The Yasai: Vegan Japanese Experience at Little Italy — Restaurant in San Diego

Very disappointed in the service. The woman who answered the phone when I called was dismissive of the fact we received someone else’s food. It doesn’t matter that this restaurant using a 3rd party deliver service, I have had plenty of restaurant employee capable of correcting and error. Not to mention, I told her I having a hard time getting in contact with the delivery service about the issue. I have a business too and when we experience and error we never pass the issue to the customer. We go out of our way because we want happy customers. I really loved this vegan restaurant and now I can no longer support it due to how careless and how inconsiderate employee was to me.

Here is a second review.

I supported again only to be disappointed. WILL NEVER SUPPORT THIS BUSINESS AGAIN!!!

This is from an email, I sent to the owner that gave me no response.

Hello,

I have had issue a few times with ordering and service at both Yasai establishments. Yesterday our ordered was delivered via DoorDash and the bag was torn and box of vegan sushi which was open, when given to my husband by driver. The ramens seemed fine, due to The Yasai labeled sticker was placed to keep the food secure whereas the vegan sushi had no tape or sticker on it, which would have ensured or food would not have arrived open. This is unsanitary and unsafe especially during these times.

Now DoorDash did give us a refund for the vegan sushi however, in our opinion like done at fining restaurants or other causal dining establishments the whole meal is usually comped for the inconvenience. We did not feel comfortable eating that sushi or reordering due to the fact it was opened and our food may have been tampered or exposed to something in the driver's car.

We love The Yasai, but this was one of a few incidents that has lead me to right this email.

The other issue is I went with a friend on 7/10/2022 in the evening to the restaurant on Convoy and was given a non- vegan dish. I am Vegan. I am not happy about eating anything from animals and the fact this mistake was made still bothers me.

What really made this incident terrible is the person who served the food, never came to apologize. He left that on the waitress and another staff member perhaps manager to apologize. The waitress told me he knew that he had served us the wrong food and did not want to take responsibility. They gave us 50% off our meal and pretty much packed our food and rushed us out, probably in fear people would hear our dissatisfaction. This meal should have been comped. Also the server should have been the one to apologize. I am Vegan for my spiritual beliefs, health and love of animals. It's not anything to shrug off, respectfully.

I was disappointed when I learned a couple months before that your restaurants decided to use animals and almost did not want to eat there any longer but because I love the ramen & sushi, we gave it a chance. But the lack of customer service and consideration floors me.

This a business has two separate kitchens to avoid cross contamination so why would this happen other than the server not paying attention.

I am very disappointed and this is not the experience we hope to have. We order at least once a month or come by to eat. My husband and I really felt it is important you know that loyal customers are not happy and if your business is going to have vegan food and meat based, it should be paramount that these issues don't happen.

(There still hasn't been a response so I will post to each Yelp and to...

I had the worst dining experience in my life tonight due to an extremely defensive and rude hostess. I made it a point of mine to regularly order takeout and patronize the Yasai to do my part to support local business, especially plant-based restaurants, which are going through a rough time during COVID. I even celebrated my 37th birthday here in November and my waiter was nice enough to store my birthday cake in their refrigerator. In all, I would estimate that I've patronized this restaurant roughly 20+ times. However, today was unlike any other time that I tried to order food. My date and I arrived at 6:30 PM at the Yasai on India Street and asked for a table for 2. For instance, the inside of the restaurant was full, which is a violation of COVID restrictions. Nevertheless, the outside only had one table occupied with the other 6 or so others open. The hostess said, "We don't have any seating available." I then asked how many reservations were booked and whether there was an opening soon. The hostess said, "We have an opening at 7:30." I then asked, "It's 6:30 now. Did anyone no show because there's seven seats available based on the tables." She said, "We can't be congested due to COVID." I then said, "Aren't the tables outside already socially distanced?" Then my date said, "We'll take the 7:30 time slot." The hostess then said, "Actually, we have the right to deny service. You can eat elsewhere. Have a good night!" I then asked if I could speak to the manager. Then she walked away. She comes back about 2 mins later and says, "My manager is unavailable." I said I'll wait. She then leaves again to go to the kitchen in the back of the restaurant where I can see her talking to a chef in a white hat. The hostess then returns to us in the front and says, "My manager said I'm the supervisor." I then said, "So now you're the manager or are you the supervisor? How do you supervise yourself? My date then asks her what her name is. The hostess says, "I don't have to tell you my name." Then walks away yet again! At this point it was apparent to me that the staff here provided no information to the public nor was there any visible food licensing permits, legible COVID reopen plan, or business permits. In short, there is no point of contact name or contact information displayed for patrons to even report complaints such as this, so the hostess refusing to even provide her name and her failure to bring a manager to hear my concerns is apparently business as usual. Therefore, I will never spend another dime here and encourage you to...

MUST TRY VEGAN RESTAURANT! The Yasai is like the “vegan baby” of RAKIRAKI It was delicious, everything we ate was absolutely incredible! Especially the Ramen 🍜 and the Eryngii Scallops! Upon arrival, parking is a little hard to find and scarce. Be sure to arrive a little early if you made reservations. (Little Italy 🇮🇹 location) Speaking of reservations I recommend making one. The restaurant itself is not too big and only has so many tables. So make sure you secure yours. There will be a line to get a table starting at around 6:30ish pm. & Now. . . THE FOOD! We started with the Eryngii Scallops which were incredible! 12/10 The “Scallop” had so much flavor! You can really tell they take their time to marinate and give the King Oyster 🍄 the respect it deserves! (Vegan 🌱) Onto entrées. . . We had 2 sushi entrees and 2 ramen entrees. Both our sushi rolls were vegan 🌱 however, my vegan friend ordered vegan ramen, obviously. Myself on the other hand am not vegan and HAD to try their Non-Vegan ramen! (Which if you didn’t know they’re famous for their ramen restaurant RAKIRAKI) The sushi was really good 🌱 and complimented the ramen incredibly. However, the ramen was the real reason we came! I cannot get over how delicious the Original Hakata Tonkotsu with Underbelly ramen was - 10/10! (Not Vegan) Probably some of the best, if not the best, ramen I have ever had! And if I didn’t live 2hrs away I would definitely be a regular! The broth was rich and flavorful & the Underbelly was fall apart tender! But what really stood out was the smokey/charcoal taste on the Underbelly! If you look at the pictures below you’ll see just how beautifully charred the underbelly is and it adds an incredible layer of flavor the ramen. I asked my vegan friend her review of the Tantanmen Ramen w/ sautéed impossible meat and she said, “9/10!! I loved that the beyond meat and garlic slices were nice and crispy!” Overall, we had an incredible first time experience. The service was great and the food was even better! I definitely recommend trying them out the next time you’re in San Diego or Little Italy. Vegan or not you’ll...