Asahi Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Reviews 4

BR

Brittany H.

Asahi used to be our go-to sushi place, but they will not receive one more penny from me after my experience tonight. The sushi is good, but the service tonight was unforgivable. We only got two waters when Casey took our order (we had four people in our group) and he never came back to give us the remaining two. After an hour of not getting our order (or the rest of our waters) and everyone (all of whom were seated after us) else being served around us, we were sure he forgot about us. I had to ask another server for water since our waiter hadnt come back to our table. About an hour and fifteen minutes after being seated we waved down another waiter to tell them we might have been forgotten. 10 minutes later Casey came back and said, "Has anyone helped you yet?" My husband said, "Seriously? you took our order over an hour ago." Then Casey blamed it on me saying I didnt order yet (but my husband ordered for me when I was in the restroom). Forgetting a table happens on a busy night, I get that, but not taking responsibility and pointing blame at the customer is not acceptable. More time goes by and we FINALLY get our sushi. At this point we are an hour and 45 minutes since being seated. When we got the checks we asked if he could do anything for us since we had to wait so long and were completely forgotten. He acted kind of confused and said he would ask, but that we didnt have to tip him. A few minutes later he came and got the checks without saying anything. When he came back he handed our cards back quickly and said, "Have a good night." Then a guy in our group asked if he asked about what they could do, and he said, "Oh yeah, they wont do anything, but you dont have to tip me." I question whether or not he actually asked, because to me this is just mind blowing. Needless to say, we didnt tip, and we wouldnt have even if he didnt tell us not to. My hope in writing this review is that Casey learns that he HAS to give better customer service, especially when it comes to making up for mistakes (especially when they are as heinous as this was). Take responsibility and dont try to weasel out of things! This was one of the worst customer experiences Ive ever had in my life. If he really did ask management, and they really didnt do anything about this, they need to understand that they need to right the wrong, and not be so dismissive with customer complaints. You lose more money by losing business to disgruntled customers than by giving them a free roll to make up a mistake. I feel like that should be common sense and business 101. This is seriously so ridiculous. Because they did not right the wrong, they have lost business from regulars who came at least twice a month. We will no longer be going to Asahi unless this is is addressed and made right. Very very very disappointed. In other words, theres just as good sushi around. Dont waste your money on a business that has awful customer service like this one unless they learn better... and quickly.

RO

Rod Schiffman

What a surprise. Id eaten at previous "restaurants" in this space. They were totally unlike what we found here. I expected a place done on the cheap. I didnt get any of that feeling here. It is a nice warm space. Id hit the point of having given up on sushi and Japanese food in the area. The only places the wife and I had previously liked had all gone downhill to the point there was no reason to eat at them anymore. I didnt expect anything particularly authentic, and it wasnt. However, it is very good and has the right sensibilities. We started with the special prawn appetizer. Excellent. The miso soup is absolutely first rate. It was one of the really high points of the night. The tempura was a bit bland, but nice and crispy. Its just unfortunate the "vegetable" tempura was lots of starchy squash and starchy yams. Nothing else, just lots of squash and yams. The sushi itself was as good as I could have expected. The fish was reasonably fresh and the flavors were good. The rice was compressed far too much, but the ratio of rice to fish was good. We got one roll that had thinly sliced lemon around it. It didnt have any mayo, hot peppers or other goofy ingredients I just cant get myself to want to try. It was pretty darn tasty. Theres a little sushi place way out n the Sunset in San Francisco that is about as good as it gets in SFO. I asked the chef there to make me something unusual and he did the thin sliced lemon. Ive never seen it anywhere else. Its a great final roll to finish off a meal. The server was fairly clueless about some of the menu, but she was nice and efficient. The food was prepared promptly. They are also open Sunday and have a pretty good beer and sake selection for the area. Thats a couple great options.

MA

Marcus Wickes

If I had to rate Asahi on a scale of 10, Id put it at a 6. I didnt walk away disappointed, but I also didnt walk away all that impressed. A couple of the rolls were very good, but overall they were all pretty average. We had the following rolls: Vegas Roll (good "beginner" roll for people that dont love sushi... but this Vegas Roll wasnt even my favorite) Playboy Roll (the waitress said it is the most popular and I thought it was pretty good) Xanax Roll (not very good) Crispy Roll (the best roll we had all night) Sundance Roll (pretty good) Honeymoon Roll (not my favorite... the only roll with mango I believe) I used to work near this area and frequented this restaurant location when it was 1 of a dozen different places. So its your typical strip mall turned sushi bar restaurant. Not a bad atmosphere but nothing special. The waitress was helpful but didnt seem to know much more than the ingredients listed on the menu. Not that I "expect" the waitress to have the chefs knowledge, but she didnt even have her own personal favorite. Maybe it was her first week? The price was pretty standard for sushi although I can pay the same amount down the road at Happy Sumo and be a little more satisfied with the quality. So overall I would be safe recommending this sushi bar if youre in the area and want some quality sushi, but I wouldnt make it a destination date night.

ST

Stafford Newsome

Zula, head chef and owner, is a really friendly guy and a great chef. Dont let the location ever deceive you. I have been in and out of this restaurant for years and Asahi really does beat out the other sushi joints and chains (like happy sumo) around Provo/Orem. Its much higher quality than the all-you-can-eat places and the prices are very well priced for the quality meal youre getting. Presentation and taste are both good as well. The restaurant is not large, but it boasts a big city lounge atmosphere which only enhances the experience. The specials and extended hours of the restaurant have created its own niche culture. As a local business, it is one of the only restaurants you can find open past midnight on the weekends and during the day on Sundays. Of course they have late night and weekend specials on these days, in addition to lunch specials during the week days. Word of warning though, for the 10 pm weekend specials, be in line at 9:45-50 pm if you dont want to wait a while, the place can get packed and the line might be standing only. Now if sushi is not your thing, dont worry! Zula and his staff have a great menu of non fishy meals and they easily hold up to the reputation of the sushi bar.