Ajihei

Ajihei is a small little restaurant that serves one of the finest Japanese cuisines. The prices are quite expensive for the sushi; however, it is more reasonable for the ramen and rice dishes. The one thing I like about the place is that the price you pay is the equivalent to the quality of food you get. I have been here several times and each time I explore different parts on the menu. I have had the ramen, the chicken katsu curry, and sushi/​sashimi. The ramen is so-​so compared to other places I have been. The Chicken Katsu Curry was interesting (in a good way!) because it gave a different taste than what curry would usually taste like. The sushi is probably hands down the best part of Ajihei. I usually cannot tolerate the taste of salmon, but when my girlfriend ordered a salmon avocado and I took one of her rolls, it tasted amazing. The sushi was well made: it did not fall apart when you picked it up with chopsticks and it was fresh. Overall this is a great place to eat at, but the amount of space in the restaurant is limited so be prepared to wait!
~ Stanley

5 stars for the sushi, 3 for the ramen. My son ate here for years and said its not the same since the owner came down with carpal tunnel syndrome and the menu changed. More of a ramen place now. The sushi is fantastic. The ramen is good but nothing special. Reasonably priced.

Ajihei has good sushi, but unfortunately everything else is a disaster about this place. The price point is borderline absurd and they are the least accommodating restaurant I have ever come across. Forget about trying to take out from this place, they quoted me a long wait time once, then actually called back to cancel the order. I gave them a second shot, went to pick up after about a 45 minutes waiting and then they cancelled the order as I waited. The lack of respect towards customers forced me to write this review and vow that I will never eat sushi from this place again.

The night after the East Coast’s most recent snowstorm, the Tall Man and I had cabin fever and went to explore downtown Princeton. I had heard Ajihei was one of the only places in the area to serve ramen, so what better way to warm up than over a hot bowl of soup noodles? A few other diners apparently had the same idea, and we all found our way to this resto tucked below street level.
We both ordered the tonkatsu «12 hour» ramen and a side of gyoza. Perhaps the cold makes everything more delicious, but this meal really hit the spot. The gyoza were tasty but not notable. The ramen, though, was lush and delicious. The broth wasn’t quite as thick as some others I’ve had (in NYC, Boston and Tokyo), but that was fine with me. The pork was the best part, melt in your mouth and delicious. There were only 2 slices of meat and minimal other toppings, though, which is pretty sparse. The noodles were fine and had a decent chew.
While it’s a bit pricey, Ajihei isn’t particularly more expensive than other high quality Japanese restaurants. I would come back again to try more of the menu.

It’s still overpriced, but now that the menu has shifted to almost focusing entirely on cooked items, it feels a lot less expensive.
The ramen is a good deal for Princeton, and definitely the best ramen you’ll get in the area. I really liked their taipan chicken ramen, which was very very savory and came with a good variety of toppings. Definitely add the egg, it’s nicely soft boiled and flavored by soy sauce. Unfortunately it’s obvious that all the toppings are prepared far in advance as my toppings were cold to eat. The noodles are similar to instant ramen noodles, but I actually like that since I like that kind of noodle.
I also liked their cooked salmon ikura Don, but it’s severely overpriced. I found it less impressive the second time I got it, but I think the chef was out that day.
All in all, still overpriced but best ramen option in town.

Rude and disrespectful and the chef is not clean unsanitary. Calls the customers names he thought we dont understand

It’s our first time here tonight. We heard good things so we thought we’d try it. We were barely finish eating when the waitress started cleaning up our table. At one point I had to grab back my water as I wasn’t finished. She then quickly delivered the check and literally waited for the payment as she stood there. After collecting our payment, she came back to say we had to LEAVE?! As there were ppl waiting. We hadn’t been there long and didn’t even get the chance to open our 1 bottle of wine. The couple next to us were treated the same; they were there longer but that’s beside the point. I’ve NEVER been to a place with such rudeness towards its customers… I hope you have better experience. One star is too generous for this place.

Little did we know there were RULES to a basement sushi place. So long story short, after paying the check, server said «please hurry cause other people are waiting to seat at your table»? So in others words, if you want to eat a place that has over priced ramen noodle and have a time limit to eat, AJIHEI in Princeton is the place to go. Seriously, the food wasn’t that mind blowing to have RULES? Give me a break. Lots of other places to eat sushi.

We’ve been going since it opened many years ago. Tried their second location in restaurant row P’ton while it lasted. It is consistently the best sushi in Princeton but if it was located in New York or Philadelphia it would be out of business.
Food: Good — 4 Stars
Place: Poor — 1 Star*
Service: Good — 4 Stars**
Rules: Poor — 0 Stars***
* feels dirty, basement clammy, low ceilings, bathroom through kitchen, (as you’re walking through ignore the condition of the kitchen) unattractive windowless environment with poor lighting.
* if you break the rules then everything changes. I’ve heard embarrassed staff say to customers «well there’s the door» after failing to explain why they have rules. Some staff/​customer arguments last 5 – 10 minutes. The regulars and those who unintentionally comply with the rules stare straight ahead, eat quickly and cringe.
*** Unilocal needs a «Rules» category. The rules almost make sense for a small, 20 seat, one chef, sushi place, especially when «he» is trying to provide quality sushi. But the staff needs to figure out a way to deliver the rules clearly and politely.
The other sushi restaurants in town get 1 – 2 stars for food and 3 – 5 for everything else.
There is a great opportunity for someone to open a Japanese Rest in P’ton.

This is by far the best Japanese restaurant in Princeton! I highly recommend the salmon avocado roll. Also the ramen here is pretty great!

I came with three other people — we were a group of four. Our leader was a regular customer who claims that the boss likes him. Said leader phoned in advance to ask the boss whether we could come as a group of five on a slow weeknight; «no» was all he said. The end result is that the fifth member of our group waited at home and ended up with Ajihei takeout!
This story is annoying enough that I can’t possibly declare myself to be «a fan»; three stars has got to be the maximum score for my review.
Ajihei earned all three of the stars without breaking a sweat. The tonkotsu «12 hour» ramen (which costs $ 1 per hour) was quite satisfying, although I was surprised not to find an egg in my bowl. Reading other reviews, I realized after the fact that one has to order the egg as an add-​on; this is another house rule, I guess. There were lots of rolls and pieces of sushi at our table. Everything I tasted was of high quality and truly delicious. The house has two kinds of uni: «main» and «California». Probably the main uni comes from New England.
The rest room is all the way in the back, in one corner of the kitchen. A visit gives you a great excuse for checking out the activities behind the sushi counter.
As other Unilocalers have noted, Ajihei doesn’t come cheap. I do think that the prices are fair, however. The quality is super-​high and I can easily see myself returning (with at most three friends).

I used to come here at least once every week and get their hokkai-​don (rice topped with salmon, salmon roe, sea urchin, scallop sashimi and squid sashimi). Their sashimi is always super fresh and the rice is so so so good! I don’t like eating rice generally but still like eating their rice. Their cuts of salmon were all belly cuts so they melt in your mouth!
However since this past school year started, they started serving really really thin slices of sashimi and their prices went up by almost 20%. Sometimes the salmon they serve would even be tail cuts. I stopped going their after a few negative experiences. Really not worth the $ 30+ that you’re paying…

I will give a glowing review of the food in the 2^nd half of my post, but let’s get down to business. I WILL NEVER EAT HERE AGAIN! Many people here on Unilocal go to their fav spot to eat many times. Well, I have eaten here over 400+ times spending over 12k in food. I have sent many people here over the years and gave this place a thumbs up. I have sent in business to them over 5K and I’m being conservative. Now, you would think that would mean something to Koji. Well, nope.
Over the years I met many people who he showed a lack of respect for and stopped going but I never let it stop me from going. Well tonight, I made one simple request on a plate due to an allergy. Done this many times before but tonight he decides he just does not want to do it. I asked them to substitute it for anything, like egg cake. Then I was told I can order this one specific item. Are you kidding me? I’m told what to order. I’ve travelled ¹⁄₃ the globe and never had a place not make a adjustment. It’s sorta like ordering a hamburger and telling them no cheese and they tell you back they cannot do that. I was hungry so I ordered a few rolls to satisfy my appetite. When I was done I told the owner I will never eat here again and he was stunned. I told him he gave me no respect.
Now for people who do not know this guy, a simple infraction at his place can and will get you tossed. He demands respect from his patrons. I’ve no problem with that IF he showed respect back to his customers. I have to be in his top 5 customers of all time at this place and to him I’m a nobody. What’s really shocking to me is that I deal heavily with Japanese in business and I cannot speak more highly of any one nation. It’s a culture that is rooted deeply in respect and honor. The food industry is a service industry and your job is to please your customer and get that customer to come back time and again. Well, he alienated me for life.
Now about the food and décor, what to order and random things.
#1 Sushi is very misunderstood by many. So many people eat such horrible sushi that when they eat here they think that this place is not good because it taste different. Most people eat horrible farm raised, low quality fish made to order by incompetent «cooks.» I’m going to sound racist here but the truth is the truth… most places in the USA are Chinese run sushi places which are basically garbage. This is sushi served in the correct way. Cut size is the proper way. Cutting angles to avoid oxidation are superior. Rice is deeply cared for by Koji and thus a higher quality. Fish quality is superior. The owner goes to great lengths to provide a superior quality. I’ve eaten all over the USA including running up $ 500 personal sushi bills. This place is hands down not only the best place in Princeton, it is the best in NJ that I’ve been to. It is better than Miromoto in Philly and can go head to head against the best of NYC. If someone cannot taste the difference than they are clueless about sushi in general, they are probably the same people who would ask for Wandering Poet to be warmed.
#2 The décor is suppose to be basic. Sushi 101 is all about the product and not décor. It goes against the concept of sushi to have a place that looks like a posh French spot. The food is suppose to do the talking and not the place itself. It’s is suppose to look rustic and being slightly worn plays against the plate that you will be served.
#3 Order anything sushi or sashimi related. These are almost always handled by Koji himself who is superior than his underlings. The rolls are some of the best you will come across in a 200 mile radius IF Koji is making it. If the rolls are being made in the back than it’s all over the lot in quality. But even with this stated, it is still better than the rest. The ramen soup is OUTSTANDING, I can tell for sure that Koji spent many hours perfecting what I consider a masterpiece in ramen soup. There had to be a lot of trial and error here because it’s basically ramen perfection.
#4 The wait staff has always been friendly and never had an issue with them.
So to sum it up, world class sushi with a basic menu that is priced accordingly which is overlooked by someone completely oblivious that he insulting to his clientele

The place is small, but was half-​empty when my party of five arrived. All adults in town for a conference. Surprisingly, they turned my group away, quite rudely.
We had five people, but offered to split into separate tables. They refused.
This isn’t the best or most authentic sushi bar in town, so there isn’t a good reason for anyone to eat here. Avoid it.

Revision: so, it seems that Ajihei is probably the highest-​quality sushi that you’re going to get in Princeton. It’s definitely not on par with any of the best sushi places in say, New York, but I’m sure it’s hard to get good, sushi-​grade fish in Central Jersey. That being said, it’s all fairly fresh and the menu is pretty much all good. I’m a fan of the chirashi. It’s nice to be able to have uni.
Basically, if you want sushi that’s more on the higher end of things, come to Ajihei. If you want cheap sushi, go to Sakura Express. Just be aware that they don’t take reservations, and you can’t have a group larger than 4 people.

One more update, and then I’ll stop!
I stopped by Ajihei for another lunch, and really enjoyed my experience. They’ve perfected their updated menu and made a few other tweaks. Here’s an abridged review with some tasting notes:
Service/​Interior:
— Small interior, simple spartan, they’ve thankfully ditched the garish, juvenile murals
— Service is faster-​than-​usual Japanese. Waitresses are very pleasant, and are happy to accommodate preferences
— Sushi bar is all wood and the chef sits behind this. There is no interaction and no inspection of his fish/​cutting skills. A bummer
Sushi:
— Freshest fish in the area, the hamachi and eel, especially (both anago and unagi varieties) are moist and delicious
— They have some fish specials, such as salmon belly which are a cut above the usual, as well
— Ikura is a lot better than most restaurants in the area, but still is pre-​frozen (you can tell as not every egg is perfectly round, a few are deflate-​gated)
— Sushi rice (shari) really shines here, puffy but still tight, a touch sweet with some rice vinegar. Served slightly above room temperature, as I like
— Chirashi deluxe is a good bet, and they serve it with some sesame seeds and sweet paste in a very traditional bowl
— Miso soup is served at the beginning, not end of meal, probably to appeal to the American expectations
— Edamame is fresh
— Seaweed salads include a boring, iceberg lettuce base, but then have real seaweed on top (basically a microcosm of the Ajihei experience which is traditional, but not quite up to 100%)
— Wasabi is fake, ginger is fresh
They’re focusing on some ramen dishes now, and the noodles and broth look nice and fresh in this winter weather! I’m more of a sushi guy, so haven’t sampled the soups myself

Pricey, but decent sushi.
I really like their Hokkuai (Hokkai?) don. I usually get chirashi bowls, but that’s because they don’t have the specific sashimi I like. The Hokkuai don is my perfect bowl: salmon, scallop, ikura, and uni. Aside from amaebi, those are literally all my favorite sashimi. Unfortunately, it’s $ 29 and they give you way too much rice. The uni is also weird… maybe I’m used to fresh California uni, but Ajihei’s uni was weirdly anemic and tiny. The flavor wasn’t as creamy or briny as I like. The scallop was good. The salmon wasn’t as fatty or tender as I had hoped. The ikura was good. The idea of this dish is so perfect, but the quality of their execution was not.
The pork katsu curry is okay here. It’s not as pricy as their sushi, only $ 15 i think, but not worth the price. The pork is borderline dry, and the salad does not go with the curry.
The chicken karaage is also borderline dry, not the deliciously tender fried chicken I was hoping for.
The tonkotsu ramen is probably okay for people who’ve never had tonkotsu ramen before. It’s not as rich or flavorful as most are, and the toppings leave a lot to be desired.
Also, the seating situation. They only have one 4-​person table, so we ended up sitting at the bar. That’s fine, but it’s the meh sushi that leaves me thinking I might not return here anytime soon.

I was here years ago, before the renovations and the huge price increase. The dining area is really cramped with close quarters. The dividers making the place look like office space. I was seated in full-​on view of the cash register. The restaurant itself is located underground, so there is no internet connection and poor mobile reception. Just FYI.
Otherwise, the menu is really pricey even for Princeton. I ordered rolls for $ 7 each and they were small, minimal fish. You definitely know something is wrong when I leave a restaurant starving. Miso soup reminded me of the kind I make myself out of Trader Joe’s packets. There is no meal less than $ 25 on the menu. These prices are astounding given the less-​than-​elegant restaurant.
Overall, I would not recommend. Not returning.

I’m not sure why it took me 6 years to try this restaurant. Location?
Pros:
–Pleasant & prompt service, no having to ask for tea & water refills
–Great quality fish – even *I* liked the mackerel
–relaxed & clean
–sticky sushi rice was perfect
–UNI!
–my son & I were happily satiated, not overstuffed as we often will become w/​sashimi
–sushi rice was truly awesome
–tables limited to 4. This might be a con for some, but it’s nice not having to deal with a giant, loud, party in such an intimate setting. That said, it also means I can only have lunch w/​friends if at least one of us gets a babysitter
Cons
–no high chairs (we used the carrier to strap my toddler to a seat)
–not sure why tamago & ebi were included in the chirashi, though looking up on Dr. Google, it’s not uncommon even though it’s the first time in 30 years I’ve had either in chirashi
–no sashimi platter (hence I ordered chirashi)
–dinner & lunch menu are the same (ie pricy for lunch), but there are 4 non-​sushi lunch specials for $ 11
–musak. I prefer any Japanese music – pop, traditional – when eating Japanese food
We had a nice lunch. Were we still hungry, I would have ordered the $ 11 fried salmon lunch w/​avocado cucumber roll, salad, & miso. The portion appeared small, but it was so very satisfying. Little Man ate well. I ate well. We left happy.
They packed up the leftover rice for me & I’d love to go back to try their lunch specials.
Compared to the other places in Princeton:
–Sakura: big, sloppy pieces, smelly, cheap
–Tomo: we love Mark San. Our go to place, even w/​kids. His octopus & squid are amazing.
–Mo C Mo C: rude. Cute place, but I won’t return.
–Nassau Sushi: mediocre sushi & disappointing Korean, but it’s pan-​Asian, so that is to be expected
$ 30 before tip: chirashi+uni, edamame, green tea included.

Came here with a dining companion for date night. We’re both huge sushi fanatics and were super psyched to check out Ajihei, especially after being disappointed at the other options for sushi around Princeton.
We had an assortment of sushi and sashimi (eel, caviar, sea urchin, spicy tuna, spicy yellowtail, spicy salmon) and they were as fresh and amazing as I’d expected it to be. My only complaint was that the sea urchin was a little fishy. The seafood here is on a completely different level than the other sushi places around town. But for such a huge mark up in price, I was also a little disappointed. The rice was really not up to par… it wasn’t that sticky warm sushi rice that you’d have and expect at higher end sushi places. It tasted like a second-​rate NYC place unfortunately.
All in all the best place in town for sushi, but I’d still go to New York if you’re gonna pay top dollar for sushi anyway (cite: Sushi Gallery — best value, better sushi and cheaper).
As for the service and pacing and troubles with getting seated. I guess we were lucky. We had pretty good service and pacing — nothing out of the ordinary. As for getting seated, since we were open to sitting at the bar and only a party of 2, it was hassle-​free. Since it wasn’t a busy night, as we were waiting for our sushi, a table opened up and we moved over without any problems.
They really deserve four stars for the food, but I’m docking them one for price.