Yakiya — Restaurant in La Puente

Yakiya is located on the corner of colima and azusa inside a big strip mall plaza. Plenty of parking in there and super easy to locate this since you can drive past it on colima on your left hand side driving West.

This is a Wagyu fine dining experience restaurant. If I remember correctly, it was opened back in 2016 or around that year. There is omakase option and à la carte option. I came last night for its DineLA menu which it is only $68. It was a great dining experience and the price was just about right.

The previous time I came before last night was 8 years ago for their $150+ omakase experience. It was a decent experience with good wagyu meat but I wouldn’t come here for their omakase again with that price since this place is like a less expensive clone version of Yazawa. If I can pay similar price or a little more for better quality food then what reasons do I have for choosing this place? This is a good place, I would still give this place a 4.5-5 star rating based on their service, setting and food, don’t get me wrong but if i have a choice of picking the 2, I would pick Yazawa in Beverly Hill.

8 years later last night, I came here for the DineLa menu because their price of $68 caught my attention. It did not disappoint me and I felt like it was worth it. There were like 7-8 courses including soup and dessert. All tasted unique and good. Servers were quick to attend when we had questions and food came out fast.

The only thing that bothered me a little ( not going to take away their star rating, just ranting ) was their water. The server asked me about the water I wanted to get giving me different options. She mentioned bottle of still water and without thinking that it would cost me money, i picked the still water ( the other 2 water options sounded more like I have to pay) . Not until when then bill came that I realized that it was $8. So please keep in mind to make sure to ask if the water is free before telling them know what kind of water you would like.

Other than that, everything...

Well this has to be the first! We know there's omakase for sashimi and sushi but to be honest, this is very intriguing to have omakase for meat! Specifically beef! So we sat down and waited and kind of don't know what to do. There's menu but don't understand how to order. They have us water and towels to clean hands and stuff but didn't really explain things. So when a water walk by, I ask him how to order it what they recommend and he told us that the menu is fixed. Only omakase! (Chef's choice). Well we thought that cool, we didn't have to worry about what to eat. Seems like everyone else there was enjoying themselves, so why not take a chance. We got there at 6:30 and didn't finish until almost 9. The meal took quite a long time. If you have good companion, great place to relax and talk. Every plate is quite small so even though there was like 12 plates, you won't feel overwhelmed. Great meat, great good, great service. Waiters are very attentive. They kind of have to because they cook for you. You really don't have to do anything. It was a very interesting experience to say the least! So if you have some time to spend and want to try great wagyu beer, you will just love the place. FYI, not place...

A solid 4.5! We came as a party of 10. Loved that they have a nice patio, ambiance was great! Speaking of the food, I really enjoyed the first 3 cold dishes, especially the beef tartare, it was to die for. Beef tongue and beef cheek ox tail soup were also on point. However, most of us didn't really enjoy the veggies (both veggie dip and marinated tomato) I know those were for cleansing our palate, but flavor-wise, they were pretty plain. My biggest complaint would be their prime rib eye selection, they were too heavy with the seasoning. It didn't really compliment the meat. Besides that, Filet mignon was good with the bone marrow rice, they really made that bone marrow rice to perfection. So delish! The star dish throughout the night was the A5 wagyu, 100% melt in your mouth & It also tasted great with the poached egg, very buttery! 10/10.

All in all, great food great ambiance, great table service and amazing presentation. We all enjoyed the meal, def worth trying!

Side note: The price can be easily up to $150 -$180+ if you decided to opt for a few cocktails to enjoy ($15+ each) FYI, their cocktails were VERY mediocre. We tried...