Yo Sushi! – YoYo

Yo Sushi – House of Fraser, Buchanan Street

A recent venture to Yo Sushi in the ground floor of the House of Fraser was a pleasant one if not entirely consistent.   As with most Yo Sushi restaurants they have done a fine job of kitting the space out with a good number of booths and a funky conveyor belt arrangement.  I still find it a little strange that you can see into the store but finally the overwhelming scent of the perfume department has given way to a more food based aroma.

We were greeted by a friendly face and given one of the roomy booths which still have the conveyor belt ambling past which is fun.   With wine ordered and glasses filled from the table top taps we perused the extensive menu with gusto.  As I have mentioned before I am a menu enthusiast and Yo Sushi has a wide and varied selection of both hot and cold dishes.  Anyone scared of sushi should try this kind of establishment as the amount of raw fish on the menu is actually quite minimal, even a lot of the sushi dishes are made with cooked ingredients making them a safe choice for first timers or the squeamish.

Yo Sushi encourages you to order a few dishes at a time whilst helping yourself to anything that catches your eye from the conveyor belt, and at the end of the meal they count the different coloured plates to calculate the bill.  Be warned, don’t take anyone with a large appetite...  The bill can fairly mount up if you’re not careful!

As it was a relatively quiet Tuesday night the conveyor belt wasn’t packed with dishes, so we kicked off by ordering a few cold dishes from the waitress.  An adequate California roll was first to be devoured, followed by an interesting and flavoursome duck futomaki,  think duck and pancakes but in sushi form.   A masago gunkan got the thumbs up from my husband who is partial to the tiny flying fish roe.

Onto a few hot dishes, a chicken katsu which was fine, possibly a bit over fried and a vegetable tempura  that fared a little better.  Although the tempura batter wouldn’t have won any prizes the selection of vegetables was good, tenderstem broccoli, lotus root and aubergine along with the obligatory onion and carrot. Chicken gyoza were tasty but not as nice as I’ve had elsewhere however a beautiful seaweed salad snatched from the conveyor belt was a real favourite, a crunchy blend of seaweed, carrots and edamame in a punchy soy dressing that cuts across any of the fried dishes – a real palate cleanser.

Palate cleansed we were off ordering again, this time from the seasonal Kill Chill menu which has been designed for winter and only has hot dishes on it.  These were the two outstanding dishes of the meal, gyudon beef bowl was delicious and moreish we probably could have ordered another two of them.  It was like a beef stir fry on sticky rice but with a complex and rich flavour although sadly with none of the advertised pickles garnishing.  Next up the chicken wings which were hot , savoury and totally addictive, hard fried and finished with a slick of chilli sauce and spring onions they were my idea of heaven.   I would love these to become a permanent fixture on the menu as they were worth the visit alone.

A cute selection of desserts such as Japanese pancakes were on offer, but we were finally full. 

The kicker with most of my meals at Yo Sushi is usually the price, as a greedy Glasgow glutton it is hard to show restraint and with plates priced between £1.70 and £5.00 it can soon mount up.  The more civilized of you out there could probably keep it reasonable, I cannot!

All in all a good meal a few misses but mostly hits, the staff are very friendly and the vibe was nice although subdued on such a quiet night.  This restaurant is obviously geared to the Saturday shoppers and town workers but if you find yourself down that end of town in the evening give it a try.