After hearing rave reviews from Vero Beach residents who drive to Sebastian for what some diners say is the best Asian cuisine they’ve ever eaten, we expected Wasabi Thai Sushi to be packed at lunchtime on Friday.
We walked right in and were seated at a booth, maybe a half-dozen other people in the place. It’s located close to the hospital and to many offices where workers dash out for lunch breaks, but maybe they haven’t discovered the place as it’s only been in business 13 months. The owners moved from Ft. Lauderdale, deciding it was time to quit working for other people and start their own sushi joint.
As patrons venture out of their well-worn dining ruts and try new places, a growing number of area residents – count us among them – are glad they picked Sebastian.
Don’t be scared off by Wasabi’s storefront location in the Publix shopping center, this is not a generic, stripped down Asian take-out place that happens to have a few chairs and tables. The interior is inviting and tasteful, “cool” enough for young couples on dates and tasteful enough for a 60-something group of dear girlfriends to gather to catch up for a birthday or other celebration, as was the case when we were getting ready to leave.
There’s just enough neon and glitz to make Wasabi special and memorable, but not enough to overpower the main event which is the food. Freshness is incredibly important when it comes to sushi and you can see the fish you’ll be eating through the glass at the long sushi bar with the chefs perched on-duty behind the counter. Though the sights are colorful and tempting, there are no strange smells, or at least there weren’t any on our visit – yet another sign that the ingredients are incredibly fresh.
Both Mary and I having interviews ahead of us for stories, we decided to forego Wasabi’s selection of beer, wine and sake. The green tea I ordered hit the spot as it was hot and strong, just the way I like it, and served in a carafe large enough to fill the small teacups about three times. Our server doted on us just the right amount and never let me run out of hot tea.
We ordered an appetizer of Gyoza ($5.95), the Japanese version of dumplings and we ordered them pan-fried, which is not an option printed on Wasabi’s massive menu. The five hearty dumplings arrived hot, moist and tender with a tasty dipping sauce – a good choice, as was recommended by my dining partner for the afternoon, our Society Editor Mary Schenkel.
For our entrees, we ordered two selections to share off Wasabi’s very reasonable lunch menu. Most of the lunch selections come with a crisp, green salad with ginger dressing, or with soup. The salads were fresh, the dressing tasty and the miso soup arrived steaming hot and flavorful, but not too salty – perfect.
Off the sushi lunch menu we ordered Combo Rolls ($7.95) opting for spicy tuna and the J.B. roll, which Mary said were her two favorites. I asked Mary what the J.B. stood for and she didn’t know, but a Google search revealed something that gave me a chuckle. J.B. stands for “Japanese bagel” because the roll holds within its wrap cream cheese and salmon, as well as a few scallions for good measure. The spicy tuna rolls were excellent, drizzled with a tangy red sauce, and the J.B. rolls were everything they were supposed to be, Mary said. The cream cheese paired with the rice makes these tidbits a lot more filling than they appear to be on the outset.
From the Bento Box menu we ordered the Chicken Pad Thai box, which is not actually a box, but a large, rectangular platter with little sections or boxes to segregate the various scrumptious dishes from each other. We were astounded at the amount of food that arrived on this platter for only $11.95. Along with a generous portion of the Pad Thai, which I liked more than Mary did as she said it was ever-so-slightly on the greasy side, our server presented us with three pieces of sushi, four pieces of sashimi, two pieces of crunch roll, (which I liked best because it was cooked) and two more of the yummy dumplings. Our server said we could have chosen a spring roll instead since we had the dumpling appetizer – we’ll know next time.
All of the fish was mild and tender, there were four kinds of fish in all – salmon, two kinds of tuna and wahoo. The Crunchy Roll, which I could make a very bad habit of, offers a combination of tuna, salmon, whitefish, imitation crab, carrots and asparagus and it’s lightly tempura breaded and deep-fried.
Mary and I did our best, but we still had enough left over to feed another person. Unless you’re really hungry, anything off the Bento Box menu is large enough to share. Lunch for two without an appetizer costs about $25 to $30 with tip and it’s worth every penny. Service was prompt and friendly and definitely fast enough to savor a hearty meal and still get back to work within a one-hour lunch break.
