Yama Asian Eatery — Restaurant in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

It’s that time of the week again, my favourite day, or rather, post my favourite day. On Thursdays, Tumi and I venture out on a food excursion. Near or far, we don’t discriminate, the only rule is to eat good food, and lots of it. This past week we visited Yama Asian Eatery in Franschhoek. As the name says, it’s Asian inspired, where authenticity meets elegance. This is the third restaurant under Ryan Shell, and since we loved Oku and Eleven, we knew we were in good hands. The prior times we did the tasting menus, but this one is a little more casual, still luxurious, just more relaxed. We were excited for Asian tapas, sushi, and of course a few cocktails, because why not.

After a quick hop through the rain, we were safe and sound in Yama. Since it’s still winter we couldn’t sit in their gorgeous courtyard, but the stunning interior made up for it. The earthy tones and dim lighting created sophisticated coziness, somehow open yet intimate. Minimalist yet intentional, with subtle luxury vibes. If zen married glam, and their child went to culinary school, you’d get Yama. Their chairs? Hella comfortable. Within seconds, we were greeted by Ryan himself. He joked about opening a fourth restaurant for us to try, he might have been joking, but we weren’t. He is so hands on, visiting all his restaurants, tasting, helping out. Leadership like that is inspiring.

While browsing the drinks menu, we were surprised by complimentary snacks. Prawn crackers with fermented peanut dip, light, crispy, addictive, with a salty spicy kick that left my lips tingling. Our waiter, attentive as ever, noticed I had no drink and recommended the Wasabi Mule. It arrived in a frosted glass, golden and mysterious. Yuzu citrus, subtle wasabi heat, rounded by ginger ale’s gentle sweetness, fiery, citrusy, clean. A palate cleanser and wake up call in one.

Next came the crispy squid, piled high, crunchy and savoury with sauces beneath, deep umami black bean mayo and a surprising apple sauce for sweet savory play. Pickled cucumber on the side balanced it all out. To contrast, we chose the broccoli, vibrant and simple, served with almonds, microgreens, delicate Thai green curry sauce, and ponzu. Healthy yet wholesome, before the indulgence ahead.

Then two bamboo steamers arrived. First, wagyu beef bao, pillowy buns hugging juicy, melt in your mouth wagyu with smoky, umami depth, carrot kimchi crunch, and sweet chilli mayo tying it together. One of my favourite bites of the day. The chicken gyoza were delicate parcels with corn puree sweetness, bok choy freshness, and charred pops of colour. Comforting yet elegant.

For cocktail two, I went with the playful “Thai me up, Thai me down”, bright neon green, sweet and syrupy with herbaceous basil and lime. A tropical escape with a grown up twist.

Of course, we had to have sushi. The rainbow reload roll gleamed with salmon, tuna, avocado, mayo, and teriyaki glaze. Fresh, colourful, satisfying. Then the sleek lemon salmon roll, glossy salmon topped with lemon mayo, zest, and caviar. Silky, fatty salmon with zingy lemon and briny pops. Glamorous and irresistible.

Finally, dessert. The chocolate brownie was fudgy, dense, warm, decadent, better than a relationship, literally. With miso mousse adding salty depth and airy cream balancing richness, this was one of the best brownies of my life.

To close, our waiter brought yuzu sake, sweet citrus tang, sake warmth, sunshine and fire in one sip.

All I can say is thank you Yama for brightening my day. I can highly recommend Yama, Oku, and Eleven. Ryan and team, you are amazing and I hope to see you all soon, with a bao in one hand and a cocktail in the other....

Title: Extremely Disappointing Experience at Yama Asian Eatery - Salmon Poké Bowl

I recently had a meal at Yama Asian Eatery, and I must say it was an extremely disappointing experience from start to finish. I ordered a salmon poke bowl to go, and what I received was far from what I expected.

First and foremost, the absence of rice was perplexing. A poke bowl without rice is like a sandwich without bread—it's a fundamental element that was inexplicably missing. The absence of rice made the entire dish feel incomplete and unsatisfying.

To make matters worse, the items in the bowl were not even properly specified on the menu(items unspecified for the salmon poke bowl: onion, greenbeans, and corn). It's frustrating to order something based on what you believe is being offered, only to receive a mishmash of ingredients that were not accurately described. This level of miscommunication and inaccuracy is completely unacceptable.

As for the ingredients themselves, the majority of what was in the bowl appeared to be stale and seemingly made up of food scraps. The vegetables were limp, wilted, and far from fresh. It's disheartening to see such disregard for the quality of ingredients in a dish that is supposed to be a representation of Asian cuisine.

The only redeeming aspect of the meal was the salmon, which was admittedly good. However, it's not enough to salvage the entire experience. Even though the salmon was satisfactory, it could not compensate for the overall disappointment caused by the lack of rice, the misrepresented ingredients, and the subpar quality of the other components.

If you're looking for a satisfying poke bowl experience, I strongly advise you to steer clear of Yama Asian Eatery. Instead, head to the nearby checkers and opt for their sushi selection. You'll likely have a much better experience simply grabbing a few sushi items and assembling your own bowl. It's disappointing to have such a negative encounter, but I hope my review serves as a cautionary tale for others considering...

I feel sorry for having to do this, but after multiple bad experiences, it seems management/ownership still does not have a clue how bad their takeaway and delivery service is.

The food is excellent, no doubt about it. Most of staff members are really nice. It is just their incredibly bad ordering system: we must have ordered over 25 times, but probably 20/25 orders had simple mistakes, e.g. the order not complete, wrong items, no ginger, soja or wasabi, 1,5-2 hour waiting, wrong address, etc. Frustrating, but just not frustrating enough to complain or write a review ordering from Yama and Oku at the same time is a guarantee for mistakes. We often add Edamame from Oku to the sushi order from Yama, but when they deliver or we collect, most of the time the edamame order is forgotten. Such a waste.

The last orders have just been past my tipping point of frustration: the other week's order only got processed the next morning! Seriously.. We ordered-in but I had to drive to the restaurant to show them my order physically. The next morning I got a call that they received my order asking whether I still wanted it.. tonight's order (also confirmed by email and paid upfront) at 17:30 did not arrive, so I called at 18:30 and was called back 18:40 to get told that (again) the kitchen did not get my order at all. Kids were desperate to get food, so suddenly had to make a plan B and rushed to the grocery store instead. Will probably get my money back, but would not be surprised if they bring the order tomorrow morning...

We probably will forget about this again and come back because the food is so good! However, I truly hope management/ownership reads this so they improve their ordering system...