YO! Leicester Highcross — Restaurant in England

Sadly another brand that is going to go down the tube I think. I haven't been to any Yo Sushi for around 5 years. I remember it being a somewhat fun eating experience all round. The bright colours, lights, the not-knowing of what was going to come around on the conveyor belt next, quirky décor. Sadly this couldn't be further from what it is now. We entered the restaurant and immediately noticed that it was nearly empty. We were greeted at the door by a member of staff who showed us to our seats, then he quickly disappeared, no menu given no nothing. I wouldn't of commented on this, however, they expected a 7.5% tip for that! After looking around to find another member of staff, I spotted that there had been some significant changes to how I remembered Yo Sushi. Firstly, the water taps at each sitting area had been removed, now you have to ask for a glass then staff with bring you a jug of water. Next there is no food on the conveyor at all, everything is cooked to order. This really took me back as sitting down and having a look at the full conveyor belt of different foods was a great feature and gave the customer that sort of 'Japanese authentic' feel, as you could imagine it being somewhat similar in Tokyo for example. Maybe they have moved to this model to make it easier to track what each customer has had, as previously they worked on a colour-coded bowl method i.e. at the end of your meal a member of staff would come around and add up all the bowls you had consumed with different colours denoting different prices. I can imagine this would have been a bit tricky for staff and of course the risk of customers hiding bowls to reduced the bill. Either way it added to the experience. Moving on to the menu...wow! what a shock. The menu has been massively reduced in variety. I have several things that I wanted from previous experiences, all of which were no longer available. The ones off the top of my head were Spicy Seafood Udon, various Roe, soft-shell crab, some of the more expensive fish meat. I can understand if the company is in a cost saving phase that they might change the menu, but there really wasn't anything on the menu that jumped out at me, and from what I did order, the prawns were small and all just cheap generic ingredients. On top of all this the physical appearance of this restaurant was not great, dirty floors that need a good mop and a sweep. My seating area was dirty, dirty glasses given. As mentioned at the start, when paying the bill at the end I noticed a 7.5% tip had automatically been added and you have to actually 'opt-out' to remove this. Unbelievable considering all he did was show us to our seats in a nearly empty restaurant, I could of done that myself thanks! Why some UK restaurants suddenly feel that they can add a tip automatically to your bill it is beyond me. WE DONT LIVE IN NORTH AMERICA! STOP THIS! If I do leave a tip it, will be because of outstanding service by someone who has taken care of me in that establishment and it will also be in cash, to that particular person(s) not paying into some giant slush fund from syphoned off card transactions, for which I will never know if that particular person will ever benefit from it.

Very sad to see such a previously cool, clean, tasty brand go this way, but if you want the real Japanese Sushi experience take your money elsewhere, such as a smaller family-run...

I always enjoyed going to Yo Sushi, as it had good food, good service and was generally a nice atmosphere overall. I had ordered takeaway there previously - in 2018, if memory serves - while doing jury service, and it was just as pleasant an experience as eating in.

I went in there last week and - unfortunately - it seems the pandemic has removed almost all of what was nice about it. I went on my lunch break on Saturday a couple of weeks ago to purchase from their takeaway menu, and my experience was a long way from stellar.

In spite of it being lunchtime on Saturday, there were only three or four people in the kitchen and two people front of house. Ordering for takeaway was just done on a screen by the door, which is something I expect from McDonalds or KFC, not a proper restaurant, with the 'waiting area' being a couple of chairs awkwardly placed next to it in the perfect place for you to be in the way of the FOH staff, as well as uncomfortably close to people sitting at the tables around the conveyor on the corner. There was a constant stream of delivery riders coming in and out, which always got priority of attention (presumably due to the review systems on said apps) and the staff all seemed pretty frazzled with it all.

It took around 25 minutes for me to receive my food, which coupled with my walk back to work gave me scant few minutes to scarf it down, which is just as well given the absolutely paltry quantity that I got for the money. The food itself has plainly taken a severe dip in quality too, no doubt due to the severely understaffed kitchen not being able to take due care and attention over it.

The saving grace was the gyoza, which were just as I remembered them being, and are the only reason this review is getting two stars instead of just one.

I would like to say that this experience was not the fault of the kitchen staff nor the front of house staff, but of the plainly abysmal management resulting in people sitting IN the restaurant - who, in my instance, have ALREADY PAID - being given lesser priority than some lazy wastrel who's gone onto ubereats or something.

To Yo Sushi: Either stop doing delivery service, or set up a separate kitchen with separate staff and a collection kiosk for delivery drivers to collect orders from. The system in place is bad for your staff and bad for your customers, and thus bad for business. With places like Bonzai and Kokoro in the city these days, I don't think I will be giving my custom there any time soon. Sort...

You haven’t lived if you’ve not visited Yo Sushi🍣🥢

We visited on a while back for what felt like the first time in forever! And trust me, we do not hold back when we come here…

What we ordered:

Mega Korean Chicken Gyoza: a new addition to the menu and absolutely incredible! Fried gyozas are life. The Korean ketchup and Mayo combination are out of this world. And crispy onions on top too? Win win.

Yo Fries: a staple for any meal at Yo. They’ve recently updated the recipe. At first I wasn’t too sure but the aonori seaweed garnish is a delight. They are so moreish😍.

Crunchy Cali Rolls - surimi, avocado, mayo, and crispy onions. What a combination (dipped in soy sauce as well ofc). I feel like I’ve gone to heaven every time I eat them.

Edamame: I always order this. I just love to munch on it throughout my meal. The salt and spring onions on top are my favourite.

Popcorn Shrimp: oh my lord. These will change your life. Lightly battered tempura prawns in a sweet miso and chilli sauce. Get down to Yo Sushi asap and order these!!

Chicken Katsu Curry: saving the best till last. My go to whenever I visit. Also, an unpopular yet very true opinion: it’s better than Wagamama (like wayyyy better). My favourite thing to order on colder days too. A comforting dish🥰.

Overall: 10/10 ⭐️ (always a 10/10)

I am so glad we discovered this place and have been coming here on a regular for nearly 5 years. I’ve never had a bad experience at any Yo I’ve been to, but the Leicester one will always be my fave🫶🏻The staff are all incredible and so friendly. The manager is so attentive and always looks after us - you can tell he really cares which is so nice to see. The food is always a 10000/10 and I always love trying new additions to their menu. Please trust me when I say you need to get down...