Wasabi Japanese Restaurant

The sushi and rolls here hold up to other places in the city — very good! Their prices are reasonable and the service has been good. The yam fries are a stand-​out!!! They have THE best yam fries. I am over due for a visit to Wasabi. It’s been awhile…

A group of us ordered food from Wasabi through Just Eat, and they completely ruined the order. They neglected to inform the delivery person as to which orders were going to which house, and as a result all the orders got mixed up. The delivery person, then had to go back to Wasabi and have the staff figure out where each order was going.
When the food arrived again, it was completed mangled and warm (who eats warm sushi?). I was disgusted that they hadn’t taken the time to ensure that the food was edible, before sending it out again.
I called the restaurant to voice my disappointment, and was told by the manager that if my group were to dine in, we would receive 50% off our bill for our troubles.
…
Flash forward to last week.
I called Wasabi to make a reservation and ensure that the discount would apply.
The manager stated that we would receive $ 28 dollars off, rather than 50% off.
At the point, I reminded the manager that he originally stated that my group was to receive 50% off.
Anyways, we arrive at Wasabi around 730, and as soon as I told one of the staff members of my reservation, we were immediately treated horribly.
The food we received was subpar.
The rolls contained close to no fish (not to mention were poorly formed), the sashimi was thin and icy.
Some of our items did not come out, and when asked were rudely told that they were sold out.
Moreover, we were ignored at many points in the evening.
One can only assume that because we were going to get 50% off of our bill, they purposely lowered the quality of their food, as when compared to the food being brought out to other tables, it was obvious.
To top it all off, we did not receive 50% off, but rather 30 $ off.
Ugh.

This restaurant runs20 yrs, I like eating here, as this restaurant’ sushi price much better than the other competitors, I don’t like big cut sushi or sashimi, this restaurant just make it good! I love the yam fries so so so much!!! Especially the weekday offering a good deal special lunch and can get 15%off! This is most good deal lunch I ever had!

The sushi was great! We liked that we were able to order by the piece for the sashimi. My boyfriend was not a huge fan of the pork ramen he got, but everything else was excellent. We will be back, but probably skipping the soup.

Used to go to Wasabi all the time. Sadly the quality has been declining. Getting a bit grubby and run down.

Our favorite «hole-​in-​the-​wall»! It may not be the most fancy place in town but the food never fails to satisfy and the staff have always been friendly, courteous and respectful.

The place looks small on the outside, but it’s quite cozy (and often full) on the inside. I can’t say that everything was fresh, but the unagi sushi and the chopped scallop cone were some of the items I really enjoyed. The service was good but in the end I ended up paying $ 41 for lunch, which is quite expensive for one person. In other words, you can’t eat here every week – but you *should* eat here.

Went for lunch… excellent and fresh! Loved it. The parking out front can be busy. but just go to the street or side lot… worth going to try.

Wasabi, it’s not your food that’s holding you back. It’s quite good. Your sushi rolls come in standard flavours and types, but they are fresh, your miso soup is ever so miso-​y and I can’t help but inhale your gyoza. Your menu variety of raw and cooked items makes it easy for my non sushi loving friends to still easily find something to order. I also like that you’ve got a couple of walled in booths for people to enjoy.
I was really hoping my visit during Unilocal Eats last November was a one off experience. And since it was my first time in, I held off on my review until I came back to give you a second try. So, when my Monday eve dinner companions chose Wasabi as our dinner spot, I was delighted!
Last November, we had a great time eating your food and supporting the food bank… but, we got forgotten about in the booth and dinner took far longer than expected. On Monday, we weren’t in a booth, and we didn’t quite get forgotten about… but while two of us were chowing down on our sushi, the third waited for the teriyaki chicken she had ordered. By the end of the meal, it hadn’t come. A mention to one of the dear little ladies serving us brought a surprised look and a quick, «It will be ready in 5 – 10 minutes!» They had forgotten all about it.
Twice bitten… Wasabi, in my mind, the thing keeping me from giving you that extra star is your service. I mean, your servers aren’t rude or anything, they’re really quite friendly. But they’re forgetful. Can you figure out the best way to keep them on their toes? Hope so! Because I like you, I really do and I’d love to come visit you more often.

Their Tamago and salmon sushi was done well, well formed and filling. I also liked their gyoza, which was salty and juicy.
Their ramen was simple. In honesty I’m split down the middle to their ramen. They clearly tried to serve ramen with other dishes by serving breaded pork on it rather than the traditional BBQ pork. It also missed a lot in fixings like nori and vegetables, but the noodles were superb and firm
But the wait time took too long, probably because we were sitting in a booth and the were constant shifts of customers coming in distracted them. This caused several of our dishes I be delayed while the rest came out at the right time. Def not a place you would want to go to of you have be somewhere afterwards.
Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge ²⁰⁄₃₀

November Challenge ⁶⁄₃₀
Dear Japanese Restaurants,
Why do you insist on having booths in your restaurant, when you are going to habitually forget about your paying customers inside said booth?
Now that that’s out of the way, Wasabi isn’t so bad. It’s just not the type of place you want to be at if you’re in a hurry. Food doesn’t come out when it’s supposed to, your Ramen will take at least an hour and your curry even longer. Then the waitress will shrug her shoulders and make awkward commentary, but not really provide a solution (I.E.: GIMME MY SUSHI NAO, K THX BAI).
When it does come out? Pretty tasty! I enjoyed the veggie tempura and my vegetable rolls. One of my nitpicks is that they decided to put everyone’s orders together on one plate. It’s my fault for not asking for mine to be separated, but I am used to other places in town just automatically separating the veggie sushi from the seafood. As a result, I had to avoid two of my rolls that were covered in roe, because they were placed next to the Dynamite Rolls.
Lovely tea, and delicious noms; I would try coming back on a less hectic evening! If you’ve got a couple of hours to kill, head on down to Wasabi. Just don’t sit in the booth if you want to be served quickly. Next time, I’ll try to sit at the bar :).

I love sushi and am always looking out for the best. We were in Calgary for the weekend and I’d heard that the city had better offerings than in Edmonton so I wanted to check it out. This restaurant came up in Avenue Magazine’s top 3 cheap sushi eats and wasn’t too far away from our hotel so we decided to give it a go.
It’s located in a very small strip mall on the northwest corner of the Transcanada and 5^th St NW. There’s several parking spots out in the front.
Inside, it’s a relatively unimpressive room, fits maybe 30 people plus two private rooms. We were only the second set of patrons when we arrived (granted, it wasn’t quite 6pm on Saturday evening) but a small stream of people showed up as we ate, including others who came to pick up take-​out. The chefs and waitresses are Cantonese-​speaking Asians, so this isn’t a true Japanese-​run Japanese restaurant.
They have a lot of choices on their menu including a few combos (and a 44-​piece sushi boat for $ 38!). We decided to order à la carte and the waitress gave us a little sheet with the maki choices on one side, and nigiri/​sashimi on the other. You can order sashimi by the piece which is AWESOME, something you almost never see in Edmonton Japanese restaurants. The sashimi and nigiri were the same price — most of them were $ 1.00 per piece. Tuna belly was $ 2.25/piece.
We wanted to order some white wine but they were out, so we ordered a half litre of sake instead. I don’t order sake often but I thought that $ 10.95 was pretty reasonable. We later had an Asahi and a Kirin, big 500mL bottles that were $ 9.95 each. Cheap or not? I don’t know.
In the end we ordered some steamed edamame, a seaweed salad, about 5 – 6 maki (about 40 pieces.) and a selection of sashimi. I don’t remember the price for the maki but I think it ranged from $ 5-​$ 9 each. Overall the maki were relatively unimpressive. Not bad but nothing outstanding. They were the right size though — not the tiny little ones but not the giant futomaki ones either, so they were the right size in the mouth. However, they were sliced unevenly so that one piece would be really fat and the next one really skinny. And it’s probably my fault for ordering cooked maki (like the soft shell crab) — I keep thinking I’ll like them but I really much prefer the raw fish rolls.
The sashimi was outstanding though and that’s why this place gets 4 stars instead of 3. Perfectly fresh, nice-​sized pieces — the scallop sashimi was especially delicious — large, translucent and sweet. The sashimi was so tasty that even my fiancé, who usually thinks that sashimi is too plain, declared that he was mistaken and that sashimi really is yummy!
Service was really good — attentive though a little confusing — there were three waitresses and they kind of tag-​teamed serving us.
Bathroom — there is only a single stall in the women’s washroom, adequately clean, though the large trash can was full to the top — maybe they had a really busy lunchtime? Not a big deal.
They do accept Visa here. I would come back and try some other dishes, especially since it’s not far off from the QE2.

We ordered an assortment of nigiri, rolls, tempura, scallops and prawns in a wonton cup. The special (deep fried prawns and raw scallops dressed in mayo) was tasty. The prawns were crunchy, the sauce was creamy and a bit sweet. I’ve never seen this dish before — so good job on creating something original. The tempura was good too — except one prawn wasn’t properly deveined all the way and the batter was a bit oily. The raw scallops were good. The nigiri and rolls weren’t so great. The tuna roll barely had any tuna and lacked much flavour. Except for the scallops, the fish didn’t taste all that fresh. The rice was poorly shaped. What I didn’t like as much was the service — the server hovered over us and watched us eat. It was a bit uncomfortable.

Great tasting sushi at a less than exorbitant price. My hubby and I usually do take away (I recommend the Luxurious Boat if you want a big feed!) but when we have sat in, we found the place small, but cozy. There are two psedo– tatami rooms as well if you are showing up with a big group.
On the eat in menu there is also a list of very inexpensive sashimi/​sushi by the piece.
The fish is maybe not a fresh or the food as authentically japanese as Shikiji or Zapang, but the value is worth heading here instead.

So we were in a rush and dropped in for some quick bite. Place was sooo STINKY… very fishy smelling… :(I wonder if they’ve changed owners? Feel is different.