YOi Japanese Eatery

Yoooooooo the portion sizes are humongous. Got the plate (1 meat, 1 side, 1 base) and it was enough to feed 2 people. The food is foodcourt quality sure (I did love the honey chicken and sweet potatoes, with the side veggie slaw and noodles being ok), but for that price it's definitely a deal!

They no longer serve fresh fries. They make a very large batch and put them beside the rice and noodles. Disappointing that a fresh and well done fried chicken katsu is served beside soft cold fries now. I did ask if I could get a fresh batch of fries as they were already running low and they agreed. The sandwich is still really good, juicy and moist with a crispy exterior. Sad about the fries.

I can't even remember when I last visited Fairview Mall, let alone their food court. My hubby had stopped by and couldn't stop raving about the improvements over the past few years (which we clearly missed, lol). Naturally I had to stop by. I knew as soon as I saw Yoi Japanese eatery, that's where I was getting my lunch from.

I have recently ventured into a number of restaurants for Ramen. It has become my fall/winter comfort food! My oldest shares the same love of all things ramen, so I took her for lunch at CF Fairview just a couple of weeks ago.

This place can get crazy busy with long lines and wait times. They have an extensive menu of Ramen, Katsu, Chashu (pork belly) Buns, Karage & Poke Bowls. I was so tempted to try more than just Ramen, but judging the size of the bowl, I knew I would have to save the curiosity for another visit.

This is what we ordered:

Shoyu Ramen $15.95 - OMG, the broth for this was INSANELY good! I keep hearing from from friends "if you want Ramen, try the restaurants that specialize in it". Nope, for a food court spot, they are doing just fine and oh was it ever delish! My Shoyu Ramen bowl was: Soy based ramen, pork & fish broth, pork belly chashu, soy egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, green onion and nori. This was so good, I had my hubby pick up take-out for me just last week. they kept the ingredients conveniently separated so that I could re-heat it at home.

Miso Ramen $15.95 - Miso based ramen, pork & fish broth, pork belly chashu, soy egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, green onion and nori.

I was a bit skeptical about the soy egg - but loved it! The pork belly chashu in both bowls was so tender & delicious!

I would love to see Yoi Japanese Eatery open a 2nd location in CF Markville!

This is my second review of Yoi. It's been a few years since I've been to Fairview mall, so I was curious to know if I'd still enjoy the ramen. It's still good ! The pork slices are flavorful, soup base is mouth watering and the side chicken is juicy and tender. So glad to revisit this place and even more pleased that it's still as good as I remembered.

My daughter and I bought food from Yoi at the Fairview Mall food court. There were a lot of people ordering food. When we finally got our food we managed to find seats in the packed food court and immediately ate. My daughter was surprised to find something"extra" in her food - a bug. Please see the pictures. So buyer beware!

Wow, big portion, not stingy with the meat.
Taste pretty good. Can do with more of the sauce though

I've become a huge ramen fan in the last few years. Like, I'll go out of my way to sample a new bowl of ramen. So I was obviously intrigued when I heard that Fairview Mall had a ramen joint in its food court and made sampling their wares a top priority.

I showed up around 4:00 on a weekday and even though there were three people standing behind the counter, I was forced to kind of stand there awkwardly until someone took my order. (The guy behind the register stared at me for a solid 10 seconds before asking if he could help me. Not the greatest way to treat a customer.)

Anyway, I decided to try the Spicy Tan Tan Men ("chicken broth, seasoned minced chicken, bok choi, bean sprout, green onion, seaweed, chili oil").

It's fine. It's basically what you'd think a food-court based ramen would taste like. It's got all the components one expects from a bowl of ramen but with hardly any of the flavor. It's just super bland, basically. And though I specifically ordered something with the word "spicy" in it, there's really hardly anything in the way of heat here.

The ingredients used are all fine, although the "minced chicken" is actually big chunks that are impossible to eat in one bite.

And given that this bowl cost me about $13 with tax, I was definitely pretty unhappy with my choice, ultimately. (I could've spent a couple of dollars more and gotten one of the city's best bowls at an actual restaurant!)

While doing some errands in Fairview mall I started to get hungry and for convenience sake decided to head to the food court to get a bite to eat. I came across this new place and decided after looking it up on Yelp (and the good reviews), that I should try it!

For mall food court food, It's pretty decent! I tried the beef gyundon rice bowl. It was $11 i believe with taxes. It's actually a pretty big portion - definitely fill you up. Lots of beef, rice, bok choy and scallions. Flavourful and nicely cooked fresh rice hit the spot when the afternoon munchies hit.

I don't think I'd necessarily come here for Japanese food if I wasn't in the mall, but the next time I head to the food court here, this will definitely be my stop.

[LOCATION] - 5/5
Located in the food court at Fairview Mall (Sheppard Ave. E & Don Mills Rd.)

[SERVICE] - 5/5
Quick, friendly & hassle-free.

[DÉCOR] - 4/5
The food court has pretty modern decor and is kept pretty clean.

[FOOD QUALITY] - 5/5
Excellent quality for what you get at a food court! I usually don't like to eat meals at food courts because of all the unhealthy options. But, I'm super glad I can get healthy & delicious options at YOi.

[ORDER] - 4/5
Shoyu Poke Bowl with Salmon - $11.95 - salmon sashimi tasted pretty fresh. There weren't that many pieces of salmon, but I was pretty full from the perfectly-cooked rice and fresh toppings.

[OVERALL] - 4.5/5
There were actually a lot of places that offer poke bowls in the food court at Fairview Mall, but this one looked like it had the freshest ingredients. I'll have to try the other options to determine which place has the best poke bowls, but so far, I would definitely recommend this one for a healthy lunch!

Ramen in a mall food court?! Yummmmm. No more tough decisions in the Fairview food court thinking about what to eat. This will be my go-to.

I tried the spicy miso tonkatsu ramen. The ramen is restaurant quality. You can taste the broth is rich with miso flavour. The noodles were a good texture, and the chashu had even layers of fat and meat.

Also tried the chashu baos which were simple in terms of ingredients and tasty for that reason.

I sampled a piece of their karage chicken, it was so good. Would have gotten that too but my stomach only has so much room!