Asuka Japanese Restaurant

Ehhh This place is O-​K. It doesn’t give off a «clean» feeling. We were walking around and wanted sushi so we dropped in. The free miso soup is cool when they greet you. I’ve had better rolls too :(((But hey, we didn’t get sick! lol

If u like cheap nasty food this is the place to go
One guy making sushi and one old lady waitress
Rude
Everything was dirty my role tasted dirty

The Catalina roll had fresh crab salad and cucumber in the middle topped with thinly sliced saka (salmon) on top with lemon wedges on top and a light Chile oil on, it is one of my favorite rolls at asuka sushi restaurant it’s amazing

Best sesame chicken and chicken teriyaki for a reasonable price. Not expected friendly service but Ask for SPICY-​MAYO.

Ok Unilocal, you almost made me miss out on some amazing teriyaki chicken. Not cool. This place is listed as closed on Saturdays but I walked by and saw tons of people inside so I ventured in and was greeted by «Irasshamiase» (yeah I had to google how to spell that). Sat down only to find my table was a little sticky so I let the waitress know and she came over and wiped down the table again and even gave me a free soda. Who does that?! Anyways, I digress. I ordered the teriyaki chicken and the rocky road roll. It was seriously the best teriyaki chicken I’ve ever had and believe me I’ve had a lot of teriyaki chicken before. Sushi was also on point. The fish was fresh and the rice to ratio was great. I have pretty high standards for Japanese restaurants and this place met and exceeded all of them. Will definitely be back in the future, maybe even on a Saturday haha

Three stars since this place is OK.
First things first, one receipt has the name as «Asuka Sushi» (the credit card receipt), the order receipt has «Taiko Sushi» and Unilocal has it as «Asuka Japanese Restaurant.» That’s neither here or there but just… odd.
Anyway, as for why I ate here:
I was out for a stroll with a coworker and just happened to see Asuka/​Taiko (whatever). It looked fine on the outside and there was a sign with a chicken teriyaki lunch special (10% off if you take it to go, 5% off if you stay). Being cheap, I decided to get this. (The menu had many choices, mostly Japanese-​food.) I immediately noticed one of those silly signs saying (and I’m paraphrasing here) «if you use a credit card we’ll charge you a fee!!1» It said if you spend $ 5 or less, they’ll charge you a dollar. Now, I think (have always, will always) that such fees from the credit card companies are a cost of business for the restaurant. Just raise your food prices 10 cents and make up for it. But, no, fees are shared with all and thus we have this silly sign. Anyway, it didn’t affect me since my meal was $ 6.91. Total was $ 7.50.
The chicken and sauce were good, the rice was good and the broccoli was fine. They provided one piece of carrot, which seems just… odd. I just ate it all and am happy I went, although it was bit of a walk for me (which doesn’t matter for my rating). The other reviews here are wide-​ranging, so I’d probably go back if presented with the opportunity, although I don’t think it would be a destination.
By the way, the interior seemed unremarkable. The service was very quick and the gentleman brought us our food outside, so I didn’t see much of the inside.
Thanks!

You get miso soup when you sit down. It was super salty, I could hardly finished it. It was a bit windy that day so I decided to order hot noodle soup. I order chicken udon. I was pretty disappointed. First off, the presentation itself looks like something I could’ve done at home. It had chicken, broccoli, carrots and onions. The soup was pretty salty and the chicken was dry.

good sushi for a decent price. Right on k street, so conveniently located. Can get tightly packed if there’s a big crowd, otherwise a great place to be!

The rolls were good, but the service was slow. I went during a large convention which caused them to have a lack of supplies and order, but I forgive them due to the 3000+ people at the convention. Food was pretty good, service was just slow.

Did not have any food. Came for sake and left happy and tipsy. Got the small, hot sake and even for a small, it was pretty sizable and not too expensive. Each sake was less than $ 4 and yet carried more alcohol than expected.
We came here for pre-​app sakes when the wait for a table at Mother was 45 minutes. What a wonderful start to a great night.

Food is average but definitely a great place to eat for a quick lunch ! Reasonable prices that helps back up the platter. They also serve Hot Noodles, (Ramen and Udon), Choices of Sesame Chicken, Salmon, Chicken, Beef Teriyaki which are follow by green salad or vegetables over white rice or brown rice. Our most popular meat is popular by season. Sesame chicken is popular when it’s cold and teriyaki is good for any but all is very good ‼ We also serve Sushi rolls and all are $ 7.95 (limited). Asuka is great for lunch.

The food here is delicious, but their service is even better. I had come to Asuka for lunch while on a business trip. My business requires that I provide itemized receipts. Somehow, my itemized receipt got lost somewhere and they gladly provided me with a copy of the receipt. This wonderful service went above and beyond and I was very grateful.
I at the chicken teriyaki bento box lunch special which was very good and a very nice portion of food. The salad was fresh and the house dressing was cool and refreshing. I will definitely eat here again the next time I return to Sacramento.

Naaaaahhhhh. Walk the other direction and go to sushi paradiso.
Took a long time to get my «Sesame chicken and cali roll» bento box. Don’t know why, because it was basic as hell. The sesame chicken sauce had no flavor, and they barely put any on my chicken to begin with. It was painfully obvious that my Cali roll was made long ago, wrapped in some saran wrap, and taken from it’s casket just a few minutes before putting it into my to go box, you know, 15 minutes after I order it.

I was amazed how poorly I was treated. I placed an order for a bento box, and sat down at a table to wait for it. After waiting 15 minutes, someone finally asked me if I had. I showed her my receipt, and she didn’t know what was going on. She did you pay for your order? I again showed her my receipt. I said that I had ordered a Bento Box. All of a sudden, I was handed a bag rather than being able to sit down, it was «here go away». Nice way to treat a paying customer. So much for a leisurely sit down lunch.

I work of walking distance from this sushi place, and I must say that I am a regular and I come at least once a week. I return not because of the décor, ambience or the fancy table setting, but for the friendliness of the staff and the consistency of the food they serve. If you are looking for some pretentious fancy-​ish type of Japanese restaurant, this is not the one. I mean, it doesn’t look horrible, but this is not the place you would take someone you wanna impress on a first date; well, unless your date is someone who doesn’t like the unnecessary frills and just want to dine at a place that is clean and reasonably-​priced, with friendly service.

Definitely the BEST place to dine in during short lunch hours,
Quick service, friendly staff, fresh food and can never beat the price, I eat here all the time but never been disappointed yet
I like to mix and match, I had sushi rolls last time, they are pretty big sized unlike many other sushi places and very reasonable price for its content. Sushi was always fresh and they will let you know or recommend something different otherwise, which only assure me I will be served only the best, have to love these genuine people
My favorite thing to get is sesame chicken which is on special every other week, GOOD DEAL! even though its deep fried, the fact that it is chicken breast makes me feel less guilty for eating this delicious meal so often, cant stop wont stop. Unlike other restaurants, the teriyaki sauce is simply addicting I had to ask the owners to just sell me the sauce once so I can take it home, Anyways, all entrees either come with steam veggies or salad, I love both so I choose whatevet I feel like each day which is nice, I love sesamedressing on my salad fyi. Food is simply perfect.
They recently came up with new bento box b with extra side dish and gyoza, very good combination, MUST RECOMMEND
Pro: excellent food taste, good vibe, fast service, friendly staff, and affordable price unlike other k street restaurants. A LOT of regulars, always seem to see one or 2 familiar faces, the servers/​host seem to know me and few of my coworkers by name and orders, very family like setting always feel welcomed.
Con: very small restaurant, wish it was bigger, very packed during lunch hour so I like to run down a bit early to beat the rush. Not a fancy dine in restaurant but definitely my go to place when im in downtown. Only 7.95 for specialty rolls for dinner. Unlike lunch their dinner rush crowd seem to be random. I went there to eat dinner when I worked late and it was peaceful unlike lunch so I loved it. Then another time I came for dinner it was fully packed but short staff. Our server explained it was unexpectdd crowd so they were less prepared. The food took a bit longer than usual but it was understandable. It was obvious they were doing their best to serve the unexpected crowd so cant complain
I m not much of Unilocal reviewer but after reading such bad reviews, I just had to sign in and give this place all the credits for years of great service. FYI, this is not the karaōke sushi place! You been reviewing wrong restaurant ahem if youve mentioned anything else about karaōke (oishi) and this is not a fast food chain either so be aware even though they are VERY FAST they will not just throw you a piece of raw meat in a minute, if thats what you are looking for, you came to the wrong place,

Don’t come here if you need food within the first hour of your visit.
Food: I came here with a friend to grab dinner. All in all, the food wasn’t horrible (it also wasn’t that great). Everything was sort of the bare minimum of what you’d expect from a normal Japanese restaurant. I got the chicken bento box, which came with rice, teriyaki chicken, a salad composed of lettuce with some ranch on top, and four teeny tiny California rolls (
). Nothing spectacular, but it did cure my hunger. I also had the Catalina roll (
). Generally, the ingredients were fine, but it was odd trying to eat the lemon slice on top. The slices were way too thick to just eat the rind and it didn’t really pair well with the fish at all.
Atmosphere: Again, nothing spectacular about this place. It’s on K street right next to Mother and Crest Café by the light rail station. It’s a bit dingy and the seating is mostly geared toward solitary diners or pairs.
Service: Oh man, this place could instantly improve their operations if they would only hire more staff. It appears to be a mom and pop shop, and both mom and pop seem like they are completely overwhelmed. It took us more than 10 minutes to even get a menu and I had to repeatedly ask the woman working there if we could order. More than 45 minutes passed before we even got the order in and after that we still had to wait for our food. They sort of apologized for the delay, but it didn’t seem that genuine. There weren’t many people at the restaurant either, so it’s not like the delay was due to a glut of customers.
Synopsis: I don’t really have time to wait this long for average food.

Asuka has good service and okay food.
Food:
I ordered the Teriyaki Chicken lunch, and it was average. The chicken was cooked well. The teriyaki sauce was a little too thick.
The lunch also came with miso soup and a side of vegetables, which I enjoyed.
Sides Notes
Ambiance:
The restaurant has a low-​key atmosphere with plenty of seating during peak lunch hours.
Service:
The service is good. Staff was quick to get the order in and the food came out within 15 minutes.
Overall:
This place is good for a quick lunch.

This place is not worth me wasting a sushi meal here. My friend and I arrived at 11:40am on a Friday before the real lunch crowd. There were about 4 other tables seated. I ordered the T&T roll with soy wrap (Spicy Tuna) and my friend ordered the Shrimp Lover’s roll (Shrimp Avacado roll) with sunomono salad (cucumber salad). We also got miso soup. It took forever for those two rolls to come out and when it did, the Shrimp Lover’s roll had a long black hair across the top of it!
The younger waitress (who had a pony tail on) took it back and we thought that order would get pushed to the front due to the error. NO! We had to wait another 10 minutes for it to come out! S-​L-​O-​W!
The older waitress did not have her hair pulled back so we figured her hair must have fell on the first roll. I also asked her to refill my WATER and she said ok, but nothing. My mouth was on fire from the T&T roll and I had no agua to put it out! Needless to say, I sat there while my own salivary glands worked on the fire in my mouth.
Finally, I asked the younger waitress for water and she got it for me. My friend asked me, «It seems like they get their water from the faucet, can’t you taste some rustiness in the water?» I could not the first glass, as my mouth was already on fire from the T&T roll. (Sriracha Sauce flavor. with averagely fresh tuna.) However, once I received my second glass of water, (but remember, my salivary glands took care of the fire already), I drank it and it did taste rust-​like. Yuk.
The only plus was that they validate for parking in the garage on L right in front of the Capitol. They took off an «employee discount» of 20% off the roll that had the hair on it… it should have been free with how slow they were too.
Plenty of people came in and the place got full… remember, it’s K Street near the Capitol… lots of foot traffic at lunch time. Maybe they ordered the sesame chicken and rice special or something, but I won’t waste my time coming here for sushi, slow service and you shouldn’t either.

We went here after seeing a move at the Crest because it was within walking distance. Whatever you do, DO NOT order red wine from this place. I took two sips and couldn’t even drink anymore. It literally tasted like «grape juice gone bad.»
The place was nice and clean and there is nobody there on a weekend afternoon. However, it still took us a long time to get our food.
The fried tofu appetizer was decent. Light and crispy. The sushi rolls, however, were nothing to be excited about. About the same quality sushi roll as you would get at a grocery store like Raleys.