A New Dining Experience For Me At YO! Sushi Watford – Restaurant Review

*We were given provided with a complimentary meal in exchange
for an honest review, so all thoughts and opinions are my own

I’m going to admit that sushi isn’t generally the kind of food I’d ever think to myself ‘you know what I’m really in the mood for……. sushi’! But over the years people have said to me if you want to see if you actually like it try YO! Sushi as it’s the best. I’d seen branches when I’d been out and about but it wasn’t until December that Watford got it’s own branch.

Brand New YO! Sushi in Watford

When it first opened I remember seeing so many queues for the restaurant, clearly the people of Watford were eager to get some Japanese food in their systems. When the team at YO! Sushi invited me along to the new branch I knew it was my chance to try out some food I wouldn’t usually opt for. Sometimes I like to leave menu’s to chance but I actually had a look at the YO one before going and was seriously impressed with how much choice there was which wasn’t exactly sushi.

The Concept of YO! Sushi

The concept of YO! Sushi is simple in that there’s a carousel going around which has all the cold foods going around and you can pick up which ever ones you want. If there’s anything you want that you can’t see, or anything hot/ fresh you can just order that and once done someone will pass it over on the carousel for you so no one needs to walk dishes over to you. The dishes all come on different coloured plates or bowls which correlate with their prices so once you’re done the colours are just totted up and that’s how your bill is created which is pretty cool. It means you can order but if you’re not quite full you can grab another dish as you go.

I don’t know if all YO! Sushi branches are laid out like the Watford one but the chefs work in an open kitchen in the middle of the carousel wheel meaning you can watch them making up your food which is fascinating. The art of sushi making looks so easy when you watch them but I bet I’d do so badly if I tried myself. As we hadn’t been to a YO! Sushi before the staff were great with explaining how it all worked and we were then left with the massive menu’s to make some food decisions.

Green Wednesday at YO! Sushi

We went on a Wednesday evening which was Green Wednesday where a whole selection of the veggie/ vegan food is just £2.30 compared to their normal prices, this was much to my mum’s delight as she’s a huge fan of veggie food. I think it was the longest period of time we’d sat there staring at a menu trying to decide what we wanted, the choices were so vast, and because they recommend 4-5 dishes each we had some serious decisions to make.

We both opted to start with something from the cold carousel and I grabbed a simple salmon nigiri which was beautiful smoked salmon and a bed of rice. The dish itself was so simple but it tasted incredible and you could really tell how fresh the salmon was, I could have actually stopped there and just had about 4 of these and been satisfied. My mum picked up what she thought was the Kicking Salmon Roll which is salmon, avocado and cream cheese, but she accidentally picked up the Dragon Roll as they looked similar (even though they were on different coloured plates)- Rookie mistake!

YO! Sushi Watford food review

Thankfully our server was on hand and got a fresh batch of the Kicking Salmon Roll made and sent over so she got to taste both of them. After much deliberation my mum picked three fresh/ hot dishes including the Beetroot Salmon which not only looked amazing in colour but was such a tasty spin on typical salmon. She grabbed a portion of the Spicy Seafood Ramen which was prawns, salmon, squid and vegetables in a hot & spicy kimchi broth with fresh noodles, and considering the fact that she had a small portion it was a really good size. The spice did have quite a kick to it, probably a bit much for me but it’s all in the name. The final dish she opted for was the vegetable fried rice which was a great way to soak up the rest of the broth from the ramen.

Hot food at YO! Sushi Watford

I went away from too much seafood and started off with some Katsu Chicken which was so crispy and tender, definitely one of my favourite dishes, then I grabbed some chicken gyozas which were soft and tender in the middle with crispy edges which added a bit of texture. I also grabbed some popcorn shrimp which was covered in sweet chilli sauce and was some of the best shrimp I’ve ever had. I don’t know if it was the sauce or the fact that the shrimp had a slight crunch to it but it was incredibly tasty. And finally I opted for the Takoyaki Dough balls which were lightly battered dough balls with octopus and classed as Osaka’s No.1 street food, so it would have been rude not to give it a go. I loved the contrast in texture between the crispy dough exterior and the melt in the middle filling, definitely a nice twist on a classic dough ball I always go for when eating out.

I am a huge fan of restaurants where you can sample lots of different dishes and not have to make one decision for a main meal which is something I really loved about YO! Sushi. Plus you don’t have to order all at once, you can try some bits and then see how you feel before committing to more as the food is made and comes out so quickly. As you can see from some of the photos we had a lot of food crammed on our table at times which made us very happy.

For someone who isn’t a typical sushi fan I had a great experience, and I even think I could bring Luke along who is a really fussy eater as there are some fried chicken bits, fries and katsu chicken burgers which I am sure he would demolish. They tend to do a lot of deals with Cineworld which we have annual passes for so we’ll have to go and check it out again soon!

Check out more of my restaurant reviews in Watford here.

Have you ever been to a YO! Sushi? Would you ever be tempted to try if not?

Pin It