YAYOI San Mateo

I ordered a BBQ Eel rice and a Chicken Katsu, and I paid for about $48. I have to say the price are really expensive for these small portions. I ordered two dishes cause I was not full after I ate eel rice which only has 12 small pieces, but my stomach wasn’t that big???? Nothing impressed me, so I think I won’t go there anymore. The service was good though they didn’t accept tips. Maybe that’s the reason why their dishes are so expensive.

With so many Japanese restaurants in San Mateo, Yayoi stands out from the rest by offering something unique. The focus here is Japanese comfort food, so you won't find sushi here although they do have a dish with raw salmon over rice. They offer mostly set meals with cooked vegetables and meat over rice with sides, and there are a few noodle soup dishes as well (not ramen though). I really like the flavors of the food here, and the ingredients seem good quality. I especially LOVE the soft boiled egg, the yolk was very creamy and the egg white was liquidy and smooth. One minor complaint is that the broth in my sukiyaki was a little too sweet. If you have kids, note that there is only one choice for kids meal set here. But my son loved it as it has a bunch of different things in the set (fried shrimp, chicken karaage, butter corn, udon noodle soup, and a treat of course). I also really like the presentation of the meal sets: the dishes and trays used looked nice.
The restaurant decor is modern and clean, and I really like the ordering system where you pretty much do all your browsing and ordering on an iPad, and you also check out through that iPad. There's no assigned waiter, if you need help just request it from the iPad. I found the service to be pretty timely and the food came out quick enough as well.
The prices may be a bit high, but given that there's a no tipping policy here it all probably works out the same in the end. Still, I probably can't come all the time, but if I'm in the mood for a nicer meal I'll definitely consider this place.

I like the pork chop and fried chicken. Chef is from Japan and heard he will stay until March. I will go try the food before he leaves. Palo Alto location food has gone bad after 3 months it opened. I am still hungry after finishing the food. So it is very pricey in my opinion.

Update: I went back last week but food quality already dropped. Fried pork chop was very bad. Coating was all wrong.

The seating are not as good as the Palo Alto place, but the overall experience is similar. The price has now risen to the Bay Area standard so I don't particularly feel dying to eat here, but the food are still authentic enough you wouldn't be embarrassed to bring friends here.

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