Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 July 2011 11:19

Restaurants - Japanese Restaurants

Wasabi

West End: 8550 Pontchartrain Blvd . 504-267-3263. Map.
Casual
AE DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
Both in the Marigny Triangle and Lakeview Wasabi brought sushi to neighborhoods with no sushi bars, but plenty of customers who liked Japanese dining. That clientele also knew from quality sushi, and Wasabi would have gone nowhere had it not been an excellent operation from the outset.

WHAT'S GOOD
The sushi bar takes its work seriously, a fact attested to by the goodness of the specials on the markerboard. Fresh versions of seafood usually found frozen in other Japanese places are present enough that you could make an entire meal out of those items. The fine points--temperature, moisture content of the rice, judicious use of sauces--are all observed. The non-sushi entrees are limited to the basics of the cuisine--tempura, teriyaki, noodles, and the like. Nothing like sukiyaki.

BACKSTORY
Wasabi's original location in Marigny opened in 2002. It was well enough received that it opened a second location on Canal Boulevard, near the cemeteries. That was wiped out by Katrina, but in 2009 Wasabi returned to Lakeview, taking over the former Windjammer on Pontchartrain Boulevard, across from the marina.

DINING ROOM
The Marigny location doesn’t seem right for a sushi bar, but it works. It's an old store built in an antique Creole style from the early 1800s, with few windows and a blindingly saturated exterior color scheme. Inside, the two rooms have been adapted well. The sushi bar is in the rear, brighter room, but tables are in both. The front room sports a bigger, older bar than we're used to seeing in a Japanese place; it's a popular hangout. Jazz plays on the sound system. The Lakeview restaurant is bigger and sports a spacious, modern main dining room and another large bar.

ESSENTIAL MENU
Starters
Tempura shrimp and vegetables
BBQ tuna
Baked green mussels
Tofu steak teriyaki
»Beef tataki
»Yakitori (skewered chicken, onions, teriyaki
Baked seafood, mushrooms, onions, smelt roe sauce
»Curry mussels
»Beef and asparagus maki
Fried tofu (age dashi tofu)
»Baked salmon, crabmeat, eel sauce
Wasabi honey shrimp
»Sauteed soft shell crab
»Edamame
»Gyoza
Shrimp-stuffed shiitake mushrooms
Squid steak
»Shu-mai (steamed dumplings with pork or shrimp)
»Mussels with black bean sauce
Sushi appetizer
Sashimi appetizer
»Frenchmen scallops (garlic butter)
»Beef negimaki (green onions)
Hiyayako (cold tofu, green onions, ginger, bonito flakes)
»Baked salmon neck, ponzu
»Hamachi kama (yellowtail neck, ponzu)
Calamari tempura
Seafood salad
Salmon skin salad
Snow crab salad, avocado
»Seaweed salad
Squid salad

Entrees
Wasabi honey shrimp
Beef teriyaki
Chicken teriyaki
»Chicken katsu (panneed)
Tempura shrimp and vegetables
»Una don (broiled eel)
Tempura and chicken teriyaki combination
Tempura and beef teriyaki combination
»Sushi and sashimi to order
Sushi rolls (a selection; there are many more):
»Asparagus roll
Big Easy roll
»Dragon roll
Dynamite roll
Eel roll
»Rainbow roll
»Rice paper roll
»Salmon skin roll
Scallop roll
»Soft shell crab roll
Tuna avocado roll
»Yellowtail roll
Frenchmen roll

Noodles
»Tempura udon
Nabeyaki udon
Niku udon
»Gyoza noodle soup
Yaki udon with seafood or chicken
Yaki soba

Desserts
»Tempura cheesecake
»Red bean ice cream
»Ginger ice cream
Plum ice cream
»Green tea ice cream
Capppucino ice cream

FOR BEST RESULTS
Even if you have a standard sushi order, ask about everything on the specials board. These really are special. They seem to have fresh sea scallops more often than I see in other sushi bars. The selection of sake is very good.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The service is a shade too brisk.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

• Dining Environment +1
• Consistency +2
• Service
• Value +1
• Attitude
• Wine and Bar +1
• Hipness +2
• Local Color +1

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

• Romantic
• Open Sunday lunch and dinner
• Open Monday lunch and dinner
• Open most holidays
• Open after 10 p.m.
• Open all afternoon
• Historic
• Quick, good meal
• Easy, nearby parking
• Reservations accepted

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
The building doesn’t look like the kind of place where you’d find a sushi bar. It’s an old store built in an antique Creole style which (to my untrained eye) appears to date to the 1830s. It has few windows and a saturated exterior color scheme. Inside, however, we find a well-executed renovations, cool and spacious, with jazz playing on the sound system. Wasabi's sushi bar is in the larger, brighter rear room. Before looking at what’s in the case, take a gander at the marker board behind the bar. Here you’ll find the specials, including a few gems. They seem to have fresh sea scallops more often than I see them in other sushi place. These are the good kind, meaty and redolent of the sea, with a fabulous texture and flavor. Other specials are similarly welcome, and the regular offerings are fresh, presented at the right temperature, and sleek. You might want to get an appetizer here, even if you’re in the habit of jumping right into the sushi. Those scallops I mentioned are available in a cooked form, abetted by a good garlic butter. The tuna or beef tataki (seared around the edges but mostly raw, served with ponzu) is especially good. So is the beef negimaki, grilled slices of meat wrapped around a core of green onions. Chewy, that, but tasty. The curried mussels are made with the inferior green-lipped mussels, but they’re good anyway, with a Thai-style sauce with coconut milk. More soups here than usual. They make a great seafood soup for two--in two different styles, yet. The non-sushi entrees are limited to the basics of the cuisine--tempura, teriyaki, noodles, and the like. Nothing like sukiyaki. But that’s just as well. Sushi and sashimi are the specialties. Wasabi is very popular among the denizens of Marigny, enough so that they maintain late hours on weekends. For awhile, they also ran a restaurant on Canal Boulevard, near the cemeteries--but that got washed away by the storm. Here in the Marigny, it's all excellence and consistency as usual, in that raffish old building.