Yamato Japanese Restaurant

My friend and I stopped in here for lunch and were absolutely pleased with our choice. ​My friend had the Pork Katsu Curry, which was perfectly crispy and had an excellent texture. I tried the Curry Ramen, a dish I had never had before, and I definitely plan to order it again! It's an excellent blend of the two dishes—a must-try if you love both curry and ramen. ​The Yellowtail Sushi was perfect in every sense: the precision of the cut, the generous portion size, the beautiful display, and of course, the amazing flavor. ​Thank you for having us. We are sure we will be back soon!

This is definitely my favorite sushi restaurant in Tucson. You can immediately tell that both the service and food have so much intention and care put in, down to even the pickled ginger which was exceptionally good. All of the fish was excellent quality and each piece was made with just the right amount of wasabi added. Highly recommend the chef’s choice options. It’s a small place so I’d suggest making reservations.

We were in Tucson to enjoy a few nights at a resort and were looking to have a authentic sushi meal since Prescott AZ is lacking in quality sushi restaurants. Yamato had good reviews but still had moderate expectations before arriving, which the exterior and interior when arriving could only be classified as moderate to time warp from the late 90’s when the place opened. We had made a reservation to sit at the counter and upon being seating the whole experience only went up and by the end of the night we both felt it was one of the better sushi meals in recent memory and compares very favorably to top notch sushi places likes Sushi Ota in San Diego, at least on food quality and interaction with the owner/chef. We ordered ala carte from the menu with a few suggestions from the chef, everything tasted fresh and the rice was of the highest order. The chef said he uses 3 different vinegars to balance it out properly, and you could tell. He also had a special cured salmon which was delicious and something unique to Yamato the he created with a previous employee that I would highly recommend. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking on the food. Overall Yamato blew away our expectations and while the decor might be stuck in the 90’s, the prices are also from a few years ago which amounted to very reasonable check considering how much we ordered. If you’re in Tucson and want an authentic sushi meal this is the place and be sure to try to reserve to counter, along with asking for what the chef recommends for the evening.

I really enjoyed my nigiri, especially the yellowtail. All prepared fresh in front of you. Nice small place and atmosphere, server was very friendly and attentive. The slices of fish were thick and delicate in my nigiri, best I’ve had in Tucson!

I’ve enjoyed eating at Yamato for years. I would call it a traditional restaurant, as you won’t find. Teppanyaki the sushi is great and more traditional, and if you want to have the day and a day out Japanese food like katsudon, or sukiyaki, you’ve definitely come to the right place. This is Tucson, not Tokyo, but I have never been disappointed. They make the best katsudon or futumaki in Tucson and a lot more besides. I have not had everything on the menu, but what I have had I loved. It is a small facility, so you will find reservations necessary. I can’t say enough about Yamato.