Bash Original Izakaya — Restaurant in Detroit

This is the very first review of a restaurant that directly involves a relative. I am very proud of my nephew, Dan, the head chef, as this is a Japanese establishment. Three years ago Dan change the menu to include fresh only supplies nothing frozen Dan created every dish that you see in my photos that were not sushi by his own Brilliant ability to work with food. This is the first time I’ve eaten food prepared by Dan and I was simply amazed. It is absolutely delicious Brandon, the general manager and Jordan our waitress were outs, standing individuals that prepares a surprise anniversary dinner for Dan‘s parents the food that we received was exactly off the menu.

This is a revision of my first review of Dash. My enthusiasm, and what I heard accidentally added miss information in the first review, so I am collecting myself and I hope I do justice in a much better way than I did with my first review, which, of course was excellent.

You walk into luxury when you enter this establishment. It is so customer friendly that you know you were going to enjoy your experience. The sake called Dragon. God sake was the best alcoholic drink I have ever had in my life. It was absolutely delicious eating on the patio. It was fun. Our family was celebrating an anniversary and the boats of sushi was just delightful. This is the best sushi that I’ve ever had , it is many steps above what you would normally get through other Asian restaurants. This was great sushi. The biggest surprise is using the restroom. Each restroom is enough antic, Japanese toilet, each toilet behaves a little differently. And yes, I am correct in saying that each toilet behaves a little differently, as soon as you sit down, the toilet seat is warm. You know that you’re in going to be in for a wonderful unusual experience even in this area just follow the directions and hit the buttons and you will be cleaned and taken care of in no time OK so my grandson was scared of the toilet that’s OK. He said he’s never experienced it either Elphi, the food, the atmosphere and even the restrooms make this an absolutely wonderful establishment and I cannot wait to come back so many choices the unique one-of-a-kind creations of head chef Dan makes this truly a delightful dining experience on Trumbull just looking towards the new athletic facility that’s being built for the basketball team. It is a wonderful place to visit, and another reason why I love Detroit so much to my nephew Dan congratulations on this wonderful business to the owners and the employees you do Detroit proud. With love from your other uncle John.

Can anyone tell me that if I purchase a bottle of the sake can I take it home or do I have to drink the whole bottle at the restaurant? Is it legal in Michigan with an open bottle of sake in the back of the car to drive home if you know, please let me know because if I can, I’m getting a bottle it was so good and I don’t drink Love to my nephew and to his wonderful crew

Update January 2025.

Damn, the executive kitchen chef for bash is my nephew. However, I never play favorites with relatives. My daughter invited teaching friends to bring their family and enjoy bash and with Tom being of Korean descent they loved Asian food. Raven are a waitress was one of the best We’ve ever had in almost any establishment with her constantly. Keep an eye on us updating our beverages and just a great personality just made this an additional wonderful experience. The kimchi potatoes are unbelievably delicious. Every recipe on this menu has been created by Dan, including the cheesecake. My cheesecake was eaten while I was enjoying the Japanese restroom experience by the kids and nicely my caramel apple topped cheesecake was replaced with a new one. The Ramen was unbelievable according to Tom The food that I had was unbelievably a huge amount. I loved everything even though I had no idea what I was eating. I chose not to use a hobby this time, but the ginger was so fresh. I couldn’t believe how delicious it was and I’m talking ginger. Nothing else. 10. Stars...

TLDR: A pretty aesthetic and unique experience, but the food does not leave a lasting impression for its price nor meet the expectations I had from the location’s reputation.

Atmosphere note: Those who struggle with loud spaces may want to visit during off-hours. The interior is small with not much to absorb sounds. As such, it gets loud very fast and can be overwhelming. Majority of our visit I was unable to hear my waitress.

We were very excited to try out Bash as their reputation seemed to imply good, quality food with a unique floor-seating (horigotatsu) experience. While there were open seats when we arrived around 1:30, I would recommend calling ahead for a reservation as they filled quickly. We ordered two bento (bulgogi and pork), several rolls (Bash signature, popcorn lobster roll, Benny’s toro handrolls), and hot tea.

The Good: Bash is perfect with their plating. The eyes eat first and they eat well. The bento offers a very good selection of items. More than I normally find at other eateries and it feels like a decent amount of food for the price. The pork had an amazingly full flavor and I would suggest it over the bulgogi. The tuna roll that comes as an option with the bento was perfectly simple and tasty. The roll sizes also feel appropriate for the price and the ingredients seemed fresh and of high quality. The popcorn lobster was tasty and had a pleasant mild flavor. The oolong tea had a great flavor and was a good amount. Service was friendly and attentive. Water was always promptly filled.

The Meh: Oddly enough, most of the food was unremarkable. It was jarring to have a majority of the dishes taste so bland. The Bash signature features spicy mayo, wasabi mayo and jalapeno yet it was the least spicy sushi I have ever had (and I do not have a high spice tolerance, in the least.) Despite the variety of fish in the roll, it all together tasted like nothing at all- nondescript. The blue fin in the benny rolls was fantastically creamy but was overwhelmed by the other ingredients, which was unfortunate. The bento includes basmati rice instead of the standard white or sushi rice, which (respectfully) is not the way to go. The rice does not taste good and is very dry and makes it difficult to enjoy it with the meat. The pork, while having a fantastic flavor, is very oily and heavy- especially as you near the bottom or if you don’t eat it immediately. The bulgogi was thick with marinade and yet didn’t have a very impressive or clean flavor. Both meat choices would have been better served over the rice so perhaps do that right away if you order the bento. The miso looked like it would be amazing but was middling and bland even for such a simple soup. The floor seating is fun but uncomfortable due to there being no cushions for the hardwood floor. The owner replied to a review 6 months ago saying they were getting cushions and they’d be available in two weeks. There were none at the time of our visit and I think the experience would have been greatly improved with them. There was a significant wait for tea and food to arrive but they simply seemed busy.

A personal pet peeve: For a $12 pot of tea, I think the bare minimum expectation is that it be served in a clean pot. However, there was an unarguably thick layer of dust over the entire pot - including the handle. I rubbed the surface to confirm it wasn’t just an intentional design and was rewarded with fluffy dust balls. Please wipe them down before you serve your guests if you cannot wipe them monthly when stored.

All in all, I am glad we did a simple lunch visit before trying their omakase. I do not think we will be visiting again, though I wish Bash all the best. Unfortunately, there are simply better offerings available worth the indulgent price point. If your visit is primarily for social media photos, I think you will be pleased with the beautiful...

Bash restaurant is an interesting place.    Overall, it is designed to be like a Japanese eater.   We were not given a choice and sat at the sushi bar.  It sounded interesting.  The problem with the sushi bar is that you do not see anything. It was a solid wood area.     The glass area to see the prep work does not have any seats in front of it.   The menu was hard to scan.  It took three attempts because of the lighting. We shared the ruby roll.   It was better sushi than I tasted in a while.  You could taste multiple elements of the rolls.  You did not need the soy or washi they provided.   My biggest grief was the variation between the picture and the actual sushi rolls.  I ordered the ribs. The ribs were "fall off the bone” cooking goodness.   I could not taste the kochujang sauce.    The Side of the Poutine was simply great. It was a crispy treat. The drinks were amazing.   The drink menu does change over time.   I was recommended an older drink, but it was gone.   The bushido sour was a great whiskey drink.  The lychee Sangria was amazing.   It took me back to my Hawaiian adventures. The major downside to the trip was the service. It was bad.   First off, I never have not seen a waitress take Alcoholic drinks before the glass is empty or simply ask.  I ordered 2 different drinks.  Both were taken before the last slips were taken.   After the second drink was taken, we decided to pass on dessert.   Second issue with the service was that we were being ignored by the waitress.  There were times waiting for her to return.  It was more about others doing her job. Within the pricing, I did feel it was slightly overpriced in some areas and with the service.    At the end, I did feel like being pushed out. If I am downtown, I might try the place again to get a second opinion.  If it turns out better, the Tuna Festivals does sound...