Yami in Kingston upon Thames

Yesterday, we visited Yami Restaurant. The food was mediocre and lacked the previous flair. The atmosphere was dampened by the absence of warm smiles, and the manager’s demeanor was particularly unwelcoming. His lack of eye contact during our interaction was off-putting. Such behavior, I fear, could result in the loss of many loyal customers. Yami, once a delightful establishment, has lost its charm. A restaurant manager should exude warmth, friendliness, and knowledge, rather than rudeness and authoritarianism. It seemed as though the manager’s attitude cast a pall over the entire staff, who appeared to be working under duress, worried about potential reprimands. Additionally, the imposition of a 10% service charge labeled as gratuity on our bill was unjustifiable, especially given the notably poor service, with the manager’s performance rating a dismal 0 out of 10. Witnessing Yami’s decline is disheartening, and I sincerely hope the management will address and rectify these issues.

I came last week. The food was amazing 👌🏻 but the service really bad. All rhe staff doesn't look happy with waht they are doing specially the waitress, I asked her multiple times for a diferent table, and even when they had smaller tables and available, they made trouble .

Food is good, service was okay but would appreciate more smiles, I really enjoyed the sweet and chilli chicken, however it was quite expensive for the price as well as the rest of the meal altogether. Overall good, but i was looking for something a bit extra for the price I payed

Food was not bad. Manager was incredibly rude. They got the order wrong and started shouting at us in front of other customers. That is not ok.

As a loyal customer for the past ten years to this restaurant - I have to say this place now is hitting a new low. We went for a quick meal this week and clearly the kimchi tofu we ordered were cooked with leftover and long used frying oil. Also the service has been amazingly bad. It is now not only have no service but also noticeable rude and offensive staff.

We always come here, and it never disappoints. Our ultimate favourites are the tteokbokki with cheese and ramen , kimchi pancake, fried chicken with honey mustard sauce, and bulgogi soup. Great food ,always .

Trendy, food was okay for the price. Service was above average. Nothing that stood out.

We were seated super quickly, but had to flag down another waitress after ours ignored us and took the orders of two tables seated AFTER us. Yeah you guessed it, we happened to be black. I don't know if it was actual racism or just our servers being in a terrible mood and forgetting about us. Shame, since the food was pretty good. After we had our order taken, it was all smooth sailing.... well except when she had to cook the food tableside (we asked if we could do it ourselves and she mumbled something and ignored us lol) and when we complimented the look of the food and thanked her for grilling it, we got a blank face in response. Whew. Would I recommend it? Heh, take it to go.

Love the food here especially the fried chicken, crispy, hot and delicious.

Food was excellent and service was great. Pre book a table recommend!

The meat of the galbitang is so thick that you need scissors, but the green onion chicken is the best.

Food is delicious. It's always been very busy when we've eaten here so it's best to make a reservation. Nothing bad to say. Service wasn't out of this world, but I found it pretty good given how busy the place was.

Great place if you're looking for the authentic korean dining experience. We ordered BBQ ribeye and ox tongue, mixed tempura, fried chicken soy garlic, all recommended. The meal came with some side dishes (kimchi, cucumber, and potato salad). The waiters assisted us with the BBQ. Food was served quick too. There's no parking cause its the high street, but there are some side alleys or a nearby waitrose car park.

Everything is absolutely amazing, food is lovely along with the staff and vibes. Don’t just go for Bulgogi, try something new! I love Korean restaurants ❤️.

Went here in a group, it was a good experience. However they have private rooms upstairs which is nice but also means you are excluded from from the atmosphere of the restaurant. The BBQ meat was a bit bland, although they give dipping sauces and kimchi. Kimchi pancake and glass noodles were delicious. Recommend the prepared dishes over the BBQ.

I am sure this is the best restaurant in New Malden👍🏻

Had our best Korean yet a few days ago. Every dish was cooked to perfection and very tasty.

Awesome food and amazing service...definitely worth another visit.

Can't fault the place food was good and good service as well

Ordered bosam, vegetable tempura and galbitang (beef soup). Food arrived quickly, hot and very delicious. Strongly recommend these dishes!

Amazing food and service. One thing that's lacking is heating by the tables at the door , in January...

Part-time workers are really unfriendly Even when I entered, they didn't say hello and just parked the table, but passed by without even explaining why it was parked there. The taste is so good...

Good auhtentic food, price is still reasonable. I really recommand Lamb Stew and Cold Noodle. Bimbimbap is alright. Meat quality very good but low quantity.

my friend and I went there for a dinner, there were only 2 staff to serve over 10 tables, waitress was lovely and friendly however the waiter was terrible, he didn’t ask us if any allergies when took the order, then when we asked him if any garlic in the soup he just said don’t try the soup if we were allergies for it. He didn’t even think to ask the chef until we insisted. He then helped to cook the beef short ribs then burnt it , he didn’t want to exchange it for us until again we insisted, he was trying to make excuses. The services there was terrible! not recommend at all especially the waiter. horrible dinning experience ever.

Greeted warmly and was directed to our table under a booking slot. Service was prompt and friendly, food amazing. I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Plentiful portions and food was served quickly. Came with a group and were seated in a nice private dining nook.

Dined in and out of this place numerous times. It has the best chicken out there, there are of course so many other dishes to count from soups to BBQ and a beautiful selection of side dishes. The service is above and beyond the norm. They cater for large and small parties. We were there last minute and they happily fit us in. Highly recommend this for date nights, casual days or nights out with friends or family members.

Great food, very spicy Amazing prices for the huge portions Service is a bit slow but has a friendly and cosy atmosphere Highly recommend

What a wonderful barbeque dining experience. The staff were so friendly and provided excellent service. I definitely recommend this place

A very authentic place with traditional Korean cuisine. There are very few options for vegetarians, but you can choose from something. The menu has photos of the dishes, which makes the choice much easier. Drinks are also all Korean.

2023 Nov: Today the food was good but service was below what I think they should give. Order taken incorrectly and items missing such as serviettes etc. No bill offered, just come to the service area and they will find your order. OK for some but a negative change just the same. 2017: I like Yami, but recently prices have gone up and a service charge is now added to the bill. I would still recommend them as a great Korean restaurant in New Malden.

The food was really tasty here and my friends agreed too. We will have to come back in the future! Great portion sizes and the staff were attentive. Thank you very much for having us :)

A bit of a mixed experience at Yami, great food for decent price, but the service was very sub par. Everything started alright, we ordered a lot of food and drinks for a party of 4, until one of the waiters accidentally knocked over an open bottle of Soju. I kindly asked for a replacement since it was not empty and for 12£ for a 360ml bottle, I felt it was alright to ask for some kind of compensation. After a while the waiter came back to tell us they could not replace the bottle with a full one, which is understandable, it was not full when it was knocked over, and offered a bottle of juice instead. None of us were interested in juice, so I asked if a bottle of beer would be alright (5£ for a 330ml bottle) and the waiter went back to check. They never came back to us, not even to inform us if it was possible or not, a simple no would have been appreciated, but instead we got the cold shoulder until the end. They brought the check to us while we were still eating, we had to ask to get the remainer of our order and it was difficult to even get someone's attention, even though the restaurant was barely half full. In the end, we paid 170£, we had an OK time, the food was OK, but we are never coming back. A bit of a shame really.

Yum yum yum! Staff were fast with their service. Food was amazing. I recommend not to order too much as their portions are big.

I have my seafood soup noodles. It’s tasty 😋

If you are visiting New Malden for a great Korean restaurant. This place is a good choice since their food is authentic and tastes like you are in South Korea. Deep fried chicken and beef soup are my suggestion. Don’t forget to order shoju (a Korean alcohol) but please drink responsibly. Don’t drink if you drive.

Ok it's a Korean bbq place in new Malden.. it's a chain. Not bad at all. Meat is cut way too thin... If you've been to a Korean bbq before you'd know. Secondly I understand your trying to save gas but you don't have to switch it off every time you think we don't need it... We had to ask 3 times for it to be turned back on... Otherwise portion sizes were alright. We spent about 160 pounds for 4 with no alcohol. I mean if I were to spend the same amount there is a better one in my opinion on the range street... With better selection and cuts. Nonetheless, we had a nice time. Good food.. Could've been better. Not to be a harsh critic but I've been to many other Korean bbq in my life.. I'm bring more than fair here with this review

Absolutely delicious, food had amazing quality and flavour to it and you can tell the food was made with such love and care.Not only was the food amazing so was the gentle and polite staff that served my table.Definitely recommend worth visiting!!

Average food, extremely rude and bullying staff, avoid at all cost. I went to Yami for lunch with my family, ordered £90+ worth of food, one of them being Seafood Jeongol, which normally costs £35 but there is a lunch special price of £25, so I thought I give it a try. When the Seafood Jeongol arrived, it was totally different from the photo on the menu. I asked the waitress about this but she is clearly trained to answer such question - she insisted that there is a small print on the menu saying "the food may look different", and it's my fault not to ask what seafood is actually included in the dish. I have attached the photo on the menu and the actual dish that we got. On the menu you can see octopus, prawn, calamari, crab and fish with green vegetable; in the actual dish, you will see lots of tofu, mushroom, beansprout, some fish and mussels, which is totally different from the photo. To me, it's bad enough that the photo on the menu is misleading and deceptive, the indifferent attitude from the staff makes it worst - why put a photo on the menu if it's not intending to reflect what the dish actually looks like? When I paid for the bill, they told me that there is yet another small print on the menu that says lunch special price doesn't apply to weekends. At this point I genuinely don't think their attitude deserves any service charge, so I asked them to remove it from the bill, which drops the total bill from £101 to £92. If you think my experience so far at Yami is bad enough, this is when it starts to get ridiculous - after I paid, I asked for a receipt for my own book-keeping, which the same waitress refuses to provide, saying that the receipt is part of the service, and since I refused to pay for the service charge, she refuses to print a receipt out for me. I felt that I was being bullied. After some tense argument attracting the attention of the whole restaurant, the manager of the place came along and finally provided a receipt. It took him two clicks on the computer. I am not proud of raising my voice to match the volume on the other side, but it begs the question: why does a customer who just spent £90+ in the restaurant have to raise his voice just to get a receipt for the food (and horrible service) that he paid for? Never going back again!

Authentic Korean cuisine in reasonable price! We had BBQ beef & pork, bibimbap and rice cake which were all very tasty and authentic! Just a tiny issue that the staff would pour all your meat into the hot plate, rather than let you do it yourself one by one - you can imagine some meat would be overcooked in this way...

What a great find! We were supposed to go in another restaurant but found a long queue so we opted to go here instead and were not disappointed! We opted for the bbq and glad to find that the crew cook the meat for you ad it tasted excellent! We also ordered cooked meals and they were excellent too! The crew is also very approachable and friendly. Definitely recommended!

New Malden is a famous Korean street in London, UK. Many Koreans open Korean restaurants and Korean supermarkets here. As I am the one with an ‘’Asian palate‘’, I really enjoy this place. The fried chicken at this restaurant is delicious, just like what we would have in Korea. For Korean barbecue, there are waiter who grill the meat for us, making our dining experience relaxed and ensuring that we don't have to worry about grilling it improperly. The Korean dishes we had here were very authentic, and we were satisfied with the food quality. The ingredients were fresh, and the flavors were excellent. However, the service was average. The waiter seemed to be part-time students and were somewhat indifferent.

Consistently great service and amazing food. After my first dinner there I ended up visiting more than 5 times in the first month. Have to moderate my visits now or I'll go broke 😂. Highly recommended and a must visit if you're ever in New Malden.

Just celebrated friend's birthday... Great food fantastic service

Delicious food, enjoyed the beef bullgogi, kimchi rice, deep fried chicken and pork&squid dish. We did not fancy cooking/grilling our own food so only ordered the ready to eat items which were served on a hot grill plate. Service wasn't the best, hard to get hold of the staff if you wanted more drinks or anything else. I saw other customers also struggling but this won't put me off coming back.

The lighting is dim and the atmosphere is not very good. The roasted meat is delicious. The fried chicken is crispy and large. The price/performance ratio is good.

Roll me home! Delicious food and huge portion sizes. Of course you absolutely must have Korean Fried chicken. We had this plain no sauce and it was amazing. The seafood pancake, beef rib soup were delicious but my favourite was the glass noodles which were spot on and not oily at all which many other places tend to overdo the oil, this one was yum. So much food and such a good price. I would come back even though I live nowhere nearby!!!

Really good food at really affordable prices, also very efficient at serving the dishes

Food here is always great, have been here quite a few times now. The boneless garlic soy KFC is a firm favourite along with the bibimbap, kimchi jeon and japchae 👍

One of the best Korean restaurant in New Malden. Chives pancake is crispy and full of chives in every piece of pancake. Deep fried spicy and sweet boneless chicken is mouth-watering😋 my friend can’t eat too spicy so we order a braised beef soup, it’s great to have balance the flavor of the spicy chicken. Hopefully they can maintain the food quality until my next visit😆

Food quality is excellent amongst Korean Restaurant in New Malden. The deep fried sweet and spicy chicken is crispy and succulent. The pancake is crunchy. Service is so so, and the seating is a bit too packed.

Our favourite spot amongst all other Korean restaurant. Reasonably priced but absolutely delicious food. On many occasions they were able to cater to our 10+ group with a room which is a big plus.

Good Korean food in New Malden. The pork belly and beef ribs are always a winner and you can’t go wrong getting this! Lovely extra side dishes for free as well. The seafood pancake was thicker compared to some I have had but i enjoyed it a lot anyways… the kimchi jiggae was the best… pipping hot and sour kimchi which I love!! Fried Chicken with the huge pile of spring onions was something new I tried, but in my opinion I didn’t think it was wow or the sauce that was on top. Overall a filling meal ☺️. Unfortunately, we were sat next in front of the fridge where the drinks were and every few mins, the waiters would come get a drink for customers and it was slam against the fridge door which startled my uncle / or he would prepare for it knowing the slam was coming so that wasn’t pleasant during the meal. Also, make sure to book a table in advance as it can get busy :)

The best korean restaurant everrr!! :) very good service

Ate some udon, very yummy, would come again

The smoked duck breast and cold noodles are awesome!

The portion sizes were really good and the food came quickly. I got the stone pot bimimbap, boneless spicy Korean chicken and a bulgogi deopbap and 2 drinks. All of it tasted really good and the price was very reasonable! ~£40 for it all

Foods are great! Korean Deep Fried Chicken recommended as must order!

Food was amazing. Best Korean fried chicken I've had so far. Staff were so so. Young people are friendly, but the older ladies don't smile much and almost looked angry and bothered that we were there. That was the only downside.

Lovely restaurant, affordable, portion is big, lovely staff, highly recommended. Just remember to take picture when foods are nearly finish 🤣

Don't go to this place if you are fewer in number and they have bigger occupancy tables. We were told that they had no place, even though there were tables available, although for a larger group. The food is good, but the staff is rude, abrupt and only wants your money. Rather thsn asking us to wait, we were told we will not be served. We will never go here again- plenty of other restaurants in New Malden.

No service at all and the manager was so rude.avoid them!!!

Can get quite busy and feel a bit packed in!! The BBQ's great and well worth the effort!

The food here is amazing. My family & I enjoyed our meal at Yami. The service could be better with a smile. The food is overpriced.

The food here was truly delicious! If you want to experience healthy food and friendly service, I highly recommend this place👍 The taste of the food brings ample happiness! I will definitely come back to this place for sure.

Goegi and kimchi stew that I received after only 7 days in London~~Bap~~^^ Nice to meet you haha.

Excellent Korean food, popular and good value and a good choice

The food taste quite authentic, price is very reasonable at lunch

Yami in New Malden what a find, visited on a Sunday and it was pretty busy, which is a good sign, the staff were very friendly and were able to accommodate us very quickly. We opted to have Korean BBQ, food was delicious, banchan was all fresh, and the fried chicken succulent and crispy. Added to my list of top Korean restaurants, would thoroughly recommend.

Delicious Korean food, fried chicken is excellent as well as the seafood pancake. The bibimbap is not the best I've had but does come in a hot stone bowl with optional raw beef 😁. One of the servers is quite rude/dismissive but still worth going for the food

I have tried almost all the Korean restaurants in New Malden and this one is our favourite. Service is good, food is good, and even house wine is good. It's my local go to restaurant.

Real authentic Korean food, with great atmosphere and good prices.

The food is above average, the fried chicken is delicious, and other food is of a good standard.

The best fried chicken in New Malden !

Very bad experience, the food is acceptable, but the attitude for the staff is very unpolite. No next time for this restaurant.

Excellent food and great services.

Amazing, fresh, flavourful food for affordable prices! Love it

Great restaurant in New Malden area. Always come here for some nice fried chicken 😁 hot juicy and very tender. Worth coming here if you are looking for some nice Korean food. Best one in London area. Do come here for some Korean food. 6/4/23: I have reduced the star due to the fact it depends on the restaurant, when they get too busy, some dishes were cooked in a rush and caused some burnt. So be careful when you do order this🥲

Slow and rude, gave a time limit but forgot our order and when it came it was done really badly. The food was overall tasteless and had no flavour. Would not return. Also very expensive given the poor quality. Very disappointed.

Quick service, reasonable price.

Service was poor didn’t feel welcomed. Food could’ve been better.

Food was very good, with pretty good Vegetarian options. Wish there was a veggie BBQ option though.

Very mediocre. I don’t think the photos on the menu reflect the quality of the food you will receive.

Went on Mothers Day they were really busy but found us a table quick. The staff were really friendly and helpful with what to order. We had kimchi stew and fired chicken and it taste great. I will be going back to try the barbeque meat next time. Good food. The price for 4 people was really good.

The taste is ok but the service is very poor and very confusing

I have been going for years, only found out today that they do not seat tables of 1 on the weekend. So unfortunately could not eat here by myself. Never heard of a restaurant having this policy.

The food is delicious and plentiful. This is the best Korean restaurant.

Nice Korean food, quality was superb. Will go again

Decently priced food, but perhaps more expensive than most places. 😌 Enjoyed the traditional side dishes (bossam), which came free with the food we ordered. 😁 Didn't particularly fancy much of my friend's food selection but I was happy with the beef bulgogi hotpot with glass noodles! 😆 I prefer the marinated BBQ grillmeat at JinGoGae compared to this place though - these were not very flavoursome at all, but rather subtle. 😔 Not a fan of the rice porridge either, doesn't taste like what I'm used to but goes relatively well with seasoned meats!

All the staff are very friendly and the service seems to be the best. The food is so delicious, especially the pork belly and the stir-fried foods other than brisket are the best... If you go there once, the atmosphere will be great^*^

I think the service from the hall staff is very good. The food comes out quickly and is especially delicious, including pork belly and marbled beef. Stir-fried food. The soybean paste stew is really good. Yummy Restaurant is very popular among Koreans and foreigners. If you visit once, you will feel it. I think it's the best restaurant in New Malden^*^

Authentic korean at a reasonable price as a result always crowded, will come back again

We’ve been coming here for a while now and each time the food taste the same. We love their spicy seafood with tofu soup, crispy seafood pancakes, delicious succulent fried chicken with sweet and spicy Korean sauce. The spicy beef soup with glass noodles also a favourite. Be prepared to wait as we didn’t reserve and we were there for lunch.

It's been 10 years since I visited, but it's still delicious. If you want to eat Korean-style Chinese food in New Malden, I think this is the best place. Because it is a very busy restaurant with many customers, there is some waiting time after ordering food.

Very fast service and good food!

First of all this would of been 5 stars but there was a problem... Me and my friend order seafood udon Sweet and spice deep fried Korean fried chicken Katsu chicken curry Noodles were great and the KFC was outstanding great flavour fried to perfection crispy and moist 10/10 But the katsu.... Took 20 mins longer than the other dishes (waitress told me we ran out of sauce. They're making more) sure these things happened I don't mind waiting if the food slaps like their chicken... My katsu came with cold chicken cutlet and the sauce was drizzled over the chicken cutlet and wasn't enough to coat a grain of rice let alone a portion. Rice was perfect and hot shredded cabbage was great but the sauce is not... And I mean not katsu curry sauce it's more of a tonkotsu sauce like a sweet sauce not the savory katsu I enjoy so dearly I be honest I wouldn't even care if I had a cold cutlet if I had. Hot curry sauce cover my chicken it would of been 5 stars all round. I think chef needs to revisit Japan and try the katsu sauce again because this isn't the one

Nice Korean BBQ restaurant with Korean local vibe

Food was good and brought to the table quickly. Gave 2 stars due to the annoying manager with the blond hair raising his voice at us over a takeaway tub, come on! We paid nearly £100 and ask for an extra tub only to be spoke n to rudely?!!! Ruined it my friend. 2 tubs to separate 2 types of food!

Veru rude staff. Racist. Only coloured person was my partner and we were treated differently compared to everyone there by waiting staff Kept giving us dirty looks and treated us poorly compared to the koreans and other asians in the store. Chubby Asian girl screwed at us for asking for another glass of drink and when we even thanked her for anything throughout our meal she ignored us or just gave us a look. Asked for take away they gave us box while she went off to pack another Korean customers food away for them. Gave them a polite smile and said thank you. And still refused to be respectful to me and my partner let alone acknowledge us instead looking at us like cockroaches

It’s all about the Korean Chicken 😉