Yamba

YAMBA near Osaka-Umeda station in Osaka (5 mins walk) —Found this restaurant online so made a reservation with Guranavi 2 to 3 months out to secure a reservation. The place is very small with only 12 seats around the charcoal grill but the genuine japanese ambiance was impressive with the chef coo...king right in front of you then passing the food to you on a 5 foot long paddle. We chose the AYCE option 5000 yen per person unlimited drinks and food but there is a catch that was told to us as soon as we sat down which was very upfront. For the large fresh scallop, the fresh huge prawn, and the fresh turban welk, each person is only allowed ONE of each. Also, for dessert, there was a choice between vanilla ice cream or yuzu sherbet and only ONE of the two per person. Everything else on the menu is AYCE. The server also told us as we sat down it is only for 90 minutes which was all we needed anyways. All the seafood is very fish sitting on a bed of ice in between the 12 customers and the grill. There was absolutely no smoke in the restaurant and all the seafood was so fresh. The large scallop was divine and the sauce they used had a braised pork taste to it and it was delicious. The large prawn was very sweet and meaty with its head on. The turban welk came with a sweet shoyu sauce and was very fresh. Our reservation was for 6pm but we arrived so early at 4:45pm so we just went in and asked if we could eat earlier since there was only one diner in the 12 seat venue. He accepted us which was a huge advantage for us so we could order everything we wanted and started eating right away. If it is much later, the restaurant would be packed and the wait for food may be longer. We had 4 plates of very fresh assorted sashimi with octopus, salmon, seared tuna, and this white fish. We also had fried sweet sticky chicken wings that were so juicy and plump. We also had different yakitori skewers like gizzard, chicken, pork belly, quail eggs, and many more. The skewers were not the best i have had but good enough. We also had fried chicken skin but unfortunately it wasn’t crispy. Salmon belly strip was excellent; sea bream kama was good, and the fresh squid tube (whole) was excellent. Our chef did not overcook any of the items to avoid being rubbery and tough. We also had the potatoes which was excellent along with egg plant and corn. I would have to say their seafood is the highlight and there was also fresh mackerel but we did not order it. the menu was quite extensive with many different things to order from. As for drinks…we had draft beers, cold sake, chohai (watered down). We are not big drinkers but for the 3 of us, we put away 3 sake bottles, 4 draft beers, one chohai only. Service was excellent…we had to communicate with the servers with a translator but they were very accommodating and kind to us.

Visited February 2024

My wife and I enjoyed this place very much. Not easy to find it but found it!! Make sure you sit at the counter, not at the table for maximum experience. You can order the food to the server or to the chef. Freshest seafood in a simple way. The chef will cook up your order right in front of you and ...serve it to you on a wooden paddle. Fun!! The price might not be the cheapest but we sure remember this experience for a long time.

Visited November 2018