Yoko’s Japanese Restaurant

Yoko is the queen of sushi! And a sweetheart to boot. Great high quality sushi, and some very unique specials. I try to go once a month.

Giant nigiris. A little pricey but it is sushi after all. Quality is certainly worth the money. They need more staff. The two servers were swamped. Good place, try it.

Been coming for years and have always had a great experience until last week when I took out of town friends for sushi. I was so embarrassed at the service we received, especially after a long wait and assuring my friends Yoko’s was fantastic. The food was fine but our waitress was by far the rudest I have ever had in Portland… ever. She was downright surly, even rolled her eyes when we asked if we should write down our sushi orders or give them to her (verbally). Doubtful that she will be there very long, I will give Yoko’s another try in a month or two… hoping they are back on track!

Wow, just amazing. Trust the reviews, and give this place a whirl. Glad I found this place, and order the large tuna specials on fried rice (no idea how you eat in one bite, good luck).

Definitely the best sushi in Portland. Quite possibly the best sushi in the UNIVERSE. totally impressed. Put it on your bucket list people because this shit is amazing.
Try the Tempura battered halibut and the batman roll melts in your mouth. It’s allgood

Quality sushi, with great sized portions for the price. We didn’t realize how big the rolls would be, and way over-​ordered. Enjoyed everything we tried– we tried the gyoza, several rolls and several types of nigiri, and found all of it to be well-​made. The plum wine was also delicious. Service was friendly and timely. The only thing keeping this place from being 5 stars is the size, which makes it kind of cramped, loud, and a long wait, but it’s enjoyable for a small neighborhood spot with good food.

Great sushi. Especially on the sashimi/​nigiri front. Slightly disappointed in the roll selection when I’ve got folks with me that aren’t big sushi fans, so –1 star there. But for $$ the quality is really high here.
The wait can be long but there is pinball and beer next door to keep you occupied until they call you.

I heard great reviews about this place… so I decided to go pick myself up some sushi. Couldn’t sit down as I was working so asked the person seating to do a carry out order. She says to me «I don’t know if we do those» as she is walking away then proceeds to ignore me for several minutes as she is helping another customer. I waited for her to finish with one table then she ignores me again and walks to the next table to help them. It was pretty embarrassing and doesn’t speak much for customer service. I went to Rocios 2 buildings down and got some carry out food no problem. I don’t care how many great reviews a place has or if is Zagat rated… poor customer service is a deal breaker!

We live in the neighborhood and tried Yoko’s out given the good Unilocal reviews. And the sushi was so bad it haunted me in my dreams later that night.
Main points:
–Long wait unless you arrive when they open. Long line = popularity = expectations… Right? Read on.
–Waiters, atmosphere, music all passable but nothing outstanding for a hole in the wall vibe place. Saltwater fish tank up front super pretty and was the highlight.
–Sushi = bad. I daresay worse than conveyor belt sushi but plenty more expensive. We got…
–Creamy scallop nigiri — scallops not fresh and sweet as they should be, the rice was sticky and packed too tightly. I am probably too critical when it comes to sushi but if the rice isn’t good, that’s bad sign #1
–Spicy albacore roll special — taste & flavor pretty good, fish better than their other fish, but again rice problem, aesthetically not pleasing, and made too large. Yes, for you Saburo fans out there, sushi can be too large. Sushi is traditionally bite sized. When I walk into a Japanese restaurant and I see giant pieces of rolls/​nigiri/​sashimi, that’s bad sign #2
–Ikura nigiri — way too big, too much Ikura plus bad rice makes for a bad mouth sensation when chewing. All I could taste was salt. For this reason I thought the Ikura wasn’t very fresh, but man is it super hard to ruin Ikura for me –_​–
–Batman roll — too wet and mushy, the avocado and cream cheese is overkill, and too much sauce. It was meh but still palatable
–So we were still a little hungry, and since we were already there might as well get one more thing instead of having to go somewhere else to eat, right? WRONG. We ordered the dynamite roll, waited 25 minutes, and this roll is what gave me nightmares. I saw it being made in front of me (seated at the bar) and it was, in the nicest possible words, a mess. The person making it slapped the roll together, rinsed his hands but didn’t dry and picked the sushi up to serve to us. Aesthetically, falling apart. Picking up with chopsticks? (mind you I’m Asian and yes I can use chopsticks) falling apart. In my mouth? Wet, disgusting, bland, tasteless. I asked the «chef» if the sushi was really broiled as described and he said «Yeah it sounds a lot more impressive on paper.» Hah, there goes the service.
I am never going back *shudder*

loved everything about it. Intimate low key setting but still with some class. Great menu, amazing saki, and great service. Sushi was fresh and big servings!
Batman roll was on point, and they had some amazing specials that I would highly recommend.
Miso soup didn’t have too much tofu which I love and the seaweed salad– it had a nice little wasabi kick!

Yoko’s is the perfect, small, casual neighborhood sushi spot. Sometimes there can be a wait for a table, but that’s the sign of a great restaurant! The servers, sushi chefs, and even the owners always take time to make sure we get exactly what we’re looking for. They are knowledgable, and they make us feel like family.
Also, I love sake, and their list is on point! Let your server recommend something for you. You won’t regret it.

My favorite sushi in PDX. I like sitting at the bar and asking the sushi chefs what’s fresh or what they’re excited to serve. Sure, you can wait a long time to get a table, but to me, that’s a good thing.
Their baked oysters are amazing, their rolls are beautiful and delicious, but I order almost exclusively from the sashimi menu because their selection and their freshness is the freshest.

LOVE this place! My husband and I consider ourselves regulars. The sushi is fantastic, extremely fresh with unique selections i.e. Takas tuna!
It is a small restaurant so I recommend getting there just before they open at 5:00. Friday night is insanely busy.

If you enjoy being ignored by hipster waiters, this is the place for you. The waiter plopped our menus on the table and walked away without saying a word or
making any eye contact. They brought us our soup and salad well after the main course was delivered and only because we had to remind them. There was no apology, just a blank face and a barely audible, «oh.»
— food is mediocre, tuna was very good, the tuna was the only highlight of the experience
— the wait staff was absolutely laughingly terrible at waiting tables
portlanders really seem to enjoy restaurants with minimal hospitality?

Incredibly fresh tasting fish that was both filling and unconventional. I’m a sushi snob; it’s one of the few areas I can exercise some level of fluency and competence in discerning between what is good and crap. The Yellowtail was marvelous and had some wasabi kick added to it. I was skeptical of the Yoko roll: Broccoli and Tempura had all the makings of grocery-​store grade slop, but this roll was fantastic! Great crunch and texture that made for an amazing combination! Dynamite and Walla Walla Rolls were also very good and accented flavors of avocado and onion nicely. It is clear that Yoko is committed to this endeavor and for that she deserves my kudos. I will certainly return.

It was our first time at Yoko’s got there right at 5pm and there was a line, so definitely get there early if you go for dinner on a Saturday night.
We had the Dynamite roll, Spicy Octopus roll, and Albacore Nigiri. For having so many reviews I had high expectations, and the rolls fell short. They were bland visually and flavor wise.
However, the Albacore Nigiri was delicious! It had a peppery crust, and loved it!
I think our mistake was ordering rolls and not sushi.

AGADASHI TOFU — I really hope I spelled that correctly. THE BEST AGADASHI TOFU I HAVE EVER TASTED. I don’t know what it is but their tofu and that sauce that they make is divine. I will come back… just for this. That good.
This place is tiny and surprisingly good so obviously there is a wait. Depending on day and time and the number in your party, you may be seated quicker or not. It has a cute little fish tank at the entrance — I think I even spotted a nemo!
Poke roll — if you love poke (which I do, I do, I dooooo!), then you will love this. Even for the raw fish skeptics, I honestly think you guys would enjoy this. Definitely order this to try!
Taka’s tuna — another sushi dish I would recommend. The rice is fried to be crunchy and the tuna is placed on top, and sandwiched right in-​between these two is avocado. Pretty good dish. It’s something I have not really seen at other sushi places so might be worth seeing and eating! Perfect crunch with a perfect squish, if that makes sense?
Seared salmon — this is something I order at new sushi places. My way of, I guess,. getting a feel for the restaurant. It’s a thing! Like, how I order Thai tea at new Thai restaurants. I’m sure you have your thing as well :) but mine are these. I believe they were good!
Sake — what’s to say. Goes down smooth.
Definitely going to find my way back to this sushi hut!

One of my favorite sushi places in town. Fresh fish and love the variety. It’s small and low key. Get there early or you might have to wait. Even though it’s a little early for dinner, I generally get there as close to opening as possible.
I love the poke (not poke roll– which is also good) which is a lot of tuna — well worth the price. Last time we were there – we ordered way too much food. Poke bowl, two rolls, and 4 orders of nigri and karage pretty much finished us off.
My eyes are always bigger than my stomach. Their food is so good though that I always finish everything. People, Sushi is only good the same day.

Looking to try a new sushi joint, I had high expectations after reading reviews for Yoko’s. I met up with a couple friends for dinner on a Wednesday night around 7:30pm. They had gotten there before me and put a name on the list, it was 45 minutes before we were seated… on a weekday. It made sense because its a small establishment.
The servers were friendly. Very accommodating when my friend asked for a separate order form because he needed to his own tab with an itemized receipt. I ordered the poke roll, batman roll, salmon skin roll, and Taka’s tuna. I dropped one of my chopsticks, it took awhile to get the waitress attention for a new set. When the food came out, we didn’t have plates and nowhere to put soy sauce but it was another ten minutes for the waitress to come by to request it and I asked for spicy mayo at the same time. Typically, I don’t like asking for multiple things at once because servers tend to forget but I didn’t want to wait another ten minutes to get the sauce.
The poke roll was the best out of all the rolls I had ordered – the tuna was fresh and buttery, just delectable. Taka’s tuna was interesting, pieces of marinated tuna and avocado atop a piece of fried rice. It was very tasty, but I felt the ratio of rice was too much. We were very disappointed in the salmon skin roll, there was more salmon meat than skin and it lacked that crunchiness you expect. The price for the salmon skin roll is steeper than most places for a simple roll. My other friend also ordered a batman roll, we agreed… the contrast of the Unagi and cheese cream was too mushy, it needed another texture in the roll. The rolls fall apart easily. However, they probably have one of the best spicy mayo because its actually spicy!
It was an even longer wait after we had finished eating for boxes and to get our bill. We figured that the wait wasn’t because of the small space but due to the turn around time, servers are slow here. Not that we were in a rush but, with less tables, you would think service would be more efficient. The waitress said they don’t split checks but that was nice of them to separate our bill. Oh Yoko’s, this was more of 3.5 stars for me.

I think I finally found a sushi place in Portland that I would both want to and could afford to revisit.
The rolls here are pretty big, which is kind of a turnoff for me, but the fish is still fresh and delicious.
The salmon sashimi here is incredible. Oily but not fishy, just right.
Servers know their sake, and sushi chefs are approachable.
I highly recommend the… something treasure. Kekunis Treasure? It’s tuna with dungeness crab meat on top, drizzled with chili oil. Super tasty!
If you want to spend big bucks on a revelation-​worthy omakase, there are probably other sushi spots in Portland who do that better.
However, when you’re craving that comfort kind of sushi, but don’t want to hate yourself afterwards (I’m looking at you, conveyor belt sushi), Yoko’s is a great mid-​priced meal. I preferred it over Saburo’s.