Ai Sushi Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Plano

I visited my relatives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the holidays and we were craving some sushi for our family get-together. One of my cousins recommended Ai Sushi, their sushi spot that they frequently dine at.

Traveling from the Bay Area, California, this place did NOT disappoint. Living on the west coast, especially in the bay area we are known for our fresh sushi. This restaurant would definitely rival any restaurant in the Bay Area in terms of freshness of fish, price, portions, and taste.

My cousins called in advance and we spoke with the owner, AJ Kim, to have our party catered. We set our budget for about 15 guests and the platters we received were immaculate. The presentation and quality of the fish definitely reminded me of the food in the bay area. I think the prices were definitely on the cheaper side. In the bay area, these two platters would easily run you about $450-500. Your food is good and I think your customers should be paying you more. I wouldn't be surprised if the owner raised their prices. You deserve it.

In one of the rolls with crab, I wanted to highlight that they actually used real crab instead of the fake artificial crab mix that everyone else uses. that was a huge plus for me. I also appreciated the diversity of flavors in the roll selection. We had rolls with some spice, rolls with real crab in them, rolls that had a savory flavor to them, and a few rolls with a lighter taste that were wrapped in daikon. We loved it.

Another thing I wanted to highlight from this experience was the quality of the sashimi. White fishes usually change colors after a day or two but when we received our hamachi and albacore sashimi, you can tell that the fish was cut on the day of. It's a sign that the fish is properly rotating on time and that the restaurant is doing well.

All in all, this was an extremely satisfying experience and I would recommend you all visit this place. If this is what they can put out for takeout, I can't imagine what the dine-in experience would be like. I'll definitely come back for dine-in the next time I visit!

Until next time,...

New sushi restaurant in Plano?! You already know I’ll be there on their first soft opening day 🤣 #noshame

But really though, most businesses are already struggling during this pandemic era, so for A.J. Kim to open his new sushi restaurant right now, he’ll definitely need all the support he can get! ✨ I’ve been watching over them ever since they put up their sign, so I was super excited to know they’re open!

There are so many options on the menu, but I went with the rolls only. I got the M&M roll, shrimp tempura roll, and Volcanic Scallop. The rolls were freshly made in front of me by the chef AND owner himself. I enjoyed all the rolls, but my favorite was the Volcanic Scallop (yumm scallop 🤤)! You can’t beat their competitive pricing either! These rolls only cost between $9-15 each 🍣

The restaurant is also giving away these super cute & soft face masks to help advertise their restaurant 😷 If you’re in the area, please drop by and support their soft opening! The owner said the website should be up tonight for those curious of the menu, but I took pics just in case! 🤩

I will definitely be back to try other dishes on the menu just because it’s close...

Mixed experience with two visits the same week. I will not be returning. I do love when they seat you they provide edamame and a liter of water that stays at the table. I do like the quality of the fish.

Let me say that I ordered almost the same thing for both visits. They only difference was on the second visit I did not order the Unagi sushi that had on my first visit. The reason for not ordering it was I was so disappointed I did not want to stay any longer. The first visit: Yellowtail sashimi, Halibut sushi and Unagi Sushi. The fish size for each order was great and tasted wonderful. Hot Saki - this filled the provided cup 3 times. The second visit - Yellowtail sashimi was less that half the size as the first visit. The Halibut sushi was smaller. Hot Saki - only filled the provided cup 2 times (and yes it was the same cup size). Based on the second visit I will not be returning. There should never be that big of a difference with the size of orders be it the fish or saki. There are other places I go to where I do not come...