Y by Yabani

As far as Citywalk goes, I'm a fan. I love open-air malls (though ask me again when it's summer) and it's a charming little area with greenery, a fountain and a bunch of unconventional shops and restaurants.

There seems to be an Asian theme going on here, as the majority of the restaurants currently open are of that variety, including Pei Wei (managed by PF Chang's), Noodle House and the one I'm about to review - Y by Yabani.

Now there are two types of Japanese restaurants: the super-fancy, extremely high quality places like Zuma and Okku, and the cheaper, usual kind of sushi places that can be quite good in their own right, like Sumo. Yabani would be more of the latter, though I got the impression that it tries to be a bit of the former.

Upon being seated I was immediately mystified by two separate menus, one the good old-fashioned paper sort, and the other on an iPad. Not a big fan of this techy business, but maybe I'm just old. The two menus are also not the same; each has items that the other doesn't. Hmmm.

I ordered my typical spicy edamame, and together with the rest of the group we had a selection of starters and different types of sushi. After repeatedly being offered their "Head over Hills" salad, we finally gave in and ordered it, though I'm not sure why we had to say no to it 3 times.

Anyway, I sipped on my minted lemonade as we waited (fresh and delicious), and so our food started coming in. The edamame was great, though there's really not much that can wrong there; the beans really speak for themselves. This was followed by some salmon sashimi, the seaweed salad, and the aforementioned "Head over Hills". I am unhappy to report that my sashimi contained a bone and unfortunately this ruined the rest of the salmon; really an unforgivable blunder there. On the other hand, the seaweed salad was light and refreshing; the typical type of dish you would think of when it comes to Japanese salads. Sadly, the "Head over Hills" impression was not to be, as frankly the presentation was quite unappetizing and the salad itself did not really taste of anything. Not recommended, and an underwhelming start to the dinner overall.

Next came a selection of different types of sushi: I was particularly excited for the Shake Izuzukuri - this was basically the same as salmon sashimi, but with a spicy sauce and some garnish. It was alright, I didn't particularly love but I didn't hate it either. Next came the rolls: Yabani Dragon (crispy shrimp, avocado), Crazy (crabstick, veggies, tobiko, tempura crisp), Crazy Avocado and Crazy Shrimp. There's this new fad of adding something that looks like coleslaw on top of sushi rolls. I am not a fan. And though my friends very much enjoyed their rolls, I personally found them to be bland and the texture too soft. But to each their own.

Personally, I may be coming back to this restaurant purely due to its location, the food is not something I would recommend. If the objective is sushi, there are many other better (and cheaper) options in Dubai.