301 E Houston St
San Antonio, TX 78247
(210) 487-7888
(2 Stars)
Nobody walks into water puddles and no one lays down their jacket for the pretty ladies to walk over. I was watching carefully for this, as I had a nice view of Houston and Navarro streets from one of Yokonyu’s many window-side tables.
I walked in to Yokonyu Sushi Bar just as it had started raining. It took a while for someone to attend to me as there was no host or hostess at the podium. Finally, I was seated. The ambiance was nice and it became apparent that Yokonyu was striving for the trendy, stylish, hipster look. The sushi bar was somewhat hidden in the back, for some reason, and there were a lot of windows to look out of and into the city streets. There were only about 4 other tables occupied during the downtown, prime-time, lunch-hour which concerned me a little bit. Perhaps the annoying raver, dance-club music had driven some people away.
The service was fine, in fact the waiter did a great job. I think that alone bought Yokonyu an extra star. The food on the other hand was, as Yelp’s 2 stars put it, “Meh. I’ve experienced better.” I ordered the lunch special Yaki Udon with chicken ($10.99) that reminded me of some pretty decent Lean Cuisine frozen entrees. Of course the problem with this is, if Lean Cuisine can compete with Yokonyu’s food why wouldn’t anyone just get a Lean Cuisine at $2.50 a meal? In addition, the Yaki Udon was served on a tiny plate and whenever I would try to grab at the noodles, the plate would spin! Image, with chopsticks, trying to eat noodles on a spinning plate! It was crazy.
I didn’t order any sushi. Who could afford it here, though? I know we’re not too close to the Indian or Pacific Oceans in San Antonio, but at $9 for two pieces of hamachi nigiri?! $19.99 for Ama Ebi?! It also makes me wonder how fresh it all is. . . The nigiri and sashimi seemed to be the only high priced items. The rolls seemed at about the same price as they are anywhere: $10-14 a roll.
The only thing decent, as far as the food goes, was the salad with ginger dressing and the miso soup. I might try coming here again for nigiri, my favorite type of sushi, once I win the lottery.
