Wasabi on 82nd - Revisit

If you are a regular reader, you know I have been on a quest for a new sushi place near my house. None of the ones I have found have been bad, but I have yet to find one to declare my allegiance. So we decided to go back to Wasabi on 82^nd because it was a place we used to go on occasion and hubby always liked their nigiri. (Note: I am not confident about the prices listed here. I got them from the website, but I think they might be outdated).

So, it was a little sketchy from the start, because it was 7:00 on a Saturday and there was literally one other table there. A sushi place with no business is always a little scary to me. We sat down and decided to get a little appetizer and ordered the agedashi tofu ($5.50). It was two large chunks of tofu that were lightly fried and sitting on top of some tempura sauce (which is a fish broth base). It was covered by lots of bonito flakes, which are cool because they are so light; they kind of move, making the dish almost look alive. It has a nice crisp exterior and soft interior—the only thing I would change is to make the pieces a little smaller in order to have more crunch ratio—the inside of the tofu was a little too creamy when you got to the inside bites. Anyway, hubby was sort of against it, but in retrospect it was one of the best things of the evening.

For rolls, we ordered the Indy roll ($15), the Fantastic roll ($16), and the Chop Chop Crab roll ($12). The Indy roll is shrimp tempura inside and salmon, tuna and avocado across the top drizzled with mayo and eel sauce. The Fantastic roll is spicy tuna and crunch topped with salmon, yellowtail and avocado. The chop chop crab is soft shell crab mixed with spicy mayo inside and out. Ok, so the first two look pretty good in the picture right? But none of these rolls were good. I can’t put my finger on it totally, but the fish was just flavorless. And some of it seemed sort of like it might have not been the freshest. The spicy tuna in one of them was a mushy paste-like substance. The chop chop crab had lost its crunch and tasted like it could have been made with fried anything. These were not good rolls. I had maybe one or two pieces of each and just stopped eating. It just wasn’t worth the calories.

My daughter had the katsudon ($10), which was a fried breaded pork cutlet sautéed with onions and egg over rice. This dish did not look very appetizing and the taste wasn’t much better. It was also extremely bland and lacking in flavor.  My son’s New York strip teriyaki ($20) was the other best thing on the table—the steak was tender and cooked just right. He was quite happy with his and we all kept sneaking bites.

All in all, Wasabi will not be a place we will be returning. Honestly, with the amount of business they had that night (maybe one or two other tables came in and one carry out order was filled), I am surprised they are still in business.

Wasabi on 82^nd

5025 East 82^nd Street

Indy 46250

317/594-1188

www.wasabion82nd.com 

Wasabi on 82nd - Revisit (the dim sum edition)

The family and I had eaten dinner recently at Wasabi (it’s one of our regular sushi places, although usually for carry-out) and noticed that they had a dim sum menu—and as you might have noticed lately I have been on a bit of a dim sum binge lately—well, as much as you can in Indy. We asked our server that night about it and he said it was all made in house daily until it ran out. We were intrigued.

We headed over there for lunch the other day with the intention to get some dim sum as well as a sushi roll.  We got one of our current favorites—the Fantastic roll ($16). This is spicy tuna and crunch on the inside and topped with salmon, yellow tail and avocado. They always do this roll well, and the fish is fresh and buttery. If I had a complaint on this particular visit is that I didn’t get a lot of the “crunch” in the roll, and I like my crunch. I don’t know if they didn’t use as much of the tempura flakes or if they just went soft after being mixed in. But still, it’s a great roll and one of our regulars.

As for the dim sum, well….maybe there’s a reason most Japanese restaurants aren’t doing dim sum. We found it a bit disappointing. Well, the crab Rangoon ($3.99) was really good actually—they’re small pieces and are super light and crisp (and come out fresh and hot) with just a little of the cream cheese/crab filling so they didn’t get soggy. And for someone who has never been a huge fan of crab Rangoon, this was one of my favorite versions. (We order it a lot anyway because hubby is a fan). We would (and will) get it again.

Dumpling-wise though, there was something about the skins on the dumplings that was off—I don’t know if they got dried out before or after the dumplings were made, but they had a bit of a pasty consistency. They had told them they make them fresh everyday, but the shrimp dumplings ($3.99) didn’t exactly taste like it. The shrimp flavor was a bit fishy. I did like that they were smaller than a lot so you could really pop them in your mouth in one bite, but that was about it with these. 

The chive and shrimp dumplings (they call them chive gyuza) ($3.99) were a bit better, but suffered the same pasty skin issue. The inside of the dumpling had a bit of shrimp and then mostly chive (and green onions I am guessing) and tasted mostly of that. I have had this type of dumpling many places—some use the chive/onion as a main ingredient and some more of a seasoning (with shrimp being the main ingredient). I prefer it when the shrimp is the main ingredient. This was not the case here.

All in all, I am impressed with the sushi served at Wasabi—they are consistently serving high quality there. I was excited by the dim sum idea when I saw it, but I think sticking with the more traditional Japanese cuisine is the way to go here.

Wasabi on 82^nd Street

5025 East 82^nd Street

Indy 46250

317/594-1188

www.wasabion82nd.com 

A couple of rolls - Wild Ginger and Wasabi on 82nd

So I have randomly eaten a couple of rolls at a couple of different places—both when hubby was out of town, and both with my kids, who seem to always be game for Japanese food.  And I always appreciate that there is no fear my son having an allergic reaction, since Japanese food rarely uses any kind of nuts. Interestingly, Wasabi (the second one I discuss here) was originally owned by the people who own Wild Ginger now.  So I guess it isn’t surprising that there are several similar items on the menus.

Anyhow, the first dinner was Wild Ginger on 116^th Street in Fishers—the kids were totally into it, I have to say.  They loved the origami crane light fixture (a cool idea) and our table in the window (the place is certainly kid friendly).  They split an order of chicken teriyaki and I ordered a roll and a couple of orders of nigiri to split with my son. 

Wild Ginger

The roll I had there was the “mistake roll” ($7) which was spicy tuna inside and then the entire thing is lightly tempura fried.  There was also spicy mayo drizzled on top.  Honestly, I didn’t really care for it that much mainly because all I could really taste was the rice and the sauce.  The amount of the spicy tuna inside was very minimal, and the amount of rice certainly dominated. I appreciated the crunch on the outside, but overall, there wasn’t enough of a fish (or really anything else) flavor to make it interesting for me.  The couple of pieces of nigiri ($4.75 per order) were kind of mixed too—I liked the albacore with the ponzu citrus sauce that is served under it (although I had to ask for it even though it is listed on the menu), but the fish on both orders of nigiri was not as tender as I would have liked—it seemed like it might have been sliced awhile ago or something.

Indy Roll- Wasabi

The other roll I had more recently with the kids once again, was at Wasabi on 82^nd. The kids also enjoy this place because they like sitting at the sushi bar and watching them make everything. I ordered the “Indy roll” ($15)—this one was stuffed with shrimp tempura and then topped with thin sliced tuna, salmon and avocado.  The whole thing was drizzled with eel sauce and mayo and topped with a bit of fish roe.  Not including the sauce, this is my kind of roll—a little bit of nearly all my favorite things in a roll—crunch from the tempura, tuna, and avocado—and the fish was nice and very thinly cut. And it was a roll I could fit into my mouth without any crazy contortions.  I thought the sauce was a little over the top though.  I really could have lived without the just plain mayo (I scraped most of it off).  I like a little bit of some sauce just to add some moisture, but I think I would ask them to hold the mayo. The eel sauce (a sweetened soy based sauce) was good, but there was maybe just a bit too much as well (although a lot of it was on the plate, so it was easier to avoid if you didn’t want too much).  The tuna nigiri ($4.95) here was very good—it seemed really fresh and tender and was a very generous portion.

Nigiri-Wasabi

Of the two, I certainly preferred the Wasabi roll, although they are so different, it is really unfair to even compare them.  I would be willing to try either place again, although Wasabi is much more convenient for me. I do think it tends to be a little on the expensive side. So what are your favorite rolls at these places? 

Wild Ginger

8235 East 116^th Street

Fishers, IN 46038

317/842-9888

www.wildginger116.com

Wasabi on 82^nd

5025 East 82^nd Street

Indy 46250

317/594-1188

www.wasabion82nd.com

Wasabi on 82nd

I have a confession to make. I am not a big fan of sushi. I love fish, and even raw fish, but I really don't like seaweed much, and I am not a huge fan of wasabi itself. I keep trying to like it, but it isn’t my thing. However, I do like Japanese food overall, so hubby and I headed out for a quick lunch at Wasabi on 82nd Street in Castleton.

I like this place because the food is all really fresh and the cuts of meat (if you aren’t getting sushi) are recognizable. What do I mean by this? If you order chicken teriyaki, as I did on this particular day as part of my bento box, it is a breast of chicken, not all those weird gristly pieces of chicken you might get elsewhere. The sauce is nice, a lot of soy and the right amount of sweetness. As I said, I ordered a box which also came with sashimi—salmon, tuna and whitefish. The whitefish was the only thing that wasn’t very good; the other two pieces of fish were extremely fresh and tender

You also get as part of a bento box, a little teeny spring roll (which I appreciate for the crunch factor), a wedge of some sort of fried potato thingy and a nicely sectioned orange. Didn’t really get to the potato item, I was pretty full, but enjoyed the orange for dessert (someone spends a lot of time getting those oranges just so). Oh, and before meal is served, they give you a nice bowl of miso soup and a typical Japanese salad. Hubby just had several pieces of nigiri and was very happy with his orders, particularly the fatty white tuna.

This place is a bit pricier than many of the local Japanese places, but like I said, at least when you order chicken, you can be sure it actually is chicken, and not some other mystery meat. The service was efficient, not overly attentive, but it was lunch and we were in and out pretty quickly.

Hey, what’s your favorite Japanese joint? I would love to hear about it.

Wasabi on 82nd
5025 E. 82nd Street
Indy, 46250
317/594-1188