Wasabi

5714 111 Street
Edmonton, AB T6H 3G1
(780) 433-0533

It was my birthday recently and I decided to go for Japanese. I heard great things about Wasabi and wanted to try it out. It's situated in the Lendrum area, quite remote and a stinking Petro Canada blocks it from plain sight from the main road. The decor was 90s looking but comfortable to the eye. It has the typical mini sushi bar, but the Japanese drapes didn't match. They had one server on staff and was pretty swamped. At first we didn't have a table, but he let us take the last one or else we would've left.

This restaurant is owned and operated by Japanese which is always a bonus. The restaurant was a bit more pricey than most Japanese restaurants in the city. We ordered a wakame salad (seaweed salad) and beef sashimi to start. The salad was so small, but delicious. The beef sashimi was the best I've ever had. The richness of the beef was offset with shaved turnip, green onions. The sauce was delicate; the ponzu matched well.

We also ordered the assorted tempura, assorted sashimi and a combo #6. It's not typical of how I order, but I was with people that were not as experimental and that fond of Japanese as I was. First off the tempura. It was light and not soggy and greasy. The batter was crisp and fluffy. It was great! The portion size was normal in relation to all the other restaurants I've been to. The sashimi were sliced perfectly, large pieces and the octopus wasn't chewy! A good indication of a good Japanese restaurant is the condition of the Tako. The Nigiri in the combo had a little too much wasabi I thought, but that's personal preference. At the end of the meal, I ordered something that I love and that's Uni. Two Uni Nigiris and it was one of the best I've ever had. The Uni was rich, not fishy, very fresh. It sat on a bed of rice, wrapped by some nori. That combination was to die for.

Overall the service was slow, we ran out of water and tea pretty quickly and it took a while for them to clear our plates and refill our tea and water. The food didn't come out in any regimen, just when they did they did. The beef sashimi came out first then another 20 minutes came the rest. Not sure if that's how they work, but it would've nicer to time the dishes so we wouldn't sit around playing with our chopsticks. The food was simple, authentic, fresh and delicious. Most Japanese restaurants now have tons of different kinds of Maki rolls. It was nice to just taste the fish! Compliments to this restaurant, I thought it was a lovely meal.

Peas - OOO
Carrots - IIIII