Yamabuki - A Final Visit

[Coheteboy]

With word of Yamabuki closing, I felt that I had to go back and bid farewell in case I didn't have a chance in the coming weeks. I dropped my saturday night plans and headed on over with a buddy of mine.

Hours are now Wednesday through Sunday from 5:30pm - 9pm. Really not a lot of hours for the staff to make a decent wage, is it? But for a Saturday night, it was decently populated and a table for two required a 5 minute wait right before closing.


The Disneyland Dining hotline ad at the Downtown Disney entrance to the Grand Californian still shows the variety that they have, including Yamabuki:









The front desk



The waiting / bar area



A display at the entrance



















Some of the views of the restaurant (i shot these after the place closed for the evening)

Front dining area



The sushi bar in the front room



The backroom







And now for the food. Whoever says the place isn't that overpriced is pretty wrong. I found it to be EXTREMELY pricey. The quality was pretty good but it still doesn't explain $6 for a bowl of miso soup.

Soup, Salad, Chicken Teriyaki, and Tempura is $29. I think overpriced is an understatement.

But when in rome right? Here's a look at part of the sushi menu



Albacore - $7



Chicken Yakitori - $10



Filet Mignon dish - $30



My Sashimi dish - $29



when I was done



Extra bowl of rice was $2.

And some drinks. Here's the antiox-cocktail - $10.25



And a bartender special w/ Tanqueray - $9.50




And our adorable waitress and bartender:




Total bill after 15% AP discount for two people: $108.18

Don't let that scare you off please. The food was delicious. It was a nice experience and I'll miss the authentic service from this location. That's something that I don't see at all at most Japanese Restaurants: JAPANESE PEOPLE!! Disney is making a mistake if they close this down and send away these cast members.

And it's not that there's no demand for this cuisine. It's just that nobody knows it's there.... and it is pretty pricey.

As of today, the cast members still didn't know what their future holds. I ask anyone else to share their last visit of Yamabuki or memories in this thread.

Thanks for reading.

[BC_DisneyGeek]

I've never heard of this restaurant, so thanks for the report.

It certainly looks nice, but the prices are pretty outrageous.

[I Heart Disneyland]

It looks wonderful! Sadly, my vacation to DL won't start until they are finished.

[elly]

We went to Yamabuki's for my birthday dinner back in September as part of our quest to eat at a Disney resturaunt we hadn't been to before. The food was wonderful, service fantastic, but prices a bit steep. However I'm sad to see this place go, but glad we got to eat there at least once.

[flynnibus]

Nice presentation on the food.

Thx for the photo tour CB

[tomrules1955]

It's the one place I've never tried. Thanks for the tour and the pics, to me, the pics show thats it looks nice but somewhat dated.

[WheresMickey]

What a great report!

[chadb14]

I am not a seafood/sushi fan - the filet mignon looked good, but I can't see myself spending over $100 for a meal for 2. I guess I'm just a cheapskate.

[PrincessY]

We haven't tried this restaurant yet either... but at these prices, I know why. Looks really yummy... but way overpriced.

[Mommyto4]

cool pictures,and great report ! but the meal it self looked so small and not appetizing to me at all. not for that price
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[princedalton]

I wish I could make it down for one last visit to the restaurant, but I'm not going back to the resort until June. The last time I ate at Yamabuki was for my birthday trip last July I'm sad to see it go.

[AliKzam]

Dang, now I want sushi. I might drop by DLR on Tuesday, but it's too bad they won't be open. My stingy genes have been kicking in the last few weeks, anyway, so I'm not sure I would have gone. Bummer it won't be open later. I hope all of those people are able to find good work, soon. It would be nice if Disney could give them first crack at any other restaurant job openings within the resort.

[LovelyLocks]

I love sushi ^_^
So it's no wonder I loved this report!
We went to Yamabuki last Disneyland trip, and loved it.
(Though can't say the same for the prices)

In fact, we had the same waitress! She was so cute and little! And we had a ten minute long conversation with her all about Japan. She told us where we should visit if we ever were to go. I enjoyed it.


And your pictures are lovely!

I'm kinda sad Yamabuki is closing, because it's the only sushi place in the area that I know of, and I can't live without sushi (though I probably should, haha).

[ashley solo]

I've never been but will try to make it before it closes. I should be pretty successful. Needless to say, at those prices, I probably wont get much but it'll be worth it to say I've been and SUSHI IS DELICIOUS so.

Thanks for the report, it was nice to see the place and the menu.

[The Dark Lady]

Thanks for the great photo report, CoheteBoy!

I really want to give Yamabuki a try now, but those prices just keep smackin' me away.