Olive & Sesame

We all tried the others dish and appetizers and nothing had character. … the staff did leave us alone but seemed rather distant I won’t be back and I live so close… this is why. I drive to Columbia for my dinners

I can’t say enough about service here. Great cook in the kitchen honoring special requests! Great sushi chefs working in the front for all to see! But one cocky waiter neglecting the whole dining room? I can’t imagine an easier problem to fix: Fire the old grump waiter who claims he had it all covered.

Bit into a musters ingredient in Pad Thai. When I took the food back to the restaurant the manager refused to give me a refund for a sushi roll we also ordered (we were worried to find surprise ingredients in that too). The manager said he had more than enough money and wasn’t concerned about bad reviews. Won’t eat there again.

The first time I tried Olive & Sesame it was a pleasant experience with pretty good sushi. However over the years, unfortunately, the quality has gone down and has never been able to redeem itself.
The last time I ate here both my fiancé and I got incredibly sick from the bad sushi. The Chinese food was oily and tasteless. I refused to give up, always inquiring to go back and give it another chance. But alas my fiancé refuses to give it a go.

I really like the food here and my roommate like his fish.

I seem to come here usually when I get my haircut next door and have always been please with the service. Usually just get some sushi to go. On the times I’ve dined in, service has been pretty good then also. If I had to rate it prior to my last two visits, it would be a 4 – 4.5 but that has changed.
My visit in October was a slight disappointment. I ordered my sushi after my haicut and when I got home, there was no chopsticks, or soy sauce. Was not happy about that but I adapted and overcame. My last visit which was at the beginning of November, I stopped in and placed my order at the counter. It was sushi deluxe, nothing complicated. When I came back I picked up my order and took it home. When I got home and opened up the bag, it wasnt even close to what I ordered. They had put in what I can only assume was some one elses order of sashimi. I was very ddisappointed because I was really looking forward to the sushi. I was going to call them and tell them about the mistake, but after thinking about it, all that would end up happening is me going back to the restaurant, which I really didn’t feel like doing after having a long day. It seems to me that service is going down hill.

What is going on with Olive & Sesame? This used to be our go-​to place for Asian cuisine. Loved the variety on the menu and the fresh food. However, last night was a completely different experience. The once vibrant fish tank sits dead and dark — really, just get rid of the thing. The restaurant was virtually deserted. The carpets were dirty. I selected a wine from the list, and they didn’t have it. They did have one that was $ 2 more per glass, however. We ordered sushi, drunken noodles and pad thai. The spicy tuna rolls and soft crab were excellent. They received the undivided attention of the sushi chef, who didn’t have anything else going on or any other orders to fill. The entrees, however, were not good. The sauce for the drunken noodles was tangy and tasted old. The pad thai tasted off as well. Seemed a little too tart — considering that this was my go-​to restaurant for pad thai, I was sorely disappointed. The service was also lacking. Our server kept swiping the soy sauce from our table — I’m not sure where she thought it was going to go, but I had to ask her to bring it back. Wonder if it will still be in business in six months?

Love it here!!! My husband eats here at least 1ce a week. Great rolls, super fresh tasting sushi & sashimi. My favorite roll is the Dub Fire Tuna Roll. The Lemon Chicken is in a superb in crunchy breadcrumb and the lemon sauce is the perfect balance of sweet & tangy. The staff is a wonder. They are all so friendly, we feel like we are walking into «Cheers», they have a great way of making you feel at home and welcome. We have been eating here for the past 5 years and hope to continue for another 25! Congrats to John, Mary & Jackie Chan & the rest of the team!

Good food, good sushi, pretty extensive menu. Service was pretty good and everyone was friendly. Pad Thai Chicken was actually good, not the best, but good.

Me and my boyfriend try to go here at least once a week to see our main man Steve! Ask for the funny fortune cookies!

I don’t know why Asian seafood means its going to smell very fishy. It was sort of good but after paying the bill I felt ripped off and nobody could eat the left overs we took home.

The food is great. You definitely will not leave hungry. And the waiters are always quick with refills, which is a big plus for me. I ordered the orange chicken with a side of fried rice. The portions are huge! The chicken isn’t like takeout – it’s big and hearty. And you literally get a portion of rice the size of a mountain. Normally I never have to get a to-​go box, but I had to here. Excellent sushi as well. I ordered and picked up sushi a few weeks ago. They included plenty of soy sauce and the man at the register was very friendly. Definitely coming back again and again.

Sooooo good love this place. My recordation is general Tso chicken and an order of Baltimore rolls!!!

We’ve been eating at Olive and Sesame every few months since they’ve opened. The interior décor is upscale/​trendy with granite table tops and a nice saltwater fishtank on display. We typically order a variety of maki rolls (our favorites are the Chicago and Pasadena rolls), but also occasionally order regular entrees as well. The quality of their food is excellent.

Got carry out from here last night after a deep hankering for sushi. Gluten free options in Pasadena have been killing us, and sushi is normally way too expensive for too little food.
We got the crab rangoon, spicy mussels, the rolls of salmon avacado, spicy tuna, yellowfin and scallion, salmon sashimi, and a hand roll of eel avacado. All of this was $ 40, which is not bad at all. Everything tasted fresh and no gluten trigger!
This will definitely go on our list to check out again. I really wish they delivered, but that’s my lazy butt talking. To save some time, here is the menu as they don’t really have a website:

This visit I dined in but ordered the same thing (shrimp with snow peas, carrots and broccoli). The space is nice but somewhat cramped. The restaurant was mostly empty on a Monday night. Our waiter was short, unfriendly and unpleasant. My entrée was served in a cute bamboo steamer basket. The dining in portions are huge. I got two meals out of this visit. Overall, great food but I didn’t feel very welcome. I’ll stick to carry out.

Ok so there is a lot to say about one of my favorite sushi joints in Pasadena. First and foremost, deplorable conditions surrounding their interior and food most recently are a direct reflection of my degraded review.
My most recent visits have been less than 2 weeks apart. First my GF and I went for sushi, something we have always had a good experience with. Their sushi is still some of the best I have had in Maryland — though their not Joss, it’s better than anywhere I know in the area. We were sat in a booth, something I sort-​of hate there. Their booths are giant as if they’re making fun of their customer base, maybe suggesting they’re too big to sit in a normal sized booth. idk. But the one I sat in had ripped up seats, and unclean floors it looked as if this place is not maintained by it’s staff. Plus it was during the Orioles play-​off game they have one tv but decided to display what the chef’s wanted to watch, I heard a few other tables complain about the fact they didn’t have it on. Not that big of an issue but its notable.
My second visit was for a quick lunch, the pricing for lunch is good, and the amount of food you get is filling, though it is smaller portioned. But I took a REAL look around. The ceilings are disgusting, the air vents have never been cleaned and there is gratuitous amount of dust lingering around them. The floors, at 1pm where awful, it’s like they had rice and other remnants from nights prior lingering on the floors, and they opened at 11, so I doubt the entire underside of all the tables got that way so quickly, it wasn’t that busy. While looking on the floors I noticed how the carpet was fraying, and just looked like the place has seen better days.
Whatever, I don’t expect world-​class dining in Pasadena, but still it’s gone downhill, and so has the food. I had a small house fried rice dish, which resulted in shrimp, that were severely overcooked, not deveined and just awful. The chicken was flavorless, and mostly the whole dish left me unsatisfied — as it did the same for my GF on our second visit.
The customer service we got both times was also questionable. Originally my first visits here resulted in awkward experiences from the staff who asked random personal questions and made suggestive remarks which were rather offensive while you were ordering: «oh.wow…that’s a lot of food.» Six rolls for 3 people to share?! STFU. That was 6 years ago, and now again, I am left feeling like the service is about back to that standard.
I am no longer taking my business here, it’s terrible. 2 stars.

Like others have said… the food was quite good. Nice sized portions with plenty of meat. I like that all the chicken is white meat. Hubby enjoyed the General Tso’s and I like the Kung Pao Chicken. Good kick of spice. Also got the eggrolls and they were very good.
The service was lacking. Stood at the door for a few minutes before anybody came by to seat us. Then attention was scattered. Food was delivered quickly but not much after that.

The one star is for pathetic service. I decided to give Olive and Sesame a 2^nd chance. I ordered carryout during the holiday week of July 4^th (because Szechuan Café was closed). The sushi and lettuce wraps I ordered were much better than when they first opened. I then decided to dine in with my wife a week later. Very Dissapointing! The service was very poor. Our male server never asked if we wanted drinks of any kind. His first words were are you ready to order after the hostess said something to him (no greeting of any kind). He never checked to see if our meals were ok. His facial expression said he did not want to be there. The hostess was very friendly and did offer water when we sat at the sushi bar.
The food was still ok (lettuce wraps, corn & asparagas soup and crab wontons) but nothing to rave about. I think I will stick with the sure thing at Szechuan Café. They consistently have great food and great service. Oh well, I tried.

Olive & Sesame is my BFF’s go-​to asian dinner spot, so I end up eating here every time I am in town. The food is interesting and has great integrity — fresh & thought-​fully prepared. They’ve gone off-​menu for me a couple of times, something I really appreciate. Most recently I got the LoMein with beef — the beef was perfect.
The service has always been excellent, we even get hugs when we arrive!
Definitely, give it a try!