Wasabi Sushi & Noodles

It seems as though sushi restaurants are popping up in ever shopping center that's being built.  While searching around for a new place to try, I found Wasabi Sushi & Noodle.  It's located in the shopping center right off the Airport Blvd on I-65. As a matter of fact, if you're not looking for it you will definitely miss this place.  

While I was waiting for my lunch dates to arrive, I looked over the menu and spotted quite a few interesting items at reasonable prices.  Wasabi have great lunch specials. You could get two basic rolls for $8 or three for $11.  There was also a variety of teriyaki dishes, bento boxes and habachi style lunches ranging from $8 - $11.  The specialty rolls ranged from $9 -$13.  A little high but no more than other restaurants these days.

As an appetizer, I ordered the ocean salad ($9), which is normally an entrée. It's spicy tuna, crab with seaweed salad on a bed of lettuce and drizzled with what tasted like a sesame seed vinaigrette. I've got to say it was one tasty salad.  There wasn't a lot of filler lettuce.  There was plenty of tuna and seaweed salad.  The tuna tasted fresh and the spicy sauce it was mixed with was very good.  There was also tempera flakes spread light on top of the salad. I wish the tuna was more chopped a bit more chunky.  It was also like mush.  Also next time, I will ask they go light on the dressing.  The entire thing was basically drowning in that vinaigrette and it could overpower the delicate taste of the tuna and seaweed salad.

My brother decided to order the 3 roll lunch special and I was going to grab a few bites.  From left to right is the Philadelphia roll, Eel and avocado roll, and last the spicy crunchy tuna roll. Let me just say here, I base how good a sushi restaurant is on their Philadelphia roll.  I figure if you can't get this simple roll right what chances are there that the rest of the rolls would remotely be good?  I was very disappointed here.  At first glance, it looks exactly like any other Philly roll but when I had a slice there was something there that tasted odd.  I thought it could be the wasabi/soy sauce I dipped it in but when I had another bite it was the same.  There was something about the Philly roll that I just didn't like.  As for the eel and avocado roll, it was much better.  There was a good amount of eel in the roll, but they did go a little heavy on the eel sauce making it more sweet.  I really liked Wasabi's take on the spicy crunchy tuna roll.  Instead of sprinkling the tempera flakes on top of the roll, it was actually inside.  It's a nice way to balance the mushiness of the chopped tuna. The special also came with a choice of soup or salad so I was really a great deal. 

I ordered the Habachi Beef lunch special for my meal.  When the waitress brought out the plate, I was in disbelief.  There paltry amount of meat on that plate..  It literally a handful (perhaps) of diced beef.  The stir-fryed vegatables consisted primarily of onions and weren't all that tasty.  I had remind our waitress about my soup and salad which came with the meal.  The salad was over dressed however the miso soup was decent. 

The best part about my lunch is the fried rice. It's not the typically long grain rice used in most asian restaurants and all asian homes.  To me, it's more like the risotto rice or Arborio rice. I had one broccoli in my bowl and a little egg.  For it's simplicity, I thought it was pretty darn fabulous.  The best part - I found some toasted sesame seeds throughout the dish.  It gave it a nutty taste that I have not found anywhere else.  I would go back to Wasabi for the fried rice alone and that's saying a lot.

Wasabi seems like a family owned restaurant.  The space is quite small and definitely meant for quick lunches or intimate dinners.  The seating is made up primarily of two tops.  There are a total of 3 four top tables in the whole place.  The bar also provides additional seating.  It was a pretty bright restaurant, more so than I'm used to.  There was two televisions set on MTV spring break and the volume was on so I guess that was meant as part of the ambiance. If so, thumbs down. 

I had to remind the waitress of several things that came with our meal for example my friend's and mine soup and salad, and the soup that came with the sushi lunch specials.  We had to ask for our drinks to be refilled.  However, I can make a few exceptions since there was one waitress for the entire restaurant.  While I was there, there was at least three other tables occupied at all time.  Still, four parties is not a lot to keep up with.  I think it would be a great place to try out if you need a quick sushi fix.