
A small handful of fresh spring mix was included in the bento. I appreciate eateries which allow the option of asking for all tossed greens in place of starch, but I don’t know if this is possible at this establishment. Had I known fresh greens were included in the bento I would’ve asked this question.
WHITE RICE
Perfectly cooked and generously heaped onto the bento tray, two gigantic scoops were included with this meal and topped off with a sprinkling of furikake.
BONUS FREE ITEMS WITH ANY BENTO ORDER:
NANBAN CHICKEN
An extra four slightly-​smaller-​than-​bite-​size pieces were included with every bento order.
HAUPIA
A smooth, sweet finish to a meal, the two 2″ x 2−½″ pieces of haupia had a mild coconut flavor and were packed separately in a ¼ lb. poke container.
For those of you interested in the price of several of the other chicken options, if I’m remembering correctly, it’s about $ 7.99 or $ 8.99 for a chicken bowl and about $ 13.99 for a 2 lb. chicken bento.

I decided to stop by Yoshoku after school today and was really excited to hear what the buzz was all about.
Typically I’d go to Stadium Mall for Genki Sushi, but then I realized that Genki Sushi closed down (not a surprise judging by little to no customers), and was replaced by Yoshoku.
Being that my friends always go there on a school day, I had high hopes for it.
Sadly, I was a just a little disappointed.
Today I ordered the Hamburger Katsu Bowl. The deep-​fried Hamburger patty layed on a bed of rice, next to some shredded cabbage. A few bites in I could already tell that I wasn’t going to like it. It was very bland and unseasoned. It lacked a little salt, but a plus on the crunchy texture. The hamburger patty itself was very juicy and tender, which I enjoyed.
On a side note, there’s this thing at Yoshoku’s where they throw in some bonus items when you order a bento or a bowl. When I ordered the Hamburger Katsu Bowl, I received some bonus mini-​portions, kinda like how other restaurants throw in a side serving of gyoza for free, but anyways, when I ordered a bowl, they threw in some haupia strawberry flavored jello cups, a side of chicken with a tangy mayo sauce, (which I honestly did not really care for), and also an AWESOME serving of mac salad which paired really well with the entire meal. I really like the idea of them throwing in bonus food because it sorta makes up for the pricey cost I paid for such a bland piece of fried hamburger patty.
As I was ordering my food off of the chalkboard, I noticed that there were primarily chicken or steak dishes. There are a few seafood dishes, but not enough to balance out the other ½ of the menu. The feeling of not having much of a variety to choose from has its ups and downs.
Also, while I was scoping around the restaurant, they had a few TV’s. On one of them were a small segment of Cheap Eats with Guy Hagi and Augie Tulba. I found it really ironic that Yoshoku was featured on Cheap Eats because most of their food was $ 12+, and when it reaches double digits that’s not cheap enough for me. It was a special occasion this time at Yoshoku’s, because I haven’t pigged out and spend more than I usually do on food, so I let it slide.
Overall, I think I’d give Yoshoku another shot. It has potential gaining more popularity than it already has. I’ll be back next time!
Pros:
— Conveniently placed in the Stadium Mall, especially if you live in the Salt Lake area.
— 3 bonus small servings of food included in your original order.
— Indoor chalkboard kills time easily, and let’s your artistic side shine.
— Neat and clean, like a restaurant should be.
Cons:
— Bland food. Hamburger Katsu lacked seasoning.
— Food was just a tad overpriced.
— Not much of a variety to choose from when it comes to seafood.

Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh! Yet another good place has changed for the worse!
What used to be more of an okazu set up (where you could select you dishes) has turned into a pre-​set bento menu.
Not cheap either. Bentos are expensive, over 10bucks although selections are on par with fine dining i.e. lobster and rib eye. They did have smaller one choice bowls but you can’t substitute yakisoba for rice .
The bentos are huge I’m
talking 2lbs or 4lbs of food. Definitely made to share.
But if you’re planning on popping in to grab a quick lunch then no can do. Once you order, you have to wait for your food, which is great because it’s fresh and hot, but if you just have a 30 min break then not good.
The food is still good. the service is great, just the concept no longer appeals to me. But it’s just my opinion.
Hopefully they can find a happy medium between preset bentos and make your own.

I normally only use Unilocal to look at other people’s reviews but I had to make an exception for Yoshoku. I came here for lunch with my parents and it was so good! My dad got the hamburger steak bowl, my mom got the sukiyaki bowl, and I got the tonjiru set.
Each bowl comes with a small container of macaroni salad. First off the macaroni salad is to die for! I haven’t had mac salad that tasty since I was in elementary school. My dad is a pretty picky eater but he thought that the hamburger steak was well seasoned and that the gravy was tasty. My mom’s sukiyaki bowl was just a bit salty but it was packed full of flavor. It didn’t taste like other sukiyaki bowls where the lack of broth in the bowl takes away from the taste, no, it retained every bit of flavor it could. The tonjiru bowl was warm and perfectly made, not too salty at all.
My family and I will be back soon to try something else off the menu.

My co-​worker mentioned this place, which is located across from Stadium mall, so I decided to try here, but I was a little disappointed to find that they no longer have the dishes to select, but only set bentos to choose from:
Beef sukiyaki bowl — 3 stars — for $ 8, an ok sized meal but not too much meat and mostly carrots and onions. Comes with a side macaroni salad which I rate a 5 star. I always try to find good Mac salad and their’s is the best not too much mayo and different ingredients mixed in.
Garlic shrimp bento — for $ 18 it’s meant for two people. but only 2 scoops rice. the shrimp was tasty, but the shell was a bit chewy (I like mines crispy). comes with a side Mac salad, namasu (the vinegar was a little too strong) and haupia jello dessert which was different.
tonjiro stew Set — 3 stars — for $ 7 we got a miso soup style bowl with tofu and vegetables. however, the chef has a salty taste and it was way too salty for me.
Eating here made us full, but somehow not satisfied because of the saltiness and mixture of the food. Plus the bentos are now set with mostly starch.
Service — 5 stars — the manager was extremely nice and personable. there are tables outside as well as a big table inside, but we noticed most people took out.

If you appreciate Panda Express you will probably like this. This is a Japanese or Korean version? I’m not good with identifying all Asian food groups. But it’s a similar concept to panda. You get rice or noodles as a side and you get to pick two or three entrees. I got the noodles and extra side of rice. Chicken was good. 3 entrees + rice + drink is like $ 10.95! Good deal imo. Come visit!!!

Conveniently located in the Stadium Mall by McDonald’s, Yoshoku is a Japanese/​Asian restaurant. There is limited seating inside.
The Nanban chicken is delicious, as is the furikake chicken and garlic chicken. The corriander chicken is OK, mostly just spicy.
Each plate comes with two sides, i.e. rice and steamed vegetables. There are also various dips like tartar, Nanban, tonkatsu, etc., which is self-​serve. My favorite sauce is the Nanban sauce — winner! Better than Panda Express!
The service is friendly and attentive, but slow because there is only one person working the counter and one person cooking. They need more help to get the orders out quickly. And there are only a few pieces of chicken ready, so the popular dishes run out quickly and there is a wait for the replenishment…

There are little places in my life that i have experienced that i would have to say; Yoshoku is where the food is a authentic, rich with pizzazz, and the people are genuinely courteous. The atmosphere that i’ve encountered the moment i walked in there was like walking into my own kitchen at home.
They now have Yoshoku day on the 4, 14, and the 24^th of every month where you can get a two plate entrée for 50 percent off. Come down and support our our Ohana and your craving for rich, broke the mouth kinda food… MAHALO!!!

Yoshoku is located at Stadium mall next to McDonald’s. Parking is plentiful.
Yoshoku is like Panda Express but with Japanese local fusion style food. The store is kind of small so it’s a takeout kind of place. Sittings are available but limited.
Staff were nice enough to let me try some stuff. They’re known for Nanban chicken similar to orange chicken with mochiko like style. Nanban means barbarian trade in Japan. Don’t ask me why they named the chicken dish that. I also got garlic chicken & shrimp broccoli with small Tako. That dish was fishy but still good. You can get 2 or 3 entrées with 1 starch or veggies. I got 3 entrées plate for $ 10. I thought that was a good deal. However, yakisoba was dry. It must have been out for awhile. All their entrées have green onions, sesame seeds & cabbage already mixed in so if you’re not used to all the extra add on you may not like them. And I felt like I tasted some msg so that doesn’t work for me because I usually get a headache.

Chicken. Lots of chicken. Korean, takoyaki, yuzu, tom yum, tandoori, curry to name a few. This was the first thing I noticed. From what I understood, they have a ton of fried chicken with various seasonings since they are testing out which ones are popular. They will then keep the more popular chicken dishes. This is a pretty smart idea to have your market taste test products and make modifications based off of their opinions and feedback.
I think this is the same owner as the bar 39 Yoshoku Bar & Restaurant in Kaimuki (same logo). in This place is right by Starbucks in Stadium Marketplace (not Stadium Mall). It’s been open for a couple of weeks and is very clean when you walk in. There isn’t anywhere to really sit so it’s more of a take and go kind of place. They don’t have bentos yet, but will soon. Right now they have plates where can choose a side (yakisoba, white rice or steamed veggies) and then 1 – 3 choices).
The choices consist of:
Hawaii Chili pepper chicken
BBQ chicken
Nanban chicken
Yuzu chicken
Pizza chicken
Garlic chicken
Tofu champuru
Beef sukiyaki
Pork kim chee
Nagoya chicken wing
Shrimp and squid broccoli
Tandoori chicken
Curry chicken
Tom yum chicken
Furikake chicken
Korean salt chicken
Takoyaki chicken
Korean chicken
I got the yakisoba with 3 choices (tom yum chicken, tofu champuru and shrimp and squid broccoli). I went at around 5:00pm and to be honest, the food looked like it was sitting there for awhile. The yakisoba was good, not overly seasoned. The tom yum chicken was cold but had a good flavor (yes I ate chicken). The chicken was cut up but attached to a bone. The tofu champuru was a bit bland and so was the shrimp and squid broccoli.
I think it will be a great place to grab food for the football games since it’s so close to the stadium and there isn’t anything like it in the neighborhood.
Overall, I think it was a decent place. I would go back and try other things but will wait until they finalize their menu more and get bentos.

I know it’s pretty new, but I wasn’t too impressed on my first visit. It’s very similar to a panda express where you select your side and then choose 2 ($ 8.25) or 3 ($ 9.50) entrees, but you don’t get a fortune cookie with your meal.
Here at Yoshoku, you have the option of steamed rice, steamed veggies or yakisoba for your side. I had the yakisoba which was really good. But I wasn’t ecstatic about the BBQ or spicy chicken I selected as entrees. I wish they had more vegetables selections. Most of it was chicken, but I read in another review they will be adding more of a variety of entrees as they learn what’s popular.
The service was very friendly and parking is plenty. They are located next to Starbucks. I wish them well, but that spot has never done well as I’ve seen restaurants come and go over the years.

4 stars since they’re close to home and their food is good. There was a lot of chicken on the menu but they said they will be cutting down and adding more variety when they figure out what is popular amongst the crowd. The person that helped me was really friendly and let me taste test before buying. He recommended the Nanban chicken which is really tasty. Price is alright, there’s lots of improvement needed with the choices of food but as of day 2 in business, I’d say they’re off to a good start!
I would like to see more of a okazuya type with lots of variety in authentic Japanese foods. Right now its looking more like Panda Express the Japanese version. Good go-​to lunch spot if you’re in the area, check them out next door to Starbucks stadium Mall.