YAMA Kitchen - Kelowna

I enjoyed the house roll and dynamite roll we have here. The service was very friendly and fast. In any case, it would recommend checking out this place!

This is my favorite restaurant in Kelowna. We eat here or order our at least a few times a month. It's not a beautiful place, and it's down in the industrial area, but worth a visit. I don't eat sushi anywhere else in Kelowna anymore.

Delicious sushi at a reasonable price in Kelownas Nordende and near the Knox Mountain. We ordered avocado and yum sushi for take out and it was $5.5 for 8 pieces. Very recommended.

I love this place! Sweet little location AMAZING prices and the sushi was drool worthy. I like the crazy yam roll and mi chicken the best, but they also nailed the classics! Everything's coming back.

Probably the worst thing about this restaurant is the location; smack dab in the middle of Kelowna's industrial North End. Hence, the view is horrendous and the clientele is definitely not in the higher end. But therein lies its charm... a low key, blue collar-type...restaurant that is not stuffy or pretentious. A small dining area with tables for small groups; no large tables that I could see. Family run, the one server is a pleasant Korean lady (yes, most Japanese restaurants in Kelowna are not owned/operated by Japanese) who attends to almost all our needs... we only had to ask for tea once. The food is actually very good. My son had the tofu donburi bowl as his vegetarian choice and he was quite pleased as it was tasty and filling. My wife and I shared rolls and tempura. The assorted tempura was mostly excellent; hot and crispy and not too oily. The rolls were excellent with generous amounts of seafood and other ingredients. I have to say the 911 Roll was our favourite however, one should be warned that it is quite spicy. Also, the trend for many sushi restaurants is to add their own signature flavour. Some are hits, some not. This restaurant uses mango and I have to say it's a hit. First, they use fresh Philippine mangoes which are far superior to their Mexican cousins and the sweetness of the large slices of the heavenly fruit is a wonderful compliment to the salt of the soy sauce and the tang of the wasabi. I do have a couple of minor sore points which I will espouse now: 1) The assorted tempura came with two stalks of asparagus which is not typical for tempura. At first we were excited to try it and the tips and majority of the stalk was not bad. However, towards the base it became stringy and tough to eat. While I do not necessarily disagree with continued use of this vegetable it may be suggested that in future the asparagus be cut shorter to not have to subject the diner to the weaker tasting part of the stem. 2) The tempura sauce did not seem right. It actually tasted like watered down soy sauce. If that was the case, major faux pas. 3) As for the soy sauce, it also tasted different. I do not know if it was a different brand, different type, or whether it was also watered down but the soy sauce was more bland than I have come to expect. The price point was quite reasonable given the quality of the food and the fact that this small, non-food chain restaurant has been in the same location for 6 years is a testament to the fact the proprietors must be doing something right. I would go again. Four stars.