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I tried Asa Sushi for the first time yesterday even though I've lived in the area for a couple of years. I usually patron another Japanese restaurant in the neighborhood, but decided to try something different. The selection of rolls is very extensive with many of the rolls being slight variations of each other. The rest of the menu offers standard Japanese fare.
We ordered a specialty roll, salmon sashimi (wild), ika kaarage and oden udon soup. Both the specialty roll and salmon sashimi were very nice and pleasing. The ika kaarage was really small and I would never order it again, especially compared to a place like Toshi where the ika kaarage is similar in price but substantially better. Finally, the oden udon was mediocre and not memorable. Overall, the food was satisfying and in the future I would only order the rolls and sashimi again.
The service is really, really, really crappy, some of the worst I've had at a Japanese restaurant. There is only one server so the restaurant is understaffed in the service department even though there are multiple sushi chefs. It takes awhile to be acknowledged and given tea. Food that is ready to be served may linger at the sushi bar for awhile since the lone server has to do everything including receiving take out orders, which seemed to occur regularly. The dirty/empty dishes were not cleared at all and we had to stack them ourselves to make room for other dishes. Tea is only refilled if you ask. The service at the other Japanese restaurant I frequent in Kerrisdale is vastly superior, but I will return to Asa because the prices are better.
I like this place! I've been going there since one of my friends suggested this restaurant. I specially like Dynamite rolls and Dragon rolls, i mean i don't know why many negative comments are out there... anyway, i thought it was really good tho the taste and everything. But!! the server was sometimes not so nice because there's one time I went there with my mom(kinda long ago),I ordered Dragon rolls as usual but i guess the waitress misheard what i said, she took me a wrong dish. Then, i asked her to changed it ,instead she explained but still it sounded like somehow it was my fault mispronounced the name. I was a little bit upset about the fact that she talked back,however; foods are good ,completely satisfied.:D
This is pretty much the ONLY place I'll go to if I'm craving for some fusion rushi rolls. They have tons to choose from and they are all equally delicious! And there's lots of pictures to see. Been going there for 2+yrs and their food has been consistent but not their service. Their service is slack and I always hear them chatting in Chinese all the time. We never get our tea refilled until we asked and we didn't get any plates to eat the sushi rolls with. I just think they should use their time to serve us better esp we're paying a more than average price for their sushi. I definitely recommend this place for the yummy food but don't expect to be treated like a valued customer.
I used to work in this Kerrisdale area for a few years, and had a chance to sample extensively the food offerings nearby. Eventually it came to be Asa's turn.
In truth, I am of two minds about the place. On the one hand, I think (most) of the food is good. I am no sushi expert, but both nigiri and rolls are adequate. It is run and staffed by Japanese people (mostly), but I do not see that reflected in the customer demographics, maybe because of the residential locale.
On the other hand, the service is terrible and the overall decor and ambiance lacking. Unlike some other reviewers, I like the open "garage door" style window during summer, and almost always seat myself at the window bar.
I particularly like the beef udon soup, it has the right balance of things I like, and tastes good. The rolls, nigiri and sashimi comes in generous portions, but not too big.
But there are many service related downsides. It often takes a while to be acknowledged when you walk in, the chef sometimes has to yell at the staff to pay attention. Return visits to check up are very rare. I have never received a soy sauce dish, and even the udon seasoning is hit and miss, I usually have to ask for it. Clean up and bill, very rare too, but that may have something to do with my sitting at the bar.
One of their strengths/excuses could have been lower prices, and indeed the prices were reasonable, but a couple months ago they raised them 10-20% across the board, and there are at least 3 other sushi options as good or better in close proximity.
They really need to clamp down on the service and hire staff that know what they are doing, because neither their location nor their prices are setting them apart.
CLEAN THE FLOORS!
I live in Kerrisdale and I walk up and down 41st every day - Asa is an okay restaurant that is just fine if you want a bowl of tempura udon or a quick dynamite roll. The service is okay, sometimes poor but they are friendly enough. The biggest problem I have with this place is how dirty the floor is. Always. That has got to be an indicator of how clean the rest of the restaurant is. I just wish the City of Vancouver would get it together and implement some sort of cleanliness regimen like the City of Los Angeles has done - nobody down there will eat at a restaurant unless they have an 'A' hanging in their window. Way too many restaurants in this town are filthy. I think I'm going to start speaking up and telling the owners how I feel about the cleanliness of their restaurants and I would really like my fellow dinehere members to join me. We don't have to be aggressive or unkind about it - I just don't think its too much to ask that our food is prepared and served in a clean environment. cheers.
I would rate it high for "convenience" (I live in the area), but the sushi, sashimi, and soups just did not impress me.
Although their salmon sashimi was made with wild salmon, it didn't look as pink or firm as other wild salmon that I've had. Also, their seaweed is tough and stringy, which makes it difficult to eat (again, better seaweed at other restaurants I've been to). And the udon soups were so bland and I found the quality of their udon noodles not as good as others.
Service was decent, but the food was not worth the price in my opinion.
I placed an order for delivery at Asa Sushi in the late afternoon when the restaurant was completely empty. The lady on the phone said it would take about 30 minutes. I pre-paid. Big mistake. I called back every 30 minutes for the next 2hours and tried to cancel the order but she kept saying that the food will be there soon and hung up on me. I eventually drove to the restaurant myself to pick up the food. The restaurant was busy by this time and my order had not even been processed yet. I couldn't believe it. I had to wait outside for 15 minutes. The rolls were butchered and the sushi and sashimi were warm and mushy. This was the worst delivery/ take out experience that I have ever had. Lousy service and lousy food.
Went to Asa last month (Aug 2008) just for their "creative rolls" and I must say the food is great but the servers there really need to brush up their floor-cleaning skills.... It's not dirty but you just don't feel right! Excellent sushi for taking-out for sure and if you want to try something different, this is the place to go!!
We went here a few weeks back for a late lunch. The sushi and tempura were fine (especially for the price), but the service was really lacking. Our waitress didn't seem to have any English at all....not only that, she didn't understand when we asked for Saki. We wanted to add to our order later, but had trouble getting any service even though it's a very small space and 3-4 servers were standing around. Will probably try another of the many sushi places in Kerrisdale.
ASA was definitly better when it first opened. The service is kind of.....inconsistent. On some days, they're pretty good, and on others, they just take forever. I don't know if it's just how many people are there, because I usually go in there around the same times.
The chefs working behind the counter are really friendly, but the foods just decent.
Since Dai-ichi closed, this is where I usually go for my Sushi fix in Kerrisdale. I definitely prefer ASA to some of the other Sushi places nearby (there are at least 7 within walking distance from 41st).
THe sushi is decent here but don't get the cucumber, tuna or salmon rolls here because the two times I got this combo, the seaweed was sticky and the fish off tasting- signs that they premake these. Surprisingly, the cooked food is not bad- the udon noodles are glossy and smooth-like (fresh) and the tempura is good. Prices are reasonable.
We eat Japanese food quite a bit and wanted to try this place. We went for dinner and ordered 5 different rolls to try(salmon, tuna, california, cannack's, gozilla). The california roll fell apart easily and was tasteless. Very stingy amount of avocado. The salmon and tuna rolls were just okay. The cannack and gozilla rolls had this sweet soy sauce on it and it were way too sweet. Sushi should not be sweet! Also, you don't get miso soup or even tea at this place, just tap water (not even with ice cubes) in extremely cheap-looking colourful plastic cups that looked pretty old. I thought it was kinda gross.
Service was bad. Neither of us liked the waitress. We signaled for her to come wrap our food up and give us our bill, and she came over, got distracted by other things and had her head turned away, then she walked away! This place can get busy because of the location, but given the choices we have in this city, we would never eat there again.
i come here at least twice a week... it's a great casual place to have some lunch or dinner. the sushi was so good -- my favorites are the Crazy boy, Ninja, and Godzilla rolls. i always get the Udon and Agedashi Tofu - the sweet sauce is so good. service isn't great, but they're prompt and food's great.
Asa Sushi in Kerrisdale is a great casual little sushi restaurant. The open air, cool and comfortable atmosphere makes for a relaxing meal in a nice ambience. Food is good. Roll pieces are the perfect bite-size and packed full of high quality ingrediants. No artificial crab here! The combos are excellent, and you get a lot of food for your money here. Service was very quick, and I have found that even when busy the service is friendly and fast. A great little restaurant that will keep me coming back for more.
This is my absolute favourite sushi place because the tuna sashimi is simply succulent, and the tenderness of the avocado roll is stellar. The quality for the price point is unmatched when compared to other sushi places I frequent in my own neighbourhood in the West End.
There are myriad rolls to try, and some of my favourite are the crunchy spicy tuna and the tora tora roll.
The service is horrid though. Even when there are just a few tables occupied, you are hard-pressed to get a tea refill, get your table cleared, or any other normal service you'd expect at a sushi restaurant.
One other beef is that in the summer, they leave all the front windows and the door open, and the noise from the buses is loud and invasive.
I have been going here for years and while the food is great, I never expect much for service. The servers are meek and do not speak English very.... well most of the time, forget items ordered and almost never refill your tea or drinks without having to ask them too!
All that being said, for take out, it's hard to go wrong here! the Sushi is generally extremely fresh, the rolls and special rolls are lager and have great value. i have introduced NUMEROUS people to this place and all go away LOVING the sushi including many hardcore sushi eaters!
Again, don't expect great service if you plan on dining in, but the food is very good and take-out is a GREAT way to enjoy the food without the poor service!
I originally chose this place as it was crowded at 6pm on a Monday so thought I would be good. However, the sushi was really bad, it was dry and tasteless, falling apart before I even could pick it up with my chopsticks. Also, the service was really poor, I had to motion a few times for the servers to come to me (for soy sauce bowl, tea etc) - I hate doing that! Unfortunately I wouldn't return! The one redeeming feature was its price - it is very cheap sushi so you don't feel so bad wasting that amount of money!
Having been to so many Chinese-owned sushi places around town, it's a breath of fresh air to go to a Japanese restaurant that is owned by Japanese people.
The food was really delicate. I really liked the first page, with all the different and special rolls. They're really creative. I only had the chance to go one time and only tasted one roll, but it was really really good. I would definately go again just to try all their different special rolls.
A friend of mine introduced me to Asa over a year ago, and it has rapidly become my restaurant of choice for take-out sushi. Seating is quite limited (2 or 3 tables and a large wrap-around sushi bar), so take-out is the main attraction.
I love their spicy tuna rolls, and they make all of the standard rolls very well. Their BC rolls are also very nice and are much higher quality than I usually find at take-out restaurants.
I also frequent Sushi Garden when I'm with friends (and when I don't mind lineups), however I do all my takeout from Asa. The only downside is that they don't do hot food (I love Oyakodon), but it's not a big problem as the sushi more than makes up for it.
Also check out some of their exotic rolls with cheese and other unique ingredients!
Kerrisdale is a black hole for decent restaurants still and this place is a rare exception from the norm. The standard sushi fare is just that but the special rolls can be good, interesting, or in the case of the Crazy Boy roll, sublime. This is a superb warm roll with a homemade/invented sauce that is simple and excellent, in either its hot or regular modes.
Service is harried/disorganized but it's got a sense of ownership to it from the kitchen forward...best thing to do is to order takeout and then go to Chesire Cheese for a pint of Guinness while you wait.
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