Asahi Sushi — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I don't know what happened to this place. My family has been going to this restaurant for ages (15 years?) but it hasn't been the same since the pandemic.

I was hoping that, with things slowly going back to normal, it would eventually go back to being as good as it was before but, so far, no such luck. It was a solid 4+ stars before but I'm afraid we won't be visiting again unless it goes under new management and/or gets a massive makeover. It's just so sad because it was one of our favorite local places.

The food has been hit or miss. I've tasted some really suspicious ikura, salmon, and saba on separate occasions. The times I've gone -- no matter what time of the year -- they put the oyster menu out, yet oysters are almost NEVER available. Don't put the oyster menu out, then! 🙄😅😖😤

The service itself is hit or miss. I've gotten some really cold and unfriendly service throughout the last few years -- some bordering on rude, as well as genuinely kind servers. Additionally, when they used to have a decent happy hour, the servers wouldn't tell you about it. You have to ask for the Happy Hour menu yourself if you want to pay the HH rates. 🤣 Don't get me started on the restrooms. They're either smelly with slippery, wet floors (I think they dumped their excess ice in the toilets and urinals) or they reeked of an insane amount of Clorox. I... just... can't...

We sincerely gave the business enough chances and time to recover but the quality of service, staff, and menu items have continued to go down and, in this economy, we know we'd get a better value and...

Went recently for a lunch - my colleague ordered a spicy pork bowl, and I opted for an order of uni (sushi), yellowtail (sashimi) and salmon (sashimi).

The fish selection was fresh, and the restaurant cuts thick, appealing slices of sashimi. The sashimi comes on an ice bed, which was nice as we sat outside and took our time with lunch. I believe the number of pieces (7 per sashimi order) combined with the size of the sashimi cut was especially appealing. The value relative to the price is a bit steep (~$20 for a sashimi order, or around $2 - $3 per piece of sashimi), but the quality is an important element when it comes to sushi, and IMO the quality was worth the price point.

The uni was passable - on a scale of 1 to 10, it was a solid 5. While the uni was fresh, the sushi rice left a bit to be desired - a tad on the gummy side and the temperature made me wonder if it had been sitting out for just a bit. The uni itself was of decent size, but it wasn't a large piece as I've experienced at other sushi restaurants. The color of the uni was also not as vibrant, and while I don't think the uni was bad by any standard, it wasn't exceedingly fresh either. All in all, the uni sushi was okay and the price point was fair for the quality of the sushi.

I would visit this restaurant again - for the sashimi and to try other sushi selections. Next time, I'll ask the chef to serve whichever sushi s/he feels is fresh, as that's the fairer way to review...

Place sucks over price sushi with bad happy hour deals. They charge me to substitute my regular tuna to spicy tuna because it was a substitute??? It's tuna no difference crazy stupid on top of this they made us wait about 30 just to oder. The only reason they have a lot yelp review because they offer free stuff in trade for good reviews BS reviews not accurate.

Go to Chiba Sushi in North Hollywood or H2O in Northridge for better Sushi and Service and way better deals.

Place sucks over price sushi with bad happy hour deals. They charge me to substitute my regular tuna to spicy tuna because it was a substitute??? It's tuna no difference crazy stupid on top of this they made us wait about 30 just to oder. The only reason they have a lot yelp review because they offer free stuff in trade for good reviews BS reviews not accurate.

Go to Chiba Sushi in North Hollywood or H2O in Northridge for better Sushi and Service and way better deals.

Place sucks over price sushi with bad happy hour deals. They charge me to substitute my regular tuna to spicy tuna because it was a substitute??? It's tuna no difference crazy stupid on top of this they made us wait about 30 just to oder. The only reason they have a lot yelp review because they offer free stuff in trade for good reviews BS reviews not accurate.

Go to Chiba Sushi in North Hollywood or H2O in Northridge for better Sushi and Service and way...