Wasabi — Restaurant in Douglasville

I’ve debated on posting this but it just did not sit right with me. People make mistakes and I wouldn’t have had any problems if the front desk lady told me the truth but she deliberately tried to hide it. I ordered Togo and when I arrived the lady who always sits up front is usually on point. She asked for my number and looked around at the bags and asked me to hang on sweetie…she took the company phone outside and at first I didn’t catch on but then as she kept pacing back in forth from outside to inside with two bags of food like she was waiting for someone to come pick up I then realized she had given our food to the wrong people. Now normally the food is always ready as you walk in and I live in Dallas so by the time I get to Douglasville it’s ready. She asked me to sit and gave me a complimentary coke and said it’s coming. At this point it’s been at least 10-15 mins. She continues to call someone and keeps going outside with the same bags of food and coming back in. Well now I’m watching and I’ve already figured out her mistake so when I see her go out the door with no bags which mind you this lady never leaves the desk she disappears and low and behold shows up coming out of the kitchen with “my food” and says here you go sweetie shushi is nice and hot. Now also it was raining so she’s wet but she literally went outside to the car got my bags of food from the person she gave it to, RAN AROUND THE BUILDING to the kitchen entrance and I’m assuming checked my order to make sure those people didn’t take anything and stapled the bags back or either they didn’t open the bags yet and just came back but came back through the kitchen wet because she just ran around the building outside in the rain and handed off my food to me. So obviously I realize what she did and walk out to the lobby area and pull everything out to make sure everything is there and she walks out with the peoples correct order and as the host comes out she looks at me and I said I’m checking my food because clearly she gave my food to those people in the white Cadillac and can’t even tell me she messed up. She walks in and says everything is there it’s ok and I said no it’s not I know you gave my food to the wrong people you could have told me but I know you just ran around the building and no I’m missing a soup. Got my soup and left and we may never go back. That new place that just opened is clearly taking business because wasabi was EMPTY and if you know you know that wasabi is usually packed. So we will be going somewhere else now...

This is a free standing building with free parking. The restaurant sign is hard to see from the street, so you may pass it the first time. The outside looks more like a barn and a place that sells barbecue than an oriental restaurant. There are two entrances from off the street and they sneak up on you. You can only make a right into the establishment because there is a median in the middle of the street.

What I Got:

We got 2 orders of the Hibachi steak and chicken dinners with fried rice and one sushi order- california rolls.... Cost about $45.

Pricing is cheaper than average - which is amazing!

Pros:

The outside decorations need work but the inside is very nice and traditional. All of the oriental decor you expect outside hits you as soon as you walk in the door. I don't believe the inside needs any improvements like other people on here are saying - the decor is not supposed to be contemporary. As you can tell from my pictures, the decor is as cultural and traditional as it's supposed to be.

The food was great! I go to many hibachi restaurants in this area and I must say this has been one of the best ones so far. The broth/soup was flavorful and aromatic and not watery and dull. The salad dressing for the salad was perfect - not clumpy or watered down, not too much and not too little. The entre itself was delicious. The steak wasn't overcooked, the chicken wasn't bland, and the rice wasn't clumpy. The teriyaki sauce was rich and not watered down. Everything was as it's supposed to be.

The sushi was perfectly rolled and fresh. I could tell they had just made it.

The cook was very nice and polite. He had an accent so the communication was a little off, but despite that he made sure to get everything right. (Plus I don't expect all oriental cooks to speak perfect English anyway.) If you wanted 6 sauces, he would give you 7. Even when he didn't understand what someone was saying, he called someone else over to figure it out instead of just saying "I don't know". Great customer service.

Cons:

The outside decor could use some more improvements to help people identify the restaurant better. It almost makes you want to turn around because you think you've found the wrong place.

Would I Recommend?

Yes! I loved it. Anyone looking for some great hibachi in the douglasville should try these guys...

On valentine's day, Daniel and I decided to come here for our date-night.

From the outside, this place looks a little dicey, but don't let that deter or fool you. Inside is a totally different place. It doesn't smell funny (not like old fish), is pretty clean, the grills are spaced so it doesn't feel crowded at all!

The food I rated as excellent. However, I feel I must explain it a bit. Their hibachi is really only fair quality. We both ordered the filet mignon and lobster hibachi. We got a plain tuna roll and a Victoria Secret roll to share. It was a mistake to go the hibachi route as well - it was way too much food after the sushi. The sushi was amazing (especially for being so far inland) and the hibachi rice was very good, but the meat itself was overcooked. Tough lobster, while still good, is still tough lobster! The salad was fine, you know, being a salad and all.

Now for the service. While everyone was polite and courteous even down to the man who cleaned the grill afterward, HOWEVER - a huge however at that - due to the valentine's day rush, they didn't have enough soup for our entire table. The waiter said he would bring out the house soups as soon as a new batch was done. Several minutes later, another table was served fresh, hot soup while the rest of our table never got theirs... ever! The waitstaff was really slow to move finished dishes off the bar. With so many people eating at one hibachi bar, there really wasn't spare space for all these extra salad and soup bowls.

The hibachi chef we had wasn't all that fantastic. He dropped his spatula often, and was a bit sloppy with cooking. I could tell he was still really new to it, so I'll cut him some slack.

I really do recommend this place - pick a less crowded and less popular night and just sit at the sushi bar (order hibachi there if you so desire). You won't have to worry about forgotten soups at the hibachi bar, and you'll get your sushi much faster. Last but not least... I really do recommend the Victoria Secret roll. It is absolutely delicious and is a touch on the sweet side due to the mango and eel sauces. Worth...