Yakii Express

Featured reviews

• G

  Google user

  ·3 months ago

  “My wife and I had dinner at Yakii Express yesterday; around 2:30pm on a Saturday afternoon. This small Japanese restaurant, with only a handful of tables and chairs, is located in the heart of Loughborough town centre. Its small dining room is brightly decorated with replica cherry blossom trees and walls adorned with colourful sticky notes featuring doodles and messages from previous diners. Payment is cash only; we were aware of this having scoped the restaurant out the previous weekend, so we came prepared. The menu features a fairly extensive selection of appetisers (spring rolls, edamame beans, takoyaki octopus balls, chicken wings, tempura prawns, gyozas, miso soup), a variety of sushi sets (including vegetarian options), and a varied choice of rice, noodle, soup and katsu curry dishes. We decided to share a few appetisers/sushi dishes and have a main each. Service was exceptionally quick; all of the food arrived together within a few minutes of ordering. We opted for: Vegetable Spring Rolls (£2.50): Two standard sized spring rolls, served piping hot, and filled with bean sprouts, carrots, garlic and ginger. Avocado Maki (£3.80): 6 small sushi rolls with avocado surrounded by rice and an outer layer of seaweed. Served with pickled ginger and wasabi paste. Salmon Special (£3.50): 2 pieces of sushi; rice topped with grilled salmon and fish roe. Laksa Noodle Soup (£10.90): This was my main. A large bowl of ramen noodles in a spicy broth with lots of tender chicken pieces and small prawns. The chef asked whether I wanted it “more or less spicy” - I indicated that I wanted it “more” spicy - and it contained a reasonable level of heat thanks to the sliced red chilli peppers and chilli flakes. It was a hot afternoon, so this hot soup left me sweating…but didn’t leave my lips and tongue tingling, so I would have liked it just a little spicier. While I enjoyed the dish, it wasn’t quite what I expected from Laksa; the soup didn’t have the creamy coconut flavour and consistency that I’ve come to associate with this dish. If the dish had been called “spicy noodle soup with chicken and prawns” it would have been great, but it wasn’t quite what I expected when I ordered Laksa. Duck Udon (£8.50): This was my wife’s main and she chose BBQ sauce from the various sauce options available. Like my main, it was a generous portion size and good value for money. There were plenty of thick udon noodles, lots of tender duck meat and a very tasty BBQ sauce. Drinks were available in the form of cans and bottles in the fridge. We each had a bottle of iced lemon tea. Good value (our total bill came to £33.60), tasty food, generous portion sizes and very quick service. We’d definitely eat here again.”

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• G

  Google user

  ·4 months ago

  “Quick service. Friendly staff, delicious food. A Hidden gem”

• G

  Google user

  ·5 months ago

  “Lovely little place, delicious and very fresh food, great price. Cash only. We’ll definitely be back”

• G

  Google user

  ·6 months ago

  “Lovely early evening meal with three young children and two adults. Excellent service.”

• G

  Google user

  ·1 year ago

  “Food was good other than slightly overcooked katsu chicken that somehow had moist panko. Service is lovely in there, feels like getting food from your Auntie's place, it is a little cramped though and didn't have anything to entice me to eat in the establishment. Solid place for a nice Japanese pick me up meal.”

• G

  Google user

  ·1 year ago

  “One of the best asian food places in Loughborough especially if ur craving sushi. I had the miso soup, London roll and Katsu vegetable ramen in soup. The food was delicious my favourite was the London roll it was like a party of flavours in my mouth 😋. The place itself was adorable, filled with sticky notes with cute drawings and comments from customers.”

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• G

  Google user

  ·1 year ago

  “Found this hidden gem, food was absolutely amazing. Very good value for money”

• G

  Google user

  ·3 years ago

  “This place really hit the spot for a Sunday night takeaway. I would recommend the gyoza, they were extra crispy and generous with the filling. The seaweed salad was fresh and crunchy as expected, however I found the duck noodles a little dry and lacking in flavour.”

• G

  Google user

  ·6 years ago

  “On this occasion I had takeout from there but have eaten in the shop before It is a great place to look out for when looking for sushi It’s great value for money It is a nice cute shop can’t hold too many people though The people in the working shop are really nice”

• G

  Google user

  ·8 years ago

  “the fried ice cream was soo good! creamy cold in the center. in one word refreshing! bento box was good, maybe a bigger portion but the tempura veggies were crispy and tasty!”