Yamato Japanese Restaurant has served central Rotorua since 2001, making it one of the city's early dedicated Japanese dining rooms. Its chefs are professionally trained in Japan, and the restaurant presents that background through traditional techniques, careful ingredients and a calm, intimate atmosphere. The dining room welcomes guests for midday and evening sittings six days a week, closing on Monday. It feels established and focused, suitable for a quiet meal while still accepting reservations and larger-group enquiries by phone.

Raw and lightly handled seafood forms an important part of the menu. Sashimi can be ordered as small, large or deluxe assortments, or over seasoned rice as chirashi, with salmon, tuna, octopus, squid and Hokkaido scallops also available separately. Nigiri extends the selection to eel, prawn, snapper, egg and inari. Rolled sushi ranges from simple salmon, tuna, avocado and cucumber maki to California, spicy tuna, seared salmon and prawn rolls, letting diners move between traditional combinations and richer contemporary preparations.

The cooked dishes show an equally broad command of Japanese staples. Karaage, pork tonkatsu, takoyaki, agedashi tofu and prawn-and-vegetable tempura work as shared plates, while grilled mackerel, salmon and eel can anchor a meal with rice. Donburi choices include pork katsu with egg, teriyaki karaage, tempura prawns and eel, each built over rice and accompanied by miso soup when dining in. Udon appears plain or topped with tempura, teriyaki chicken or pork belly, providing a warming alternative to sushi and sashimi.

At lunch, diners can compose a box from salad or marinated fish, rice or noodles, and two choices such as sashimi, grilled mackerel, teriyaki salmon, tonkatsu or karaage. Vegetarian and vegan options include seaweed salad, edamame, inari, avocado or cucumber rolls and a tofu donburi that can be prepared gluten free on request. The menu distinguishes dine-in from takeaway service, and sashimi is generally reserved for the restaurant. Those details reward sitting down and exploring several styles rather than treating Yamato solely as a sushi stop.

Address: 1123 Pukuatua Street, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand

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Yamato Japanese Restaurant Menu Menu updated on 18 Sep 2026

Lunch Box

Create your own lunch box from a selection of choices. Comes with Miso Soup. Limited to lunch time hours only.

Dish A – Pick 1 dish

Cold Tamago salad, with Japanese mayo / Green Salad, with sesame dressing / Nanbanzuke, assorted marinated fried fish in sweet vinegar / Satsuma Age, deep fried fish cake / Chicken salad, with wasabi mayonnaise

Dish B – Pick 1 dish

Steamed rice / Rolled salmon and egg or Teriyaki chicken sushi / Gomoku sushi, fresh salmon and egg on bowl of sushi rice / Udon Noodle with hot soup / Udon Noodle with cold soup

Dish C – Pick 2 dishes

Sashimi, mixed slices of sashimi / Teriyaki Salmon, grilled salmon with sauce / Saba no Shioyaki, grilled salted Mackerel / Teriyaki Chicken, grilled chicken coated in teriyaki sauce / Tonkatsu, deep fried crumbed pork cutlet / Karaage Chicken, deep fried crispy chicken

Tid Bits

Small dishes. Perfect to pair with alcoholic beverage.

Takowasa

Marinated and seasoned octopus with wasabi pieces

Nanbanzuke

$11

Assorted fish marinated with sweet vinegar

Chuka Hotate

Spicy scallop trims

Chuka Shimeji

Shimeji mushroom with sesame oil

Teri-Kaku

Chicken with teryiaki sauce

Chicken Wasabi Mayo

Chicken with wasabi mayo

Salads

Seaweed Salad

Cold seaweed salad tossed in sesame oil dressing

Green Salad

$18

Cabbage slaw, tomato, cucumber, broccoli and red onion. served with sesame dressing

Grilled Fish

Recommended to enjoy with a bowl of rice

Harasu Yaki

$24

Grilled slices of salted Salmon with skin

Saba no Shioyaki

$21

Grilled slice of salted Mackerel

Unagi no Kabayaki

$34

BBQ grilled Eel

Donburi

Rice Bowls with a range of delicious toppings. All Donburi rice bowls come with Miso Soup

Teri Kara-Don

$28

Bowl of rice topped with deep fried crispy Karaage Chicken drizzled in sweet Teriyaki sauce

Katsu-Don

$28

Bowl of Rice topped with Deep fried crumbed pork cutlet, cooked in broth and egg

Una-Ju

$39

Bowl of rice topped with slices of BBQ Eel drizzled with savoury sauce

Ten-Don

$35

Bowl of rice topped with 3 prawn tempura drizzled in sweet soy sauce

Tofu-don

$28

Bowl of rice topped with crispy tofu and teriyaki sauce. Can be made gluten free by request.

Udon / Noodles

Variation of Udon Noodle soup

Udon

$21

Udon (Wheat Four) Noodles in fish stock based soup, topped with seaweed and scallion

Tempura Udon

$30

Udon (Wheat Flour) Noodles in fish stock based soup, topped with Prawn and Vegetable Tempura, seaweed and scallion

Chicken Udon

$28

Udon (Wheat Flour) Noodles in fish stock based soup, topped with Teriyaki Chicken pieces, seaweed and scallion

Pork Belly Udon

$28

Udon noodle with free range pork belly served in fish stock based broth

Sides

Perfect for sharing or enjoy as a light snack

Edamame

Boiled and salted Edamame soy beans.

Bowl of Rice

$4.50

Portion of rice for one

Miso Soup

$4.50

Bowl of Miso soup with seaweed and scallion

Umeboshi

$3.50

Pickled and salted plum. Recommended to have with rice

Takuan

Pickled radish. Recommended to have with rice or to cleanse palette

Sashimi

Sashimi is not available for take away (exception for Deluxe/ Chirashi Zushi)

Deluxe Combination Sashimi

$105

33 pieces of freshly sliced Sashimi assortment

Large Combination Sashimi

$62

15 pieces of freshly sliced Sashimi assortment

Small Combination Sashimi

$26

6 pieces of freshly sliced Sashimi assortment

Chirashi Zushi

$43

A bowl of sushi rice topped with an assortment of fresh sliced sashimi

Deluxe Chirashi Zushi

$49

A bowl of sushi rice with an assortment of fresh sliced sashimi (extra assortments than regular Chirashi Zushi)

Salmon Sashimi

$21

Tuna Sashimi

$21

Octopus Sashimi

$14

Squid Sashimi

$12

Scallop Sashimi

$28

Hokkaido large scallops

Beef Tataki

$26

10 pieces of beef tataki

Nigiri Sushi

Combination sushi (Small)

$38

Selection of 8 Nigiri Sushi pieces by the Chef

Unagi Nigiri (2 pieces)

BBQ Eel

Salmon Nigiri (2 pieces)

Ebi Nigiri (2 pieces)

$10

Prawn Nigiri

Tako Nigiri (2 pieces)

Fresh Octopus Nigiri

Tuna Nigiri (2 pieces)

$10

Fresh Tuna Nigiri

Ika Nigiri (2 pieces)

Fresh Squid Nigiri

Scallop Nigiri (2 pieces)

$18

Fresh Scallop Nigiri

Snapper Nigiri (2 pieces)

$10

Snapper Nigiri

Tataki Nigiri (2 pieces)

$14

Beef sashimi Nigiri

Tamago Nigiri (2 pieces)

Egg Nigiri

Inari Nigiri (2 pieces)

Sushi rice wrapped in Fried Bean Curd

Rolled Sushi

Our popular Rolled sushi made with fresh sashimi grade fish and savoury fillings

California Roll

$26

Salmon and Avocado roll with lettuce, mayo on top

Rolls

Teriyaki Chicken Roll

$24

Teriyaki chicken pieces rolled with lettuce

Ebi Roll

$24

Crumbed and deep fried prawn roll with lettuce

Salad Roll

$22

Thinly sliced vegetables rolled with avocado, topped with mayo

Maki

Tekka Maki

$14

Fresh Tuna Slender roll

Salmon Maki

$15

Fresh Salmon Slender roll

Tamago Maki

$12

Rolled sweet egg slender roll

Avocado Maki

$12

Avocado Slender roll

Kappa Maki

$12

Thinly sliced cucumber Slender roll

Featured

Spicy Tuna Roll

$32

Fresh tuna wrapped avocado roll, spicy sauce and mayo

Salmon wrap roll

$30

Fresh salmon wrapped avocado roll, topped with onion and mayo

Aburi Salmon rolled sushi

$32

Seared Salmon wrapped avocado roll topped with onion, teriyaki sauce and Japanese mayo

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Yamato Japanese Restaurant Menu