427 Woodburn Road
Raleigh, NC 27605
(919) 831-9907
Interior View
Salad with Ginger Dressing & Miso Soup
Harumaki
Sashimi Deluxe (16 Pieces) - $20.25
Chicken Tempura & Salmon Roll Lunch Bento Box - $11.00
This is a review of a Japanese restaurant located in Raleigh, North Carolina called Ajisai. We visited around 1:30 pm on a Saturday. It's located in the Cameron Village Shopping Center. We had to drive around for about five minutes to find a parking space since parking is quite limited and it's quite busy on Saturday afternoons. This restaurant is open from 11 am to 10 pm Monday through Thursday, they stay open an additional hour on Friday. Saturday they are open from 11:30 am until 11pm and Sunday they open from noon to 10 pm. Their sanitation score is 95.5 which is very good. We were immediately greeted and seated at a table for two. They have several booths and tables, but it's quite small inside and there is a steady stream of customers. Customers that came in behind us had to wait for a table. It was a bit chilly near the door when the wind was blowing inside each time a customer opened the doors. This restaurant has a very nice atmosphere with lovely decor, but customers are a bit on the loud side so much so that I couldn't hear the music.
Our friendly, prompt waitress introduced herself and was happy to answer our questions about the menu. I decided to have a Bento Box with a Salmon Roll and Chicken Tempura for $11.00, as shown above. Hubby decided to have the Sashimi Deluxe which offers sixteen pieces for $20.25 which breaks down to $1.27 a piece which is very reasonable. My diet soda was $2.25. I asked about their hot tea, but they only offer one type which is a rice tea which didn't sound great to me, so I passed. They also serve alcoholic drinks from cocktails to beer, wine and sake which the majority of customers ordered. With the yelp app I was able to get free Harumaki and I was surprised to receive three spring rolls, it was a generous portion. The spring rolls weren't greasy or overcooked and they were served hot. They were very tasty and they came with a delicious dipping sauce. I was surprised my Bento box came with a salad and soup. Most Japanese restaurants only offer one or the other. The soup was cool enough to eat right away. I would have liked it a bit warmer. It had bits of tofu, noodles, green onions and seaweed. It was tasty. The ginger salad dressing was delicious and so was the salad which was fresh and crisp. It included a tomato, shredded carrots and a cucumber slice. I snagged Hubby's tomato from his salad since he's on a low carb diet. My Chicken Tempura wasn't greasy or over battered and even though it was only two pieces, they were large pieces. It also came with two slices of sweet potato and a piece of broccoli. The dipping sauce was pretty good. The white rice was perfectly cooked, it was sticky, hot and scrumptious. I'm not a fan of shumai, so I just sampled one and left the other one. The salmon rolls had absolutely delicious pieces of salmon in them with the perfect texture and flavor. They featured larger pieces of salmon than the competition. I asked for a side of eel sauce, I dipped them in that, yum. Hubby was making some crazy happy faces while eating his absolutely scrumptious sixteen pieces of sashimi. I was jealous and he wouldn't share any. Next time I will order that for sure. The presentation is absolutely fabulous! It had a swan ice sculpture with a blue light shining behind it. The sashimi was sitting on twigs and chopped ice. It's a feast for the eyes. Hubby loved every single piece of sashimi and appeared to be in heaven while eating it. The look on his face made me giggle. The lovely waitress was quite attentive especially since every table was filled with customers. We had to ask for drink refills and the check which we didn't mind due to it being so busy. Our food was promptly brought out which we greatly appreciated, it makes for a pleasant dining experience. The salad and soup were brought out shortly after were ordered. The spring rolls were brought out nine minutes later. Four minutes later our entrees were brought out. Our dining experience took about an hour. Our total came to $36.26 with tax before tip which is lower than the competition.
If you haven't tried this Japanese restaurant yet, put it at the top of your list! This one is a must try! I highly recommend you visit this restaurant as soon as possible! This one is a winner with four and a half stars on yelp.
Be sure to check out my other restaurant reviews before you go. There is a list of them on my Pinterest Restaurant Reviews Board. I invite you to follow my blog via Pinterest, Twitter, Google +, Bloglovin', Facebook or Networked Blogs.
Have a PEACEful Day!
3 comments
What were the bubbles in the harumaki sauce?
I'm not sure, perhaps from pouring it into the bowl or having just mixed it.
It was awesomeness
Your a great blogger!
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