Wasabi Sushi Bar

Happy hour on Mondays is from 5−9pm. Happy hour other days is 5−6pm. There was a 3 piece band (upright bass, keyboard, drums) playing on Tuesday night until closing.
Dean was our server for the night– he was very friendly, especially at the end of his shift and having 4 other tables. He gave us several suggestions on what to order. He even offered to make us something not on the menu if we were looking for something specific that they did not normally offer. We ended up ordering 4 traditional rolls and a hand roll.
The star of the evening was the ceviche roll $ 12 recommended by Dean– the base was a creamy/​sweet California roll, but it was topped with an inch or 2 of super fresh ceviche. Also was very impressed with the playgirl $ 12– two different sauces on top, nice crunchy bite. We also ordered the crazy II and the geisha. Great rolls all around. Not disappointed at all.
It was weird that the server was pushing us to download a new payment app that would allow us to save $ 20 off for each person that signed up… felt kinda scammy. The app was not affiliated with the restaurant (it wasn’t a Wasabi app), but it was a restaurant payment/​online ordering app. We opted not to download the app and instead used the 10% discount by checking in with the Unilocal app.

The last time I went, I was given more than adequate service. Actually, our waiter was fantastic. He was patient, knowledgeable, and timely with his service, leading me to update my last review.
And now, after eating both at wasabi and kampai (among others, including the place in the mall, sushi to go, drunken fish, sushi station, and sushi ai) several times, I feel totally confident saying that wasabi is by far the best sushi place in town.
I’m from Georgia. I can’t say our sushi back home is the most traditional (it’s not japan), but it is fresh (thanks, Atlantic ocean!), flavorful, and good. What I’m trying to say is that sushi grade fish, when fresh, melts in your mouth like a pat of butter. There should be no funky aftertaste, and all types of fish should be discernable in flavor (blergh — I’m looking at you sushi ai). I have really, really struggled to find a place in St. Louis where the sushi tastes as fresh as it does back home. Why else do you think I put myself through the ringer trying every place in this darn city?
But honestly, I really think I’ve found what I’m looking for at wasabi. Their sushi is actually great, compared to the «bleh» or «meh» of everywhere else. It is at least twice as good as kampai, it is 5 times better than the mall or to go sushi, it is 10 times better than drunken fish, 20 times better than sushi station, and 1000 times better than sushi ai. The fish at wasabi actually DOES melt in your mouth… It is exactly of the quality I am used to back home, where I lived just 45 minutes from the coast — heck, maybe better! Regardless, if you, like me, are tired of looking around and being disappointed, look no further. Take my word for it, and go to wasabi. The service, apparently, can be hit or miss, but honestly, it’s worth it!
I would strongly recommend the playgirl roll and anything with mango in it! The shrimp had no funky taste, the salmon was soft and mild, and the tuna was a deep, true, fresh red. I couldn’t ask for more! D-​e-​licious!

The sushi was fresh and well executed, and our waitress was attentive. Our main complaint was atmosphere: for a well-​reviewed Wash Ave. spot, I would expect a nicer ambience. Unfortunately, the playlist was terrible (Nickelback? Ricky Martin?) and the restaurant could use lux décor and proper low-​lighting. Great for our sushi craving, not so great for the date night vibe we wanted.

While the rolls themselves were fresh nothing stood out as being much different than nice quality American style «sushi». The Edamame at $ 3 is a must with any sushi but they don’t have miso? I’m not sure if the server was joking of not but it was funny when she said «Miso sarry».
The interior is really cool and looks to be a great place for families to enjoy American style Japanese inspired rolls.

We came during the busy lunch time and fortunately, we had a reservation. Unfortunately, they did not actually reserved seats in the computer system. However, they apologized and let us sit in the secluded bar, which was actually better for us, a party of 10. It took a little longer than expected for the food to come out and they served half of the food orders separately. We were all fine with it because they served the miso soup and egg rolls, for the bento boxes, before the main entrée arrived. And although I was the only one who ordered a salad, they gave me miso soup too, without having to pay for extra.
With service, I would give the restaurant 4 stars, however, the food was not up to par. They did have a lot of variety in the menu and many choices to choose from. I chose the «Yaki Soba» and «Shrimp Tempura Roll» from the Lunch Pick 2 Special. The shrimp tempura was bland, and the yaki soba was too salty. The bento boxes looked a little bare compared to the other sushi places I have been to. But a few people said the Soba was pretty good.

Awesome service and love the buffet. Rolls are large. Did not try the sashimi to comment on freshness. Too bad I don’t eat rice and they can’t decrease the amount of rice on the rolls/​sushi.

I don’t even really like fish, but I LOVE the sushi here! The fish is fresh, and they have SO many creative options! Everything I’ve tried here is delicious, but we had the Mt Fuji roll yesterday and it was fabulous! Service is always so pleasant here, fast, efficient and warm — definitely our favorite sushi joint in STL!

Went there for a college trip and me and my table couldn’t have seasfood, the waiters made sure nothing seasfood ever got anywhere near our table! They showed us their nonseafood options and were very courteous instead of wondering why we even came inside a sushi bar! What we could eat was fabulous will definitely go back

The best sushi I have had since… Forever!!! It was great. Since was visiting from Oregon you would think I have had some great fish and sushi. Man was I wrong. A friend and I went and just ordered. Mt. Fuji, Batman, Playgirl, The Philly and the Ceviche. We also had the Clam, smoked Eel, Squid and Surfer Clam and a salmon hand roll. I also got the Apple Cinnamon house made sake. It was really good! The night we went they had a live jazz band that was good too. The staff is really nice. And the location is great. They were quick in getting our order out too and it looked great! If you like sushi and don’t want some dressed up California roll go here and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Boyfriend and I went here for date night and we both agree that Wasabi is one of the best sushi places in town. We sat at the bar and Mack and Kailee were our servers. They were the only two servers for the entire restaurant during Friday night’s dinner rush and they did an excellent job. We started with a beautifully plated appetizer consisting of squid salad, seaweed salad, and perfectly pickled cucumber. We shared the Tempura Combo A and the Nigiri Sushi Combo B, which comes with a Shrimp Tempura roll. Everything was just delicious. This was our first time and we cannot wait to go back.

My previous review of Wasabi on Wash Ave sang the place’s praises for elements that are disappearing from my view. Chef Danny no longer works at this location, so the creative/​imaginative creations I remember aren’t there. (No worries, the menu is decent, right?!?) On multiple visits, I’ve witnessed several notable miscues in the execution: Low Carb rolls (wrapped in cucumber) that aren’t well-​constructed, nigiri rice that falls apart the minute a chopstick makes contact, small bones in the white tuna that indicate a lack of attention to detail in the fish preparation, etc. I’ll be a good sport and only bump Wasabi down by one star; when they get it right, it’s still really good. However, I simply can’t pretend that mistakes aren’t becoming more prevalent.

I just left wasabi and the sushi was great but our waiter «the Mac» was amazing. Ask for «the Mac»!

Pretty good place. If you don’t order the crazy maki rolls and stick to nigiri, you can get some really good stuff. The toro was on point, but that’s expected since it’s so expensive per piece. Can’t really tell the difference between tobikio and massago, but they both tasted good. They didn’t have any uni when I went, so I got a salmon skin hand roll, and a spicy scallop hand roll. The salmon skin hand roll was probably the best decision of the night. Next time I go, I might just get a bunch of those.
I sat at the bar, so service was decent because I could talk to the chef. But, the waitress came very infrequently. I think she was the only one working the floor for the entire restaurant.
Also, how come sushi places in STL don’t serve miso during the main meal? I think the proper way to do sushi is to have miso with your sushi.

We picked this restaurant based on other Unilocal reviews and we agree that this place has some really great sushi! All we could say is WOW! We tried 8 different rolls! Favorites were the Clayton, Alaska, OMG and Playboy roll.

Had dinner here and sat outside — I love this block of Washington Ave– it was a beautiful late summer night and had a good vibe. I went off of the happy hour sushi menu. Started with the spicy tuna roll and the Wasabi roll– I was expecting 5 pieces on the spicy tuna but was surprised when it was a full 10 piece roll. I had planned to get another roll but was full after these two. I’d give the rolls a B+ and loved that the wasabi was nice and spicy. Service was on par– overall a great experience.

I wish i loved this place since it is so close. I just dont. Not great/​fresh sushi. Service has never been 5 star worthy. For the prices, i will go elsewhere. Manager isnt too helpful either… we LOVE sushi, but i will go to drunken fish or mizu before here…

This place was really delicious! We looked on Unilocal before we went downtown and that’s how we decided. The staff was friendly, and we got our food quickly. They even gave us a coupon for 15% off our next visit but unfortunately we aren’t from here. We got the playboy, MS2 (?), and the OMG.

Delicious food!
Great service, DJ was our server and he was very helpful in suggesting dishes/​most popular appetizers, etc.
Patio closes an hour before closing, and if you know anything about Wash Ave, it’s beautiful at night. Especially during the summer.

It was fine. I went on a Monday night during happy hour, so the sushi ended up being reasonably priced and was of a decent quality; however, I would not be willing to pay full price for it.
The service was really slow but mostly friendly, though we almost didn’t get part of our order. Had to bug the waitress about that.
The worst part was that it took us about 15 minutes after our table was cleared to flag someone down to give us our check. The hostess had passed us by in a rush several times until I was able to get her attention, and she told us she had assumed we were waiting for dessert.

I’ve been on a sushi kick lately. Seriously though, I’m relatively new to sushi and this is the 4^th time I’ve had sushi in the past 4 weeks. That’s a lot for me to have one specific cuisine and I’ve never been happier.
Wasabi is right off of Wash Ave and has a pretty decent happy hour deal. It’s all evening on Monday’s and it’s buy 1 get 1 free on select rolls and special prices on apps. They’re menu had tons of «fun» rolls with a ton of stuff but it seemed lacking in traditional options. If it weren’t for the happy hour, it wouldn’t be a very good deal financially either. Café Mochi and many other sushi bars have better prices. Although, 4 rolls and 1 seaweed salad for $ 27 is hard to beat.
Overall, it was good but I won’t be back anytime soon. Unless my wallet is cravin’ a savin’…