Obasan

The specialty rolls are huge! I started with tofu agedashi and I was very surprised by the size of my salmon lover roll and I couldn’t finish the spicy tuna hand roll since I was so full. Everything was delicious! My friends were also pleased and surprised by their portions. Honestly, we expected tiny to average sized rolls and we ended up getting so much more! We’ll definitely return!

I remember when this place first opened and I lived right down the street. It was a miracle. It’s on the small side, but it’s cozy, and the woman who works there is amazing and lovely. The gyoza is so soft and good and not over-​fried like a lot of places, and the albacore is melt-​in-​your-​mouth quality every time. Five stars.

This review is based on their house spicy ramen. Other reviews were right about it just being top ramen 25¢ noodles… Just kind of glorified. It is presented nicely, however, the food is what matters. I’m a big ramen fan and I know this place isn’t known for its ramen but it being Japanese… I don’t think it should suck so bad. Didn’t feel like going somewhere further since I was tired. Nonetheless, if it were me I wouldn’t have it in the menu.

Cute and cozy spot for yummy Asian food. Their gyoza is great! We also love their miso soup, edemame, and our favorite thing their is the seared salmon roll. Not too expensive when we went for dinner but not super cheap. We would definitely go back!

My new favorite lunch take out place. Their bentos are huge! The waitress is always nice.

Came here on New Year’s Eve when most places had huge waits. They were able to seat us within 20 minutes. The sushi was wonderful – the rice was warm and the fish was cold and very flavorful. My wife got a California roll that came chock full of crab and even topped with tobiko. Despite coming in very hungry, we both left stuffed for about $ 50, a great price for that much sushi. We’re definitely coming back here!

It may be because I’m spoiled in California with a plethora of Japanese sushi bars. The service was great!
The Seattle Roll was okay. Some of the pieces didn’t taste fresh.

Have been here several times. Consistent good service and good food for that price. Dragon roll is my favorite.

Tasty as always, clean, very friendly, but not annoying. Small family owned place. Portions a fairly big, lunch for 22 $ was quite enough for two of us. Rolls are nice, but I think sushi is better investment.

I’m very picky when it comes to sushi. This place was relatively inexpensive for the larger than usual portions, and the sushi was fresh. One of my friends ordered tonkatsu and it was a huge portion that he said was good. I would go back again. The only issue for me is that parking isn’t great in the area.

We are staying at the Marqueen Hotel across the street and wanted to find a local Japanese restaurant so this fit the bill nicely. Service was a little slow to start with as there was only one very friendly server with lots of tables but once we got served everything was great. The Chicken Teriyaki Bento box was a very large portion and very tasty. The Gyoza was cooked well and steamed not fried (which I prefer). Spider roll was good but the roll size is too large to handle. Ramen bowl was a little above average but not much spice (says spicy on the menu). I had a large Asahi. The bill was $ 59 for two.

Delicious house ramen and gyoza! Nice staff too. The chicken teriyaki was fine… they had delicious salad dressing!!!

The food is pretty good. Ordered yakisoba, kalbi beef, rainbow roll, and caterpillar roll. Generous portions. Yakisoba was saltier than I like. Generally yummy and the service is great.

Loved the sushi I ordered (avocado roll), but the tofu yakisoba was a bit bland.

The miso has a rich flavors that is better than others! We both had a bento box; one chicken teriyaki and one salmon. The boxes had California rolls, rice, salad, tempura and pot stickers. Very filling. The service is very slow with this small location but the food is worth the wait; two cooks and one server who greets everyone with «darling».

Never again! The only reason why it’s 2 stars and not 1, is because the waitress was very nice. But she did mess up everything that we ordered. Come to find out, that the surrounding tables had the wrong orders too (by overhearing their convos too). Then we were told that what was in front of us WAS what we ordered, (yakisoba and chicken ramen) which it wasn’t because we could see what we ordered on the table next to us! And we had their food. But she had already messed up on the first item of food, that she clearly didn’t want to admit another mishap. But when I finally got my CHICKEN RAMEN, it had ZERO taste. I actually couldn’t believe it. I paid, then got up and left the meal.
Needless to say, ill be calling my credit card Co. To remove the charge. Total BS.

We stumblrd upon this place. When you walk in, its very very clean and great service. The food had huge portions with very fresh quality. Definately will be going back. Great neighborhood gem.

Love this place! Super fresh and very large portions for a reasonable price! The owner May is always super sweet too!

Showed up for a late lunch on a Tuesday afternoon and the restaurant was empty… little did I know what a wonderful surprise awaited us. Since we were the only customers we got lots of extra attention and guidance on the large selection of rolls available.
Overall, I highly recommend this place. It isn’t a large establishment so I can see it filling up quickly on the weekend. Food was excellent, service was great and the place was clean and comfortable.
Definitely recommend checking this place out and come hungry.

How I heard of this place: A group of seven of us were meeting for dinner before heading to McCaw Hall to see the opera, «The Barber of Seville» and found that our initial plans for eating out were stifled by the sheer number of patrons dining at our selected establishment. Walking out of Toulouse Petit, we stumbled upon Obasan, and it’s a good thing we did!
Type of cuisine: Japanese with Korean and northwest flare.
Ambiance: A small establishment, dark without natural lighting in the evening, coordinating well with the dark, wooden furnishings. A small café, seating available at eight tables for either pairs or parties of four. We pushed a few of the tables together in order to seat our big party. The service was very friendly and efficient, recommendations and suggestions made as necessary. The place is unpretentious, casual, yet sleek and refined. The perfect combination of formal opera-​wear meets off-​the-​street pop in for a bite to eat.
What I ordered: To start, our party ordered the caterpillar roll ($ 9), unagi, shrimp, avocado and unagi sauce, as well as the dragon roll ($ 10) with shrimp tempura, imitation crab meat, cucumber, avocado, unagi and unagi sauce. We also had one order of boiled and salted edamame ($ 5) as well as sashimi maguro ($ 5 for three slices of tuna sashimi). For our main courses, we had three orders of the sake yaki (grilled salmon) bento ($ 14 each), which were each served with California rolls, salad, miso soup and vegetable/​prawn tempura. One order for the teriyaki chicken bento ($ 14) accompanied with the same sides and one selection of yakisoba seafood ($ 11) with shrimp, calamari and mussels. Finally, we had one order of the saba shioyaki ($ 11), grilled and lightly salted mackerel filet served with salad and miso soup.
What I loved: Of the dishes and items sampled, my favorites were the caterpillar and dragon rolls, caterpillar coming in slightly ahead. The sweet unagi, beautiful presentation and deliciously fresh flavors could not be beat!
Why I loved it: The service was friendly, the food plentiful and tasty and the space convenient and conducive to a pre-​opera meal.
Cost: Low to average ($ 11-​$ 18 per entrée)