Bangkok Wasabi — Restaurant in Orem

TLDR: well deserving of their 5 star rating!

I popped in just before 4p for a very late lunch. I don't live in the area, but this place had 5 stars so I wanted to see what the hubbub was about. I was immediately greeted by a welcoming staff member. I asked for dine-in, and was asked if I would like a window seat to view the mountains. Well, of course!

The place setting was super cute (pic 1) and the menu had many options. The meals were all well organized, so they were not overwhelming. Honestly, everything looked amazing and I had to keep reminding myself I could only eat so much. (I still went home with left overs!)

I started with the miso soup and spring rolls. The rolls were fantastic! Perfect amount of crunchy exterior and springy interior. The provided sauce blended perfectly. Same with the miso soup. Absolutely no skimping on the ingredients. I am kicking myself today because I should have made another order "To-Go" so I could have some today.

For the main course, I went with cut sushi rolls (pic 2). From top to bottom: Rainbow roll, Las Vegas, Kiss of Fire. I'll tell you right now, put down the soy sauce. You're not going to need it. The combination of flavors within each roll is perfectly balanced. At first, I thought everything was crazy flavorful because it was such a late lunch. Then I realized, I had already satiated the initial hunger with the appetizers. The rolls really were blowing my mind.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of spicy/hot foods. I was born in MN; the Land of Bland. Despite my upbringing, I do like to have a roll with a touch of warmth. And this was achieved! But not to the point of overwhelming the other flavors within the roll. Did I need my water refilled often? Yes. Did my sinuses clear? Sure. Am I going to reorder these rolls? Ohfersureyeahyabetcha!

The staff was very attentive throughout my entire stay. I never saw the bottom of my water glass. If I needed anything, i.e. leftover box, it was on my tabletop in mere seconds.

As for the building, the tables are set up with a good flow, the bathroom was very clean and up kept, and the decor was warm yet unintrusive.

My only qualm was trying to find it! State St is super busy so it's not like you can slow down to look at all the signs. They do have a vertical flag out front with "SUSHI" in white lettering on a red background. But my brain was searching for "Bangkok Wasabi" so it skipped seeing the flag until...

Unsanitary, unappetizing, and slow. The first thing we noticed upon entering the restaurant was the host, who was coughing non-stop without covering his mouth. This was especially concerning given the severity of his cough, as he was walking all over the restaurant, interacting with customers and taking orders. We could hear him coughing loudly and constantly as we waited 20 minutes to be seated, despite it being 8pm with several tables open and cleaned.

Once seated in the back booth, our starters arrived quickly, but as we ate, we could see dirty dishes piling up on nearby carts and tables, making the environment unappealing. We ordered the chicken satay and crab rangoon. The crab rangoon was okay but the chicken satay was dry and chewy. We waited over 30 minutes for our main meals, which never arrived. The host then brought us the check, and we reluctantly accepted it without our meals. We decided to pay, as we didn’t want to cause a fuss and after having waited so long. However, when we went to the front to pay, we were charged for the main meals. We explained our situation about not receiving our main meals and politely requested it to be removed from our bill. We noticed the host had put on a mask—likely after someone else had complained. Without saying a word he went to the back of the kitchen and returned, simply removing the charge for the main meal. There was no apology or explanation, despite having us wait close to an hour without receiving our main courses.

While others may have had a positive experience, I know there have been similar complaints, and based on our experience, I would never recommend this...

This may have been a one-off, so take with a grain of salt....I'd been wanting to try this place for awhile based off the reviews and finally got a chance to stop by for lunch.

I started off with a few sushi rolls and all were excellent and the lunch prices were an excellent value. Nothing to complain about.

I also ordered a yellow curry lunch special which came out after the sushi. It did take awhile which wasn't a big deal, but after putting the curry on the rice, I took my first bite and right off was surprised to find the temperature was barely warm. My first bite had a piece of chicken and immediately the texture felt off. I spit it out and sure enough it was glossy and pink. For such thinly sliced chicken, I was super surprised it wasn't fully cooked.

I told the waiter and he said they would remake the dish and proceeded to take my plate away. A few minutes later I was brought a small container of chicken curry, but it was missing the potatoes and bell pepper like my original dish had....it was just chicken and curry sauce. Also no rice. I asked the waiter for a to-go thing of rice and he seemed very confused as to why I was asking for rice? Well because the dish I paid for had rice and it wasn't my fault the chicken was raw. He was polite about it, but just took some explaining before he granted my request.

The replacement curry was fine, with the exception of no potatoes, bell peppers, or peanuts in it. It was an odd disappointment to such a great start after the sushi.

Time will tell if I end up giving it...