Yoshiko Ramen & Sushi — Restaurant in Austin

We decided to try Yoshiko Ramen & Sushi after seeing that Ramen Tatsu-ya was completely packed. While it did help curb the ramen craving in the moment, I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone — here’s why.

First, the ramen took much longer than expected to come out. I ordered the spicy tonkotsu, but it had almost no spice at all. The pork chashu looked gray and tasted like it had been boiled, with no depth or richness. The pork belly was slightly better, but the skin had a chewy, almost shrimp-tail-like texture that was pretty off-putting.

The soft-boiled egg was teetering on hard-boiled — as soon as it sank into the broth, the yolk basically fell right out and floated around in the ramen instead of holding together.

We also ordered a California roll, a volcano roll, and some fried rice. The California roll had such muted flavor that you might as well just pick up a pack from H-E-B if you’re craving one. The volcano roll was a whole mystery — it was supposed to have shrimp tempura and bonito flakes on top, but it looked like panko crumbs over pickled carrots. It had no flavor, mostly tasted like cream cheese, and didn’t seem to have any salmon inside at all.

The fried rice was probably the best thing we had, but even then, my wife stopped after three bites.

On top of that, the staff seemed almost too focused on us — they were listening so closely to our conversation that it felt awkward and made us want to stop talking altogether and just leave.

For one bowl of ramen, two rolls, and fried rice, the bill came out to almost $70. At that price, I’d honestly rather just wait in line at Ramen Tatsu-ya.

Overall, Yoshiko Ramen & Sushi might satisfy a craving in a pinch, but it’s not a place I’d recommend or plan...

We ordered from them 5 days in a row…if that’s not proof that this place is bomb then I don’t know what is 🤣 how lucky we are to have a Japanese restaurant that is truly authentic AND incredibly priced!! Great options for vegans (their vegan ramen is great!! Plus I don’t know what they do to their avocado roll but it tastes way better than typical avocado rolls…even my partner was surprised since it’s like “how good could an avocado roll be?” 😂 trust us it’s so freaking good!! Maybe it’s the huge amount of avocado they use and how they make their rice??). I also had their sweet potato roll and tempura veggies—both were great! :)

Anyways, my non-vegan partner loved their sushi and sashimi—for the prices and quality, it definitely is worth it!! We saw the size of the yakisoba and our jaws literally dropped (though I’m not sure if the serving sizes are the same for takeout vs dine-in…maybe it’s the presentation, which was also wonderful!)

It’s obviously not Uchi level, but if you’re craving authentic Japanese-tasting sushi that’s not from an Americanized Asian fusion restaurant for an awesome price, definitely try this place out!! As a comparison to the places we’ve been, the quality is better Bang Bang sushi, Tsukimi, Sushi Junai, Haru, and definitely WAY better than Kura, RA Sushi, Lucky Robot.

Also, we noticed that they seem to be low on servers/employees, maybe it’s because they just opened…so please be kind! We had to wait a bit to get a table but I think it’s because there’s only 3-5 people working there so far. They do have a sign that says “hiring” so if you know someone that needs a job please share! This place must stay open, it’s the only/most authentic Asian food restaurant in south Austin we’ve found so...

Edit: I've come back since and the service is a lot better which I appreciate! The sashimi wasn't as thick cut as it was the last time, but it may be due to the different fish I got.

I came here on a Sunday afternoon; not too busy but there were parties steadily coming in while I was there. My partner and I ordered two ramens (one chicken + chicken broth, one shrimp + spicy tonkotsu), an order of hamachi, a spicy tuna roll, and a salmon avocado roll. The sushi was pretty good; I was pleasantly surprised at the portions which I felt were good and the sashimi cuts were thick which I loved. The ramen was also pretty good. It's definitely not authentic, and both my partner and I thought our broths were missing something but a good eat nonetheless.

My main reason for the 3-star rating is the service we had. After getting our drinks and ordering, we didn't see our waitress again until it appeared we were ready for our check. We didn't get any water refills or even a little check-in to see how we were doing. Granted, I think the waitress was by herself during the time we were there, but it didn't seem like she had any intention of doing anything beyond taking orders and delivering checks. That was probably the most disappointing part of my experience here, but the food was good enough for me to consider...