I've eaten at Yuzen many times. I've never had a bad experience. It's a family type restaurant in what is a family area. It's certainly worth a higher star rating than it has. If you live on Mercer Island and you enjoy sushi there is absolutely no reason not to try it out. A great place to take the kids when you don't feel like cooking. read more

Had a fabulous dinner here last night. Had the chicken curry, a couple sushi rolls, tempura and salad. The tempura was cooked perfectly. Light, flaky and crispy. Loved the different flavors the roll had and that curry- I was in heaven! I'm still drooling thinking about it. Service was great too. Very attentive. We will be back! read more

If I could give zero stars I would. We ordered $60 worth of sushi through DoorDash and every single roll was inedible.

My family wanted to go this restaurant. I was a willing participant and open to trying it. Overall, for the value, it was ok. I always remind myself that maybe sometimes it's what you order. It's very challenging to make everything well. It was expensive and I had the honor of picking up the tab. The best & most flavorful dish wash the fish & shrimp curry. The sashimi was fresh but I thought it was overpriced. The rest including Tonkatsu was mediocre. Tha ks read more

My new favourite japanese restaurant on the island. Awesome food and outstanding service. D Best sushi place in town! Highly recommend 'DELUXE SASHIMI COMBO ' with a bottle of warm sake! read more

Yuzen - Japanese Near Me - Mercer Island, Washington

Let's say that I arrive at your restaurant and offer to give you some money in exchange for some sushi. I'm willing to wait. I'm willing to pay extra since you're located on Mercer Island. Oh, you're not taking to-go orders? To get some sushi I need to be seated? This isn't your policy all the time, just randomly? Yeah, your sushi is a resounding 'ok' and your customer service is fishy. After 3-4 times of this no-take-outs-now response, I've learned the reliably good Sushi is reliably available at Sushi Joa. read more

Though I am a sushi noob, I am no stranger to Seattle's Asian cuisine. After a year of living on Mercer Island, Yuzen has become one of my boyfriend's go-to dinner spots and I'm pretty pleased that I had the chance to find this gem outside the Metro area. From my experience so far I would have to rank Yuzen as a favorite, basically tying Mashiko and only because I a) didn't try Yuzen's sushi mostly because b) I don't think they are as focused on providing sustainable options. Although I prefer vegetarian sushi I also appreciate a respectable mission when it comes to food-sourcing. Enough preaching though... The salads are delicious - the house salad has an addictively tangy dressing and the grilled vegetable salad is nothing to scoff at, though a floppy piece of eggplant kind of weirded me out. Miso soup seems standard but does not disappoint, but the vegetable tempura's zucchini pieces were a bit too large for my taste. The Chicken Yakisoba dish has been one of my favorites in the city, and I'd honestly drive over from West Seattle to get it. It's big and easily sharable. What they lack in ambiance/location they make up in quality, but as noted in other reviews, service can be hit or miss - I wouldn't go if you're in a hurry to get anywhere fast, and definitely don't go on Mondays because they're closed. read more

As someone who used to work at this restaurant, I will say that Yuzen has some of the best sushi in the area. The sushi chefs take extreme care in what they are making. The $1 sushi menu is a fantastic deal (I recommend the maguro if you are new to sushi). There is also the bento box for kids, which has chicken, fruit, rice, etc. and comes with miso soup. (Kids should also try the Ramune drink.) All of this food is genuine Japanese food - the chefs are Japanese, a lot of the customers are Japanese, and as a Japanese person I marvel at how authentic it is, nothing like the Americanized oriental food that most people sell nowadays. I would recommend coming between 4 PM and 6 PM for dinner -- the service will faster, the atmosphere will be MUCH quieter, and overall your food will be made with more care. Some of their best dishes, other than sushi, are the sukiyaki, tempura, and house noodles. Though the miso soup comes with most entrees, I would avoid it if freshness is a concern for you. The tofu is set out on ice at 4 PM, and the ice slowly melts throughout the evening, which means that if you're coming in for a later dinner, you're getting room temperature tofu that has been basking in water. You won't get sick, but some people (myself included) are not a fan. Everything else is prepared after you order it. read more

I have only had the sushi here, so I can't vouch for the hot items. The $1/piece sushi is one of the best deals around, as they are generous servings, fresh, and impeccably prepared. Thinking about it, that's a much better deal than Sushi Land, or any of the other conveyor-belt restaurants. The rolls here are a bit so-so, just because of some of the bizarre flavors and combos. (Garlic sushi???) And yes, the service is a bit slow, but I'm in the camp of you know, actually sit and enjoy a meal, so it's no big deal. These comments may not be the most complimentary, but I have always left the restaurant satisfied and feeling like I got a great meal for a small price. read more

This place is great. Sushi always fresh and other dishes are great too. Yuzen is a family run restaurant and they been doing it for many years. It used to be in Oregon until they moved to Mercer a couple years ago. Great place if you're looking for good fresh sashimi and rolls. The waitstaff can be a bit slow sometime, but always very polite. It's in mercer so expect it to be a bit spendy. read more

Very good place to hang out with families. Great menu and price is very reasonable. And the food is authentic Japanese food. Fresh sashimi and rolls are also very delicious. Definitely recommended and will dine in again. read more

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I really like this family owned sushi place~ it's been a favorite sushi place of mine. For the price, you get better sushi than Kisaku. My friends and I drive from Seattle to eat at Yuzen when we can. The fish is fresh and you can taste the grains of the rice properly without it falling apart with your chopsticks. The problem is, they often run out of the good stuff early! Besides their sushi, I really like their spinach and mushroom dish. I think for a restaurant that has a number of dishes, they present each of the dishes well and they taste really good. read more

I've been back a few times now and noticed something over and over again. The knife work that goes into the fish probably is not up to par with the quality of sushi they use. It could be that I'm ordering off the 1 dollar sushi too much. Oh well, I still love the place and would go back in an instant. read more

Yuzen - Japanese Near Me - Mercer Island, Washington

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I'm lowering my expectations for this restaurant and not try to compare that with an upscale Japanese restaurant. I would say I did had a pleasant experience with my lunch. Feel very "homemade", it's like my Japanese friend invited me to her home, and her parents made me lunch/dinner. The sushi is good enough( again, I'm lowering my standard here.) I do really appreciate the food from kitchen. The sauce and favoring were just right, again, very homemade. Nothing fancy but feel cozy. A local's gem. Lot of parking, reasonable price and efficient service. And, I'm glad it's not a Japanese restaurant owned by Korean. They are 日本人It's important for me if I want to eat Japanese food! read more

Yuzen - Japanese Near Me - Mercer Island, Washington

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This place has DELECTABLE SUSHI!!! Like, melt in my mouth good-ness... Oh man, I'm salivating already. I've only been here once, but man, I know good fish when it touches my taste buds. And this place has got it! I realize I'm probably over-hyping everything, but really, the chirashi zen that i had, was probably one of the better ones I've tried. The seasoning on the rice actually tastes good, and isn't too over-powering nor underwelming that you just eat sushi rice on the bottom. My partner had the beef sukiyaki and that was pretty good too. It wasn't too salty like other places, and the broth was superb. The decor is pretty good... altho I gotta say that I never woulda expected it on the south end of MI, lol. I mean, normally you think of fast food or teriyaki places, but the inside of this place is actually surprisingly pretty nice. So why only 4 stars? It's a little on the expensive side... but I think it's worth it for the quality of food you get. It definitely feels authentic and the portions are good. Not to mention the $1 sushi I have yet to try! Worth checking out! read more

If you are too lazy to leave the island to find good sushi then Yuzen will suffice, but otherwise do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Their food is truly mediocre and their service is horribly slow. Important: Yuzen sells their escolar as super white tuna. Escolar is NOT tuna. Escolar is an entirely different species of fish and is banned by the government in Japan because it causes digestion problems including, but not limited to, diarrhea. Any sushi restaurant that tries to disguise escolar as tuna should probably be avoided. read more

Definitely the best restaurant to get sushi on the island. Sushi joa...meh...Haruko's....pass. Yuzen, the real deal. And did I tell you their amazing $1.00 menu sushi....sshhh...little hidden gem? Salmon, mackeral, white tuna, etc...seriously? Love it! read more

I love this place. Excellent service and amazing food. Totally family friendly. Try the chicken Yakisoba, beef and asparagus rolls , or Bento box. Always a hit with our family. read more

After seeing the 4-star Yelp review, I thought that we would be in for a treat at dinner last night. Definitely not the case... hopefully this was a one-off experience. Here's what hit us: Golden California Roll - they used real crab meat, but the crab was mixture was dry. The worst offense was how they used soggy, chewy nori seaweed in their rolls. Spider Roll - the crab was okay... but again, chewy seaweed strikes again. Hamachi Sashimi - five thinly-sliced pieces that tasted fishy = NOT fresh. And to top it off, my brother found a lovely fish scale on his sashimi. Yum. Prawn Tempura - the batter was way too thick and dense. At least it was crispy... Gyu-Niku Steak - lacked beef flavor, or actually any real flavor at all. Yeah, there was a little sweet/salty in the sauce, but it was so forgettably bland. And the steak had so much tendon running through the meat that it was like trying to chew through stale gum. And what's up with the sour grilled vegetables? The best part of this dish was the plain brown rice. Chicken Katsu - chicken breast meat was okay, but erring on the dry side. At least it wasn't too heavily battered. Though, that side salad was drowning in an overwhelming amount of salty dressing that seemed to incorporate sesame flavors into the mixture. Service was reasonable as the server was prompt in taking our orders. The food also came out in a relatively timely manner (but we started eating before 6pm.) Oh, and I was sitting on an extremely wobbly chair... so try not to move too much while you're eating. read more

Our oldest child wanted to try sushi so we picked Yuzen over the other MI options. And while it turns out that said child does not care for sushi, his younger sibling was raving about the Savory Chicken (chicken teriyaki). We ordered the Blue Belt sushi combination and hamachi sashimi - both good and fresh. We had a few other rolls and all tasty. The tempura veggies were right out of the fryer and very hot - as one would expect. Regarding the busyness of the place and service - we arrived before 6p and it was dead but almost full by 6:20p. I noticed that all the staff was working on making sure that everyone was taken care of so I think they took the comment about slow service seriously. We'll be back. read more

High quality sushi and a nice brown rice tea. Unfortunately, the high price per portion size and extremely long wait take the experience down a notch or two. Give it a try if you love quality sushi but I don't advise making a habit of it. read more

Start off with the spinach and mushroom appetizer. It's delicious and healthy. Very good service. Fresh fish and veggies. It's nice to know I can enjoy Japanese food when I'm in mercer island. read more

Yuzen - Japanese Near Me - Mercer Island, Washington

I used to love this restaurant, but it has become awful! I asked our waitress if it had changed ownership because the experience was so different from my previous visits. New menus = new higher prices, but with inferior food items. My meal was inedible - really poor quality from the salad to soup to entrée. Not sure what happened. It's been up for sale for a long time so maybe the owners just don't care anymore. read more

Friendly service, good selection, and $1 nigiri! There's happy hour on the weekend from 4-6pm with appetizers and rolls. Their hamachi plate was also very good. read more

My family and I had a great time last night. The food was excellent, beautifully presented, and appropriately priced. Service was friendly and professional, everything from start to finish was a real treat. I'm looking forward to going back again. read more

Our family is grateful that Yuzen is on the sound end of the Island. They introduced our boys to sushi! Very casual, family-friendly restaurant, yet my wife and I go there on our own too. Our boys also love the curry udon, which isn't always available, so make sure you ask. Always a good selection of "happy hour" sushi specials. We have never waited for a table, but on busy nights, relax and be patient with the kitchen. read more

It was a togo order for ONE ROLL, it took 55 mins..... and it was NOT GOOD, very disappointed.

Terrible. I ordered from Doordash to get delivery. The tuna volcano roll had what they call a "special aioli". It was ketchup. Absolutely disgusting. 1 piece of unagi for $2.75 and is was bone dry. Won't order from this place again. read more

Excellent food, wonderful service, ready on time for easy curbside pickup. Thank you for being open now!

If I could choose 0 star I would choose it 100%!!! Reaallly bad customer service! I ordered only one sushi to go and waiting for 45 minutes and server asked me: am I cancelling my order after 40 minutes!! He was so rude! All the server and staffs are rude here! I am still waiting the sushi!!!!! read more

Love their oysters, and their $1 sushi specials r actually good portions and fresh. Everyone there is friendly. It is located at the southern end of Mercer island, but it is worth the drive for me. I'll be back soon! read more

So disapointed - I started working on the S. end of MI awhile ago and even though I am a avid Sushi lover (we normally go to Blue C) have not had a chance to try Yuzen until today and was taken back by the rude service. I did go in about 10 min before 2pm and evidently they close at 2, but I don't think that warranted the behavior from "Yvette" the hostess/waitress. I tried to explain that I just wanted to order some sushi to go and that my friend said they had a lunch special (who had been in earlier). Yvette seemed put out that I came in for service and acted like she didn't know what I was talking about. (?) Finally after the 3rd time of explaining, she suddenly remembered the $13 special and put the order in for me but she was still unfriendly. Yuzen is one of only 5 restaurants on the S. end (one being pizza delivery) but they only had two tables occupied on a Saturday which speaks volumes. You can have the best sushi in North America, but bad service will kill your business - you would think the owners (I'm pretty sure one of them was doing prep and watching the whole exchange) would stress how important this is. Won't be back - will stop recommending them to people when they ask me about them... read more

I'm not a sushi fan, so I can't attest to their competency in that regard, but I do enjoy their other various entrees. Their soup and salad that accompany certain dishes are tasty. The waiters and employees are always very friendly. It's very convenient for me to get to, the parking is always no problem, and it never gets unreasonably loud. I like how casual it feels. The only issue I have with the place is it isn't very well-decorated inside, but that has more to do with my own preferences than any real issue. read more

I kinda hate giving this place 3 stars... It's my favorite sushi spot in town. But for a few reasons I cannot give a higher rating than that. Let's start with the stuff that gets this place a "thumbs up": 1.) Happy Hour on the weekends! Wine gets a generous pour, and for a good price 2.) The $1 sushi menu (priced per piece) is an outrageous deal. Salmon is ALWAYS on it, and Salmon nigiri is usually the bulk of my sushi order any time I eat it. I haven't ever been in when there have been less than 6 choices on this list. 3.) The tuna dynamite roll is STELLAR! It's a shrimp tempura roll (I think...my memory is failing me at the moment) with large chunks of fresh tuna piled on top with daikon and sprouts, drizzled in a spicy sauce. It's SO GOOD. And a great presentation 4.) It's close to home - I live just down Island Crest 5.) Portions are generous and the food is always fresh and delicious on the whole Here are the points that have cause me to dock this place a couple stars, despite being my favorite sushi spot in town: 1.) Service SUCKS. It's a small restaurant, but there are still a good number of tables, plus the seats at the bar. There is usually only one...MAYBE two servers cashing out to go orders and serving all 15 or so tables in the restaurant. It doesn't cut it. My glass of water is usually empty and I've had to ask several times on more than one occasion for a refill, I've waited longer than it took me to eat my dinner to get cashed out once I got a servers attention to bring the bill...it goes on. They are working hard here, and the graciousness of the staff goes far with me in combo with the food they are serving, but it still falls short on most visits here. 2.) It can be really cramped and loud. It's a small, family friendly establishment. The tables are pushed really close together. And when the place is full, I can hardly hear the person sitting next to me and the servers clearly have a hard time getting between the chairs to get to everyone 3.) This is a simple thing, and perhaps a sticking point for me because I'm from the South. But the iced tea that's served here tastes like it's from a powdered mix or bottle. I like to drink iced tea when I eat out. I've worked in restaurants - it's not rocket science to brew or, I imagine, that expensive to get the right equipment to brew actual tea. It's got a fake lemony taste. Yuck! Usually poor service is enough to keep me away; especially if it happens twice. That says A LOT about the freshness, portion size and price of the food at Yuzen. I will keep going back, but am prepared to be patient and have appropriate expectations about dining in here. read more

Ick. All I can say is ick. The waitstaff was AWFUL (our appetizer arrived with our check -- yay!). none of the sushi was particularly fresh or well presented. The only thing okay was miso soup. We got tricked into going to this place after we saw patrons leaving the restaurant satisfied. They must have been paid to do that, or they have really bad taste on the South end of the island. read more

This restaurant has pretty good food and sushi, but when restaurant gets somewhat busy, the food can take a while to come out.

Before I met my girlfriend, I never really even knew mercer island existed. Yuzen sushi is tucked within the "bottom of the island" as my girlfriend puts it (the south end). I believe it is one of two sushi restaurants on the vast Island of Mercer, and without having tried the other, I can say I'd come to Yuzen every time I'm on the Island. We had a sushi set of nigiri consisting of salmon, hamachi, red snapper, blue-fin tuna toro and ikura. Wow! All the pieces were huge and very fresh. The toro and salmon were especially good, probably from my pallet being tortured by converyor belt sushi on a regular basis. I also tried a negitoro with the blue-fin tuna which was perfect. All the fish, as trite as it sounds, melted in my mouth like a glorious butter bath. We also tried the chicken yakisoba which was HUGE in portion size and very tasty. Not your run of the mill teriyaki house yakisoba. After 2 Large bottles of Otokoyama and 2 Sapporo drafts, I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol that had me smiling or the satisfaction of the meal. The sushi chefs here are the real deal and very creative. I left Yuzen feeling like I won somehow. read more

I want to know why EVERY TIME I come here the service and food is sooooooo slow! If you have an hour to sit and chat before you eat this is the place to go! Food is delicious but takes WAY too long. Not really worth it. Ordered sushi,miso and appetizer. the Miso and edemmame came immediately but the wait for sushi was 40+ minutes. just unreasonable. read more

Good Japanese sushi, roles, noodles and fish. Sea Bass is excellent. I am a fan of the islander and the kari Kari roll. unfortunately slow service, but after all sushi is rather labor intensive to prepare. I think this place is underrated, a lot of people don't give it a fair chance. Expect higher prices, but the fish is fresh and all the food I have had here, I love. read more

I always get the chicken yakisoba whenever I come here and it is always absolutely delicious. I can't really describe it, but it always feels like a perfect blend of sweet, sour, and salty. Other people have complained about how the service is slow, but it really isn't. At least every time I've been here. read more