Yayoi bills itself as a Japanese comfort food restaurant. That said, it's actually high-end comfort food as most of the dish names end in "ju", meaning extra effort goes into making these dishes thus warranting a higher price. The ordering system is via small iPad devices where you can scroll through the extensive menu, order what you want, and they'll show you the progress of the items you ordered. If you're lucky, a little robot will deliver your food to you as well. The only thing about Yayoi is that the prices are more what you'd expect to pay at a higher-end establishment around The Bay Area. Other than that, it's definitely Japanese comfort food and you'll walk out of there completely full. read more

not happy with my experience here - the last time I came with my friend and placed an order, her food came out 20, yes 20 minutes before mine came out. She politely waited a few minutes before I asked her to please eat, her food was going to get cold. She finished her food and mine still hadn't come out. This is ridiculous. The chefs need to figure out the timing of food. Lunch was ruined, as it is horrendous to be watched eating or watching someone eat. Both people need their food at the same time. We even complained about it, received an apology, and the food STILL didn't come out. Enough already. I rushed through my food to get lunch overwith. The food wasn't even good, definitely not authentic, not even average. Forget this place. read more

I don't know how I like the service at YAYOI (we had a robot waiter). The meal came fast and it was yummy too! Since it is in the mall, there were a lot of desserts places to eat at after. The ambiance was OK (in the photos seen below are the things that I like about the ambiance). Overall this is my favorite restaurant at the mall. read more

YAYOI - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

See all

Love going to yayoi! It's pricey but it's a great option for traditional Japanese meals! I love that you can order the meal sets that come with an onsen egg and other yummy sides. My fav dishes here are the miso toji katsu and sukiyaki!!!! The miso toji sauce is savory and delicious. When I'm done with the katsu I like to soak up the rest of the sauce with rice! And the sukiyaki is my absolute favorite. The sweet savory broth is so comforting and the onsen egg goes so well with the sukiyaki beef! read more

YAYOI - karaage - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

See all

Walked by this place while shopping at the Hillsdale mall and decided to give it a try. The place was space-y and clean. You are given an iPad for ordering and a robot delivers your food so there was little human service. Food was mediocre but definitely over priced for the portions. Will likely not come back. Tamago Yaki 0/5 - this was more like fried eggs and nothing was close to authentic Japanese Tamago Yaki. Flavor was extremely bland - no taste of salt, sugar, or dashi, just beaten eggs. You can get better Tamago Yaki at a Japanese supermarket. Yakiniku Ju 3/5 - the flavor was ok. Not a lot of beef but they try to make up for it by covering the rice with sauce. The box has a raised bottom so there's less content than it looks. read more

See all

This is located in Hillsdale Mall next to the Cheesecake Factory. It's best to enter through the entrance on Hillsdale and El Camino, and the mall always has a ton of parking especially on the second floor (where you can easily park super close to the stairs or enter and then go down). It's right near the entrance there. I really like this place! I like that they include the tip in it because I don't enjoy messing with that. I wish they would also roll in the tax so that you see exactly what you pay- maybe you're not allowed to? I like a lot that they have a robot now, although it was a little stressful for us to get the plates off the robot (it fidgeted a bit while we tried, and no server came to help, unclear if they are supposed to). I also like having the order iPad on the table, since it means I can order at a leisurely pace. I will add that paying the rolled-in tip prices for delivery was and still is not something I'd want. A lot of it is kind of about how amazing their cookware and serving ware is, so I am not sure I'd do takeaway. Anyway, on to the food! I ordered the Chicken Katsu Yayoi Gozen (so hard to understand their picture menu, the iPad menu is easier somehow). It includes a bowl of miso soup, chicken katsu, salmon sashimi salad, salmon teriyaki, sukiyaki for 29.60 (after tax and included tip). The pictures make it hard to tell, but it's actually quite a huge amount of food! I always add the free pickles to eat as well :) The katsu breading was nice and light although a few parts of it today were a little hard to rip (with chopsticks and teeth). I enjoyed the sashimi and sukiyaki quite a bit. The salmon teriyaki was alright, I think I might've liked more the mushrooms and lotus root that were part of it personally. I've come here before and gotten their sukiyaki, Saba shio, mix Toji, as well as tried their clams, chawanmushi, tofu salad, and karaage. They were all pretty great! Usually when I came here for lunch pre-COVID I would end up taking a portion of a meal home. Today I opted to be a little stuffed instead (with some rice leftover). I'd highly recommend trying this place out if you're at the mall and are willing to spend 25-30 on a meal. It is admittedly a bit pricey, but the food is great and there's a lot of it. I would recommend the sit down experience for sure, rather than take out. read more

YAYOI - Chicken Katsu Yayoi Gozen - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

Just alright. Dropped in on a Saturday afternoon with my brother for a late lunch and the place was nearly empty. I knew nothing about YAYOI before eating here and hadn't even heard of it, we were just hungry and thought Japanese sounded pretty good. I'm really over restaurants that make you order via QR code or iPads. I get that it was adopted widely as a COVID safety measure, but at this point I think a lot of restaurants won't ever stop doing it because it eliminates waiter-to-guest interaction. (Though it looks like, given the dates on some reviews, YAYOI was doing this prior to COVID.) While I can understand the appeal -- many guests are entitled pieces of work that treat waitstaff like servants -- restaurants are one of the most quintessential places associated with service; if interacting with people is like nails on a chalkboard to you, you're in the wrong industry. So when we were seated with an iPad, I was a little annoyed realizing this was just another place more interested in taking your money than offering real service. I was even more annoyed when the food came out via robot (with the exception of one bowl that was hand-delivered by a waiter), though the robot was actually kind of cute and made us laugh when it rolled out with our food because we didn't expect it at all. But still, like, really guys? iPads and a robot while a handful of waiters just stand around waiting to clear tables? It was one of the coldest, most impersonal dining experiences I've ever had. The waiters are also so used to the robot doing everything that I had to eventually check in with one when the second drink I ordered never came out. He seemed genuinely surprised, like he was thinking, "The robot didn't get it?!" The food was just ok, which made the experience even more insulting. $14.50 for the spicy tonkotsu ramen, which was just a bowl of noodles and one slice of chashu. All other add-ons -- meat, egg, etc. -- are an additional cost. (i.e. extra chashu is $2.00 a piece). The gyoza (6 pieces, $7.50) were really small. The broth was tasty but wasn't at all spicy, and if you want extra spicy paste it's, yup, an additional cost. When you're done eating, just leave your table and head to the front to pay. For two bowls of tonkotsu ramen (one spicy, one not), one 6-piece order of gyoza, two cans of Ito En, and a can of Coke, our lunch came out to $49.22, but I didn't notice until I was emailed my receipt that an additional $4.32 was listed as "included." For what, I don't know, but I tipped on top of that because I didn't see that on the screen at checkout in the restaurant. Likely won't be back to this place. Robot was cute and novel, nothing else about YAYOI was particularly good or worth the cost. read more

We made a reservation for 10 people for a friday afternoon and they were able to seat us all at 1 table. We were given iPads to order our meal but the waiter was very friendly and kept checking up on us. After putting in our order, the food started coming out pretty quickly (and you can check on the status of your food through the iPad). I ordered the hitsumabushi, chawanmushi, and a pot of Hojicha tea. The chawanmushi (steamed egg) was very soft and jiggly. It had a custard texture and you can taste the egg mixed with the broth (almost had a balut smell if you asked me which I really liked). The hitsumabushi was basically eel over rice with dashi broth. I really enjoyed the eel and rice by itself but at the end of the meal, the eel rice and broth combo just really hit the spot. The Hojicha tea was decent, complemented the meal nicely, and the waiter refilled the pot with hot water half way through the meal. Overall, I would say it was a spectacular meal as the food was good, the presentation was excellent, and the waitstaff was very nice. I would love to come back here again to try the other dishes they had. read more

See all

The food at this place have totally changed. Don't taste the same as before though the menu is still the same. There were only two pieces of pork in my Nasu (eggplant miso with pork belly). The mackerel is not grilled but more like steamed. I never saw sukiyaki in such a dark color sauce. Definitely not authentic Japanese. This is a franchise chain from Japan but this location is not up to par at all. Overly priced food. We spent $100 for two menu set. The reason I still give two stars to them is because the place is clean and well maintained. Otherwise, I would only give one star. Will not return. read more

Decent place to grab a bite - located right across from The Cheesecake Factory. You order food via an iPad & the food is served via a robot that comes to your table. There's a decent selection of curry rice / rice plates, but a little less when it came to the udon. My friend and I liked that the udon had a bite to it. The Niku udon was decent - a little expensive for the serving size and quality. The beef slices used in niku udon is usually tender but this one was on the more chewy side. It's not bad but not great - just a place to grab a quick bite if you're in the Hillsdale mall. read more

YAYOI - Niku Udon - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

When you come in, they give you a tablet to order your drinks and food. It's 50/50 chance if they'll bring the food to you or they use the robot server to bring your tray to your table. Note, if the robot server comes, you have to transport the tray yourself onto your table. Pros: - free hot tea and regular or hot water - robot server is cool and kids seems to be very entertained by them - clean place - quieter than food court with no lines - side dishes were great; really enjoyed the lotus root and pickles Cons: - pricier - Main dish was okay. I thought the katsu toji was too salty for my liking. I struggled to finish the last few bits because the salt was really starting to catch on and there wasn't enough rice to neutralize it. Furthermore, it was a bit unfortunate to sauce up the freshly fried piece of bird as it made it soggy. - Miso soup was a little watered down for American standards. The miso soup tastes fine through drinking. I would not recommend dunking rice into the soup. - tea was watered down and tasted funny - the pickles are FREE with the katsu toji teishoku BUT you need to request them when you order read more

See all

Worst Japanese "food" I've ever eaten. Literally disgusting. Everytime we came to Hillsdale mall we always walked by but never tried it. The pictures of the food they put up in front of the restaurant looked great. A few days go the wife and I brought the kid here to take picture with Santa and decided to come here for lunch just to try them out. The wife ordered a Ramen, I ordered the Mix Toji plus 6 piece salmon sashimi, and the kid ordered a kids meal. The robot brought the food to us, the kid thought it was neat. But the food was pure trash. The ramen was filled with rice puffs and very little noodle. It looked bigger than it actually was. The sashimi were paper thin, literally less than 1/4 inch thick. The Mix Toji supposed to have pork cutlet, shrimp tempura, some chopped beef, and a little bit of soup. But the whole thing was just a giant soggy mesh. Felt like it was microwaved and not freshly cooked. I couldn't even tell what's pork cutlet and which was the shimp tempura. It was just a bowl of super soggy mess. The kid's meal noodle was also filled with soggy rice puffs just to fill the space and made it look like there was a lot of food. Total disappointment. We will never come back again. read more

We came here on Mother's Day with my mom. We were all hungry and gladly there was no wait. Food - Fried squid leg: crunchy crust with tender inner squid leg. A decent amount for the price ($7). Curry chicken karaage rice with ta-ta sauce: crispy-tender chicken, and the curry sauce is rich. Sukiyaki pot: tender beef cooked with various veggies and udon in delicious sweet sukiyaki sauce goes well with rice; comes with a soft-boiled egg, miso soup, and lotus seaweed salad. Salmon sashimi bowl: salmon sashimi bites with shredded egg, seaweed, okra and yam. Service - Good service and the barley tea was complimentary. Food was delivered by a robot and it was cute. They used to not charge us service fee a year ago but now they do. read more

See all

Quality is solid, but not worth the steep price point. We used to order the chicken katsu family platters regularly, but they've eliminated platters from their menu. Now an a la carte order of katsu (no soup, no rice) comes with the TINIEST portion of chicken thigh and costs $16.30 before tax and tip. We paid almost $20 for the picture attached. Lettuce was soggy, as the dressing was included at the bottom. Small salad fork included for size reference. So sad about the portion sizes and pricing. read more

YAYOI - A la carte chicken katsu to go. TINY portion with soggy lettuce. $16.30 before tax + tip. Roughly $20 for an unsatisfying amount. - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

This place is a joke. It's instant noodles and reheated frozen food with gratuity built into the price but now they've gone back to tipping and the prices are still high. Robots bring out the reheated food and I left no tip. Older dude said no tip? No dude. The employer is responsible for paying you a fair wage for your labor. read more

As always, great food and lovely staff. Love their sushi bite, tasty. Lychee martini in a shot glass - it's great if you just want a sip of drink. read more

YAYOI - Thanks to Yayoi and Yelp, got my free Salmon Carpaccio by checking in. - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

The food wasn't that good for the price you pay, small portions. I ordered chicken Katsu curry rice plate. It came out really fast like right after you put in the order, but it was probably sitting there before cuz it came soggy and disappointing. I would have liked it hotter and more crispy like you just finished cooking it. My wife waited 10 mins at least after mine for her ramen with I piece of meat. And that was it, wasn't even that good. Not coming back read more

Trying out this place inside the mall. We've ordered a chicken Katsu curry and a pork Katsu curry. The chicken is crispy outside and tender inside. My friend's pork is a bit tough according to him. The curry sauce is think but on the sweet side. I personally like the curry with a bit more salt and spicy. The portion is ok. If you're a big eater, this won't be enough. Overall, it was ok to my taste. As far as the price, it's in the mall so it's on the pricey side than the regular restaurant. Dishes came out very quick so the turnovers are fast. Will I go back just for this ? Probably not. read more

YAYOI - Pork Katsu Curry. - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

See all

I would but recommend coming here. If you do, be prepared to pay high prices for well-presented but low-to-average quality food. The restaurant is located in the Hillsdale mall and features a large menu of traditional Japanese dishes. It gets quite busy, and I don't quite understand the appeal. We ordered the sukiyaki ($27) and the beef was overcooked. The sauce was a bit too sugary and the overall portion was quite small. The pork tonkatsu ($19.50) did not fare much better. The pork was a bit on dry side though the breading was nice and crunchy. The portion was also small for the price. Finally, we ordered a kids meal ($11.50), and our 2 year old did have fun with that. Small dishes of udon soup, shrimp tempura, chicken karaage, and edamame arrived on a kiddie tray. There are much better Japanese restaurants within a few mile radius of this place. Take my words for it, go there instead! read more

See all

I'll give this place 2 stars because the employees are nice, but food wise, 1 star. It was not my choice to eat here, my mother was hungry and she couldn't wait for our table at Cheesecake Factory. We both ordered spicy tonkatsu (14.50 each)which wasn't spicy at all and it definitely lacked flavor. You're better off eating instant ramen from Costco or Japanese market. My father ordered the nuki ramen (16.50) which he wasn't pleased with. He was shocked that his ordered only came with very little minced beef/pork. I normally go to ramen nagi, ramen dojo, and marafufuku ramen. read more

YAYOI - Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen $14.50 10/14/22 - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

Stopped by on a Monday night and the place was quite empty around 6pm. Stood in line to be seated and the hostess completely ignored us and helped rang up two door dash drivers who cut in line. Even tho it didn't take very long, the hostess should've been aware of her surroundings more and pay attention to who showed up first. Aside from that, it was an average experience. You order everything from a tablet. My mom ordered the Gyudon which came with a soup and it was $9. The Gyudon was good but so small, I could've eaten two bowls. I got the curry udon ($11) and added half Tonkatsu ($4). The Tonkatsu was definitely the highlight of the dish - fried to perfection with juicy and tender meat in the center. I wish there was more of it (there's only 3 pieces). We also shared the salmon carpaccio ($12.50) and matcha tiramisu for dessert ($7). Both were nothing special. Would I come back? Probably not unless I was already at the mall and craving some Japanese curry. TLDR - expensive, ok tasting food with small portions. read more

YAYOI - Gyudon ($9) - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

See all

Yayoi offers a variety of Japanese dishes and has a modern vibe with robots that serve you your food. The plating is aesthetic, but I was pretty disappointed with the taste of the food. The steamed egg (chawanmushi) was delicious, but I wasn't really impressed with anything from my gozen (box meal). The pork katsu was tough and not juicy, beef sukiyaki was too salty, salmon was very average, and the salmon salad barely had any dressing. Considering the nice aesthetic and fast service, this place would be amazing if it improved upon its flavors. read more

See all

New ramen place in Hillsdale mall that lets customers order via an ipad and uses a robot to deliver hot plates of food to the customers. The waitstaff is friendly and very covid aware, they seated all the guests at least a table apart to ensure everyone's ease in the restaurant. Ramen broth is very flavorful but not overly salty, as it can be in some places. Anyone ordering the spicy tonkotsu ramen, please be aware, the additional spice level is for a side of sriracha sauce which has its own additional charge. The tamago was not similar to what we usually have experienced at a Japanese restaurant, still kinda fluffy but on the blander side and a bit salty. If anything it reminded us more of a shaped scrambled egg than traditional Japanese tamago. The Yakuniku (beef) was thin-sliced and flavorful, the rice was very well done and paired perfectly with the sauce which was not too sweet or salty. Overall, we would be happy to come again but perhaps not order the side of spicy sauce or the tamago. read more

YAYOI - 908. Yakiniku Ju - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

See all

From the second we stepped into the restaurant, we already felt the icy cold atmosphere from the waiters, all of them were pulled down their faces, Not a single smile at all. When the food came, the waiter passed the whole tray of food, including soup, over my husband's head from behind of his back rather than serve it from the side, it is an unsafe, unprofessional & untrained behavior. The rice, cooked with too much water, just likes a paste, Japanese restaurant chef doesn't know how to cook rice?? Not to mention overpriced with a small portion!! Will not coming back for sure! Of course, I can tell that they don't care! read more

been wanting to try this spot and got the opportunity to for a family lunch! i loved how spaced out everything was when we arrived and ordering was so convenient with the tablet. i honestly didn't expect this much food for our selections and it was delivered on a cute robot like at those signature hot pot spots! we also ordered a matcha drink which i honestly did not like, it tasted really watered down but the food itself was delicious. everything was flavorful, my chicken karaage was a bit on the soggy side while my bf's katsu were crunchy no matter how long it took him to eat it. the salad was delicious and so was the miso soup. i loved the plating that everything came in as well. i was so full i couldn't finish my food so i definitely think if you're like me, sharing might be a better idea. like others said, tipping isn't needing which really reminds me of the rules in Japan! i would definitely come again to try something else (: ! read more

YAYOI - 905. Chicken Katsu 903. Kara Age - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

Yayoi is conveniently located in Hillsdale shopping center so finding parking is a breeze. I came on a Wednesday late afternoon for an early dinner and was seated immediately. The host was nice and informative as he was explaining how to order - through an iPad placed on every table. I ordered the sukiyaki and curry over rice with pork katsu. My first time ever trying sukiyaki was when I went to Hakone, Japan and I know nowhere else could top what I had there, so I came into Yayoi with somewhat low expectations. The sukiyaki was good and flavorful but it was a bit too salty and too sweet to my liking. The beef was cooked well but I felt like there wasn't enough beef or udon, but there were more veggies. The curry pork katsu over rice was ok but the pork was pretty dry and there wasn't enough curry. They have a no tipping policy like Japan, which is cool, but that's also because tip is included, so the prices are a bit on the pricier side. Overall - decent first experience. read more

See all

My family and I visited the Hillsdale mall and we chose to eat at Yayoi for the 2nd time. There isn't much service as you order from a touchscreen once you are seated. Service from the staff is overall pretty mixed. The male staff were great and enthusiastic, but there was a female staff member that would deliver our drinks without saying a word and expressionless. Almost robotic like. Service can be pretty slow overall even with there not being a lot of customers in the store, but how they interact with us was most important. Most importantly was the food which was overall pretty pricey for what it is. I ordered the Yayoi gozen with chicken katsu. It was pricey with it being around $28, but I did enjoy the salmon dish with the lotus root and mushrooms. They were delicious. I also enjoyed the beef with mushrooms. The chicken katsu was a bit thin and fried too long. The salad had no dressing and adding raw onions was a bit odd, but the salmon on top was fine. My parents got the katsu toji and was overall dissatisfied with it and it almost seemed prepared beforehand. Overall was an okay experience and not a restaurant I would go out of my way to go to. read more

YAYOI - Chicken Katsu Yayoi Gozen - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

One of the staff members was rude. He was not patient with me when I was trying to figure out how to pay my bill. Also the bill included the tips but he didn't mention that, and the payment machine asked for tips again. Bad experience with the restaurant. read more

According to my friend who lives 2 blocks away, the Japanese place in the food court is 1/3 of the price and better tasting. Lol. He didn't tell us until after we ordered. Anyway, the food is a solid 3. It's decent. It's not really going to wow you but it's not going to be hated by you. The price though, is a little too high for the portions and in a mall, which you might hate. We got a variety of items. Salmon tataki, gyoza, edamame, ramen, udon, pork katsu, combo plate, beers and some sake. My udon didn't come with much but I liked it. My friends thought their dish was okay. Even though you order through an iPad, service was really slow. Our sake didn't come out for awhile. We had to ask for it several times. read more

See all

Yayoi in the Hillsdale mall is really quite an oasis in terms of relaxed and quiet dining. We were able to get seated relatively easy after parking in the garage structure that's almost never full. Once seated you are given a tablet with the whole menu to choose from and order off of. I really love how streamlined and efficient the process is. Aside from beverages, that are served by a waiter(ess) pretty much all appetizers and entrees and desserts are delivered by a robot that wheels around the restaurant on 3 separate platters. With this setup, people are able to order without having to flag down a server, just by ordering from the tablet. Ikura chawanmushi - surprised it was the first to come out, after drinks (~2 minutes) a touch of soy sauce in the egg could go a long way. Maybe a touch of wasabi in the ikura as well. Asari miso soup - disappointed clams were not prepared correctly (let them breathe to get sand out). Sandy bites aside, the flavor and value is decent, there were a ton of clams in the bowl. Age-dashi tofu - very standard, just two pieces of tofu fairly crisp with some grated daikon on top. Yayoi gozen - soy glaze salmon was a bit with me, tonkatsu was a little bit dry but still flavorful, sukiyaki beef was a bit densely packed in making the meat very very chewy, salmon salad had a vinaigrette that I wasn't the biggest fan of. Overall a decent entree for someone wanting to try a bit of everything on the menu. Matcha tiramisu - this was the biggest miss for me of the whole meal. The top of the tiramisu had a bit of freezer burn and hadn't fully thawed, I assume it was made elsewhere and is just resold by yayaoi. The part that made it disappointing was they gave an option to serve "later" or "now" so they had time to thaw/prepare between the appetizers and entree. read more

If you love Japanese cuisine then you will love YAYOI! I have not ordered anything I didn't enjoy eating from here. If you like squid tentacles then you will enjoy the fried squid tentacles appetizer. Only the tentacles not rings. My favorite starter from them. The spicy Ramen noodles are great too. Plenty of mall parking. They are located just across the hall from the Cheese Cake Factory read more

Came on a Saturday evening and we were promptly seated and educated on how to order through the tablet. We placed our order and drinks and the side came out within 5 minutes. Our entrees came out within 10 min. Quick service (robot helps deliver). Convenient spot to go to when you need to just grab a quick bite in the area. read more

YAYOI - Order via tablet - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

YAYOI is a no go. Chicken nanban was $19.50 before tax, and man was it small. Be prepared to serve yourself via the iPad. It was impossible to flag down a server for water, even with the call button. Thank goodness they don't expect a tip here. The chicken was kind of cold, which is weird considering it's made to order. Small portions with a lot of breading and salty miso soup. Expensive and not worth it for mall food. read more

Before you come here to eat again, you should know that TIP IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE NOW and the price of each items stay the same. I was here over the weekend with my GF, and I almost spent $100 including "extra" tips. There was no sign saying tip was not included until you pay the bill. For the price I paid here, I could go to a better Japanese restaurant. read more

It used to be tip included. It's not anymore but prices haven't changed. Order on iPad. Robot brings you food, grab food from tray off robot. Wait in line to sit. Wait in line to pay. Server guilts you for tip. The food is ok, nothing special for the price. I like their rice? read more

Been here a few times for take out and one time with a colleague. All during lunch and the experience hasn't been great. The Japanese curry quality is as good as my first experience and the service is very mediocre during dining in. It is convenient and easy to get to without a car if you're working nearby. read more

I'd say a solid 3.5 My daughter and I tried this place out on for an early Sat lunch....about 1/3 of the tables were already taken at 11:30am. Service was pretty prompt - the chawanmushi was ok - decent value for $4.50 - it came out right away - we would have preferred it to come out with our other entree - but with the tablet ordering system - you can't really request this? Salmon plate was ok - very acceptable - nothing special. The rice was really nicely seasoned and just the right amount of stick to it. Pickles were quite good. Overall a nice lunch - unusual no tipping policy here - from the prices they charge - it appears to be already factored in? If you are in the area - it's worth checking out. read more

See all

Decided to come here last weekend when The Cheesecake Factory next door wait time to eat was 2 hours . NOT! So my boyfriend and I decided to walk in here and we were very pleased with our meal! We were sat immediately. We never really eat Japanese food but we were really pleased with our meal. You order your meal on a iPad they give you. That was different. Robots served your food as soon as you order from the iPad. Yes I said ROBOTS!!!! It was pretty cool and fun! But be quick... if you don't take all your food right away, the robots leave! Hahaha It's pricy, but my opinion it's worth it. Good quality food! Meats taste so freshly made and the sauces on top is delicious! I've never seen anything like that so I thought it was very cool, fun and different. I came here today for a second time with my mom and sister, and they were very pleased with their meals as well. This is my new go to spot for a Japanese fix . Twice already I've eaten here in the past month and really satisfied! YUUUUM! Also tipping is not required! All tips if decided to tip, go to their Charity which is awesome. I really hope business picks up. I passed by here many times, and ate here twice and it doesn't ever seem that busy. read more

See all

reading other reviews that tipping isn't expected here after I tipped... oof But I've been meaning to try this place at Hillsdale and it was pretty good! It might lack some standard service but it's just kind of how it is with the tablets - you have to pretty much ask for everything through the tablet, even for like water refills. Given that tips/service is apparently built into the price, I think the portions are pretty good - the miso katsu that I got included soup, rice, a small lotus root/seaweed salad, an egg, and pickles, and the katsu and sauce itself was a decently large portion. There's also sometimes a robot that goes around the restaurant to serve food, it's kind of fun to watch hahaha read more

YAYOI - 938. Miso Katsu - Japanese Near Me - San Mateo, California

My friends and I used to like coming here to dine at Hillsdale mall because of the "no tipping" policy they used to have here. To our surprise when we dined here the other night we had the server ask us why we didn't we leave a tip and we said because the policy said it's optional. He then proceeded to say the policy has changed and now they expect one... Umm it would have been helpful if he told us in the beginning. Other than that, this restaurant is 100% tech savvy. They will hand you an ipad to place orders yourself and have a robot that delivers your order to the table. Kind of leaves me wondering why we're expected to tip when robots and ipads run the place. read more