YoSake

 

Located at 33 South Front Street in Downtown Wilmington, YoSake offers Asian Fusion cuisine. It is open from 5-10 Sunday-Thursday and 5-midnight Friday and Saturday. There is a full bar, weekly specials, and happy hour discounts. Online reservations are available.

 

YoSake boasts strong reviews, and on paper, that makes complete sense. The menu is deep and varied, the location is convenient, and the use of local ingredients is commendable. The actual experience of dining here, however, proved to be fairly disappointing.

 

YoSake is located on the second floor of a historic building, accessible by pausing halfway up a long staircase. Inside, the ambiance is half industrial (bricks n ducts), half imitation Japanese (red walls and anime art). While a “fun” atmosphere with space for groups, it’s also quite loud, making conversation difficult.

 

Billed as a sushi lounge, YoSake has classic and specialty rolls but also curries, noodle dishes, soups, salads, and more. There are Thai as well as Japanese influences and vegetarian options as well.

 

My wife and I ordered a coconut lemongrass soup, a farmhouse roll (cucumber, sweet potato, avocado, and asparagus with cream cheese), and a crispy salmon (salmon, forbidden rice, scallions, and avocado cream). Our server was friendly, and in light of what followed, very apologetic, but the meal was one mishap or letdown after another. YoSake makes no claim on authenticity, but even faux Asian fusion should be able to do better than a bag of Bigelow in the tea department. The soup (perhaps tellingly not billed as tom kha gai) was salty to the point of inedible (no hyperbole here) and filled with overcooked vegetables to boot. Somehow, my crispy salmon (listed that way on the menu) was interpreted as a crunchy roll with salmon, a mistake that was, thankfully, quickly remedied.

 

That said, the meal wasn’t a complete disaster. The farmhouse roll offered a healthy change-of-pace from the traditional Philly, the salmon was cooked well (crispy as advertised without being dry) if a bit understated in the flavor department, and both the rice and the accompanying side salad (with carrot-ginger dressing) were tasty.

 

It’s possible that we caught YoSake during an off-night, but the acoustics, miscues, and presence of more reliable options in the area make it unlikely we’ll be back during our next Wilmington trip.