Asahi

I’ve been going to Asahi since they’ve been open. Never had a bad experience. When Trisha and I go there on a date it’s usually so I can load up on sake and spicy tuna rolls so I don’t have to call my son afterwards.
I highly recommend the white dragon roll. My doctor says unagi is good for me in certain ways if you know what I mean. I also recommend the samurai roll and if you’re rolling cheap like I usually am when Skylarr needs his «ADD» medicine then go with the classic salmon roll, the tuna roll, or the yellowtail. All amazing.

This is a great establishment! The menu has lots of options, sushi, traditional stir-​fry, Korean stir fry, and «american chinese» style dishes. They’re all good, although I recommend the sushi and the appetizers. The service is good and the food arrives quickly. The presentation of the food is always nice, and the more expensive sushi rolls can be very artistic. It’s also a pretty good value. Lunch options begin in the $ 6 dollar range, including sushi, soup, salad, rice, egg roll, etc. That’s a steal! The dinner portions are more expensive but they are also huge, so think about splitting one with a friend :)

Well I will say I didn’t have high expectations because of the city it’s located in and this place was just ok. The décor needs a serious renovation as its outdated. However the customer service was spot on. Very attentive but not pushy. I took a stab at the samurai roll and the volcano. The samurai was just ok. But the volcano was awesome! Personal word of advice stay away the house ginger salad… not so great. The miso soup was o.k. not sure that I’ll back, unless they see some improvements to the décor. and quality of ingredients. I gave them 4 stars because of the volcano roll and customer service.

Sushi was fine in May. Staff were pretty nice, though they seemed more interested in the tv than our table. But then again, we were the only people in the place and maybe they didn’t want to hover. The vegetarian hibachi was perfectly fine.

I have been here twice, inexpensive hibachi, and average prices for sushi. But let me give you my opinion. DO NOT ORDER THE SUSHI… Not good, hibachi meals mediocre at best.
Waitresses could not remember who ordered what, pushy people with no grace. Can barely speak English and constantly misunderstanding me.
never again.

Really good sushi. Sort of pricey but most sushi isn’t cheap.
Main complaint is the bathroom situation. Lots of air fresheners all over the mens restroom, but still smells really bad. Lots of signs all over the womens restroom that say «Do not put anything in the toilets!!»
Seems unclean and unprofessional, but the sushi is good!

Slow service this trip food was good. They forgot our sushi altogether. The young lady could not understand English.

Awesome food! Robert made us a special sushi creation that was a work of art and would have won a prize. The staff are so friendly and they were even patient with my nieces baby who tried to eat a California roll. And you can imagine what the floor looked like. I will bring all my favorite people here!!!

Second time eating here. Not many choices in Gadsden, but we’ve found ourselves staying is this little town 3 or 4 times — it is a decent stop between two rock climbing areas.
This place is a solid choice. Good sushi and starters. A bit pricey for what you’d expect in rural Alabama, but on par with Atlanta prices. They made a special sweet potato tempura roll for me (I’m vegetarian). The tamago and Inari were both delicious. Edamame was okay.

Nah.
My wife, daughter, youngest son and I stayed at a lake house belonging to friends Nancy and Don for the weekend. We’d used the place as launch pad to bicycle part of the Chief Ladiga bike trail, from Anniston to Piedmont. A beautiful and fun trip on a gorgeous day. Part payment for the housing was to buy them dinner. I still owe them, I think.
It’s a little hard to find a good place to eat in Gadsden and surrounding burgs. Gadsden itself is very conservative. Culinarily speaking, that means when you ask someone to recommend a restaurant, they’re even more likely than the average Joe Bob to steer you toward either a very well-​established local steam-​table eatery or a chain restaurant. Gadsden is also kind of economically depressed, so the combination results in few restaurant choices, and even fewer interesting ones. But a few places are rated more than three Unilocal stars, and we decided to try Asahi.
Now, part of the issue was that we hit Asahi right at the end of an exciting Auburn — Texas A&M game. Our mistake, but how were we to know? My wife is an Alabama fan, so we don’t follow those little measly teams. Anywho, the service started off a LITTLE slow, because EVERYBODY in the place but us was glued to the TV. We’ll cut them a lot of slack for this, even if they wear orange on weekends.
Auburn won in an upset 45 — 41 (war eagle!) so service got much better. Not stellar, but much better. Still had to ask twice for water.
We started with Gyoza, a Japanese fried pork dumpling. It was fine, but kind of toned-​down and one-​note. Almost tasted like a potsticker made with Jimmy Dean mild sausage. I loved the fried crispy tofu. Now, I wish the things weren’t called that, because they aren’t crispy, here or anywhere else. It’s tofu fried with spices and stuff. It might have a crispy crust right after it’s fried, but by the time it hits the table, it has developed a wonderfully delicately chewy kind of rind on it, full of the flavor of whatever it was cooked with and whatever sauce it is married to. This recipe had only a thin crust — some versions seem to have 95% crust — and the silken tofu inside was warm and melt-​in-​your mouth delicious. Yes, I used the words «delicious» and «tofu» in the same sentence. The sauce was a nice mild brown sauce with veggies that went with the tofu really well. And no one liked it but me. Hm.
The soups were fine. I’m not a soup lover, but my hot-​and-​sour soup was better than most I’ve tried. I liked the addition of a lot of carrots and extra mushrooms, giving it a nice extra dimension. Get that. The side salad was the usual soggy iceberg lettuce with orange-​y-​yellow ginger-​ish dressing. Yuck. My wife loved her cucumber salad. Get that.
My son and I tried a Lion King sushi roll. He liked it, but I thought it was just OK. It was too big around to even pretend to eat delicately. Sushi American style — big, safe and messy.
The women’s side of the table all got tempura vegetables. They all raved about them. Get that. We men tried several different things. My son got stir-​fried noodles. I don’t remember what Don got. Neither of them raved, but their dinners were consumed. I had pork bul go gi. It was OK, not at all inedible, but bulgogi is one of those things that usually is — and so should always be — excellent. It should be like meat candy or meat potato chips, just something that’s great and fun to eat and always yummy. OK isn’t nearly good enough. So when I say it was the worst bulgogi I’ve ever had but that it was still OK and I brought the leftovers home to have for lunch today, you’ll know that I’m not nuts. (Please explain it to my wife for me.)
At the end of dinner, an unpleasant smell of cigarette smoke came wafting through the dining room. I bet it was staff smoking on the dock, but I’m not sure. I didn’t see anyone smoking in the dining room, and don’t know if that’s allowed.
I notice that a lot of the reviews for Asahi and other area restaurants say either explicitly or imply that the stars the reviewers gave were given relative to other Gadsden-​area establishments. That’s not good. Gadsdonians deserve better.
The lake is beautiful. We love Don and Nancy and enjoy the heck out of their lake house. Their neighbors are great. But we’re still looking for a good place to eat around there. There are a few more 4+ Unilocal star places to try. I hope they aren’t all based on this-is-good-as-you’re-going-to-get-around-here.

I’m not one to just throw out 5 stars, but I really love this place and have eaten here many times. The sushi is absolutely the best that you will find in Gadsden, Al and surrounding areas. I am not a sushi connoisseur but I am becoming one and have had the pleasure to eat great sushi, and while this is not on the level of that, it is pretty darn close.
The atmosphere is great although the music that was playing was a single track repeat, so the whole time we were there only one song played. Also we were there near closing time and around 9:00 one of the employees started smoking (which I am allergic to) this is the reason for my deduction of 1 star. If it were not for the repeated track and the smoking I would have given this place 5 stars easily.
The Staff is very nice and professional and you will have a great time. Also if you want another option for real awesome food at this restaurant ask for the «other menu». I believe it was the red pepper shrimp and the red pepper chicken, those are extremely good.
As for carry out orders, you should always check your order, I ordered Ika (squid) one time and got Tako (octopus) instead. Also the chop sticks are rather splintery some times so be careful about that.

We stopped by here for dinner one weekend night. I was thinking «Sushi… in Gadsden, Alabama… really? How good could this be?» But, I was pleasantly surprised! We had the Fuji Mountain Roll, Gadsden Roll, and the California Roll. They were all very good! The Gadsden roll had just the right amount of spice on it for me without being too spicy for my date (who’s not a spicy food eater). We both loved the Fuji Mountain Roll, which had a perfect blend of flavors. All of the food was fresh and looked very appetizing. Each of the rolls were very big and my eyes were bigger than my stomach… I almost couldn’t finish all the food!
As for the décor, it’s certainly nothing very special. It reminded me of my local Chinese Buffet (and that’s not a good thing). Although, the bar looked very nice and was neatly arranged. The place was clean and well maintained (unlike the Chinese Buffet).
The service was decent. No personality or anything spectacular, but they kept our drinks full and got the food out to us quickly. I also loved the fact that they serve Pepsi. It’s not often you can find someplace serving Pepsi here in the south!
Overall, I had to give this place four stars because the food was great! If you’re craving sushi and you’re nearby, you should check this place out!

The tea didn’t taste right, like it was soured. I am intensely sensitive to such a thing anyway. I complained and the staff was highly offended that such would happen and they immediately rectified the problem. I am a Coke snob and they serve Pepsi products. That’s why I tried the tea. Their sushi is always spectacular; fresh and inventive. I love the War Eagle and Auburn. I can take or leave their salad. It’s pretty much just iceberg lettuce saturated in dressing. The soup is broth like and always extremely flavorful.
There is no better sushi to be found! If they Improved their salad and drink choices they would easily earn 5 stars.