Wabi-Sabi Sushi Bar & Restaurant

I don’t know — sort of underwhelming. We’ve been twice and it was far too expensive considering the menu is limited and uninspired. It was fairly fresh though but just not a slam dunk. I would spent my money elsewhere.

Great service and attention to details. My husband and I both have allergies to certain foods (gluten/​wheat, sesame, shellfish), which makes sushi a challenge at times. The chefs were great and made sure to take good care of us! I especially loved the Poke Maki!!! Omg, I was craving it for days after our visit. They have a great happy hour too!

I consistently have found the same problem at this restaurant. This is my third try and they are not busy. It seems as though they can’t get the concept of prompt and continuous customer service down. Even though the wait staff is within feet of you they can not seem to grip the concept of scanning the restaurant to serve customer needs. The food is good but forthe price I expect much better customer service.

I walk down to this restaurant with a friend after a disappointing visit at the salted raw bar up the street. The sushi was filling and the customer service was nice. It’s a casual place to grab lunch if you work in the area or if you live in the area. I would recommend it for a quick bite!
Also the wait time was impressive. We did not visit during peak hours, keep that in mind.

i came for lunch this time and was in the mood for a bowl of ramen. but, but, but… the bibimbap sounded good too. decisions, decisions. so i had both.
the ramen broth was rich and savory, with some underlying sweetness. tons of pork belly in it and a piece of fish cake and the prerequisite hard boiled egg. a swarm of noodles underneath. it was good.
the bibimbap didn’t hit me as much. all the right pieces were in there, but it tasted like separate pieces rather than one bowl. lettuce, kimchi, beef, rice, spinach, bean sprouts… they all didn’t blend together well. or, it could be that i was just getting full.
nice place to stop. i’ll do it again.

We were around the neighborhood and couldn’t decide where to eat but landed here. I’m glad I did because the food was so good.
I had the Sake Bento which included: miso soup, California rolls, chicken gyoza, salad, and salmon teriyaki. There were a lot of food, I couldn’t finish it all in one sitting but glad I had lunch the next day :) they fried the chicken gyoza to perfection!!! The salmon was also tasty, even when you reheat it the next day.
My husband had the chicken teriyaki and he really liked it. They give decent portions for their dinner menu. We will go back here to try their sushi next time!

Was served frozen takoyaki (not just pre frozen… still frozen). Not much more needs to be said.
You’re much better off taking the light rail to the ID for some properly prepared Japanese food. This restaurant is best avoided.
Update: 5 minutes later… raw luke warn hamachi kama.

I finally had a chance to try out this restaurant right by my house! We ordered spring rolls for our appetizer and we both agreed that they were the best we’ve had! :3 As for sushi, we ordered the ceviche roll and anaconda roll. The anaconda roll had a lot of flavor and it was delicious. The ceviche roll was more clean and simple but just as delicious too! The prices were a bit pricey but the food was worth it!

Monday’s are tough to get good sushi bc most Japanese restaurants are closed… But I had a craving so I decided to check this place out. I am Japanese and a little snobby when it comes to Japanese food. So I didn’t have high expectations but the food wasn’t too bad! The sushi rice was vinegary but the fish was decent.
Ordered the hamachi, ika, sake, spicy creamy scallop nigiri and a spider roll. The spider roll didn’t have much soft shell crab. I’ve been noticing a lot of sushi places skimp and only give u a quarter of the crab. Only know of one place that gives you the whole crab, Shiki in Queen Anne.
All in all my experience was good and I would def come back.

California bowl? Yuck! After I sent back this part of our order, we overheard wait staff laughing as she told the sushi bar chef why. Then our waiter didn’t come back to our table to see if there was something else I’d like for about 15 minutes (it wasn’t like they were packed). I rarely send stuff back at restaurants and am generally easy to please. The rest of our food was two loosely rolled sushi rolls, unevenly sliced.
The women’s restrooms were dirty and unkempt… the wheelchair stall had the toilet seat removed, and lying on the ground. The other had used TP on the floor. And the restaurant just looked generally dusty and unclean when you looked around.
If you’re going to charge $ 14 for a sushi roll in South Seattle/​Columbia City, expect more. You can find way more quality sushi & for less in International Distict at multiple joints. And sustainably fished sushi for the same price in West Seattle, with stellar service, and a clean restaurant.
Definitely won’t be back.
2 big thumbs down for this mediocre, over-​priced, sushi restaurant who looks down their nose at people who are dissatisfied with their dishes, instead of trying to make it right.
Boo! :(

I wish I could give a better rating, I really do. I am Japanese. I am also a food snob. I know my Japanese food…
Wabi Sabi has mediocre Japanese food. They have a few good dishes (The bi bim bap is decent, though parts are served cold, and parts hot, and that’s just weird. The bobby flay bi bim bap is tasty. It’s the only thing I would be very happy ordering — and bi bim bap isn’t even Japanese). Overall, meh.
The gyoza isn’t even pan fried, it’s deep fried. The sushi is not as fresh as I care for — I won’t eat it — and I *love* sushi. I just… Nothing is as good as their price warrants. Their prices match that of the higher end sushi restaurants I go to. But the flavors, technique, and dishes simply do not.
I still eat here once in a rare while, because it’s super close to my home, and sometimes I just don’t have the energy to go further away (and I get burned out on Spice Room’s thai food, even though it’s delicious). But it’s never the flavor or texture experience I feel I just paid for, and I very rarely leave satisfied.

If you’re here for the sushi then you’re at the right place! The happy hour prices are awesome and the food is good. But if you’re here for an entrée like mochiko chicken you will be disappointed. It was incredibly sticky and oily and it wasn’t marinated so it lacked flavor and needed sauce. Street parking, the servers are friendly but slow. We felt bad for the couple next to us who waited 15 minutes to get water and have their server say hello. It wasn’t overly packed either. I’m looking forward to seeing how this place gets better with time.

Let me start off by saying they only get three stars because of what happened in the end. So stay tuned.
Right as we walked in, ambiance was great. Aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Lighting at our table was great and I was happy we got to sit by the window. It was a nice cozy spot but not too tight like some places ex. Beth’s Café.
We were seated and greeted right as we walked in. That’s not usually the case in hole in the walls because they are usually not busy so sometimes staff is hiding in the back. As we got seated to our table I see there’s not many guests in the restaurant. The food we saw on the few tables open looked pretty appetizing though.
As we sat down I was caught off guard seeing the menu that said the Bibimbap that beat Bobby Flay on his show Beat Bobby Flay. I was very intrigued by the restaurant and what they had to offer. I ended up ordering it. My Hubs ordered the Mochiko Chicken plate. We shared the Sunshine Roll as our appetizer. We also ordered drinks, Mai Tai for me and a Mango Mojito for him. Mai Tai was too strong for my taste. Luckily he ended up liking mine more since it was so strong and the Mojito wasn’t. We ended up trading drinks, it worked out well.
The staff was quite friendly, not overly friendly which I am fond of. They are also pretty fast at clearing the table and getting to your service. We had four different people help us within the hour we were there. Not sure because they wanted us out, or that’s just how the service usually is. Either way it was good to have people so attentive. The only thing I didn’t receive was a refill on my water. That’s something I expect them to do, not just clearing my table.
As the dishes came to our table one by one, we tried the Sunshine Roll first. It was quite scrumptious. Deep fried and crispy from the tempura batter, it was nice and hot as I dipped in the soy sauce w/​fresh ginger on the top of the roll to get an adequate bite I enjoy. Not too oily at all. The snow crab tasted fresh including the crunch of veg.
Our entrees came right after we were done eating the sushi. So to me their time management was well. As the dishes were placed in front of us the aroma of each dish was amazing. Great smells that I knew was going to be an umami flavor in my mouth! My entrée of the Bibimbap was beautifully done. Organized well with all the contents that belong on the dish. I take my first bite and I was taken by the delicious umami flavors. Especially having that fried egg topped on the dish and you break the middle so the yolk flows everywhere, I was blown away with the flavor punches.
His dish looked quite appetizing as well. I haven’t seen Mochiko Chicken ever look like how they do theirs. It’s not a bad thing at all, just used to the chicken pieces being little nuggets but having them basically like a Katsu was more appealing to my eyes. So their presentations for both dishes I give an A+. We enjoyed our dishes more than we thought we would. We just never know what to expect when trying something new.
Now comes to where the evening got a little bleh. As he was finishing his plate there was hair at the bottom of his rice. It grossed us out so bad because that’s just gross. I took a picture of it then finally got one of the waitresses to see it in his dish. It took her awhile to come over because the restaurant got pretty busy since it’s a weekend. As she’s coming to our table I show her and make a complaint about it and she apologizes for it. She says, «Oh my gosh I am sorry for this let me have a word with my kitchen and see what I can do.» I reply ok. Thinking she would just take the whole dish off our bill as to they fed us an unsanitary dish. You would think that would have been fair right? Nope she didn’t. She comes back and says, «So sorry for that but the best I can do is take off 10% off your bill. Sorry.» I was just like ok, thanks. But the right thing to do was have just taken it off our bill. We paid, and this was where I ask myself if I should tip. I paid with cash and of course she leaves me no ones so I’m left with 20, 10, and three 5s. Obviously she expects me to leave quite a bit. I left 5 due to she couldn’t do anymore for me about that hair in his food. Otherwise I would leave my 15%.
Nonetheless, food was great. Service was good, ambiance was a delight, and the furniture was quite comfortable for wooden a chair. I would definitely come back here but most likely check my food before I dig my face in it.
Thanks Wabi Sabi for a good first encounter but a poor impression on your service and staff. Hopefully it’s better when we come back. If my service the second time we come is better I will definitely change my rating but not my review. So for now, 3 stars.

I’ve been to this place about 4 times now and I sincerely think it’s time that I give it my review. It’s a hole in the wall sushi restaurant in the heart of Columbia city which makes it so special. I didn’t expect much from it because excuse my snobby-​ness but I work at a high end sushi restaurant but they definitely shut me up. The service was great, I was greeted by some lovely ladies though it was a little busy they kept a smile. Not only that I sat at the sushi bar and the chefs were on top of their game while continuing a conversation with me. I ordered a spicy tuna tempura roll and a miso soup to start. Ugh it was soo good! Their miso is on another level I swear by it & the tuna was just so fresh I couldn’t even tell I was eating raw fish. After that I ordered an omikase roll. Basically I told the chef I liked hamachi and tempura so he made a shrimp tempura roll with seared hamachi on top with a special sauce that included mangoes. Oh my Buddha … I dove into that without taking a picture but like cmon it looked so good I couldn’t help myself. The runner Celine suggested a mango fizz which is mango purée with sprite since I’m not an alcoholic drinker after noticing that I took a liking to the mango sauce; that was very attentive of her.
Well needless to say I only have good things to say about this place & I would highly recommend it if you’re looking for seafood/​sushi over any other place on the strip. It’s a great place for a light lunch with very low ambience so you can really just chill.
Hopefully you soon to be regulars of this place read my review before an others because they are all haters if they give any less than 5 stars. (:

The Beat Bobby Flay Bibimbap was tasty. Didn’t give five stars because there was a fruit fly flying around my table. Food was good though. I’ve also had the mochiko chicken entrée in the past and it’s really good.

This place rocks! Hands down one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle. As a vegan who is also on a bodybuilding meal plan with a personal trainer there aren’t many places I can go eat with friends where I don’t have to watch everyone else eat and have to leave hungry. Mel makes me awesome vegan sushi, even without rice at all, and it’s so dang good, every time!
I love this place.

I honestly had higher expectations for this restaurant. I am a sushi lover that experienced the worst and best sushi. This place is OK. My boss ordered $ 95 worth of sushi Togo. I was so excited to try their sushi and I was super hungry! Everything is good when you’re super hungry but this was not one of those. Lol
We ordered two orders of the dragon roll and it was eh ($ 13.99 a roll). The unagi sauce was soaked into the rice. Which probably means it’s been sitting there (I ordered 30 minutes in advanced). Spider roll was also a disappointment because there was barely any soft shell crab!!! Just little itty pieces. So skimpy! Gyoza was good. Their calamari is not what you would usually expect at a sushi restaurant. The calamari was more like clam strips. It was pretty satisfying especially with the aioli sauce that came with it.
I honestly don’t know if I would give this place another try. Parking is also a hassle. Only street parking is available. Welp my Unilocalers, we will see if I come back!

We were pleasantly surprised. The reviews here rather put us off, but I thought the sushi was very good. The creativity in the rolls was good, but the highlight for us was the quality of the nigiri. The miso and rice were spot on and the tamago was divine, so major markers all check out.

What a terribly disappointing meal! This was a far cry from meals we’ve had in the past.
We started with the calamari — what they brought in no way resembled the calamari of the past– these now look like a cross between a fish stick and a fried mozzarella stick. Save yourself the money and take a pass.
The chicken terriyaki was dry and tasteless. It must have been made well in advance.
Wabi Sabi, what happened?
We will not be returning.

Very fresh sushi with a fun take on their specialty rolls!
We started with a tuna tartar, which was big enough to almost constitute one person’s entrée.
We had some copper river salmon and hamachi sashimi, which I feel is the best test of freshness since there isn’t much to hide a bade taste. It was wonderful.
Then we over-​ordered 3 rolls, I’ll list them in descending order of greatness:
1. Saigon roll — A sushi roll with a Vietnamese twist, its rolled in rice noodle like a spring roll and topped with cilantro, hands down the best.
2. Lava roll — A close second, the lava sauce was very good and not killer spicy. We were licking the plate after.
3. Ceviche roll — Third on my list but only because the other two were so great. A nice tangy taste to it from the citrus cooked fish.
We’ll be back!

Very bad miso soup. How can you mess that up? Rest of dinner did not taste fresh.
Bad service, still hungry

I am a sushi fanatic, so when I say this is my new favorite sushi place in all of Seattle, I don’t mean it lightly. They have a variety of unique rolls and flavors that keep me coming back for more. The ingredients are fresh and attractive. The ambiance and staff are delightful! Who could ask for more?

What we had:
1) Uno Bento
Short ribs/​sashimi /​miso soup and tempura.
2) Tempura roll
3) Coconut martini — this was amazing, I asked for extra coconut and it turned out PERFECT.
Service– was pleasant, the sush chefs were very helpful, but we were seated at the sushi bar and were forgotton by our hostess for a long long while. She checked on us maybe once before we flagged her down for our check which turned out to be incorrect, but these things happen and it wont stop us from coming back for the yummy food.

Sadly, third time isn’t a charm. My first two experiences here, I had absolutely horrible service, especially when it was really slow. This third time, I had decent service and it was a busy night. Not sure what is up with that. However, this review is based overall on their food.
My friend and I were seated and welcomed by a server, I think. Then, our waitress greeted us and told us she’d be back with our complimentary edamame. How nice. We are seated in the front where the head sushi chef is. It is quite a benefit for me as I get to observe the functioning elements of this place.
My friend and I order the calamari ($ 8) which comes with a jalapeño aioli.
We also order the shrimp tempura roll and we were craving the «dynamite» from Genki sushi so we were told we could customize a sushi for only $ 11. We explained to the chef how we wanted it, and he still did not make it right, but I’ll elaborate on that in a little bit.
Overall, I must say, Wabi Sabi, you are a complete let down. Have you heard of salt? Or some kind of seasoning???
1. The calamari was bland — extremely bland. No salt whatsoever. Also, the calamari, deep fried, was a bit soggy because either a) the coating of the squid wasn’t proper or not consistent or thorough, or b) the fryer was not hot enough.
Also, the jalapeño aioli just tasted like mayo and sriracha, which I could make at home. I tasted no aspect of jalapeño at all. For $ 8, I could’ve had like 3 orders of that elsewhere. I was very disappointed.
2. The shrimp tempura was not fresh. Nor was it worth whatever the amount. It was also BLAND. Literally, all you could probably taste was the soy sauce I had dabbled on it. Otherwise, the roll was very tasteless. :(another disappointment.
3. So… we ordered a custom roll, specifying that it was just like a california roll, but topped with creamy scallops and shredded imitation crab with sriracha and spicy sauce. The chef kept wanting us to try something else, but we told him what we wanted and he finally complied. Instead of sriracha, he used this «da bomb» sauce where it’s based on drops (1 – 3 stars). We ordered a 2 star, which is 2 drops, and that was about an 8 – 9 on a 1 – 10 scale rating.
The roll was DRY … and bland. Do they not use salt or anything to flavor? The imitation crab was literally stuck in the roll as a stick, not like a california roll. Sigh. A third disappointment. Then the scallops and roe on top (he didn’t do the crab) was also bland, all that had flavor was the «spicy bomb» drops he added which warmed your palette. Again, the only flavors I got was from my ginger pieces and soy sauce. I don’t get it.
4. I am disgusted by the un-​freshness of the quality of the food. The seafood that was used for my scallops and tempura was NOT fresh. It tasted warm and I know it was sitting there for a while because I could see where and how it was stored. And I wouldn’t say it’s the most sanitary or correct temperatures.
They also don’t use real wasabi, it’s just the powder kind. Typical of most sushi joints. Their ginger was fine, tasted like how ginger should taste.
Overall, their service was okay. The chef was busy talking it up with 1 customer instead of everyone surrounding him, and I thought that was annoying. And he’s not even Japanese which I thought was ironic, not that he needed to be, but his sushi sure reflected that. Their food is overall very bland, not very fresh, and not very great. I honestly think Genki sushi or Sushiland have 10x the quality of this place any day. This place is overrated and overpriced.