Quick Look: The Sushi at Wasabi Sushi & Bento

During my previous Wasabi review, I ate pretty much everything off their menu, but I never really dove into the sushi offerings. The sushi didn’t originally catch my attention at Wasabi, but I don’t write these posts for my own personal enjoyment (yes, I do), so the addition of a Midtown establishment serving up individually wrapped pieces of sushi will obviously attract some attention. Craving something healthy(ish) for lunch, I zipped over to Wasabi to try out their sushi.

There are individually wrapped pieces of sushi at Wasabi, but there are also sets of sushi. Fortunately, Wasabi has finally got their US website up and running (here), and it does a great job of laying out all they have to offer. This time, I was in a bit of a hurry (how else am I going to fit in an entire episode of King of Queens during lunch), so I grabbed the largest set of sushi they had. This was the Rainbow Set, or $11.95 of Wasabi’s finest available sushi. Now, this is obviously over the ML limit, but Wasabi has four other sets all under $10.

I’m just as big a fan of the ML limit as the rest of you, but if there was one cuisine where I might not mind dishing out a little extra cash, it’s definitely sushi. Nonetheless, this is a pretty good amount of sushi for $12. I was excited about the quantity, but skeptical about the quality.

I was pretty eager to dig in at this point. I couldn’t identify a few of the rolls, but I grabbed the description from their website:

salmon · avocado · masago, prawn tempura · avocado · tamago, crab meat · avocado · tamago, salmon · avocado · crab stick · tamago

Now, one of the biggest issues with Wasabi’s process of preparing food is that any given roll can be sitting around for a while. I’m not exactly sure how long “a while” is, but if an item is among the less popular dishes they offer, it could take longer for that particular dish to be replenished by the kitchen. I have no idea how long my sushi was there, but I could see that the avocado was already starting to turn brown.

Honestly, this didn’t bother me all that much. I found the heavily refrigerated rice in the sushi to be more of a problem, as it really doesn’t make for the best sushi experience. Despite these minor flaws, I enjoyed it. I’m far from a sushi connoisseur, evident from my love of AYCE sushi, so as long as it doesn’t taste funky – I’ll eat it. The package comes with a nice little container for the soy sauce and wasabi, so I mixed them together and went to town. As I said in my original Wasabi article, it’s all about managing expectations. With this amount of sushi, and a price tag of $11.95, I really wasn’t expecting much. The sushi, but specifically the nigiri, exceeded my already low expectations.

People can be pretty particular about their sushi, so I suggest that everyone give it a try. If you like Wasabi’s sushi, you’re in luck, as they have a pretty large selection available at your disposal. Now, please enjoy their “Wasabi Etiquette” guide, included on the box of sushi.

Wasabi Sushi & Bento, 561 7th Ave. (btw. 40th + 41st)

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