Now music major, Alec Vargas, says his pick will offer a dining experience that everyone will enjoy.
It's located in Boca Raton and it's called Sushi Yama Asian Bistro.
Hi, my name is Adam Phouthavong.
I'm the owner of Sushi Yama Asian Bistro.
We've been here on this location in Boca Raton since 1996, December, 1996.
The most problem of our menu, the item, is a signature roll, Super Rainbow, Super Yama, and Lobster Bombs, of course.
The first time here, I come to this space.
I want to create something like some part of the authentic and some part of the modern, like contemporary.
And to mix it up with the young kids, like sitting on the floor, which is the kid, or the young teenager, they love that.
Sushi Yama Asian Bistro is a great place and delicious for Asian cuisine.
I know you love this place.
I do love place.
Yeah.
Tell me first about the location.
The location's actually really nice.
It's in Boca.
Like, when I was actually driving there, I was really surprised.
Like, just driving there was really nice.
Like, there was, like, nice lakes on the road going there.
So I felt like I was in a real Is it in a strip?
Yeah, it's in a strip.
It's in a strip mall actually.
Okay.
It's really nice.
Like, I wouldn't say it's in, like, some, like, insanely nice location, but, like, for what it is, it's like a hidden gem is what I'd call it.
Lorraine, what did you think?
I was surprised when I walked into the restaurant.
It looked like a small little entrance, and all of a sudden you go in there, it's a huge restaurant.
Is there outdoor seating?
There is.
Do you know?
Yes.
Is there, Alec?
Yeah, I wouldn't recommend sitting outside though, unless you're really just, like, wanting to be outside.
'Cause, like, the inside really brings you into, like, the experience of itself.
Like, you can get sushi anywhere, but, like, if you want to have a real sushi experience, go inside 'cause it's really authentic.
Do you usually sit at the bar?
No, I actually sat at a booth.
Okay.
And they actually, what's really cool about the place, they have, like, booths you could sit on, like, traditional style.
So you could go in and you like sit on the floor, like family-style eating like they would do in Asia.
So I thought that was a really cool addition.
Oh, they have floor seating too?
Yeah, they do.
Okay.
Oh, I didn't know that.
I love that.
Yeah.
What'd you think about the service, Larry?
I thought the service was great.
Our waiter didn't rush us.
He gave us all the time we needed, and even made a few suggestions.
So Lovely.
We loved it.
[Michelle] Do you eat Japanese food a lot?
Yeah, we have sushi every once in a while.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So it was good.
So tell me what you had this last time you went.
So I had just an assortment of everything, honestly.
Like, we start with some appetizer.
Like, I always start with a miso soup.
It's just my favorite, miso soup I love.
And the miso soup here was actually really good, so I liked that.
But we also had steamed gyoza.
That was really good.
[Michelle] You wanna tell people what gyoza is?
[Alec] I could kind of tell you, but I don't know It's a Japanese pork dumpling.
Okay, thank you.
'Cause I didn't know how to word that.
So, I had that.
I can always be your culinary guide.
Thank you.
And so you can get it usually fried or, well pan-fried, or steamed and you ordered steamed.
Yeah, we had it steamed.
And the sauce that came with it honestly made the dish 10 times better.
I mean, the pork itself was already good, but the sauce was amazing.
What else?
And then for my entree, we got a bunch of rolls.
I shared it with my friends.
So we had like the rainbow roll, a dragon roll, spicy tuna roll.
What did you have?
I had the Vietnamese pancake as an appetizer.
Oh!
And it was really crispy.
[Michelle] Did you like it?
I love Japanese pancakes.
Yeah, I loved it.
It's so delicious, and it had little shredded vegetables inside of it.
And I believe it had some shrimp in it too.
[Michelle] Did it have, okay.
It was really good.
And a dipping sauce to go with it, right?
Yes.
Yeah, a nice, sweet dipping sauce.
[Michelle] Oh, lovely.
What else did you have?
I had the teriyaki seafood.
Okay.
And Which means what?
[Lorraine] Well it had like scallops, it had lobster also.
Oh wow.
Shrimps.
All with teriyaki sauce?
Yes.
Okay.
That was really nice.
You also had an udon soup.
Udon noodle soup.
Yes.
I think it was called the Nabeyaki?
Yes.
Is that true?
[Lorraine] Yeah, it was really [Michelle] What flavor was that?.
[Lorraine] It was like a beef broth flavor.
Oh nice.
Yeah.
Udon is my son's favorite.
Larry?
We had the Celebration roll!
The celebration roll.
I love that name.
I don't know what it means, but I just love that it's called that.
[Larry] It's a mix.
I think that's crab.
I wouldn't remember all the ingredients, but it's so good.
We put the little wasabi on it and the ginger.
[Michelle] Okay.
[Larry] And you dip it into the sauce.
And we also had... We've been there before and we've had it, the lobster bomb.
[Michelle] What's that?
It's pieces of lobster fried, rolled up, and it is really good.
You all had dessert.
Let's start with you, Alec.
So we had the Yama donuts.
They're like little, they're like fluffy balls, basically.
They're, I don't know.
What do you say about it?
They're like I'm not gonna answer all of your questions.
I need to, like, phone of friend or something.
So they're like fluffy balls, basically.
They're crusted on the outside.
I'm pretty sure they're fried, okay?
And then they have, like, a white dipping sauce.
It's, like, very sugary.
It's very sweet.
Yeah.
[Michelle] Probably condensed milk.
[Alec] Condensed milk, yeah.
But it was pretty good.
[Michelle] It sounds like a Thai donut almost.
Yeah, they were basically Thai donuts.
But I guess they just called them Yama donuts, 'cause why not, you know?
So I had that.
They were pretty sweet but they weren't too sweet.
You know, like, usually after having so much seafood you don't want something too sugary.
So I think that was, like, the perfect dessert to go to.
See, and I do.
I feel like if I'm eating clean, I need something really naughty Really?
and dirty at the end.
Oh, I can't, 'cause then I feel like I just wasted the whole thing.
So I just gotta like...
Okay, different schools of thought.
Yes.
What did you have for dessert?
I had the Thai donuts also.
Oh you did?
Yeah.
They were really good.
Nice.
Nice, crispy and sugary on the outside.
[Michelle] They're actually not too hard to make.
Oh?
Yeah.
One day I'll teach y'all how to do that.
[Alec] Please do.
Larry, you had a cheesecake tempura?
Cheesecake tempura.
Wow.
[Larry] So again, deep fried.
My cardiologist Talk about naughty.
[Larry] My.
cardiologist won't like me but No.
But it was really good.
[Michelle] Did it have any kind of sauce to go with it?
[Larry] Oh yeah, it did.
It had a chocolate like sauce that you could pour over it.
[Michelle] Ah, I knew you were gonna...
I just had a feeling [Larry] You knew the chocolate was coming out?
[Michelle] I did, I did.
[Larry] Yeah, and it was really good.
Alec, you had a lot of rolls, which can add up.
What do you think about the prices?
Honestly, for the amount of roles we got, I was actually pretty surprised with, like, the overall price, 'cause we had appetizers, rolls, and dessert and we spent maybe around, like, with tip, like, $130.
Which really for two people, I'd say is not that bad.
Like, usually, like, if you go to a higher-end sushi restaurant, you're gonna spend the same and maybe get three rolls and an appetizer.
And we also had drinks.
So I mean Oh.
What'd you have for drinks?
Oh, I had a Sapporo.
I like the Japanese style beer.
Like, my dad would always get that one when we were kids.
So I kind of picked up on that.
Nice.
And it's pretty good.
I like it.
Did anybody else have any type of either sake or beer?
I had a lychee martini.
[Michelle] Oh, and how was that?
[Larry] That was really good.
Well, Alec, Sushi Yama was your pick.
Sum it up for us, please.
Scintillating.
It was amazing.
Lorraine?
I thought it was really very nice.
I don't usually eat sushi, so there are other things on the menu that you could find if you're not a sushi fan.
Larry, sum it up for us.
Good sushi, good service.
A nice place to go to.
Well, you can enjoy some sake at Sushi Yama Asian Bistro located at 7050 West Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton.
They are open daily for lunch and dinner.
Reservations are accepted where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $45.
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