Yamagata — Restaurant in Fort Lee

As an early Valentine's Day celebration, we decided to treat ourselves to an omakase dinner. I made reservations for the Friday before V-Day for a 6 pm counter seating. There are only 6 seats so make sure to reserve. Otherwise, if you do omakase at the table, the fish is served all at once and it's just not the same experience. I wasn't expecting NYC-quality sushi but I have to say that the quality was up there, and you get a much bigger bang for your buck. We did the sushi and sashimi omakase ($90) and we left so stuffed. You would never find such a deal in NYC. Here is everything we ate:

Chawanmushi (steamed egg in dashi) - this was a nice opener to the meal

Sashimi plate (hamachi, amberjack, yellowtail, octopus, uni/scallop/ikura) - I liked the hamachi and yellowtail. I didn’t love the amberjack - it was pretty basic, as was the octopus. The star of the show was definitely the uni/scallop/ikura. It came nestled in this cucumber flower thing

For the sushi pieces: madai, fluke, striped jack, botan ebi with Hokkaido uni, hamachi toro, ika with uni, kanpachi, otoro, Hokkaido uni, needle fish, seared otoro, salmon with ikura. My favorites were the ebi, hamachi toro (I’ve never had this before and seriously, it just melts in your mouth), otoro, uni, and salmon. The rest were good but pretty standard pieces.

After this, there was more food. They give you a fried shrimp head (my fave!) and Korean udon noodles in soup. I was already so stuffed at this point but the noodles and the broth were just so comforting, I had to eat it. The meal ends with your choice of green tea or red bean ice cream.

I wouldn’t say any of the pieces are super innovative or creative but again, it’s the price point for the quality and quantity you get. Overall, it was a great experience. We spent about two hours there. The staff was also really nice. They were super busy that night but were very apologetic, and honestly, we didn’t mind hanging out and eating slowly. I can’t wait to come back and try some more sushi, and I will definitely be ordering a bowl of those noodles. And that’s the great thing about this place - if omakase isn’t your thing, they have other options, including fushi (sushi rolls with lots of sauce), and kitchen entrees. Their lunch specials also seem like a great deal.

Tip - BYOB but if you’re going to do the sushi and sashimi omakase, I’d recommend saving your stomach real estate for just that.

There’s also a parking lot with a good amount of parking, so it was nice to not have to worry about parking in Fort...

This restaurant is located in NJ, right across from George Washington Bridge. They are located next to shops and cafes, and with a good amount of parking. The entrance is a bit small, if you go during the rush hour, there might be a wait with not much space to wait for a table.

They have sushi counter with seating, although not much seating there. Simple, no-frills, but cozy. It seems to be quite popular with locals, people kept coming in while we were there. Only about the time we were finishing up with our lunch, more tables became available.

They provide complimentary hot tea, which s always a plus. We ordered Chirashi and Bento with Mackerel from the lunch menu, which comes with a soup and salad. Chirashi actually comes with a choice of miso soup or asari clear soup.

The Chirashi was very pretty, like shiny jewels sparkling on top of sushi rice. Another noticeable thing about this item was its size. It was quite small… Not only the size, but also the portion of the sashimi pieces. From my experiences at other restaurants, chirashi usually have enough amount of sashimi pieces to cover the rice. But here, you can clearly see the rice underneath.

The bento box was much better when it comes to portion. And, it also come with three pieces of sushi! The bento box was HUGE! It was at least twice the size of the chirashi. Both chirashi and bento box was quite good, fresh and tasty.

After having the main dishes, it was time for ice cream. Did I mention their lunch menu comes with ice cream? I know! But, it was a small scoop of ice cream, so it was more of a pallet cleanser than a real dessert. They had red bean ice cream (no choice on flavor). A great way to end the pleasant lunch!

It was a good, tasty, filling lunch! And it certainly hit the spot. The staffs were polite and efficient, not overly friendly but helpful...

I've tried the "reviewed places" and was disappointed in so many ways....

I travel from Queens so anything is available in a 25 minutes in any direction,but the Fort Lee area is tricky.

After trying the mediocre Korean BBQ and the questionable Sushi places, I realized I've set my standards too high. On a whim, me and decided to meet here....

Expensive or not, we were greeted kindly and warmly on a Saturday night and that in itself is rare anywhere these days. They were able to accommodate us, we didn't care where, we have each other. I ordered the Omikasa and it was great! I decided to have endless Toro and Uni as well, wouldn't leave any for me until she was full thank God, I ordered more. It was brought with a smile, again a rarity in that neck of the woods, no offense to the locals that accept it, but don't you guys deserve more. I found it here! The quality of food and service is something they take pride in, not take for granted like so many others in the neighborhood.

It's cozy, small, never ignored, you're appreciated and people talk to each other. A diamond in Fort Lee.

The whole byob thing is fairly new to me, who cares, pay retail for some exotic beer, a nice bottle of Bordeaux and the savings alone is worth it.

Oddly enough, what made me apprehensive about writing this review is that now they'll be packed, but I'd still wait as this is my sashimi place to go in Fort Lee, period.

I would sit anywhere with , but I would return to few. It's the company that matters, but it's the quality, service and overall feel that...