Yama Sushi

Sushi shops in Brussels tend to appear at every corner or at least that’s the feeling that I get. Yesterday I had lunch with a friend at Yama Sushi, a Japanese restaurant close to the George Henri neighbourhood. It was well hidden and without my friend I wouldn’t have found it. Basically it’s a small restaurant but with a warm atmosphere, not too many tables and you can eat Japanese style sitting on the ground. We reserved the Japanese table to experience it at least once. We first ordered our drinks because we were undecided about our meals. My friend drank something really weird : Iki beer with green tea Yuzu flavour. I didn’t taste it though...

After reading the menu (not a long one if you don’t want sushis) I went for the Sake Teriyaki and my friend took the chicken version. Sake seems to be the name for salmon. We also took Gyoza as a starter, because these raviolis are always good. I didn’t really know what to expect, I’ve eaten lots of Japanese food during my trips to Asia so I’m usually disappointed with the food served in Belgium. Restaurants typically say that they serve Japanese food but most of the time the results is far from what it’s supposed to taste like. This was the case...Because I’m quite certain the gyozas came premade and frozen, the taste is exactly the same as the ones I buy in any Asian supermarket: same form, same filling, same spices, and same taste. So you can’t be fooled. I would have wanted to get home made gyoza and see the difference.

As for our meals they came in a bento box, served in a nice way I admit but the content was not so amazing. While I felt that the rice was properly prepared with mirin and some spices which are typical in Japan, the miso soup and fish were not that great. As for the dessert, we had Mochi (rice paste with a sweet red bean filling) but once again nothing to be impressed.

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So my opinion is not so good for this restaurant…Gyoza were not made at the restaurant, I’m 100% positive they come in bags. Same thing for the Mochi (obviously) and beside the rice, I didn’t really felt the japanese taste in my food. I’m not sure I’ll go back there for their lunches but maybe they make incredible sushis...after all the restaurant is called Yama Sushi. Even though the food wasn’t great, they get few points for the atmosphere, the kind staff and the Japanese tables.

Address: Georges Henri Avenue, 223 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert

Price: One starter, two lunches and one dessert, plus drink was 43€ so 21.5€/person. I find the price high for the quality of the food. Maybe the sushis are better but I’ll have to go back to find out.

Rating: I won’t go there for the lunches, but the atmosphere, the Japanese table (eating on the floor) was fun and the staff was kind. So I wouldn’t recommend it if you want to have a real taste of Japan.