Ajisai

• Cuisine(s): Japanese
• Price: $$
• Parking: No Parking

Description

Solid sushi at affordable prices is the draw at this Hell's Kitchen Japanese restaurant. Start off with some handmade pork and shrimp shumai or deep-fried tofu with bonito flakes. The sushi rolls can be quite elaborate; for example, the Angry Dragon tops shrimp tempura, spicy tuna and papaya with spicy king crab meat, miso sauce and basil oil. There is a lot more on the menu besides raw fish: grilled prawns covered in mango sauce, roasted lobster with enoki mushrooms and mixed seafood curry, to name a few. Imbibers get to choose from 17 different types of cold sake and long list of wines with an emphasis on the Napa Valley. Come in before 4pm for the lunch specials on things like teriyaki, tempura and sushi. Ajisai has a casual, modern look, with a long wooden sushi bar and leather banquettes filling the narrow dining room.—Keith Wagstaff