DFW-Ajisen

[J.R.]

I at lunch today at Ajisen which is in little Asia on Beltline in Richardson as it's close to my office. I just recently noticed it, and found it to tasty and reasonalble at lunch. I had their special Ramen cooken in a pork and Miso broth per my waittresses rec. I really like good Japanese food of all kinds and was wondering if anyone else who is more of an expert in Japenese cuisine thinks of the place. Lunch was mainly Ramen, Sushi, and Bento Boxes.

[Shalley]

The Dallas Morning News gave it 2 stars this week in their review.

[vktp]

From Addison's explanation of the rating system: "Two-star ventures are either floundering restaurants with three-star ambitions or holes in the wall worth knowing about."

He seemed to enjoy all the ramens, except the seafood.

[air]

Went there for lunch and had the miso ramen with a side of gyoza. The gyoza wasn't anything spectacular, but I liked the ramen. I like their lunch prices, but how are they for dinner?

I plan on coming back to give their sushi a try. They have $1 sushi specials on friday and saturday nights.

[adkim]

i wasn't too impressed w/ some of their specialty rolls...kinda got tired of eating some of them half way through. my initial visit to ajisen was the first time i ever ordered ramen noodles at a restaurant. the dish was comforting good. from previous reports that this ramen was one of the tops in the dfw area, i wanted to compare and contrast w/ other ramen noodles at other places. bottom line...i can't distinguish the differences b/w the ajisen ramen to the sushi yama ramen. the latter had more pork and extra veggies which helped satisfy my appetite, but the broth was very comparable and the noodles were both of the same quality...am i missing something here?

[air]

I think Sushi Yama's ramen is only average. You could also give Mr. Wok a try and maybe that will help with distinguishing differences.

[vktp]

I found Sushi Yama's to be slightly below average and is my least favorite in Dallas. The broth was just salty, and none of the ingredients seemed to have any flavor. Ajisen's by comparison was moderately more flavorful. I like Mr. Wok's ok. There's a place in Addison that also served ramen (it's not on the menu and you have to ask for it on the weekends), but I can't remember the name right now; it's also ok. I'll post the name as soon as I remember it.

[kuidaore]

Wasn't aware of the $1 sushi deal. Will wait for Air's feedback on nigiri before I take a chance on their sushi. Haven't been back there after my initial trial (too many other restaurants to go to). Next time I'm going to try Chirashi, Yakiudon, etc.

[air]

I'm really willing to take a chance on it due to how Sushi Yama's portion size has been diminishing, so I gotta have a new go-to place for dollar sushi. Really hoping it turns out well!

[kuidaore]

Just heard the two Japanese chefs at Ajisen left for a new restaurant in Galleria (Sushi Samba?) Now Ajisen has two Chinese chefs. Hope their ramen will remain good.

[air]

Dang.. I ate there for lunch today and tried out the eel bento, which was quite delicious.

I'll try and swing by there one of these fridays or saturdays for dollar sushi day and report back! That $9 draft Kirin pitcher special sounds pretty good too.

[kuidaore]

I'm pretty sure Seabose has $1 sushi on Sun. I just saw it on their blog again. We went there again today and I think they have the best sushi in town so far (haven't tried Jinbeh or Hanasho yet).

[air]

I checked out their special last night, and the place wasn't crowded at all, which is both a good and bad thing, since I was with a large group. However, the DMN giving them a 2 star review may also be a factor in that.

So when you meant that their two Japanese chefs left, did you mean their sushi chefs? Because if that's the case, then it's pretty clear that them leaving has made a large impact on their food, especially the nigiri.

I haven't been back to Sushiyama recently, and the pieces at Ajisen last night were roughly the same size as Sushiyama's the last time I went over 2 months ago, so compared to today, I guess they would be significantly larger. My group ordered nothing but nigiri, so the chef spent pretty much the entire duration of the dollar sushi period hard at work. The place as a whole wasn't very busy, yet the wait time for sushi was equivalent to an extremely busy night at Sushiyama, so be prepared to wait at least 45 minutes.

I'd put the quality of sushi somewhere between Genroku and Sushiyama, slightly above Genroku's. I wouldn't even compare it to anything like Sushi Sake or Seabose. I ordered eel, tuna, salmon, and some spicy tuna rolls, and here's a few things that stood out to me: The spicy tuna seemed like it masked the flavor of the tuna completely. Out of everything I ate, I liked the eel the most.

Pros:
Larger pieces than Sushiyama
Easy to accomodate a big group, unless more people start coming for the specials
Service is excellent, very friendly staff.

Cons:
Long wait time for sushi, even if the restaurant isn't very busy
Sushi is only just a tad above mediocre level
The food has some room to improve

I hope they get a better sushi chef in there, and it's sad that they are majorly lacking in that department. I really think they have potential to be a great restaurant, but they definitely have a lot of changes to make in the food.

Bottom line, kuidaore, I honestly don't think you'd like their nigiri.

[kuidaore]

Thanks, air. IMNSHO, no restaurant can serve good sushi AND ramen. I would not dare to try sushi at a ramen place in Japan (don't know if there's any ramen place that serves sushi!) I was interested in their sushi only because a friend recommended... but that was before the Japanese chefs left, and he doesn't recommend Ajisen anymore. When I was there, the Japanese chefs were supervising the kitchen staff, too. I think they should stick to non-sushi dishes, though then maybe they can't survive here.

We'll stick to Seabose for now. My man is hooked on their mackerel, which we grill at home. Seabose offers $1 sushi on Sun to get rid of leftover fish. Obviously, they ordered too much fish last week so had a lot of good fish left for $1 sushi last Sun.

[vktp]

Yep, it's been garnering fairly good reviews on this board.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/37699...