Wild Wasabe

This review is for the $ 22 all you can eat sushi on Saturdays. Just like the first time I was in (with a groupon), I was once again surprised by the lack of interest they seem to have for their customers. Once you’re seated, it takes a while to get someone to come help you. Our small group sat at the bar, assuming the sushi chef would be handling our orders. He was leaning back, watching sports (it wasn’t busy). I started to talk to him and he waved a «no» at me and said brusquely I had to order through the waitress. Well, that was a bit discouraging because I knew I was going to have trouble getting a response from her. Which I did.
We had to wait for a while before we were able to get her attention. (Of note, she was not helping other customers, she was just talking with another coworker.) When she did come help us, she was very friendly, brought us water and asked what we wanted for first order. Here’s what’s so funny. I told her what we wanted and the chef, who could hear me, I was right in front of him, started making the food. So I’m not sure why I had to tell her for him to just overhear what I wanted and start making sushi. It was that way with every order. Agonizing wait for the waitress, «place» the order with her, chef overhears and stops watching tv just long enough to make it. What a weird, awkward, time consuming method.
The first order was done and the chef handed it to us without a word and went back to watching sports. We did not get any of the ubiquitous wasabi or gari, so again our party had to wait until I could track down someone to help us. Same thing happened with water, had to keep asking for it.
The sushi choices for the all you can eat are pretty much different ways of preparing the same few ingredients. Everything we had (except the 4 chef’s choice nigiri, skip that and the incorrectly named Yummy Roll) seemed fresh enough; some combinations were more delicious than others (The tempura type veggie rolls are outstanding!) and once we were able to get orders in, the chef did make them quickly, if rather poorly. Though most orders seemed rolled tight enough, they were then hacked into different sizes making some bites so massive they were unmanageable while other slices were so diminutive they did not have much filling, all from the same roll. Quite a few orders were not described on the menu — i.e., fish that was supposed to be outside the roll was inside, ingredients were missing on some, barely any of a main ingredient (smoked salmon, most notably) inside others, etc.) This was definitely sushi mediocrity at its finest.
If you come here, I recommend being patient with the staff (the waiters seem very nice just not attentive) do NOT sit at the Grumpy Chef bar, and definitely do not get AYCE; it would be better to do happy hour or just normal menu sushi, the selections seem far superior.

We met my family and friends here last Saturday, late afternoon. The birthday boy nixed our idea of dinner and said, «Nope, lets go here»! Most of us were very leary, because, well, it is raw fish. We do food, but… Anyway, I Iooked at the menu and was satisfied that no one was going to starve. It was lovely!!! Would not change a thing! Even 1 was adamatly freaking out, And he ate more sushi than anyone else.
We were a very diverse group of people. 3 restaurant managers, a school teacher, 2 office managers, and 2 construction workers, drywall dust and all! We did shake them off outside tho… Not one had anything bad to say!
And Chris handled us all very, very well! The chefs were just as great! Thank you very much everyone for making our dinner a great memory! And as we were leaving, Mr and Mrs Claus came in to dine. What a treat.

I went with a friend to wild wasabe to taste the unlimited shusi offer that’s runs on Saturday and Sunday. The ambience was good and the sushi menu is very deep. The offer comes with some ordering rules which in the beginning might feel difficult to rap your head around but it becomes clearer with every passing plate of sushi. So if you want or can feel free to try every plate which would mean eating 100 plus sushi. We gave up at 50 ;) .Keel 3 hours to fully enjoy this offer as plates come slowly for you to relish. Definitely recommend.

Omg! Their dressings are all house made and so good. I wanted them to bottle it up! Sushi was so fresh. Service was slow but the food was so delicious

Nice location away from the bustle of NW 23^rd and the Pearl with an actual parking lot. We arrived at 11:30 and the crew was still setting up with parcels and equipment but saw some good reviews so seated ourselves. We went with the Bento box lunch hers chicken mine salmon and they arrived in a timely manner, so kudos to the staff.
Alas the teriyaki was somewhat bland, could use some garlic and Yuzu like you will experience at Sho on Barbur Blvd. which is the Gold standard. But a plus for the sculpted orange cut into a miniature globe, as well as the Togarashi spice that is tough to find at many Japanese restaurants.
This place filled up quickly and was packed by 12:30 so come early if possible!

We found a Groupon for this place, and we’re always on the hunt for sushi spots.
Wild Wasabe is clean, comfortable, and not too big. It sits on a quiet street and has its own parking lot, which is always nice in Portland.
We both ordered a kitchen entrée and a few sushi items. I got the tempura udon and my husband got spicy chirashi. We also got a spicy salmon roll; some salmon nigiri; and a spicy scallop hand roll.
The kitchen entrees were a little lackluster for us. The chirashi was piled with a lot of veggies and the fish pieces were small and hard to find. The udon, for $ 10.95, seemed a bit on the small side compared to what I’m used to.
The sushi was all pretty good. The fish to rice ratio of the nigiri was good. I was surprised by the bit of wasabi they put on each piece. I know that is the authentic way to do it, but I’m not a fan of wasabi, so it was different for me. But that’s a matter of preference.
The plating was nice, but I didn’t like how they put slices of lime between each piece. The taste of lime got in the way of the fish taste, IMHO.
The experience was fine, but we probably wouldn’t make it a point to come back here.

Came here through a Groupon… I didn’t even know this place was here. Fish was fresh and delicious, love the variety and the fact that they don’t say What? When i ask for oshikomaki. The spicy seafood stew was delicious.

We came in at 4:30 for All You Can Eat… they sheltered us from the rain and proceeded to serve us even after the AYCE 5:00PM deadline! We tried almost every roll and they were all AWESOME. I recommend the «Yummy» and «Golden California»! See pics! Great for the price!

This place is excellent. Some of the best tempura I have ever had. It’s a bit pricy but the atmosphere makea up for the sticker shock. Service is lacking hut there knowledge and lack of team work is what makes Wild Wasabe 4 out of 5

Very good sushi rolls. I would say that their sushi a little bid on a expensive side, but it’s probably due to prime location in Alphabet District.
Service is friendly and fast.
Recommend!

This our favorite place! The groupon is great and the sushi and staff are outstanding! It’s always a great sushi experience!

Went during all you can eat; the food was pretty tasty and the staff was attentive! The only thing was that we had to finish our food before we could order more, which makes sense on the restaurants stand point. however that made he time from when we finished our food, ordered, and for the food to arrive a very long time. The servers actually got to us quickly to order the next round but it took the chefs awhile to make our food. The time in between was probably about 20 mins. All the waiting made me full! It was definitely worth the price thought!

All-​you-​can-​eat! WoW! I have been hoping for just that, somewhere, and yes in fact it is «all-​you-​can-​eat» at Wild Wasabe (AYCE Sat. only 1130 – 5). And they provide the locally grown and produced real Wasabi. But, there are conditions, limitations, considerations.
Let me start by saying I really enjoyed my visit, and ate lots of very good sushi. The fish was fresh enough (no funkiness) and was very light flavored, not any strong «fishy» quality. I kinda like stronger tasting fish, but I realize I am abnormal.
Because I was there when the doors opened, the wait staff and sushi chefs were friendly and attentive, but I am low-​maintenance and un-​demanding. The small restaurant appeared to be filling up as I was leaving and service probably slows, but that’s true everywhere, so relax! Get over yourself!
The price of the AYCE was $ 21.95, (steep for a small appetite, but less than I usually spend at a conveyor) and included a «special menu» that narrowed the options mostly to Maki, a small 4 piece «chef’s choice» nigiri selection, a special creation called monkey brains (excellent), and bowl of udon soup.
All the AYCE sushi were full rolls, not small plates with a couple pieces. Most of the rolls I had were 5 – 7 pieces. I had probably 6 in addition to the extras above, I was very full afterwards, and very satisfied with the place. There is a «tapering» of the quantity for ordering, and re-​ordering, so don’t expect to load up your table, unless you bring several friends, and they are all ordering also. That would be a good plan though, to share and try more things.
While it is not in my neighborhood, so I am not likely to frequent it, the allure of AYCE will keep it in the back of my mind for future use. I will be back!
The ONLY negative is the limited nigiri choices. At conveyor places I almost always only choose nigiri.

My husband and I are EXTREMELY picky about sushi. We have travelled all over the country, and tried a LOT of sushi.
The sushi chefs at Wild Wasabe know what they’re doing. The fish is of high quality, they don’t pack on too much rice, and their sauces are perfect compliments without being overpowering.
The place is warm, inviting, and the sushi bar has to be the cleanest I’ve seen.
I have no idea how this place only had 3.5 stars, because they blew me away. We will definitely be back.

Went out for a date night with my boyfriend, and a friend recommended Wild Wasabi. We were pleasantly surprised! We ordered the sashimi dinner and it was delicious! The cuts of fish were amazing we are definitely going back for that, and it was fairly priced for the great quality. We did have a few other rolls as well and they were great! Come and give this place a try!

Discovered Wild Wasabe via Groupon and couldn’t have been happier.
Very casual little Japanese restaurant right off 23^rd street. The menu is average price with some fancy rolls, maki, nagiri, bento boxes, ramen and more. We ordered several smaller rolls to share, plus some miso soup and wine. Avocado rolls and salmon rolls were great, only thing we didn’t love was the California roll, which was really heavy on the mayo. I’d skip it next time.
Service was fine and overall we really enjoyed our meal here.
Note — they don’t have a full bar. Only beer, wine, and lots of sake.

The food here is really delicious! The atmosphere is pretty simple, & the TVs are a bit «bar-​ish» but the volume is off.
Service is very slow, & I think a couple of the servers might actually pride themselves on not paying attention to you. They’re friendly, just not real attentive.
It’s so awesome to watch the chefs work. They’re talented & take a tremendous amount of pride in the food they put out!
One of my favorites!

Really great food and service coming out of this place.
I’d recommend going for lunch since it’s reasonably priced and you can get a bento box served with your choice of protein (I got the teriyaki salmon), served with a salad that had a ginger dressing on it, purple rice, a 4-​piece cali roll and a 5 piece shrimp and vegetable tempura. All of that was around $ 12.
My husband ordered tekka maki and the vegas roll. The tuna was tender, dark red and melted in my mouth. The vegas roll was creamy from the cream cheese and warm since they coated it in tempura batter and fried it. Yum!

I’ve only been here for lunch but I think the food and service are quite good. The yellowtail is very fresh-​tasting and I also appreciate the delicate flavor of the miso soup – not oversalted like so many places.
I recommend the lunch specials. Most are $ 10 or so and are a terrific, filling and tasty lunch.

Alphabet district is my jam. I’ve been to all of the well know fantastic eateries around here, time and time again. After an misadventurous hiatus in SE, I recently plunked back down in the 97 210 and have been trying to eat at all of the less exciting looking places that I never tried while living here before. So far, no thrilling revelations have been made.
Low expectations were met with precision at Wild Wasabe this past Friday evening. As much as I love social media, I really can’t expect much of a restaurant that plasters its windows with Unilocal and Facebook check in offers. Our waitress was absolutely lovely and the highlight of the experience. The sushi, well, was lackluster and incredibly overpriced.
We tried several rolls. The single vegetarian item available was a veggie roll, which was 4 pieces of slightly wilted salady sushi for $ 7.50. We tried a couple of spicy tuna and salmon rolls as well, and I’m not even sure which was which. The permutations of sushi ingredients in each were not memorable. Most rolls were awkwardly sweet, room temp, and bland. I started to question what sort of person I’ve become as I realized that the sushi components were cut haphazardly and each piece was a different size.
Cue the existential queries. Does this mean I’m a bad person? Wait, I’m paying for this. Does this newly realized awareness of sushi quality mean I’ve «made it»? Why didn’t I just go to Bamboo in the first place? Oh right. We came here for science. We Investigated. And then we left, still sort of hungry, $ 60 spent on dinner for two (no drinks) and otherwise no worse for the wear.
I can’t see myself coming back here, really. Of note, it looks like they have all you can eat sushi on Saturdays during the day, if you’re into that sort of thing. You would probably like Bamboo better though.