Thursday, December 18, 2008

Bistro Wasabi

3150 Chappel Dr., Perrysburg, OH 43551 (Levis Commons)

***** - Five Stars (out of 5)

If I had to review Bistro Wasabi in only one word, that word would be "fresh".

For a sushi place, that's really all you need to know.

Bistro Wasabi is a strong contender for the title of Best Sushi in Toledo. Indeed, one could imagine another restaurant having as good sushi, but it's difficult to imagine any better. And the key, again, is freshness. All of the fish tastes as if it has just been pulled from the water (or, more likely, the airplane). Even though Bistro Wasabi is located in the soulless Levis Commons, from the quality of the fish, you would not know that you were not in New York or Los Angeles.

To fully appreciate the quality of the fish, be sure to include both the tuna and white tuna nigiri or sashimi (raw fish, with and without rice, respectively). The traditional (bluefin) tuna has a healthy red color and a smooth, mild taste. The white tuna (albacore) is rich and buttery, and is accented with lovely brown stripes, the product of a few seconds' searing of the outside that provides a wonderful contrast between the cooked outer layer and the raw inside of the fillet. The cooked eel, which comes with a sweet teriyaki sauce, is also consistently terrific.

Wasabi also provides a varied and creative selection of maki (rolls). The only problem is that, in addition to old standbyes (like Tuna, Spicy Tuna, and Spicy Salmon), many of them have whimsical names -- Superman presumably refers to the red and white tuna sashimi wrap (around shrimp and avocado) that evokes the iconic superhero's cape -- that are not explained on the menu. However, the waitstaff is knowledgeable and patient and walked us through at least half a dozen options. Their best seller is the Hot N Sexy roll, which contains shrimp tempura and cucumber inside, a spicy crab mix on the outside, a sweet teriyaki sauce, and is seared with a kitchen torch (which explains at least part of the name). The roll can be quite good, although on one occasion they slightly overdid the torch, giving the roll a faint smoky, almost burnt, taste. The Dragon roll is similar, if perhaps not as "sexy" -- it contains shrimp tempura and cucumber on the inside and eel, avocado, and sweet teriyaki sauce on the outside -- and is a consistent winner. We passed on Superman, but wanted to try its spicy garlic topping, and the waitstaff obligingly allowed us to have the topping with the Spider (soft shell crab) roll. The Spider was tasty, although the softshell crab was supplemented with imitation crab meat, and I'm afraid the spicy garlic sauce was more like spicy Thousand Island. If you want to try something unusual, consider the Grinch -- eel tempura, avocado, cucumber, masago (smelt roe), tamago (egg), and cream cheese, wrapped in rice paper and served with sweet sauce -- either with dinner or for dessert.

If you have a big appetite, try the calamari tempura appetizer, which is unlike any fried calamari you have had, and better than most. The gyoza have a fairly standard pork filling and nice thin skins, though they are deep-fried, while I think pan-frying would work better. The shredded seaweed salad is terrific, combining a mild, toothsome seaweed that's not too fishy with cucumbers and sweet red onions, tossed in a perfectly balanced sweet-salty sesame dressing.

Despite being primarily a sushi restaurant, Bistro Wasabi claims to have the "best steak in town". I haven't tested that claim, but given the restaurant's high overall quality, it's worth a try if you're in the mood for meat.

Like the fish, the decor -- which is sleek, modern, and nearly monochromatic -- and the drink menu -- which is filled with drinks like the delicious Cosmo Bistro (a lovely pale green melon concoction) and the Watermelon Martini (basically, liquified Jolly Rancher) -- seem like they would be more at home in LA than in Northwest Ohio.

Despite occasional glitches, Bistro Wasabi is clearly near or at the top of Japanese dining -- indeed, of dining, period -- in the Toledo area. While you can easily spend over $100 on dinner for two there, I am not docking it any stars for price, because getting high-quality fresh fish in Toledo cannot be cheap, and I for one am glad they have kept their eye on quality.

On the web:

Official Site

Glass City Gourmet

Toledo City Paper

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