Yanagi Japanese Bistro

I love the ambiance of this restaurant! It is a bit dark inside, but the lights they have over the table give you enough brightness to read the menu. The music is nice, different from most places.
Must try: spicy tuna w/​crispy rice & tuna tataki roll!
Overall I would say 4.5÷5, service was good at first when it wasn’t busy, but as business picked up… Well, we went to the front to pay after we asked for our check and never received it after 5 minutes. The server we asked probably forgot, since she ended up tending to a table next to us every time she walked by, no biggie! :)

The food is good here but I am very disappointed as I just redeemed my free edamame beans and I have been told they don’t offer that .yet I was able to get the offer on my Unilocal.It’s just beans for about $ 6 that made me not come here anymore. It is not my fault that this offer is still available on Unilocal and I think it should have been honored. :((

Wowza! Über impressed. Decisions decisions! What dish to chow down on when it’s pouring rain like the flow of the Columbia River! Udon? Sashimi? Tonkatsu?
Well, if you order a chicken kats meal, you get a bowl of rice, the chicken Tonkatsu & what wasn’t described in the menu, a rather large salad. I was delightfully surprised when the server delivers the meal. The chicken breast was incredibly moist. Trust me, this is a first for me. It was tender and finga lickin good (oops wrong restaurant). They didn’t scrimp on the serving size and condiments either!
I also had the Tobiko with quail egg and a Toro sashimi. I ate them as my dessert. They were that incredible. Again, the portions were ginormous compared to other sushi joints I’ve visited.
Staff is very cordial, friendly and food delivery is prompt. You are greeted with «konbamwa (evening salutation) on your entrance and «oyasumi nasai». I hope I responded correctly by uttering «Hajimemashite».
The vibe in the restaurant is like going to a W Hotel or flying on Virgin. Very chic. The background music was upbeat and understated. If you wanted a very upscale restaurant for a date night where you can hear one another or pop «the question», this is the place. There’s ample off street parking; outdoor seating (weather permitting); and last note: they don’t allow you to bring your own beverage. Leave it in the car.
Sayōnara.

The restaurant is small and quaint. The service is mediocre but the food is spot on! The seared ahi was absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to go back!

This is our favorite sushi takeout place for all those at-​home date nights due to having small children. The food is really good and fresh. We order the spicy tuna on crispy rice which comes with a really good dipping sauce (not soy). We also have the baked salmon roll, the yellowtail and the crunch roll (shrimp tempura). The restaurant takes orders quickly and prepares the food timely. It’s close by and convenient to Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan — right on Artesia btwn Hawthorne and Aviation. We dined in once and it has a dive-​y feeling. It was not for us, but the food was still great. Definitely better as a pick up joint. Recommend it to everyone!

Started off with yellowtail sashimi– refreshing. Also had some seaweed salad– classic. Tried the 720ml Sakemoto Junmai Sake not bad for $ 20. Also, the Asahi to cleanse the palate.
We also had the half and half hand roll– a bit smaller then I remember but the dipping sauce was as delicious as always. The Baja Fresh will be on our list again. And the Spicy Albacore Tataki Roll-​spicy soft shell crab, cucumber, wrapped with spicy tuna, topped with seared albacore, jalapeño with spicy garlic ponzu sauce. Explosion of tastes in your mouth. Leaves the perfect amount of heat afterwards. 3.5 stars for today’s fare. Service was just okay. Our sushi chefs did not entertain us– like our old one used to. I asked for Tamari and I got the gluten free «lecture» which consists of, well, you can’t have anything with sauces in it. I get it. I really do. But, why do you NOT have Tamari instead of soy sauce. What’s the big deal, seriously!!!

So I decided to give this place another chance for the third time they close at 10pm. girlfriend & I walk in @ 9:18pm and we were told you have five mins before last call, we just decided to walk out since we felt so pressured/​rushed the food is amazing but I won’t be back since the business hours are not reliable at all.

Although they recently cut down their menu to more of the basics, this place still has a good selection of food and especially American-​style rolls– if you’re craving something like that. It’s not high on the authenticity list, but it’s nice on the ambience and the fish is fresh. I’m determined to try these new saketinis they have, but I keep ordering beer instead.

We set on bar for 10 minutes, 3 sushi Chef never ask anything, even didn’t say HI to us.
Fish is ok, service is ok
I will go other 3~4 miles to Torrance for good sushi.
And NOT Korean shshi.

I love this place… been coming here since middle school. Oh how times fly!
Super fatty salmon just the way I like it!
I always order the rattlesnake roll (eel avocado shrimp tempura) and Alaskan (California roll with fatty pieces of salmon on top).
The soft shell crab appetizer is delicious as a starter… the shell is so soft you can eat the whole crab. Super crunchy and they serve it with a light salad.
Best deal is the lunch bento box served from 11am-2:30pm. 2 items for 9.5 or 3 items for $ 12.5.
Comes with cucumber salad, salad, rice, miso soup, and you can choose your entrée items from beef teriyaki, sashimi, sushi, various tempuras, gyoza, and many more options.
I never worry about my water glass being empty and the servers and sushi chefs always say hello when I come in. Of course now I come so often I get a, «oh haha didn’t we see you yesterday:)»
Cool place for a date night, it’s pretty dimly lit and nice modern interior. There’s sushi bar and little tables. I see a lot of people eating by themselves at the bar so that’s an option if you want a quick bite. A couple of TV’s around usually playing some kind of sports channel.
Overall, this place can keep taking my money and I’ll always be happy.

Extremely friendly team welcomes you in the door. I came with my 6 y/​o for a late dinner and they were more than accommodating. Their miso soup was exactly what you’d hope for, and they we’re willing make my favorite roll custom for me with an ingredients list. Awesome!
Can’t go wrong with this place. Cool, dark vibe, and awesome service. I’ll be back with the wife.
The locals seem to love this place… Seems like the staff knows a lot of the guests and greet them by name as they walk in!
Looking forward to earning «local» status here!
Give it a try! Unless you have bad taste and don’t like sushi…
Cheers!

This place is okay.
I came here Friday night with my boyfriend, wait wasn’t too long. This place is TINY.
I ordered the uni sushi and also a spicy scallop roll. I think my boyfriend ordered the Sexy Roll and also some scallop roll? I don’t remember. The chef said he made the roll extra sexy, which was funny. Then we ordered two large Asahi, but only after flagging down one of the servers. If we didn’t say anything, we would’ve never been offered drinks. That was strange to me bc typically servers ask you what you’d like to drink right when they seat you or shortly after.
The sushi was good, but for the amount we spent ($ 70+ with tip), I’d rather go to Gatten Sushi and get more variety.

What a memorable experience!
Sizzling teriyaki chicken with sweet onion sauce. Yummy, different, and generous.
Blue crab handroll — another generous amount of food filled with rice, crispy/​baked blue crab, light sauce (maybe teriyaki), and wrapped with soy. The largest handroll I’ve ever eaten!
That spicy yellowtail handroll though. You take a regular yellowtail handroll and couple it with spicy sauce and kaiware sprouts and it’s money. I’d eat it all day every day.
Vegetable tempura is the only dish where it was nothing to write home about.
Service was good, seating is tight, parking is tight, and ambience is reminiscent of the W hotel — yuppie boutique with electro pop background music bouncing.
I will be back!!!

Yanagi is a nice local restaurant, it’s a bit more formal in presentation and ambiance than it’s neighboring competitor, Rice Things across the street. Where Rice Things is where you go with friends and family more casually, Yanagi, is maybe more like the place you’d take a date or hold a business meeting. Both are of similar quality for Japanese food, ‘tho Yanagi’s portions are a tad smaller and a bit higher priced.
Their bento boxed combinations at Yanagi are good, and they do have lunch specials here.
Parking is very easy, there’s a parking lot, plus the adjacent residential streets in the neighborhood provides ample parking as well.
The service here is excellent.

We gave Yanagi another chance after I carefully looked at Unilocal reviews. Since we were not pleased with the fusion rolls and sushi last time, we ordered the spicy tuna over crispy rice, the seaweed salad and the tempura udon.
The spicy tuna was beautifully plated. The texture was wonderful, but the taste was a bit lackluster. I guess we just don’t care for the fish here. ⁴⁄₅ because it is so cute
The seaweed salad was standard and good. ⁴⁄₅
The udon noodles were a solid 4.25÷5 with the special, spicy powder. The tempura is nicely fried. They give you two pieces of shrimp. The noodles are a perfect consistency, and the spicy powder makes the broth tasty.
The Kirin Draft beer met with expectations.
A huge difference this time was the service. We were greeted pleasantly when we arrived, had very attentive service, and the vibe of the place was warm and friendly. I am glad we gave it another chance. I will try their cooked entrees in the future.

The best time to eat here is during lunch when they have their lunch specials. But although the combinations are pretty good, be careful of the time since they will make an issue if you walk in a half hour before the lunch hour is officially over (which I think is 3:00). I came with one of my friends and we had to assure the waitress that we’d order and be done eating before their end time. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want to serve another paying customer, but they were anxious to shut down the kitchen I suppose. It was not relaxing to eat while watching the clock and being reminded of it.
Dinner is pricey, but since this place is close by, we stop in occasionally when we’re in the mood for sushi. One more thing, bring a flashlight if you go at night! It’s really dark at the tables.

Our go to sushi spot! I’ve been too many times to count! Man, they must get the first pick on fish because it’s the best sushi I have found in the area. Also, I’m talking strictly sushi and sashimi… I cannot vouch for their specialty rolls because their fish is so out of this world that we’ve never ordered their specialty rolls.
We ALWAYS order:
Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna — literally the best I’ve ever had and it never disappoints
Spicy Garlic Albacore Sushi — SERIOUSLY. THIS IS TO DIE FOR. MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH. Not really spicy at all… but so good.
Other usual suspects:
Vegetable Tempura — Nothing special here… I just love fried veggies
Philly Roll — Made with salmon and generous amounts of cream cheese
Spicy Yellowtail roll — mouth watering!
Seared Salmon sushi — awesome
Plus I’ve tried so many others, and literally this is NOT A SINGLE thing I’ve regretted ordering. You cannot go wrong here.
Service is good, friendly, and prompt. Only bad thing, is it’s a small place so sometimes you have to wait a little for a table. Since it’s close to our house we usually come on the week days to avoid large crowds.
Be sure to ask for a VIP card if you plan on coming a handful of times. Each dollar you spend, you accrue money on your card. Once you make $ 10, you can put it towards your next dinner! :) My husband and I spend about $ 50 when we come (this usually includes a hot sake and a sapporo) so after about 6 – 7 times, we are able to use our bonus!

Yanagi is a small venue on the south side of Artesia Boulevard. Bf and I stopped here for lunch.
Service was prompt. We enjoyed the rolls and the shrimp tempura.

Overall we had a good experience, but I’m not sure if we’ll be back. The food was a bit pricy for the quality and the service. We came here for dinner around 8pm and waited about 10 – 15 mins to sit at the sushi bar. While waiting, I asked the hostess to see a menu and he pointed to the menu outside instead of handing me one of the many menus at the counter.
I had difficulty selecting a cold sake since they are so many options and the female server was kinda giving me a hard time for being so indecisive. I finally decided on a sweeter yougurty sake that we really enjoyed. I know she was being playful but I’m not sure that I liked it when she said I was a difficult person to my boyfriend. She never really came back to ask us how our meal was or if we needed anything. We always had to hunt someone down for things we need, which is kinda annoying particularly when the prices are pretty steep.
Overall, the food was good but the fish just wasn’t as fresh as it should be for the price they charge. Sitting at the sushi bar looking at the various fish wasn’t really appealing. The seaweed salad was standard. I really liked the spicy tuna lettuce wrap, never had anything like that before so I definitely give them stars for being creative, there are so many different options. The second roll we got was the rattlesnake roll, it was ok but I felt like there wasn’t enough eel. I really liked the effect of the cream cheese on the warm baked lobster roll. We ended our dinner with an order of tempura green tea ice cream, which was great and a large portion. My bf kept thinking it was two orders but it was one.
The parking lot was full but we easily parked on the street.

I believe Yanagi is an excellent spot for those close to the restaurant. With the glut of very good, if not exceptional, sushi places in the South Bay, Yanagi plays well in the local Redondo/​Manhattan market. I have come here on several occasions, mostly because of the lunch specials. What I appreciate is that the lunch specials are available Mon through Saturday. Yes, you got that right, no stingy restrictive action here. I usually order the Nigri 8 piece sushi lunch special and it’s very good. You get an assortment of fresh-​tasting fish along with a couple of cooked ones (shrimp and egg). The salmon and albacore were spot on with hints of smokiness from the albacore and slippery/​buttery flavor from the salmon.
Service was friendly and prompt. The place is on the smaller side, so be prepared to park on the street if the dedicated lot is full. Hot tea is complementary. Enjoy Unilocalers.