Yamato Japanese Steak House — Restaurant in New Albany

Subpar food with too many corners cut despite good service and atmosphere. I ordered the filet mignon steak & lobster hibachi dinner. At first it seemed the price wasn't bad for this type of item and also noticed how heavy the carryout container was. They had a few morsels of steak, vegetables, and a sorry looking squashed lobster tail packed in a container full of what they called fried rice. There was so much rice that even after removing what little else was in the container, the rice completely filled every compartment past the rims. The rice was swimming in a bad sauce, perhaps some kind of soy sauce, with no other ingredients. The lobster tail didn't have the meat on the outside of the shell since it seemed they had cut the shell in a way to flatten it to make it appear larger. It also seemed like half the lobster meat had already been cut away from the shell, probably to stretch things out to use in other dishes. It was obvious the container was loaded full of rice to distract from how measly everything else was. It wouldn't have been half bad if the rice was good, but by far, the worst hibachi fried rice out there. I don't know how this place is rated as high as it is. I can only assume people are fooled by the presentation and portion tactics despite the lack of quality for what is normally customary in this type restaurant. The service and atmosphere are good, but they definitely don't make up for food.

One other notable complaint is the hidden charges this place adds on the tab. There is a 3% fee for anyone using a credit card and also a $1 service fee, so these things added with the tax and tip makes what one is spending more than they realize. If looking for decent Americanized Japanese food, they can find it at pretty much at any of the restaurants with an egg balancing, volcano creating, average cook skilled in the use of a hibachi grill. Not to mention, I haven't seen those extra hidden charges at any of those...

Whenever my husband and I find a new place to eat that is 5-star worthy, you can bet I'm going to leave a raving review!!!

Recently, my husband was in the mood for a great Japanese steakhouse, and I happened to find this place on Google Maps. We moved to this area from Louisville almost 2 years ago and are slowly finding new places to eat locally and, when we found out there was a Japanese steakhouse close by, we definitely wanted to try it out and I'm so glad we did. We literally ate here 3 times in a matter of two weeks because it was sooo good!

The food is absolutely delicious! The rice is fresh and hot, the steak is perfectly cooked every single time, and the sauce is out of this world! 😋 We have yet to order anything we haven't liked, and we've tried many different things from their menu.

The wait staff have always been very polite, attentive, and quick to wait on us when we dine in and when we do take out. The ambiance of the restaurant is relaxing and family-friendly, and the cleanliness is always spot on, including the restroom.

This restaurant is now one of our favorites, and we can't wait to bring our out-of-town visiting family members here the next time they come to visit because it's just THAT AMAZING! 🤩

Don't sleep on this place just because it's in a strip mall type setting. Sometimes, the best places are found in the most unlikely areas. You will not be disappointed with this restaurant. It's definitely ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️...

To start, walking in, you go straight into the restaurant where people are dining with no real direction on where to go. I guessed my way to the counter at the far end of the restaurant and asked to be seated.

I order a salad to start. They bring out a plain salad and two squeeze bottles - one ginger dressing, the other "yum yum" sauce (which was essentially flavored, "saucy" mayo). The house salad was pretty good. The ginger dressing was a little thick, but good enough flavor. The sushi is so gross. I was so disappointed 😞. I had the crazy girl roll (deep fried) and the rich roll. The food was clearly cheap and poor quality. The rice was hard and bigger than typical sushi rice. The batter they use for the deep fried sushi was way too crunchy, it hurt my mouth. The grease they used to deep-fry the food had to have been old. You can tell they make everything in the same fryer (french fries, lobster ragoon, sushi rolls, etc.). I ate two pieces of each roll and threw the rest away. They honored my request for no wasabi, so I was pleased with that.

The service was great! The girl was very nice and prompt.

Overall, this is not a place I'll be back to, nor will I recommend Yomato to anyone. I MIGHT consider hibachi, but...