'Quality value and quality food' - Yokohama, Roundhay Road, Leeds restaurant review

And so it's hardly surprising that Yokohama, a fusion of the two, based on Roundhay Road between Harehills and Roundhay, is a busy establishment.

With arguably some of the best transport links (literally situated outside a key bus lane route) on one of north Leeds's most-traveled commuter routes, it's not difficult to find too.

First impressions

The large sign and a twinkling of lights beckon you inside as you cross by on the busy street.

Walking through the front, you can see the bar with scatterings of tables to the left and right.

The decor is quite dark here and there's photographs and prints on the walls. A plastic-looking cherry blossom tree and some decorative flower arrangements complete the vibe.

After we sat down - it was a midweek evening and there were a few tables full already - and were given menus, the owner/manager immediately came over to ask: "Is this your first time here?"

When we told him it was, he began introducing some of the "most popular" dishes and gave us some helpful suggestions. He also enquired as to any dietary requirements and informed us that tofu could substitute meat in dishes. A nice touch.

The food

Simply put, it is a fantastic menu.

The sheer range of dishes is brilliant and you will not be short of options, whether you're in the mood for noodles, soup, stir-fry or sushi.

Brilliant vegetarian range. Items suitable for veggies are marked green (there's no fancy V or Ve symbols here. Simple but helpful.

Pictures on the menu of many of the most popular dishes. It sounds almost childish but this was extremely welcomed. While the dishes have decent descriptions, there are some obscure Japenese and Korean dishes on the menu that sound interesting on the surface.

Strangely though, there are also pictures on the inside windows of some of the dishes which just came across as a little bizarre.

The starter range here is a thing to behold. You can pick from two pages of dishes from seafood pancakes to octopus meatballs, Japanese salads, tempura or dumplings.

Onto mains, there's traditional staples like Teriyaki chicken or Katsu curry. But there's also the likes of stir-fry squid, Udon noodle dishes, ramen and even a barbecue-style page.

Of course, Sushi is on offer here too and, while we didn't try any of the rolls, there is an extensive list including vegetarian options.

To start, we go with Japchae at £8 (stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables and beef) - the manager's recommendation - alongside some vegetable dumplings at £5.50.

Both are delicious. In particular, the Japchae was brilliant - a huge portion.

For mains, we went for the Yasai Yaki Udon at £8.50 (stir-fried thick wheat noodles with vegetables) and Salmon Teriyaki with rice at £11.50.

The salmon teriyaki was served with two fillets, filling and had a traditional tangy taste that we've come to expect from teriyaki.

The Udon noodles weren't quite as impressive as the other dishes and lacked in taste somewhat.

The drinks

There's sake, beer (Asahi) and wine on the menu. Wine doesn't come by the glass here, bottles only. But, as with almost everything at Yokohama, these too are reasonably-priced.

Service

Prompt and with a smile. The manager recommendations were great.

Verdict

Prices are very cheap for the quality of food. The bill will include a mandatory service charge - but we felt this was more than fair considering the value.

A good meal out whether it's a date, work colleagues or family occasions. The food - and prices - will not disappoint.