Yanagi — Restaurant in Austin

We arrived upon opening of the restaurant for Dinner service. We've tried a few Sushi restaurants in the local area and haven't found one that really hits a homerun. Needless to say, Yanagi's food is definitely no where near a home-run and in fact is closer to a poor attempt at a bunt.

My wife and I shared the Yanagi Boat, which came with (all chefs choice) 8 pieces of sushi, 12 pieces of sashimi and 2 choices of rolls. The sushi were sliced very thin and were inadequately small. We received the typical salmon, tuna, white tail, and shrimp. Nothing out of the ordinary, however for $52 we were expecting a bit more of a unique selection. The sashimi was probably the worst we have ever had in and near Austin. It tasted like it had been frozen for 2 days, thawed out, and then served. It had an EXTREME fishy flavor that lingered in our mouths until we ate the lemon out of our water. The rolls were a step up from the sashimi but a step down from the Sushi. Very small and a hint of musty fish flavor. Not impressed and very disappointed with this food.

Our server was awesome and we tipped him very well for doing an excellent job. We are not the complaining type, so we quietly paid for our meal and...

My wife and I stopped here for a late night dinner. We did arrive only about 30 minutes prior to them closing, but as soon as we got there, we constantly felt rushed by the server. She kept coming by our table to ask if we had decided. Once we placed our order, the food came quickly (probably since the kitchen was closing soon). You can tell the sushi rolls we ordered were not made with any care, as they fell apart as soon as you picked them up with the chopsticks. Also, the server came by our table 2 or 3 times WHILE WE WERE EATING to ask if she can take the soy sauce off our table. Before we were halfway through our meals, she came and left boxes on our table - basically letting us know that it's time for us to leave. What also made us upset is that the server boxed everyone else's food for them, but left the boxes on our table for us to do ourselves. They were also incredibly social with all the other customers, but for us, they didn't even bother with us, only to let us know that it's time to go. Of course, with the way that we were treated and rushed, I left a lower tip than I would normally leave, and this server had the audacity to ask me why I left such a low tip. Definitely not coming back to...

The first dish I got, the Pork Katsudon, was one of the strangest incarnations of the dish I have ever seen. Apart from having bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and zucchini (none of those are traditionally included in the dish), the sauce was very strange; it reminded me of burnt toast.

However, after expressing my displeasure to the (very considerate) waitress, I was able to try the spicy ramen. I like spicy food, and this certainly was spicy. It was very good; not only did it make up for the previous dish, but it was one of the best ramen dishes I've ever had. It seemed to have a slightly smokey flavor (perhaps chipotle peppers were used?) which I really enjoyed. It wasn't so smokey that it overpowered everything else, too.

Overall, not considering the Katsudon, I would give the food a 4.5, but that was a black mark on the overall experience. I can't think of a single time in my life where something has been so against my taste that I had to send it back, but I suppose there is a first time for everything. I heard the sushi is excellent so perhaps I will try...