Yamazato Sushi Spice - Alexandria

Yamazato is one of the places that we still choose to go for sushi. I am not sure exactly what happened to the eel sauce. It's the second sushi restaurant recently where I found it too sweet and too plentiful. On the positive side, we enjoyed the miso soup and my husband really enjoyed the drunken noodles. I got the rock and roll ...roll...and I am not sure why they use cream cheese. I prefer a good old fashioned dragon roll with eel and tempura shrimp. Formerly, Yamazato custom prepared the roll that I wanted, but I was urged to choose from the menu.

The food was delicious! I had the bulgogi and a la carte sushi. My friend had the teriyaki chicken. We both got a cocktail (chocolate martini and stardust martini i think) the gyoza was delicious. Very happy with my experience there!Food: 5/5

We were there last week for carryout. We live about an hour away, and we 're coming back from Virginia and decided to stop. There were no other customers, which was a little concerning, considering it was nice inside and in a busy area. But it was late, and a Wednesday, so we didn 't think too much of it.We probably stuck out a bit, and requested to order carry-out. It took us a long time to order, and my bf looked up many photos of the rolls, so I 'm guessing we looked like we wouldn 't know about better...?Anyway, we drove almost an hour home with our order. We got two cocktails while we were waiting, and the bill was around $150...First bite of the salmon (sake) sashimi... It was smoked. We placed several orders for sashimi and nigiri sake, and every single piece was basically lox. I 'm not sure if they were *trying* to get rid of it, or if they didn 't have actual sake at that point in the evening, and thought we just wouldn 't know any better...? I have no idea.Looking at the menu, I see that smoked salmon actually costs more than raw, which makes zero sense to me, as it will keep longer when it 's cured and it 's not uncommon for sushi places to do this if they feel their fish isn 't quite fresh enough for sushi, but it 's not spoiled.One roll we got had some actual salmon sake in it, and it was fairly decent. The other rolls were surprisingly disappointing... The fish just wasn 't fresh tasting at all. I was hoping that because rolls are just... Often junky... Using fillers, covered up with sauces, etc... That the sashimi and nigiri would redeem the rest, but when it was all smoked... Ugh. We paid SO much money and it seemed they were trying to pawn off their end-of-day trash on us.Did they really think we 'd not notice cured salmon??Including pics for proof. Clearly you can even *see* that it 's been cured. Every single piece.Absolutely inexcusable.I 'm thinking their high ratings and awards are old and they just are relying on those to get by and are now going downhill and cutting corners, thinking people won 't notice.Gross and infuriating.

This was truly an unexpected treat. Best Japanese food anywhere. We enjoyed very large cuts of sushi and the best Drunken Noodles ever.Food: 5/5

I went to Yamazato Sushi Spice with my friends last night and I needed to write a review right away. We went around 7:00 and I was expecting it to be super busy, but even though there were enough patrons inside, we were seated right away. The ambiance is quiet but also very relaxed, which is perfect for my friends and I, as I don't like to be yelling at the person right across from me. I ended up getting one of the chilled sakes (Asian Pear flavor) which was crisp and refreshing. I also ended up getting a sushi meal. The name is escaping me, but it's the one just less than the Sushi Deluxe meal. It comes with soup, salad, and delicious nigiri and a California roll. As much as I'm not a fan of California rolls, I love how they wrap the avocado around the inside of the roll. The texture was so smooth and it made it that much more delicious. The shrimp nigiri is never a favorite so that might be the only one I didn't care for, but everything else was delicious. Even the white tuna was good because there was a sear on the side of it which gave it a much more delicious flavor. The sushi chefs are fast here. They are extremely skilled. The host and servers were all very attentive. I am definitely going to come back here. I've had bad experiences at some sushi restaurants in the Northern Virginia area, but Yamazato exceeded my expectations!