Daniel B.
Yelp
Yoi Yoi Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi opened March 2013. The restaurant was formerly the fledgling Sakura Stix, also a Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar. New ownership took over, renovated the old Sakura space, and have revitalized the business. Yoi Yoi is located in the Howell Mill Village shopping center, where Publix is located, near the intersection of Howell Mill Rd. and Collier Rd.
This is a relatively popular neighborhood restaurant. It's one of the only places (perhaps the only place) to get real sushi in the area. Many customers like to order take-out or delivery. Online ordering is available. I admire what the new owners have done, rebranding the place and putting more emphasis on sushi. One of the owners, David, is the head sushi chef. As he works away behind the sushi bar, he's often the first to greet customers as they enter the restaurant.
The atmosphere is casual. The interior is Asian-themed with small waterfalls, Japanese paper lanterns, and bamboo at almost every table. It also feels loft-like with exposed ductwork above. The walls towards the kitchen and restrooms are covered in wallpaper made from Japanese newspaper. If you look closely, the newspaper looks to be from Atlanta as you'll see ads for local businesses such as another Atlanta area Japanese restaurant, Umezono in Smyrna (now I Love Sushi). The sushi bar has two flatscreen TVs so you can hang out at the bar and watch TV.
In addition to sushi, Yoi Yoi serves hibachi dishes. Unlike a stereotypical Japanese steakhouse such as Benihana, there are no teppanyaki grills and chefs in the dining room here. All of the hibachi foods are cooked behind closed doors in the kitchen. Hibachi proteins include chicken, shrimp, steak, salmon, scallops, and calamari.
You can order bento boxes which are box-shaped containers with different compartments filled with various foods. For example, one bento box may contain salad, sushi, a spring roll, rice or noodles, and teriyaki chicken.
For hibachi, I think prices are generally in line with, if not better than, other teppanyaki restaurants. You can get a hibachi dinner or bento box for less than $15 per person here. Some Japanese steakhouses charge $20 or more. Sushi prices are comparable to other sit-down sushi restaurants. Basic rolls are under $10 each and special, more "extravagant" rolls are as much as $15 per. The restaurant has affordable lunch specials too.
My favorite is the nigiri sushi. They serve all the standard nigiri and then some, priced around $2 for one piece. The best deals are on the $4 uni (sea urchin), toro (fatty tuna), and ama ebi (shrimp with head). I'm not aware of any specials on nigiri and wish they had some.
I've tried a fair amount of Yoi Yoi's nigiri and overall, it's A-OK. It's fresh and satisfying. It's hard to go wrong with almost any of the selections. I like to get assorted nigiri and prefer the egg omelet (tamago), striped bass, albacore tuna, fresh salmon, white tuna, mackerel (saba), smelt roe (masago), octopus (tako), tuna (maguro), yellowtail, eel (unagi), scallop, uni, and toro. I like my nigiri simple and "pure" and tend to stay away from options such as smoked white tuna and smoked salmon. I like how the unaltered, non-smoked fish taste.
Some notes/observations: The tamago is a bit sweet. The saba has a significantly different flavor and texture than the rest of the fish. It's not as soft and has more of a chew and pasty consistency to it. It's got more of a briny taste. I still like it, though. Masago nigiri contains tiny little bright orange fish eggs. I've found the tako to be tougher and bit more rubbery here -- octopus is supposed to be this way, but I've found Yoi Yoi's to exude these characteristics even more so.
The unagi is not bad, but it doesn't seem to have enough sauce and almost tastes dry. The uni and toro are good, but I can notice a difference in quality between them and their more expensive counterparts at a higher-end or more authentic sushi restaurant. The uni, in particular, tastes slightly more fishy. Keep in mind these are all nitpicks and I wouldn't hesitate ordering these nigiri when dining here. I don't recommend ordering them for carry-out or delivery, however.
If I had to recommend a sushi roll, I'd suggest the Hawaii Roll. It consists of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado, cucumber, tobiko, and a soybean "seaweed" wrap. Instead of rolled seaweed, a soybean skin is used. It's different.
Presentation of dishes is great.
Service is outstanding. Co-owner Eeleen also works as hostess and server. I think the servers do an excellent job making sure everyone is happy and taken care of.
