Aajisai Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Kolkata

Went to Aajisai Kolkata expecting a proper Japanese experience — you know, the kind they show in their videos with teppanyaki grills and conveyor belts? Yeah… none of that exists anymore. First thing they tell you is they won’t turn on the teppanyaki grill unless you order more than one set. I asked for the lobster teppanyaki — “not available.” Asked if my garlic prawns could at least be cooked on the teppan — still no. Basically, if you're not a big group dropping big cash, forget the whole live grill experience. That's already a dealbreaker.

And right after that comes the conveyor belt scam. All those Instagram reels showing cute sushi plates rolling around? Gone. They’ve been moved to the food court floor, stripped of the original ambience, class, and setup. It's literally beside Pizza Hut now. No vibe, no experience, and honestly, makes sense — the food belongs in a food court. Their chef even walked in from the Pizza Hut side. Not even joking. That’s when we realized this was going to be rough.

We ordered: Tuna Sushi, Chicken Suan La Tang Soup, Chicken Yakitori, Chicken Fried Rice, Butter Garlic Prawns, Japanese Cheesecake, and the complimentary mango + matcha ice creams (District App).

Let’s start with the tuna sushi — which honestly felt like a scam. Instead of decent tuna belly (chutoro, otoro), we got the cheapest frozen cut – akami. This was lean, gamey, strong-smelling, and had a weird off-putting texture. I’ve had better sushi from a supermarket shelf. I actually spit it out, and I never do that. The best part? The waiter pushed it on us, saying “everyone loves our sushi.” I wasn’t even planning to get sushi. That one line cost me my appetite for the next hour.

Then came the chicken yakitori — which was dry, hard, and wrapped in some weird, chewy unrendered fat (or bacon? no idea). It felt like biting into warm rubber. The sauce? Basic. Zero grill magic. By then my expectations were hitting rock bottom.

Soup came in next and was... fine. Not great. But after the sushi and yakitori, it felt like a relief. Then came the fried rice and butter garlic prawns — and finally, something that didn’t offend my mouth. They were pretty good. Actually tasty. But even then, that nasty akami taste was still haunting my palate. Couldn't shake it off. 🐟💀

I was hoping dessert would redeem things. Japanese cheesecake was 80% of the reason I even booked this place — and yet again, disappointment. Cakey, slightly dry, no lightness, no melt-in-the-mouth souffle vibe. Just sponge cake pretending to be something fancy. If you’ve never had the real thing, you’ll still feel it’s wrong.

Then came the complimentary ice creams. Mango was good. Sweet, simple, refreshing. But the matcha? Tasted like wet cardboard. As someone who enjoys good matcha, this felt criminal. You can’t just add green color and call it matcha.

And yeah, I complained. About the sushi. Told them we didn’t like it, explained the cuts of tuna belly. They brought out the chef who tried convincing me “it’s fresh.” No sir, fresh doesn’t taste like regret. If I know more about Japanese fish than your chef, that tells me everything I need to know about the kitchen.

At this point it was clear: this is not a real Japanese restaurant anymore. The promos, the 35% discount, the “free dessert” — all of it is bait because no one’s showing up. We went on a Friday afternoon and it was practically empty. That should’ve told us everything.

So here’s the truth: no teppanyaki, no conveyor, no quality sushi, no experience — just overpriced food court fare dressed up in leftover branding from better days. I paid fast and left faster. Aajisai? More like Aaja-Mat-Ja.

Save your money. Seriously. 🙃

Only giving 2⭐ for the Fried rice and the Butter...

An evening of averages Where do I begin, I had high hopes. An upscale restaurant with the promise of great Japanese cuisine, but alas that was not to be. First impressions were of a place that once was good but has fallen into major disrepair. The menu prices had been corrected using pen instead of being reprinted, It was filled with stains of what I want to believe was coffee or something else. Talking about stains, this was a recurring theme throughout my meal. The light fixture above our head was stained visibly - see the photos attached for all of these examples. I wouldn't mind except this place is supposedly "fine dining". They'd keep giving us soya sauce containers which would be on the verge of being empty. There was a constant wait to get anyone's attention, and they have a ringing bell that reminded me more of a buzzer during quiz than being useful at bringing someone to our table. Coming to the food - so much of it was a bit and miss. The sushi was alright, some average, some below average and some above average. Nothing to come back for. The best part about the whole sushi experience was that it comes in a conveyor belt. That's where the novelty ends. For example, Pa Pa Ya, which has a similar price range and cuisine, would use cream cheese for some sushis - whereas Aajisai used mayonnaise. That itself made it abundantly clear where the priorities of this diner were. The fish in the sushi was also average to bad. I am willing to bet that it was not fresh, and definitely frozen.

The chicken karage was more akin to Street chicken "pakodas", and honestly worse. Not worth the 700 charged for it. The one dish that was good was the green chicken Thai curry. That felt like a proper dish, but the rice was tiny in portion and too sticky, which may not be to everyone's liking.

Finally, a sexism check - which this place failed completely. I was called sir numerous times but my two female patrons were never called ma'am even once. The bill was handed to me, and I was asked about it.

Overall, just avoid this place. It's not worth your money, time and patience to go through this experience. If my review isn't obvious enough, go through the photos attached to this and decide...

If you are willing to try out some authentic japanese food, head out to the Ajisai! Located on the top floor of Quest Mall, Park circus, Ajisai offers a eide range of japanese cuisine. I had never fried Japanese before but was always willing to and a friend recommended me Ajisai. The staffs were so nice, polite and helpful. I went there alone. There were other families and couples but I was given equal importance. To be honest, I didnot know about any of the dishes, so I asked a staff to suggest me some dish that would be best for me and she asked ms to try out the meal and I did the same- fried out the combo chicken set for Rs 1550 ( containing lemon coriander soup, 2 pc yakitori, 4pc veg california roll, chicken breast steak, yaki soba noodles/rice with egg and ice cream). Taste of every dish was unique and amazing. I just have no regret or complaints. Every dish is perfectly cooked with the proper blend of sauce and spices. I chose tender coconut flavoured ice cream. It tasted so different too! I cannot compare the tastes as this is my first japanese dish. The ambience is nice, with light music. The food is enough for 2 people. I had to pack some food as I couldnot complete them. The place is high priced. It cost me almost Rs 1750. But the price, I feel, is worth it. Definitely recommending...