Which Yoshimi am I talking about? Do I have a new Japanese friend? No, not even close 
It’s the Yoshimi Japanese Restaurant that is located in Warisan Square, Kota Kinabalu.
I was having a craving for Salmon Sashimi and was too hungry to drive all the way to find a good place to eat after fetching up my cousin after work. Though we’re quire picky with the sashimi/sushi that we eat, we decided to give this place a try. The ambience of the place is nice, giving some sort of homey feeling to it.
The interior decor of Yoshimi Japanese Restaurant
The disposable chopsticks placed neatly on the table bears its name
Once seated, we took our sweet time browsing through the menu. Unlike most Japanese restaurants around the city that allows you to order the lunch menu, this place doesn’t. Strike one! The food listed in the menu were quite limited too. Strike two! Two strikes at one sitting… what could be next? So we ordered the Salmon sashimi set, hoping that nothing much could go wrong with the taste of a fresh salmon.
Salmon Sashimi served on a “wooden-stool” plate.
Upon arrival of the food, we thought there’s hope with this place. The thickly sliced salmon sashimi with such a simple yet nice presentation could just be the trick that will lure us to back to dine in this place. We sampled the food after dipping the sashimi in the wasabi mixed up with the soy sauce. The wasabi tasted weird, did not have the fresh “sting”, the signature flavour of a good wasabi. As for the sashimi, it just didn’t give the “melt-in-the-mouth” taste, and it had this subtle unpleasant smell and taste that gave us the idea of the salmon was not very fresh or maybe of a not so good quality. Strike three, you’re out!
Sorry, Yoshimi… what else can I say after experiencing three-strikes moment while dining with you? We’re definitely NOT coming back for more. Nevertheless, credits to the orangy-look of a fresh salmon sashimi, you’re now making me crave for a good salmon sashimi someplace else… Sushi King maybe or the reliable Nishiki restaurant. 
Popularity: 52% [?]
October 19th, 2008 at 10:53 am
damn..aku lapar..nasib baik ada roti..hehe..thanks for the review..i’ll avoid it at any cost if i have the urge for japanese food !
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SabahanCuisine reply on October 19, 2008 11:05 am:
avoid what? this place?
You can always go to Sushi King if you have the urge for Japanese food bah… only this place doesn’t serve the salmon according to my taste.. it could be good for other people since I saw a few people did walk in to dine at this place 
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October 19th, 2008 at 11:30 am
i don’t really love salmon..callister loves it because it’s a fish..if salmon is a chicken…she might not…
anyway, i don’t think i ever came across to any yashimi restaurant yet…prefer sushi king because it has a lot of dishes to choose from !
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SabahanCuisine reply on October 19, 2008 3:56 pm:
Yoshimi is a restaurant here in KK
and yes, sushi king have a lot of dishes to choose from indeed… plus they have that nice, tasty, sweet soy sauce! 
:D
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October 21st, 2008 at 10:17 am
I hate Yoshimi too… they need to change their sushi chef ASAP. I think the restraurant is too small for comfort. There’s barely any space for the staff to walk around… the last time I was there… they almost spilled Miso Soup on my cousin!
if you want fresh Salmon… try Michi at 1B… I ordered the Unagi + Sashimi Bento the last time I was there… The freshes salmon I’ve tasted in a while!
My friend also gave rave reviews for both Nishiki (Gaya Street) and Sake Recipe House (somewhere in Lintas)… but I haven’t yet got the privilege to try these two restaurants myself.
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SabahanCuisine reply on October 23, 2008 2:38 pm:
Ah.. so we weren’t the only ones that think Yoshimi is not the best place to dine in for Japanese food…
Ah.. Michi, we are planning to try out that place, is that the one next to Sushi King in 1B? Thanks for the recommendation
I did a post on Nishiki a while back too … and haven’t try out Sake Recipe House too.. are you sure it’s in Lintas? I only know that Wagamama is in Lintas
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October 24th, 2008 at 2:16 am
ooh I been here twice already, nice sets they have but sushi could have been better, and balik2 I have to ‘kasi-jalan’ the waitresses so they can limpas to serve other ppl… though not really ingat what happened both times, bawak kawan frm KL tebiat mau jipun-food…I think we ‘drowned’ the night with sake..I ‘think’..hehe..
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SabahanCuisine reply on November 7, 2008 11:36 am:
LOL Xander… you think? That’s another thing with that place… sempit!
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October 24th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Now I have to say I am not sure. It’s either Lintas or Damai…. my friend loves the place so much! She said they had the best sushi rice ever… because they use 100% Japanese rice to make sushi…. She said it’s a place where they sell supplies for Japanese food… the place hardly looks like a restaurant. So it’s pretty easy to miss.
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SabahanCuisine reply on November 7, 2008 11:37 am:
Then it must be the one in Damai
I know that place but never been there myself … must give it a try..
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November 8th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Mmm.. Sorry for the bad experience. But Yoshimi is actually one of my favourite place to eat. Maybe because I don’t eat sashimi. LOL~ The chef is actually from Japan, if I’m not mistaken, he used to work in Hyatt. But like you said, it may be good for some people, different people has different taste. Wagamama and Sushi King is not my taste, so yea, again, we all have different taste!! =)
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SabahanCuisine reply on November 9, 2008 8:09 pm:
Why, hello Chris!
Finally someone who likes Yoshimi… thats’ good, just proved my point that different people have different taste …
Thanks for dropping by here, hope to see you again … even though I don’t update this blog as much as I’d love too… time limitation huhu…
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December 27th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I don’t really like Yoshimi too.. but that’s my own personal opinion lah.
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SabahanCuisine reply on December 29, 2008 11:51 am:
..and that personal opinion counts!
Every customer’s feedback is important anyway hehehe …. thanks for dropping by JACQ 
Hope to see you around again..
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December 30th, 2008 at 8:32 am
As a fan of Japanese food, one thing very important is the freshness (who want to eat rotten raw food -.-), unless it’s preserved such our famous bosou hehe.
When I carved for sushi and sashimi, I go to either Five sails at Magelan or Wagamama - they haven’t really disappoint me so far
Thks for sharing.
p/s: mind sharing links? I’m 123tastebug @ http://www.sabahanfood.com (I’m a newbies in blog k)
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SabahanCuisine reply on January 4, 2009 11:24 am:
Very true indeed, Val … *thumbs up*
As for sharing link, sure! Go ahead
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August 31st, 2009 at 10:34 pm
i’ve tried michi jap restaurant at 1 borneo & yes the salmon’s very fresh & delicate. i also like yoshimi very much. at the time of your 1st try was around nov 2008 so i don’t know but i just tried yoshimi recently & i can’t stop going back for more! in my opinion the salmon’s always fresh. it seems to be fresh whenever i go there. they also have so many varieties & creativity in their menu which was one of the reason i like it there. although the place is quite small but very creative & homey. prices are affordable. definitely worth going back for another try
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August 25th, 2010 at 7:37 am
I have some trouble to subscribe the rss feed, anyway I’ve bookmarked this site, is very useful and full of informations.
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