I see reservations on Resy for 08/06.
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Yup, they got it fixed now and I will be there at 6!
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Cool that they post the menu….most of these collabs don’t and seem to make it up on the fly…like Chopped.
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When I went in May I think, I got the monks chirashi and it’s like a salad without dressing, and firm very short grain rice at the bottom with I think a tiny pool of dashi or some other clear liquid. Also, it had more form of a texture than most salads I’ve tried.
The kakigori are the most approachable menu item I’ve tried there. They’re good desserts and I felt they could probably open a shop just with those. . .
I had a couple temaki (black cod, tuna) and they’re good. The main theme to me was that the dishes weren’t always the most overtly flavorful, but the emphasis is on ingredient quality, precision, and local/seasonal. The seasoning usually feels like it’s barely “enough” but it feels intentional, and I noticed often the seasoning is a little separate so the ingredients can be tasted alone first. . .
I got the salt grilled unagi, sashimi chirashi (yellowtail, vermillion rockfish, one other), oyster, assorted pickles.
I wish I got the kabayaki eel instead though. . . Eel still sorta resembles catfish to me so i don’t know. Basically, I feel I go there to try local produce with careful processing and a particular interpretation of Japanese technique.
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Copypasta from YESS social media page
“ Monk’s Summer Chirashi Sushi ( Vegan Scattered Sushi )
Our Monk’s Chirashi is the Treasure Box of Season. It’s packed with what is Shun 旬 ( hight of the season ) from the Market. Vegetables and fruits are cherry picked and prepared individually to highlight each character, some pickled, some fermented, some braised, some boiled, some dehydrated, some kept raw, then assembled on the bed of Sushi Rice. Each ingredient speak itself and bring harmony to the whole dish as if they sing the same song of the time.
Here, for example: Japanese Eggplant fermented with Hibiscus & Red Shiso, fresh & dehydrated Cherry Tomatoes, Plum & Nectarines, Steamed Taiwanese Green Bean & Sugar Snap, crunchy Japanese Cucumber, Tamari and Kombu Braised Shiitake Mushroom & Carrot, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds & Sesame, Green Shiso, Nori…
We change ingredients throughout the season according to what is the best at the time.
It is absolute our pleasure to make this dish and surprise the guests with the Taste of the Season.”
Yeah I need to try this!
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Yess continues to improve, in both our opinions. The menu has expanded with lots more temaki and chirashi options. Many items were excellent, especially the oysters (now served shucked and sauced, for the better), the confit halibut, and the natto-kimchi temaki (surprisingly good). The only thing I wasn’t very much into is the American eel. It’s enjoyable, but I think Japanese unagi at any Tokyo specialist is way superior. Why this restaurant is serving American eel as the only seafood main course as opposed to any other fish in the world, I can’t understand. Also, I have no idea why this restaurant does strange things like serving the fried eel skeleton, which was almost impossible to eat. I’d like to recommend Yess unequivocally, but then I think of something like that—and the weird music in the background—and I can’t do it. I will say: it’s my favorite place to load up on omega 3s.
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I got the eel and the skeleton was my favorite part… But I like offal and bone.
Anyhow, here’s a menu pic
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Was yours crispy? I felt like mine was either under-fried or too big to make crispy. It required some serious gnawing, where the thought of spitting into the napkin was a serious one. The eel offal, by contrast, was great.
Oh the spine was right at the border for me lol. It was between crispy and not. The eel skin on the other hand, was even harder to chew for me. I wish that it was cut … Or the skin cooked a little longer.
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Agree on the eel skin. I had mixed feelings about that, but the safer course definitely would have been to remove it.
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I really want to try here.
what’s must item? And are they baby friendly menu?
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Although it is controversial,the Monk’s chirashi (chirashi with vegetables and fruits instead of fish) is what I consider their signature dish. They’ve had it on the menu since they opened.
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Online menu is “sample”
Menu rotates a lot so hard to pin down any single item, though that veg chirashi gets lots of well-deserved praise.
He’s an excellent chef so whatever sounds good to you is a pretty good bet.
I have loved any fish special I have had.
Huge space so I don’t think they would mind an accompanying child but doubt there is a kids menu
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Yess just keeps getting better and better. The hay smoked tuna is one of the best things I ate this year. I love what they do with oysters.
Top 5 LA Michelin Guide snubs:
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Sushikodoro Miyama
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Yess
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Array 36
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Udatsu
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Kinjiro
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Looks like Yess is doing a pop up this Thursday at Dudley market!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DVbK5u-kovL/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
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2-5 PM on a Thursday?
Maybe that’s breakfast time for a lot of Venetians 
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This place came in my radar because Hannah Goldfield of the New Yorker profiled Yamasaki for spreading the Ike Jime stateside, noting clients like Providence, Le Bernadin and Eleven Madison Park. Apparently Yess is closing and the pop up will be called Fuck Yess.
Link to the article
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I know, I’m like, “Who’s going to be able to attend this???” I’m sure many, actually, but I can’t.
Hope they do more at a different time of day.