Heiwa Shokudo

Note to Owner/​Manager: update the hours online please. Seriously.
Made a decision to stay the night in Asheville instead of head back to Atlanta under heavy influence that I could catch a meal here. one of my favorite places.
Ran a bit late, but made it by in what I thought allowed 40 minutes before close.
The restaurant was full but for one two top table. and I was intercepted with the news they were closed due to Winter hours. (Even so, in honesty, they still were supposed to be open another 10 minutes. not that I would normally drop in 10 minutes before closing, but considering the packed house, geez. just one more person???)
Anyway, for what it’s worth, you missed out on a bit o’ business and a good tip, and left a very disappointed taste in my mouth.
Three stars — only because I know how awesome you normally are. My mood didn’t want to do any.

This is so far the best sushi I have had in Asheville. I have been everyone from wasabi to the hibachi places. This place compares to some sushi in New York City. I love it and if you love sushi I highly recommend it!

Amazing ramen, perfect on a cold, mountain day. Sushi is really good as well. A side of kimchi with rice made a perfect lunch.

My oh my the ramen… we have been looking so long in NC for some premier ramen and found it here! Spicy miso ramen with braised pork belly and soft boiled egg. My husband and I dove into our bowls — excellent bone broth flavor, reminded us of our homemade bone broth but so up a notch with spicy miso! Perfect for a cool fall day… or any day for that matter. Definitely will come and try the sushi next time too.

Delicious! One of the best sushi places I’ve ever been to and I’ve traveled all over the U.S. My mom doesn’t even like sushi but she loved this place.

After leaving Los Angeles, I didn’t expect to be able to get good quality Ramen in Asheville, NC. My girlfriend introduced me to Heiwa, and I have to say, it’s become my favorite restaurant in a city known for having an impressive food scene.
Even compared to my favorite Ramen places in LA, the Heiwa Ramen (with braised pork belly, the dish is truly incomplete without it), is superb. I also enjoy their sushi, and most especially — the wasabi. For those that can tell the difference between good wasabi and mediocre, this is the place for you.
If I was going to post one con of the restaurant is that they’re closed in the afternoons between their lunch and dinner service. This can be a bit of an inconvenience, but, this place is so good, I’ve found myself making plans around their schedule.

The noodle bowls here are fabulous; they are huge, delicious, and cheap. The vegetarian broth is so hearty, and they don’t skip on the veggies. I like how the menu has a half bowl option as well. The crab here is not krab, and I wouldn’t say their prices reflect the difference. The vegetarian options for sushi are creative and delicious. Service isn’t the best, and seating can be cozy; however, the food brings us back everytime.

Ugh. This place. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing. Ordered the chicken ramen. The actual noodles with so under cooked that they were chewy (not al dente, mind you. Just under cooked) and then my chicken was extremely over cooked and tough. How did they manage this? We ordered a sushi roll from the specials and it was OK but felt like it was lacking some element. Idk, just wasn’t a fan of this place
Won’t be back.

I guess working in a sushi restaurant for years has made my expectations soar, but my honest opinion is that this place is mediocre at best. Ive tried it twice. Their spicy tuna rolls are just with hot sauce — no spicy mayo to be found. The eel wasn’t even edible — glumpy and fatty mush. I think there was only one server on for the lunch rush so service wasn’t the best and he wasn’t knowledgeable about the menu. Unfortunately it may be one of the best sushi places in Asheville, but I think Champa and Genko are (slightly) better. There is definitely an open market for a knockout sushi restaurant in town! Someone open one please!!!

Awesome. Nice menu, bright flavors, and excellent service.

Heiwa never disappoints. Friendly and attentive staff who consistently display professionalism in their job. Great menu with a lot of creative one-​of-​a-​kind rolls you will not find at other local sushi joints. Quaint indoor seating and nice outdoor patio connected to a small gravel parking lot reserved just for Heiwa customers (which is a rarity in downtown Asheville!)

I’ve tried a few Japanese restaurants in Asheville and Heiwa is definitely my favorite. For one thing, even in Asheville, they’re the most vegetarian-​friendly. They offer vegetarian alternatives to pretty much all of their dishes as well as an extensive and unique veggie sushi repertoire. Like a few other reviewers have mentioned, their standout veggie roll is definitely the Altenderfer — a wonderful medley of sweet and salty flavors. I would never have thought to put almond butter in sushi before this but it totally made this roll.
But what really took me by surprise was their udon noodle soup with the seaweed broth. Most vegetable broths are bland and forgettable but this one was quite the opposite, and completely exemplified umami. I don’t know how they got the fried tofu to be so soft, with just a little bit of crispiness, but it was fantastic. The udon was great and they definitely didn’t skimp on the vegetables. The whole thing was made all the better with a splash of sriracha and a generous sprinkling of the Togarashi they brought to the table — my first time seeing this spice blend here in Asheville!
The wealth of options here will definitely keep me coming back, although I’m still dreaming about that soup.

We decided to go sushi bar hoping and stumbled upon this sushi bar after we went to Zen Sushi (see other review) and were pleasantly surprized. Thier ingredients were fresh and unique, for example: almond butter, asparagus, squash… etc in addition to the standard rolls. they also have other items on their menu but we were focus just on sushi. We tried a spicy tuna roll which was very standard and not too spicy. We also tried a daily special called kanpyo hosomaki which was a delicious marinated squash roll; it packed a great savory/​vinegar flavor into each bite. We also ordered the edomae chirashi which is several cuts of raw fish, eel, and salmon roe over a bed of rice with avocado. The presentation was beautiful and the quality of food was great. I also really enjoyed thier unique, hand made appearing, serving wear. This restaurant is clearly about details and quality.
The server was very friendly, welcoming, and helpful with suggestions. The facilites are a little small, just one single small room indoors and also some outdoor patio seating. Due to rain, the inside filled up quickly and was kind of tight, but still comfortable. They serve complimentary hot green tea which was very comforting on a cold spring afternoon. The atmosphere is simple, relaxed, and warm. The close seating makes it great for a date night but not for groups over 4. We would definitely go back to try out more on thier menu. They also have free parking behind the building.
Summary
Service 4
Food 4
Price 4
Atmosphere 3
Facilities 3

For several years, my wife and I would splurge on sushi at Heiwa at least once a week. It’s the sort of thing that makes us cringe slightly when going through our finances and sorting by «Heiwa,» but the fact is, in the dozens of times we’ve dined with Heiwa, we’ve never had anything short of an absolutely stellar experience.
The atmosphere is sublime: quaint, peaceful, Japanese décor, typically with some ambient electronic or unfamiliar New Wave record playing at a quiet volume. Although the menu has changed a little of the years, the offerings have always been a superb blend of Traditional Japanese with a delicious and unpretentious, modern twist. Heiwa Shokudo has some of the freshest seafood in the city and remains the only place in town that DOESN’T use imitation crab sticks (even a California Roll is prepared with delicious, crab meat). Other meats, vegetables, and ingredients are locally-​sourced when possible. Even the traditional Tamari is imported and bottled in the Biltmore Village!
While the seafood and other meat dishes are excellent, there are several delicious vegetarian options, as well: the seaweed salad handroll, Tofu Poki, and Tofu Katsu, being a favorite among my veggie friends. If you’re a vegetarian and would like to try the various options, the Vegetarian Combos are where it’s at. While on the subject, the lunch combination box is one of the best deals in town and is incredibly tasty!
For soup dishes, I recommend the Gypsy Bowl (tempura fried chicken) or the Geisha (broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, sprouts) with a little chili oil and Nanami Tagarashi to open the sinuses :-). The Heiwa Ramen is also a personal favorite.
Finally, the staff has changed a bit over the years (I believe there was a change of ownership a couple years back). That being said, our servers have always worked hard to make us feel at home, always ensuring we have the best possible dining experience so that we leave happy and return soon… and as long as we’re in Asheville, we always will!
Honestly, I cannot recommend this place highly enough. If it were possible, I’d add a few other stars, for good measure!

After a full month of no sushi in my diet, I was more than excited to hear that my friend wanted to take me here. She raves about this place all the time and is a regular.
Honestly, from the outside, this place looks like a little shack. However, don’t let the exterior fool you! Upon walking in the front door I felt like I had just entered a restaurant in the middle of Japan. It felt very authentic. Additionally, to my surprise, the place was practically empty. I thought that there would be a lunch rush or something!
Anyways, I ordered the California roll and my friend opted for the tarantula roll. Honestly, it was one of the best California rolls I’ve ever had. The crab tasted amazing. My friend also loves the Godzilla roll and ordered that to go for dinner that night. A huge plus for me was the fact that they serve complimentary green tea. It was very tasty and went very well with the sushi.
Overall, my experience at Heiwa was great. Nothing special, but I have only been here once and will definitely be coming back. They have an awesome variety of sushi and other Asian dishes that I am really excited to try. The service was fantastic and aside from the building needing a little TLC in a few places and the dining area being quite tiny, the restaurant was clean and comfortable.

Food is amazing but the service sucks! The waiter was rude & ruined my dining experience. Probably won’t go back.

There are many sushi restaurants in Asheville, which is impressive considering that the closest ocean is 4 hours away. (Thank you modern shipping conveniences.)
However, Heiwa Shokudo is a Japanese restaurant that just happens to serve sushi. Yes, if you want some delicious rolls or sashimi they’ve got you covered, but the real prize that Heiwa offers are the items from their hot kitchen.
They have a variety of noodle soups, bento style boxes, and traditional japanese entrees. They also offer weekly and nightly specials, wonderful creations that are seasonally based. Be sure to check out the black board on the street before you walk inside!
My go to’s here are the ramen, which has graduated from being a special to a regular menu item, and the sashimi. The dashi broth for the ramen is the perfect balance of salty and savory. Umami! The sashimi is always fresh, and generous cuts.
The service is always top notch. I get a little bit crazy with modifications and customization requests when eating here, and I’ve never been greeted with anything other than a smile and an of course.
During the summer they have great patio seating, shaded by bushes and bamboo. If you’re dining with a small group of 6 – 8 people, there’s also a very comfy semi secluded room connected to the standard dining room.
It’s hard for me to not say more wonderful things about this place.
Fun fact! This is where the woman I married and I went out to dinner on our first date. We often revisit Heiwa for romantic dinners.

We came here on a Saturday evening around 7:30 and got the last open table. It is, as others have mentioned, cozy. It looks very authentic, but being born and raised in Indiana, I’m not really in the position to judge this sort of thing accurately.
As others have also mentioned, the service is a little slow. The two guys working as servers seemed a bit overwhelmed and unsure of how to get customers from start to finish, and had absolutely no finesse. When we finally got a refill on our water, the waiter spilled quite a bit on the table and rushed off without bothering to wipe it up.
Other reviews have indicated that they don’t take reservations here, but we observed them making a lot of phone calls reminding people that their tables were available. Weird.
The homemade ginger salad dressing is very good and definitely has a better, fresher taste than the bottled stuff. The sushi was decent. One of the rolls had a cooked fish in it that I didn’t care for, but the rest of our meal was good.
We were just visiting Asheville, so we won’t be regulars or anything, but we might come back if we’re in town again.

I ended up spending quite a bit of money here and didn’t really feel like I got my money’s worth. The sushi was fairly tasty — I got one of the combo meals for $ 27 or something like that. There was nothing here that blew me away. Not only that, but the facility itself was a little grimy. It’s an interesting area, too. We had some weirdo one-​man-​band clapping and singing away the entire meal which was quite annoying. I realize that has nothing to do with the restaurant, though. Just kinda meh, here. 3 stars.

I pulled into Asheville for a quick bite to eat while on a Road Trip to Kentucky last week. Before getting too lost in town I pulled off to the first colorful and amazing side street that was convenient to the lane I was in, grabbed the first parking space I saw, and it was right in front of Heiwa Shokudo! The stars were aligned. I walked up and down the street and pondered other choices, but came right back here, and I’m so glad I did. Service was good, the food was great, and off I went back to my adventure. Oh the Ginger Honey Hot Tea was delicious!