Wasabi at Porter — Restaurant in Cambridge

Wasabi knows what's up.

I usually avoid eating out alone, but Wasabi's high quality food and comfortable dining experience tempt me to make this a regular practice.

On a day off and ravenous from morning errands, I entered Wasabi around 1 PM on a Wednesday to just a handful of guests inside the smallish space. The smiling waitress seated me by a window at a table for 2 and provided menus boasting a variety of lunch options. I LOVE lunch specials that come with a variety of foods (at a decent price), and was very tempted by the bento boxes which include soup, salad, shumai, rice, and fruit. Ultimately though, I had to go with my gut (literally) and order what I had come for: sushi.

The sushi lunch special ($10.95) includes miso soup to start followed by a plate of 5 sushi pieces (tuna, salmon, shrimp, and 2 white fish) and a roll of your choice from the options listed (most of them are simple, vegetarian roll options). After I ordered, my miso soup was was brought out promptly. It was warm and comforting, with good amounts of scallions, seaweed, and tofu in the cloudy broth.

Just a few minutes after finishing this course, my lovely plate of sushi arrived, adorned with a bright purple flower. I had opted for the Boston Roll, which is shrimp, cucumber, and mango. This ingredient combination wasn't my favorite, but there was nothing wrong with the roll itself. And the sushi was just splendid. Fresh, tender fish atop perfectly sticky (apparently organic) rice served at room temperature, as it should be. I devoured the sushi and was left satisfyingly full and energized.

During my time there, the restaurant had 1-5 customers and a few more come to pick up orders, so I hope that they are busier during dinner. However, this vibe was exactly what I needed to relax and enjoy my solo meal. I'm looking forward to my next day off when I can come try out a bento box (teriyaki eel sounds incredible) or the chirashi...

Ordered delivery from here through GrubHub on 3 occasions. The first time, my food came more than 45min late and GrubHub offered to refund me. The 2nd time, the delivery driver assigned to my order declined it and I received a message that the order had been cancelled. Today I decided to give the restaurant a 3rd try, with the hopes that I can finally try their sushi. My food arrived but smelled HORRIBLY of cigarette smoke. It was the most disgusting experience. I sent GrubHub a message & they refunded me. Then- several hours later, I received a text on my personal cellphone from ‘Brian from Wasabi’ (I’m assuming this is the owner)- with pictures of my order and a long text telling me off and telling me that the “restaurant isn’t for me.” So, here I am trying to support local businesses & I have a wacko owner texting my personal cell, harassing me. Completely disgusted by the lack of customer service here and quality of food!!! Do not support...

Ordered take-out from this place - great prices and super great quality stuff! Salmon pieces were extremely fresh and soft (I'm usually super picky about salmon, to the point that I usually don't like salmon sashimi but this one was too soft to not like!), the pineapples in my salad were juicy and sweet, even the spicy salmon maki (which varies so much from place to place) was obviously made with care. The salmon-to-crunch and sauce ratio was perfect in the spicy salmon maki, and the maki itself was super soft - it melted in my mouth. It's clear that the people here care about making good stuff! It's not a super high-end type of restaurant so don't expect omakase-level kind of artisan sushi, but within this price range, this is some of the...