On my first visit to Yasuke an old friend and I decided to catch up over Japanese cuisine. After looking at Yelp for suggestions of a good authentic Japanese restaurant in McAllen it was of no surprise to me to see Kumori at the top of the charts. Pfffft no sir, today we are looking for a full Japanese cuisine experience. We decided to try Yasuke. We were immediately greeted by friendly staff who was very eager to tend to our hungry stomachs. We both went with the ramen noodles. It was exquisite. The waiter was quick to bring out our good and drinks. The dishes are served handsomely and the chef spares no aesthetic value in his food. By the time I knew I was done with my bowl without ever having thought about my silverware. The Japanese ambient just put me right in the middle of a Meiji Period ramen shop since I had my huge ramen bowl served with egg, pork belly, and beef. I highly recommend Yasuke as your destination for great authentic Japanese food in McAllen. Great job Yasuke team! Keep up the amazing business.
This has to be the best, most authentic sushi restaurant in the valley. Unique delectable rolls, Korean dishes and sashimi. This is our favorite place to go. I highly recommend this place!! Service is also excellent with friendly and helpful servers that will assist you in choosing the perfect meal for you! Well done�
I’ve been here twice and the service is excellent and the food is amazing. I highly recommend the Bento boxes. It’s a bit too dim for my taste especially because I get food comas right after I eat but I still recommend the place. Take a pillow to nap
My favorite place for sushi in the RGV. I love the ambiance, the staff, and most importantly, the food! Tonight we had the Yasuke Boat and it was more than satisfying and an excellent deal as well. Don't pass this place up!
Best sushi in town! The spicy chicken ramen is to die for! Fried soft shell crab appetizer is perfection! Great atmosphere and service too. We will definitely be back.
One of the best restaurants in the RGV! The food is excellent and the service is amazing!
The staff is friendly and food tastes awesome. I’ve had the ramen, sushi, udon, asparagus, seaweed salad & more. It’s a great restaurant to stop by in.
The waiters where very attentive and recommend my friend and me some of their favorites. The food...omg so delicious and fresh! Had an amazing experience and I will definitely come back!
Awesome food, service and atmosphere. I love that it’s a mix of Japanese and Korean. My favorite place to eat when I visit McAllen!
By far the best sushi in McAllen. Exquisite food, place, service and environment. This is the only sushi restaurant I recommend in town. Excellent!!!
Very attentive service and fantastic sushi. There are some restaurants you go to and just fall in love immediately. I can't tell you how welcome I felt as I walked through the doors of Yasuke. Every single member on the wait staff was friendly and has huge smiles on their faces. The atmosphere was so laid back and relaxed. I only tired one roll- the Tropical roll which was crab, avocado topped with salmon and spicy mayo. Excellent choice! I will be back soon.
I am visiting the Valley, for business. What an amazing surprise to find this little jewel located across from my hotel. I searched Zomato for an outstanding restaurant in the area, and it was outside my door. The sushi was good but they serve it with with 4, tasting of tiny Japanese/Korean salads, that were all very tasty. My sushi was fresh and served at proper temp. The service was OUTSTANDING!!!! I wasn't waited on by just "my waiter", but by any one of the staff that walked by and saw I needed something. I no sooner sat down an empty glass, than it was filled. I am a big service person. I appreciate when a person or business goes out of its way to make me comfortable. This place did just that! Thank you Yasuke, for an awesome experience!
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This is primarily a review of the sushi.
I've eaten sushi at a lot of places in a lot of locations. The Valley has never really had an authentic sushi scene ever since I acquired the sushi taste and has also never really had a good grasp as to what sushi really is, or what it really should be. Delicious fish, or other creatures from the sea, seasoned with a brush of soy sauce on top of vinegared sushi rice.
Sure most sushi places in The Valley serve nigiri and sashimi, but it's always the same variety of fish served at the same temperature and quality. There is no preparation of the fish they serve, no attention to flavor or tenderness or texture or color. After the fish arrives vacuum frozen (which is complete fine), it is then thawed, and then cut to serve.
Yasuke is no different.
It's the same style of sushi you can find at every single sushi bar in The Valley. Cold fish on top of (sometimes) cold rice. There has been an occasion where the rice was actually at proper temperature and I could really taste great flavor in the sushi, which was a pleasant surprise.
Other than that, it's your standard sushi place. They have your standard favorite sushi rolls that everyone tends to like and I am no different. A good Rainbow Roll is something I love to indulge in. But here in The Valley I'm always in search of the type of sushi that melts in your mouth and leaves you hanging your head in disbelief as to what is going on and I have yet to find such an experience.
HOWEVER, it's what's off the menu that keeps me coming to this place. Up until a few months ago I was under the impression that I had to venture outside of The Valley to find one particular delicacy that I am in love with, and that is Uni (or sea urchin). Not only that, but finding a place that serves fatty cuts of fish is also rare.
The two off menu items that I've tried is the uni and what looks to be chutoro, which is a medium fatty tuna. While the chutoro was a decent piece of fish, it also lacked that attention to detail that I previously mentioned, but I'm still a sucker for toro cuts so I made the best of it.
The prize winner here, though, was the uni. The quality of the uni was sublime and looked/tasted like Santa Barbara sea urchin with the golden brown color and a sweet flavor. It lacked a sprinkle of soy sauce for season but even without it was a perfect experience.
It's an above average sushi place due to some of the off menu items, but not something that delivers a religious experience.
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Last year, we went to Japan and visited the cities of Osaka, Koyasan, Kyoto, Hakone, and Tokyo. We had an amazing experience then and had many delicious experiences with many kinds of dishes and since being back in the US, we've tried many a Japanese restaurant. With that background in mind, the atmosphere in Yasuke was reminiscent of many of the locally-owned establishments that we visited and really made the visit we had to make to McAllen (due to a family emergency) a sort of tribute to our anniversary of our Japan trip. In the first place, the server (Irene? - Not to be rude, but the name did not seem to fit the pretty Asian girl that served us) gave an excellent recommendation for sake (and no, it was not the most expensive). Then my husband's order of katsudon was very close to the presentation (and taste!) of what we had in Koya-san (after a trip to the temples). While I waited for my own dish - a ramen bowl - I noticed the condiment basket and was (pleasantly!) surprised to find a bottle of S&B Nanami Togarashi (a chili powder & sesame seed blend) in there. When my ramen bowl came, I was not all that surprised to find noodles that one would buy in the ninety-eight cent bag packet at your local grocery store, but the noodle is NOT what makes ramen special! The broth in this ramen made the whole bowl (pork, kamaboko!, egg, etc) the best approximation to the ramen I had in the back alleys of Tokyo. We did not expect to find this level of Japanese cuisine in Texas, much less the RGV, so we were absolutely DELIGHTED (and floored) to find this place literally next door to our hotel! We WILL be eating here again next time we're down here - we even bought a pair of salmon onigiri to bring back to the hotel for midnight snacks. I'm just sad that they don't offer breakfast for us to indulge in before we leave tomorrow morning.
Thank you for making our Japan Trip Anniversary absolutely special!
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A hidden gem. I am very new to the area and Japanese food is the love of my life so I was excited to try this place out. First off, the food is absolutely delicious and I have not tried a single thing I didn't love. There is plenty of chicken, beef, and vegetarian options for people that are not into sushi or sashimi. The restaurant is warmly lit and there is always soft and relaxing music playing, which gives the whole place a romantic or secluded dinning experience (no screaming children. yay!). The staff was very, very attentive and very kind. They came to check on me often but not so much that it was bothersome, I feel like they definitely went the extra mile to make sure my dining experience was pleasant. I don't know how often this happens but the times that I have been there they are always giving a little something extra. Little appetizers and this last time I got a little glass of watermelon water near the end of dinner, it was so charming (and yummy). I think it has something to do with what they have on hand that day, whatever it is, its such a nice little surprise. Overall, I feel like this place goes out of it's way to provide a nice quite place to enjoy some really good Japanese food, I would definitely recommend it.
Very clean tasting sushi. Sweet flavored fish. Great service. Found my new sushi spot in the 956.
Expensive. I am not a fan of sushi. This was all for my partner and a friend. Tried a handful of rolls. I recall eel and avocado and the tempura rolls. It was alright, but for 90$ I would rather have had a good steak.
Best sushi/japanese food in the RGV, hands down. Been here several times and everything ive tried has been great
Good sushi, fried rice and miso soup. Gyoza was O. K. A little too greasy. Easy walk from the airport.
Willliam Atherton-Powell
+4.5
Good Sushi, Attractive Restaurant. Good sushi and Japanese and Korean food at a reasonable price. Very attentive staff. They have an actual sushi bar.
Great service! A lovely place for a special occasion. Food was fresh, staff was attentive and the experience was soothing. Will come back again.
Must try! After craving sushi and ramen noodles we decided to give this place a try. The freshness of the food is unmeasured. The combination of flavors on the ramen noodles is one of the best i have ever tried. I highly recommend The Fortune roll, and the ramen noodles with tempura shrimp. Our waiter Fernando was very helpful and attentive after explaining to him it was our first time trying the place. Great atmosphere and staff; overall my husband and I had a great experience and we’ll definitely visit this place again.
Finally made it to Yasuke in South Mcallen. I wanted to take my wife to a different place for dinner and since I’m not an avid fan of Zushi rolls or asian cuisine, we decided to give Yasuke a try. Upon entering I Immediately noticed the ambience was so nice, the restaurant was full of guests and there were more in waiting. We were immediately tended to by the staff and the young lady who took care of our table was so helpful and attentive. When they brought the food to our table it was simply amazing. It was fresh, tasted great and we decided that we plan to go back soon, but invite some friends. The owner, Alex was so nice that I made sure to take the time to write this review and I gave it a 5 ⭐️ rating. Keep up the great work Alex.
Such a great place to have a nice meal with family or friends. The atmosphere is very welcoming and comfortable, they have a large variety of food. Not only do they have delicious Japanese cuisine but they also have Korean and Chinese available to your preferences. Such delicious food and provides excellent service!
Positive vibes, fresh seafood, extensive menu, fast speed service and the friendliest employees.
Drinks are strong and delicious and the food is always to die for. I dream about the soft shell crab ✨ if I lived in McAllen I would go more often but I do drive all the way from Brownsville every other week or so just to grab some sushi
Everything is delicious. You can’t go wrong with anything, really. I tried the spicy Ramen and it was amazing. Fried veggies, pork belly slices, friend rice – it was all great!
Very good flavors. It's a lot of food so please order with that in mind. Customer service is great and super friendly. Will be returning.
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