YO! Norwich — Restaurant in Norwich

My adult son and daughter and I were looking forward to out first visit to Yo Sushi since the start of the pandemic and to spending a relaxing time catching up yesterday, having travelled from different parts of the country to meet up. We had stated our preference for a table when we booked online but on arrival were shown to the bar area at the very back of the restaurant, despite the fact that there was an empty table and no queue. When asked, we were told that tables were only for parties of four or five. This should have been clearly stated on the online booking form, as we would not have proceeded with the booking had we known this, but as we had booked for 2.15pm, felt it was too late to go looking for lunch elsewhere. Things then went from bad to worse. No food on the conveyor belt, aside from a bizarre and haphazzard traffic light system where your order is sent round the belt and stops where you are seated. No relaxing vibes, but a bleak, shabby post 'industrial' experience. Ordering is done via an app and you pay for the food in advance. This was confusing and when we tried to add multiples of specific items we couldn't, and had to pay then open another tab. It was a very hot day but the beer (£6.60) arrived warm. The waiting staff were congregated at the front of the restaurant but I eventually managed to catch a waitress's eye (there are no buttons to press now if you need help) but she appeared to lack the training to resolve this (she suggested that it might be possible for us to be given a smaller, cold bottle and "maybe a can" but was very vague, so we put up with the warm beer). Our order duly arrived and stopped in front of us. The food looked good and we were really hungry by then but we had not been given any chopsticks, utensils, or condiments! There we no waiting staff at our end of the room but I eventually caught the attention of the same waitress who said she would get us some utensils, but took an age to do this while we sat watching our hot food go cold (galling when a small plate of popcorn shrimp costs £7.90). The food was okay but after eating we discovered that we had only been given one napkin which my son sardonically tore into three, as we were beyond complaining by then. Our 'experience' was not yet over however, because we were then confronted by another bullish waitress because we had apparently been delivered two small plates that were meant for another table . The lack of discretion and customer service was breathtaking and we were loudly informed, in full view of the other diners, that we would have to pay for the two items, as if we were trying it on and had stolen them. A heated, but polite discussion followed, where we pointed out the many shortcomings of our experience and the fact that the said two items were ones that we had ordered and their system had delivered them to us amongst an order of multiple items, a number of which we had duplicated. The waitress became more reasonable as we spoke and it became clear that the poor woman had had a bad day and had been sent to tackle us at the behest of her manager. We were told that a lot of customers dislike the new Yo Sushi experience, it is confusing, food orders often go wrong, and we were refunded £6.60 for the warm beer. I would have given this review one star but for the fact that it was eventually acknowledged that our experience fell far short of what customers should expect, and we will not be returning until Yo sushi puts it's house in order. And as for our get together lunch, we are heading off to a lovely pub today where you can get three fabulous Sunday lunches for the same cost of a Yo sushi 'snack' meal, the atmosphere is relaxing and convivial, and customers are...

TLDR: I spent £18 and left hungry and disappointed.

Went there in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Great time, good food, decent prices with online ordering that offered discounts and freebies. Food was still on the expensive but it was all worth it because the service was quick, got exactly what i wanted, potion sizes were good enough and quality of the food was up to par. And best of all, the takoyaki was divine and the only place in Norwich that i could find it. The vibes were good, the staff were quiet which allowed me to have a better experience with my friends.

Went there on the 15th of July 2025 at 7pm, expecting what i enjoyed before. I was met with absolute shame. Half the menu has been shot out back. No more Takoyaki. I was told by staff when i asked if they still do it that they do a Taco though... what? what kind of jester served me? He'd been working there for 7 weeks apparently and i could certainly tell, I felt disrespected when he talked to me as he was way too casual. All the staff were new, (I asked and many had only been there a few weeks). Kitchen was VERY LOUD with staff talking across opposite sides of the room. The staff phone was left ringing right next to our table for almost a minute which i had to ask someone to please answer the phone. The whole system had been changed to a more "traditional" sushi train style which im being real, Norwich isn't ready for (London could, but not Norwich). Yo sushi does not have the prices or the foot traffic to make that viable. All the food circling around looked old or just generally lacking quality. I eventually picked up some salmon maki rolls which the price had gone up to what was now ludicrous for the portion offered, and i opened the lid and it looked like giants causeway the consistency of heights was all over the place. I expect if i am paying this much for some weltered looking sushi, for it to have AT LEAST been cut correctly. And the portion size was pathetic, Hosomaki (if the staff even know what that word means) rolls should be roughly as tall as they are wide, these things were flat. one was probably half the height as its width, looks the same size from the top but deceptively half as big. I ended up ordering some sushi anyway because what i wanted wasn't going around the belt. Which defeats the whole purpose of the belt. That was just passed to me, reaching stretched over the belt, not placed on my table. There was literally more staff than customers when i was there and not one of them could have come around and actually acted as a waiter should.

Yo! sushi now has absolutely nothing worth going for with many much better alternatives around Norwich. I hope they change back to prep to order instead of this already prepared system. All this system has done is limit their menu, decrease quality and increase price. I spent £18 on myself and...

I don't normally review a chain unless they're either really, really poor or exceptional, luckily Yo! were amazing.

Food - It is what it is, it's freshly made sushi, it looks like sushi, it's all made fresh, it tastes fresh and they make it all day right in front of you, they chuck it on the conveyor belt and it makes it's way round, from there you can pick it up or you can order on the app, it will come to your table and wait for you to grab it.

As well as traditional sushi they offer vegetarian and meat sushi, they also offer a range of hot foods now including noodles, curry and meat on a stick. They do seasonal foods, right now it's a few Christmas themed sushi rolls. They've also rolled out bento boxes for children.

Service - ABSOLUTELY NAILED IT! This is what made it for me. I have an onion allergy, as it's not on the standard list of allergies the server spoke to the chefs who told me not to take things off the belt and instead to order through the app and they would make it specially for the table. We only had to do this once however as the chef working next to us started taking our orders personally. When we ordered something which wouldn't work without onion he was frank and honest and offered to make an alternative. This is how you do service for people with allergies.

Atmosphere and amenities - it's a chain restaurant so don't expect anything fancy, we were lucky to get a booth but if they're busy there is bench seating at the back. It's always worth booking ahead or you might have a wait.

Seating isn't particularly wheelchair accessible, there is a low bench but they generally use it for deliveroo so... Might be a bit awkward, that said they do have a disabled toilet on the ground floor and the entry to the restaurant is level access.

Parking is readily available in Chantry Place and...