Jay L.

Did you know? Yama in Japanese literally means: "mountain" or a name for a Japanese restaurant that serves food in an aesthetically pleasing way, My first ever sit down. Food: Enticing to the eyes, fresh, and quality is top notch. I definitely recommend. You get more for your money the average cost per person dinner was 34. Service: Our first time here to the "mountain " and I must say we were met with smiles and courtesy by the manager/owner. Waitress who sat our party was friendly . Our waiter who was Derrick, was so knowledgeable on the menu and was prompt in checking in on us. He really made our experience one in which we will come back! Ambiance: How can you not love Pikachu. Enough said but the overhead star lighting on the ceiling combines with the sports like TV's, the bar area was nice to sit and eat. If you order from bar they will grill you proteins prior to bringing out. Guest Centerpoint table grill was clean also had spray oil, staff made rounds frequently to change out the centerpoint grill for a fresh one. I observed them cleaning a section after guest departed inwhich included a wiping down of the entire seats top and bottom and back ( wow impressive!!). It's not only a family oriented restaurant, but if you only want to go have drinks maybe watch the Game this is the SPOT to be. Final: I never ate Japanese food where it was brought raw (AI robot) and we were able to grill it. I must say Yama Kitchen where have you been all my life? I highly recommend and thank you to the two managers and Derrick for making our first visit a memorable one. Oh lastly we were given a sample of: Japanese Plum wine, it was delicious!

Jyreka N.

I have no formal complaints about this place. I loved the location (it's near my house!), the spread on the all you can eat, the menus selection is pretty good. The seating is nice- i do wish they had chocolate ice cream instead of strawberry tho. Lol our server was very attentive & explained the menu & it's dynamics. The restaurant & bathrooms were clean. There was a birthday & we got to witness that. Too cute!

Brandon D.

Met up with my friend in Galveston at Yama Kitchen in Pasadena. This is a Japanese bbq and sushi place that opened last year. They have 2 different tiers but we just got the most basic ones. Our favorite cuts were the classic bulgogi and short rib. They also have sushi and I especially liked their salmon and yellowtail nigiri as well as their salmon sashimi. They use really good quality salmon here. They have a buffet far for any appetizers like fried rice, crab Rangoon, fries, eggrolls, a sauce bar, some additional items for the grill like lettuce, jalapeno, garlic, and a pickled veggie section. The apps were all pretty mid except for the lo mein. I was kind of expecting the meats to be more flavored from the marinades but they were all pretty bland, the sauces were just ok too in my opinion. Overall just an ok place, definitely an option if you live in Pasadena but I rather just drive to bellaire

Jesus D.

Service was great and no complaints about the staff. Food wise was a hit or miss and lots of misses We took both Japanese bbq and sushi option Salmon and yellow tail sashimi were hits, fish was fresh. Chuck beef was the best hit as the marbling was excellent The rest of the items were all a miss: signature pork belly, short rib, "pork cheek". Thus we stopped ordering the other items except for the hits above. Pork cheek on the menu was definitely not a pork cheek. The meat were slices of pork butt. Both short rib and pork belly were marinated and unexpected. They were sweet Unfortunately, no comeback on this restaurant

Juan P.

New restaurant in Pasadena, right off Beltway 8 and Fairmont. Great location! Service is quick--go in, get seated, and then start ordering your food. For $6 more, get the beef and sushi buffet--it's worth it. There's a 2-hour sit-down limit, and if you leave too much food at the end, they may charge you more. All the sushi rolls are fresh and delicious. The meats are good too. I had a lot of different things, so I'll say this: don't get the spicy yellowtail roll. Everything else is great. Some meats had no flavor, but just throw some salt and pepper on it and you're good. It's definitely worth the price to chill and eat a lot. The grill in the middle can be switched out if you don't want too much char on your food, or just wipe it down with your napkins--that's what I did instead of waiting for them to change it. Ahhh, the tips--I'd recommend taking cash for your waiter. According to two workers, I was told the restaurant keeps the credit card tips, and they don't get them until they're split among everyone, and that takes about two weeks. So I highly recommend having some cash for a tip. Overall, it's a great place to go--definitely worth checking out. Ambiance was calm and chill.

Charisse T.

We were celebrating my early birthday and they gave me a bang along with a delicious dessert. The food was outstanding but the robot too the cake. The food was fresh and hot. It's a buffet restaurant but also serve sushi on the line you can order dozen of each or half dozen of each to make a dozen. We did Korean bbq, rice, cheese corn. We walked out full and satisfied. The servers and the manager checked on us constantly. Let not forget the decor is absolutely beautiful

Royal V.

First time, all you can eat. You have a small oven griddle on your table. A robot will bring your food. They have a small buffet line where you can get veggie rolls, desserts, crab, shrimp, fried rice, and other items. The manager brought us out a complimentary glass of plumb wine since it was our first time. Very spacious place. Reminds me of a restaurant in a casino. They have booths and tables. Food was good. Server was informed.

Quynh-Anh V.

Food quality is pretty good for the area (much better than Sushi Yoto). I wouldn't go out of my way to go here but I definitely left full and satisfied. Salmon sashimi was good, and the toro beef was my favorite. The pork belly was very tender but I'm pretty sure it+some other meats were marinated even though it wasn't specified as marinated. The interior of the restaurant is stunning and service was nice.

Justin T.

Social media got to me again! Yama Kitchen kept popping up on my feeds and the high ratings on here made me pull the trigger on visiting. It's located in Pasadena right off the Beltway. Easy to find and easy to park as it is in a large shopping strip. My date and I came on a Friday night. I made reservations online but noticed I probably could have gotten away with just walking in. Not that it was dead inside, but more like this place is massive and there is plenty of seating inside. It looks as if they combined 3 businesses and made a mega space. Not knocking Pasadena, but this place is fancy looking inside for the area. Cool lighting, comfortable seating and they even have robot waiters! You order with a waitress and then the robots bring alot of the items out. Valerie was our human waitress and she did a great job from start to finish. Yama is an all you can eat Japanese BBQ and Sushi buffet. I've seen all the combinations at this point like hot pot and bbq, sushi and hot pot, etc. I haven't been to one of these combinations yet though. Back in the day sushi buffets were not that great with the exception of a few spots, but we're starting to see them pop up more and more and I'm all for it. I'm especially happy to see more places like this on the southeast side of town. Pricing differs from lunch and dinner. Sushi OR Japanese BBQ will run you 20.99 for lunch and 30.99 for dinner. Sushi AND Japanese BBQ will run you an additional 6 bucks. They also have alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks for purchase. You have a 2 hour limit. Excess food waste will be charged. We came hungry and my date has never had Japanese BBQ so we opted for the sushi and bbq option. They have a variety of soups, salads, appetizers, grilled items, rice, noodles, and hibachi from the non sushi and bbq items. We started off with some spicy edamame (very good), crispy calamari (good), gyoza (very good), beef short ribs from the robata grill (very good), tonkotsu ramen (surprisingly good), and shrimp fred rice (good). For sushi we had three different types of rolls plus some sashimi. The rolls were presented nicely and made well. I do feel like it was more filler than any of the proteins but still tasty. The sashimi was ok, not as fresh tasting as I would have liked. As far as the bbq goes, we ordered quite a bit of different meat and veggie options. The grills were changed frequently and easy to cook with. They only provided tongs for cooking. I do wish they had scissors like more other establishments like this. Some of the meats were good on it's own and the flavored ones delivered as well. We asked for different sauces there wasn't many options. We finished off our meal with tempura bananas and Oreos, and green tea ice cream. The Oreos were great but the bananas were not very ripe which gave it a bland taste. Overall, this was a very solid spot of the southeast side of town. I will gladly make that drive over when the cravings hit again.

Alexa G.

Only my 2nd time being here & I love it. Our server was Nell & she was the sweetest. Very attentive & had good recommendations. This place is very clean, restrooms are clean, great music playing and the food is so good. All you can eat sushi & Korean bbq. All the staff were really nice. Great place will be coming back.

Briana W.

Great for friend date night!! I would suggest to ask the process on how to order before you order. That way you know what menu to look at and options are available to you that is included your price. I chose the BBQ option and I felt like the menu options were just enough. Appetizers and food items to cook come out quickly and staff are very accommodating. I love how often they came to collect dirty plates. This place was a fun and interactive experience. Happy Yelping!

Jarred F.

Absolutely incredible experience for all you can eat sushi and Korean barbecue. The restaurant is fun and great for kids with robots delivering food and a vibrant atmosphere with fun music and cool vibes. Super traditional Korean side dishes and the food was ultra fresh. Wish we lived in Houston because we'd go to this place regularly!!

Jackie C.

Restaurant just opened but food & service was great! Really nice set up in the restaurant We only had the lunch all you can eat sushi but we will be coming back for the all you can eat Korean bbq