Yamaya Seafood — Restaurant in Alaska

This place is unusual, but really good. There's a wheelchair ramp, but the screen door opens the wrong way, so the ramp is not a usable entrance into the building. You can make reservations, but the chef cooks one dish at a time-- so you get one dish out at a time. The waitress is the chef's daughter, and she's very straightforward and a little scattered. When you walk in, she's immediately worried about your experience. She tells you, "Let me tell you how this restaurant works. The hand-written menu is on the walls. Don't ask me what you should order because I don't know your tastes." Then, she tells you about the homemade sesame spinach and homemade gyoza. Get both of these items. The spinach is cold, and I was really regretting my decision to order the spinach... until I tried it. Seriously-- it's the most delicious vegetable I have ever eaten in my life. The homemade gyoza was amazing-- I think the chef's wife makes it. Anyway-- it didn't even need sauce. It was delivered hot and crispy right to our table. Our table had the chirashi zushi and two bowls of ramen. Everything was delicious, and we were assured it was quite authentic several times by our Japanese grandmother. The broth for the ramen was out of this world. I could have eaten just the broth and been happy. The food is very, very good, and even though the way the restaurant works is vastly different from your typical restaurant, it's totally worth trying out. It feels a lot like you are walking into someone's home for dinner. Cash and cards are accepted-- our waitress had no trouble with the card. The chef's wife came and spoke in Japanese grandmother while we waited for our food to be served. This place works best for groups of 2-3, but they can do big groups of maybe up to 12-14, as long as you are patient and do not expect your food to come out all at the same time. The sesame spinach is a must-try, and the ramen bowls are huge.

This entrees are $16-$40 each, depending on what you get. The appetizers are $7-10. Green tea is a $1/cup, and was very fresh and tasty. They have a limited beer and sake selection-- we did not partake, but they had sapporo and I don't remember what their sake selection included.

We will definitely be back. There are a bunch of things on the menu that we still want to try.

I can see where some of the negative reviews might have come from-- we weren't really sure what to expect when we walked in. We knew it was a Japanese restaurant, and the waitress seemed a little like she expected us to decide to leave instead of staying once we saw the menus on the walls. If you're expecting Benihana-levels of service, you'll be disappointed... but if you expect the service you'd get from going to a friend's house for dinner, you will be...

(Update) I ended up checking this place out solo and yeah... I had to go back and change my rating of this hidden gem. I'm back in Anchorage again and figured I would give this place one more try (original review still below). Sure glad I did! Fantastic food and great atmosphere. Best part was when I'm sitting here writing this review "alone" and in my own little world, and this cutie walks up and touches my leg. Nearly scared the pants right off me, her name was Noble lol

------------------Man oh man, how bizarre can you get... After a long day at work, my colleagues and I decided on sushi. I know how busy good restaurants can get here in Anchorage so I call ahead to make sure there's not too long of a wait. Called twice in fact, both times, no answer. I figured "hey, might as well see if we can get a table". We almost passed it up because the outside of the building looked nearly abandoned, but as we passed by I noticed the OPEN sign illuminated over the front door. So we proceeded to enter, at our own risk. Oh My Gosh, I was ecstatic to walk through the doors of this legit Japanese ambiance and I immediately started to get excited about the assumed amazing meal we were about to embark on. Only to discover the restaurant is entirely empty? Strange, but we continue to find a table as the older Japanese man walked over to us from the back. We confirm, "you are open right?" as the sign entails. But it was his response that was truly baffling. "Sorry, reservation only". My buddy sensed some sarcasm buried deep in the old man's response and says "ah, he's joking". Only for the old man to change his tone and confirms "reservation only". WOW, I have never gone from so stoked to try a new restaurant, to baffled in 0.3 seconds in my entire life lol. I'm sure his food is amazing, but as this was a business trip I guess I'll never get the...

All the pieces are in place for a great hidden gem but it doesn't really come together. I came solo and sat at the bar. Chef was very busy cooking so wasn't very conversational (very understandable, it's basically a one man band). The waiter (chef's wife?) was very friendly and engaged with some patrons, but that meant the rest of us were pretty neglected. Took a long time to order, and even then she didn't quite get my drink order right, and nothing could be done (in short, there are many different sake options available, I was asked what I wanted to drink and as I started with "I'd like some sake, specifically--" I was cut off and couldn't finish specifying and was just served large hot regular sake). Ordered the sashimi dinner (and I was told by a local to order the special sake which includes a grilled salmon seasoning, but again I was served regular sake). Food was very tasty and fresh, portion sizes were normal if not a tad bit small, but I saw other patrons have other dishes that looked larger. After finishing, it took an additional 20 mins to get the bill, because the waiter was engrossed in a) chatting with other patrons, b) singing karaoke very loudly (it's a small room), and c) drinking sake. Once the bill came, I was charged an additional "table set fee" of $9.50. To the best of my recollection, this isn't listed or mentioned anywhere, except these reviews. So be prepared to wait, and pay, for an overall...okay...meal.

Pros: Very good food Friendly chef

Cons: Inattentive (drunk?) waitstaff Looooong wait times (not for food prep, but for order taking and billing) Loud karaoke in a small room Surprise charges

Tldr; food was good but all in all probably...