Passport Restaurant and Lounge

The place is CLOSED. There’s a for lease sign on it.

This place really wants to be high-​end, but falls too short of it to be worth the money.
I went with a group of maybe 12 people, and nobody seemed very happy with their food. I counted about 527 689 items on their menu, and none what came out impressed us.
I feel like I’m being a bit harsh, but the reality is that there are a lot of high-​end restaurants in Ann Arbor, and this one just doesn’t compete with them. The gigantic menu reflects the fact that this place can’t decide who or what they want to be, so they are just mediocre at everything.

I’ve been to Passport a few times now, and while the server side of the restaurant is acceptable (not terribly exciting) the lunch buffet is terrible. The sushi tastes great, but on a recent visit my partner and I arrived at 1:30 and took the few remaining pieces of sushi, thinking that they would bring out more. At 2:15 we asked if there would be any more (when our server finally stopped by to refill our long empty glasses) and he said he would tell the chefs. Finally, at almost 2:45 a couple more plates of sushi were brought out — only after someone came out to inspect the status of the buffet table. The buffet supposedly runs until 3pm, but good luck if you arrive after 1pm.
Also, the non-​sushi entrees on the buffet were pretty underwhelming if not outright gross. The pasta dish tasted of nothing but butter and was too cold for the sauce, so it had hardened on the pasta. The Mongolian Beef was meh but edible, but the bourbon chicken was rubbery, gnarly, and crunchy in a way it likely shouldn’t have been. I didn’t try the weird looking pizza option.
We were one table out of only three dining in the buffet area and the last to leave. Even though we stayed long after the other folks, their tables hadn’t been cleared off and wait staff was hard to find or call over.
I guess if you go here, stick to dinner and avoid the buffet.

Yes, Passport is in a less-​than-​idea location (not downtown, not at the Briarwood Mall, near the Costco, etc.) and the exterior of the building looks like a Cold War nuclear bunker. I agree 100% with Adam S. in that this restaurant has an identity crisis on the menu and with their website. BUT — if you can get past all of that, you will never have to wait for a table at this very good restaurant.
I’ve come with clients and colleagues for lunch, dinner, and for happy hour. I have not had anything here that I would not order again. The Japanese bento box and the sushi were delicious and fresh. I spend a lot of time on both coasts (SF and NYC) and have spent a good amount of time in Japan in recent years so I have had top-​quality Japanese food for comparison. Chef Miyaki does a superb job with the authentic dishes and sushi — the texture, flavor, and presentation were all first-​rate. The restaurant itself has a nice atmosphere — dark woods, tables far apart, and the bar is separate from the dining room which is a plus. If you want to try the place out, start by coming for happy hour (between 3 and 7 pm on weekdays) and trying a range of the discounted specials on appetizers and sushi.
On the main menu, I can recommend the Hong Kong style Gyoza, Vegetarian Spring Rolls, Thai Curry bowl, Ahi Tuna Tataki entrée, Sea Bass, and Mongolian beef.
Ann Arbor is a good foodie city but the choices for top-​tier Asian, particularly Japanese, is quite limited. But Passport is a diamond in the rough for those who want authentic and reasonably priced Japanese cuisine.

UPDATE: This place is closed through Spring 2013. The Japanese chef is leaving, and it will re-​open as some kind of hibachi joint.
Cannot vouch for quality at re-​open.
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Here’s what you need to know:
Yes, the restaurant looks terrible. Yes, it is not at all clear what kind of restaurant this place wants to be. As a marketing professional, it hurts my brain to walk in this place — I would seriously do some pro-​bono work for them.
But why? Because they have a hidden gem.
Passport somehow picked up the Japanese chef from Yamato (the recently closed, much-​loved Japanese restaurant in Kerrytown). After a single weekend lunchtime visit, I can say that this is the best Japanese food you’ll find in town. Or in many of the surrounding towns. Blows the overpriced and underwhelming Yotsuba out of the water.
A few things to note:
1. I have not tried the sushi. I would imagine that the quality will depend a lot on what the owner allows the chef to buy. Crappy product = crappy sushi.
2. My measure of «good Japanese food» is based on roughly 15 years of living in Japan, so my expectations may not be the same as yours.
3. What we had for lunch:
— The «bento» box: A selection of 10 – 12 small food items, from sashimi to potato croquette
— The stewed hamburger: A rich «meatball» patty with a runny fried egg (awesome way to mellow the zingy meat sauce) on top, on a bed of rice, with salad
— The rice omlette: A mound of flavorful fried rice in a warm omlette wrapper
I really hope that this place will become a hit among J-​food fans in Ann Arbor, so that the owner will realize he has to showcase his star asset rather than letting him languish in the place’s current obscurity.

I went to Passport Restaurant and Lounge about a month ago. I ended up stopping here with a co-​worker and her husband for happy hour so that we could get out of rush hour.
I ran into a lot of the same issues as other reviewers. The décor needs major work (at least by the dance floor where we sat). Additionally, like David R. said we had little flies around our food, one ended up in my co-​workers wine.
We did not eat a full meal only had the happy hour discounted sushi and drinks. The drinks were reasonably priced and the bartender who served us was friendly.
The drinks were fine and the sushi ok but nothing really stood out.
If you are interested in the dancing or entertainment going here might be fun but, I am not sure if I will give it another try.

Service was good — but the food was hit or miss. There is a lot of choices over a couple of menus pointing to a lack of focus. The miso soup you can avoid. It’s also a little strange to be in a large dinning room but be the only patrons in the place. We also had two super fruit flies that could not be killed. If the Passport management is reading I would suggest just focusing on improving the Japanese food and perhaps a Kobe Beef burger.

Came to Passport for the sushi lunch buffet. The majority of the «sushi» buffet was bad Chinese food and pasta. There were only three types of sushi, and they were the most generic imaginable – veggie and two kinds of California. Crunchy California wasn’t crunchy, and Creamy California wasn’t creamy.
There was no turnover. We were there for about 1.5 hours and they didn’t bring out any other kinds. So most of the sushi was sitting out for a long time. Blech.

Where to begin… We walked in on a Monday around 6pm. The place was dead. This is the third restaurant that has been here since I have lived in Ann Arbor, way back it was Chi-​Chis, then it became this horrible place called something like the Cherry Blossom and now it is The Passport Lounge. The décor was a little over the top, folded cloth napkins in fan shapes on the table, (napkins were blue and maize).
We ordered two appetizers, the Barcelona Duo Calimari and the spring rolls. The calimari came with two dipping sauces, chipotle aioli and some sesame dressing that tasted like a mixture of teriyaki, A-​1 and Worcestershire. The calimari was cooked perfectly and seemed to be from a fresh batch of oil, but the after taste was unpleasant. The spring rolls had a strange texture and my colleague said they smelled like dirty baby diapers, which in a strange way was quite apt.
The absolute worst moment though was after the appetizers arrived we were swarmed by flies. One, two, three, four flies came to check out our food. When we spoke to the waiter he said, «we have a little fruit fly problem, would you like me to remove your appetizers to see if they go away?»
Well, at this point I used that age old cliché‘ «CHECK PLEASE» — They were not fruit flies, they were sewer flies or drain flies… Psychoda species — gross!!!
So the waiter, who was very nice, Justin I think it was, gave us a bill for $ 10…and canceled our dinner order. I am pretty sure any kind of fly is a health violation, but yuk!

I never want to come back here again. This place had me riled-​up and fed-​up in under 15 minutes without even having to try.
When I arrived with a couple of friends for a benefit function, I could tell right from the get-​go that this place does not have it’s s**t together at all. For one, for the amount of people who were there and more that were showing up, they had staffed one very inexperienced bar tender who barley knew his way around a tap handle, let alone a mixed drink. To make matters worse he was not only responsible for the bar, but for the entire restaurant’s drink orders. It seriously took me 15 minutes to place my drink order and then another 10 minutes just to get it.
The room in which the benefit was happening was very full so my friends and I opted for a table. When we tried to talk to the hostess about the situation, she didn’t seem to care too much about our inquiry, it appeared that we were inconveniencing her leisurely activity of standing there and doing nothing.
After we got our table, it took our server about 15 minutes to surface. Mind you while the room that the benefit was taking place was full, the dining area was relatively empty.
We ordered another round of drinks, which coincidentally ending up taking about 25 minutes to show up. When we were asked about placing a food order, we immediately declined as we didn’t feel like sitting there for an eternity to get something to eat.
I honestly would have left after waiting for my first drink, but I had to stick around for most of the benefit that was going on, (which BTW was very poorly accommodated for).
Its safe to say there’s about as much of a chance of getting me to step into this place again as it is for me to willingly go to the Red Grape in Detroit and order a Gin ‘n Tonic (see my «colorful» review of the Red Grape for a more disastrous experience)

Passport has a serious case of multiple personality disorder.
I worry about a restaurant that offers too many bargains. I am cheap and so I have discovered that most restaurants who do the overload of coupons/​deals bit have do so because they have to. There is generally a reason they are discounting in every website, paper and circular known to man. The reason is they are either overcharging to begin with or that they are just not that good. There are exceptions to the rule but for the most part it’s one or the other. Passport is unfortunately just not that good.
In addition to the dizzying array of coupons I have seen for here, they also offer numerous in house regular bargains. They have 4.99 and 6.99 lunch deals, a 7.99 buffet, all you can eat sushi from11am-​3pm, happy hour deals (3 – 7 M-​F and all day weekends), 40% off industry night (Mondays), special menus and drink specials for every damn day you go and for just about every hour as well. They offer hustle, salsa, tango, latin and belly dancing (even a bollywood dance night), live musicians, DJs, the list goes on and on and on. Basically they are throwing everything at you, and I do mean everything, entertainment and food wise.
The menu is a mismosh of generic asian, european and american (from southwest to cajun) with a mostly non raw sushi menu thrown in just because. It comes off less as fusion and more as homogenized crap. It lacks any kind of focus and unfortunately you can taste it in the results. What sounds delicious and interesting often comes out bland-​ish or odd. I’m not saying you can’t find tasty here, its just a bit of food roulette. Some things are surprising pretty good, some of it is ok, a few things are wretched and then you get a whole lot of meh. Unfortunately it varies which is which from one visit to the next. A dish you loved one week can be inedible the next.
On the up side they have a few decent beers, Magic Hat, Two Hearted, Bell’s seasonal on tap. They also have saki which some people enjoy (Liz R can affirm I am not one of them). It goes downhill from there though, the mixed drinks can be good or watered down depending on who is serving them up and what you pick, I hate that. The wine selection just sucks, period. The iced tea is wretched. Well it was the lone time I tried it, bad iced tea really pisses me off and I will not be trying it again. Hey but they made sure to get two different kinds of Hi-​C on the menu, woohoo.
We have been several times as it is so close to my husband’s job. It’s convenient and because of all the deals it is cheap. I just feel like dining in here is like the back half of that trite Forrest Gump saying, you never know what you’re gonna get. Well, at least it’s pretty cheap.

This is not a fancy restaurant, but it is a realistic place to dine out. I actually like the interior because it is a modest fusion of everything but not a pretentious excess of anything. If anything I do not like the appearance of the building. Inside, it looks pretty ok to me at night. Not sure how it feels in the day.
Huge space, nice tatami rooms with no extra charge.
The portion of food is amazing, and with a coupon it’s totally worthwhile.
We did not order any Asian foods particularly sushi because I am slightly more fastidious about it. I like clam linguini pretty much. It was 19, really, 19 BIG CLAMS within a gigantic bowl full of creamy linguini. Quite impressed. I hope they can continue to maintain the size and quantity of those clams.
Half slab or rib is a bit too sweet for me, and just too meaty. But the sides of vegies and potatoes are good.
Ginger mijito is sweet enough to make it delicious.
Service is consistently good.

I have been here twice and both times I have made the same mistake so I will try to post an update when I go for the third time.
My parents were very excited to take me here because I love sushi and they do not. However both of my parents and my grandfather really liked it here and they noticed the sushi and knew I would like it.
First I will say this place is huge. I always sit in the main dining area but they also have a bar area and private dining rooms off to the side. My mom and grandfather really liked this place because the first time they went they played some Motown in the bar section and they danced their asses off.
I made the mistake both times of not even looking at the other food on the menu and just ordering sushi. Usually when I eat sushi it is with my boyfriend and I let him pay the bill and we LOAD UP. With my parents I am much more reserved. I tried a couple rolls each time and I just wasn’t amazed. I am a sushi lover but not a sushi snob so it takes a bit of work to not impress me.
My parents and grandfather seem to have the right idea with this place. They usually get two appetizers instead of a main coarse. My grandfather SWEARS by the lamb chops. He’s old so he wont shut up about them! The wonton cups are another favorite of theirs. They look like crab cheese wontons but in a wonton wrapper cup instead of a pocket. Nothing about that sounds bad. My dad got the teriyaki steak and said it was excellent.

I really want to like this place, because you can tell they’re trying so hard. Its biggest issue is it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be when it grows up. Let’s talk about the positives:
— the place is brightly painted and lit, so you can see it from the road – nice choice of blue, too
— the interior is intriguing, and the tatami rooms are nice
— the wait staff really wants to do a good job
— gyoza appetizer was good
— dessert was good
Here’s what we took issue with:
— too many menu items from different places; if you like a place that will take you all over the world (swiss onion soup for an appetizer and sushi for dinner) you’ll be happy!
— a vodka mojito showed up very weak, and so we ended up ordering a shot of vodka and soda water to mix it up ourselves
— a sloe gin fizz was sent out as a gin fizz, because there was no sloe gin (note: sloe gin and gin are not the same)
— this was after ordering a number of things, and then being informed later that the drink couldn’t be made because an ingredient was unavailable
— the sushi was just okay – not cut or formed particularly well
— we ordered the wasabi tartar tuna en-​croute (how’s that for fusion?) as an appetizer, and the croute was stale, on top of being difficult to eat. The rest of it wasn’t particularly appetizing.
— the flavored rice that came with entrees was unexpectedly similar to spanish rice. We’d ordered the mongolian beef tips, and weren’t expecting bright yellow rice with vegetables in it.
Overall: okay Asian fare, middling sushi, bizzare fusion, bring a flask.

Ok so I signed up just to write this review. I dont want to hurt a business or anything but maybe help them make some changes.
I went for the lunch buffet, the sushi was disgusting, slivers of unrecognizable fish in the rolls, fake crab, and the typical nasty american rolls. I guess they are trying to please the novice sushi eaters but this wouldn’t make me want to every eat sushi again. The Chinese food was OK no signs of what anything is and very limited options. The chicken wings tasted like they came out of a frozen dinner box. Everything else was edible the fruit, salad, vegetables, and rice. Do not waste your money on the buffet.
I ASSUME the regular dinning is great but they fall short on the buffet. One of the worst experiences in my life. But my waitress was really nice and the hostess was very helpful.

Skeptical. IDK… this place was just BLAH. My boss has taken me here a few times because we work right down the road. The first time we ordered from the lunch menu and they wouldn’t accept our coupon because we didn’t order pops… but they literally somehow tracked us down after we left, called our work (not sure how) and refunded us some money. The food was decent but the atmosphere in there is so strange. I know it was a Japanese place before and I think a ChiChi’s before that. Its jus set up weird and makes it feel like its always empty.
We went back for the buffet yesterday. It was okay. It was $ 8 and worth it just for the sushi. But of course the options are limited. I am sure I will go back with my boss but not somewhere I would choose to go to…

A friend asked me to join him for Forgivable Fridays at the Passport Lounge with free hustle lessons starting at 8pm. Technically, the lessons are not «free» because there is a $ 5 cover charge to get to the area where one can drink and dance.
To start, I was not impressed by the lessons offered by the instructor. She taught a few hustles for about an hour. After 9pm, the floor was open to hustle and Detroit ballroom, but it felt more like an 8^th grade dance with old people.
For dinner, I had sushi and my friend got an entrée. Food was mediocre at best. When we got the bill, a «service charge» of 18% was already included, which was a far more generous tip than I would have given for the service and food we received.
There was nothing about that experience that i really enjoyed and I felt like my money and my Friday could be better spent somewhere else.
Will not return.

We got sushi for an appetizer. The tempura california roll was tasty, but I don’t think I’d get it again — I’m just not ready for crunch like that in my sushi roll. I’d encourage people to try it if you haven’t had something like it. You might like that crunch more than me.
I got the Red Curry and Rice with shrimp. It was the best curry I’ve ever had. It wasn’t too spicy (they have a green curry that’ll work if you like more heat), but just a really nice blend of flavors.
My wife got the Ahi Tuna Tataki. She asked for it to be a little more toward medium so it wasn’t so very rare. Our server said it was good she asked for it because they usually prepare it «very rare». Unfortunately when she received the plate it was well done. Tuna is not good like that. So back it went without any complaints from our server. She received a replacement promptly and it was cooked to perfection. I sampled it and enjoyed it very much. The sesame seeds added a really nice flavor.
Our server was very nice and made sure we had what we needed before we had to ask.
If the tuna had come out correct the first time it may have rated five stars. We’ll have to go back sometime.

Went here w/​the hubby last night. We had a coupon so we figured we’d give it a try. Unfortunately, even with the coupon, it felt like we paid too much for what we got. I got the rack of lamb and hubby got a noodle dish. The food was greasy and felt like it was defrosted or from a frozen food box. The veggies that came with my lamb was over-​peppered and overcooked. My lamb was so tough, I couldn’t take more than a few bites.
However, the staff (it seemed they may have been overstaffed) were all extremely friendly. We never had to ask for refills and though they were attentive, they were not too intrusive. Overall, a super friendly place. If only the food were half as good as the people there.
From the other reviews, it sounds like maybe the sushi is worth it. We didn’t the sushi because the prices were much higher than you’d find at an actual sushi place.

** This review only applies to the Happy Hour**
I read the news clipping on
of the establishment opening up and also there was an advertisement on the clipper magazine… I placed it on my list of places to visit… so today was the day.
I met up with a friend, ordered items from the Happy Hour menu…
Ordered their seasonal beer — Oktoberfest ($ 6 for 20oz), good beer… I would recommend it…
Spicy Tuna Rolls ($ 4 for 6 rolls) x 3 — they need to change the name to ‘Tuna Roll’, as it was not spicy… or the Chef who made it forgot to but wasabi or spicy mayo on it. As a normal ‘tuna roll’, it was good.
Chicken Wings «A LA JIN» ($ 5 for 6 wings) — normal wings deep fried, lightly battered in corn starch served with carrot sticks and two dipping sauces — sesame and honey chipotle… not worth trying… interestingly we have two waiters working our table and one recommended this and other recommended the Sweet Coconut Curry Wings… Curry Wings next time…
Hong Kong Style Gyoza ($ 5 for 6) — well, I could tell this was not home made… so I can’t recommend this… to be honest, I don’t know why they put ‘Hong Kong Style’, when Gyoza is Japanese and not Chinese… it made no sense at all. On top of that, the dipping sauce was too salty. I say, skip it.
Wasabi Tuna Tartar En-​Croute ($ 8 for 2) — raw tuna tartar served in a small baby sized pie shell with mayo sauce. Don’t let the picture in the ‘Happy Hour Menu’ fool you… while the picture has tree, you only get two… even the menu says (3) next to the price… they need to fix the menu… even the waiter admitted the menu looks deceiving… lol… overall, the tune was great, the pie shell didn’t really help the taste…
Calamari Duo — $ 6 — I like the calamari, why does it have ‘Duo’? It comes with two dipping sauces… yeah, nothing special…
Scorpion — $ 7 — roll made with tempura shrimp, seasoned mayo and eel sauce… The rolls were decent, something I would order again, if they lowered the price to $ 5… oh wait… that’s what we paid… you get $ 2 off on other sushi rolls during Happy Hour and only if you order from the bar.
Yes, that’s lot of food for two people… but I was hungry! Didn’t have time to eat lunch, work was busy, so I was making it up during dinner! :)
The service was good… gave two gentlemen 18% tip… I think the second guy was in ‘training’… but they came by and kept checking on us and made sure we were good… so the service was good.
Overall, I would try this place again… maybe skip the happy hour and actually go to the dining area to eat… they have happy hour Mon to Fri from 3pm to 7pm and all day on Saturday and Sunday… our bill for the evening came out to about $ 57, yeah we did some damage…