Walking into the dimmed entryway, a small plastic cat stares at customers, waving its paw rhythmically up and down. The aroma of frying fish drifts through the restaurant, while five hostesses stand ready to assist the seemingly unending crowd waiting to be seated. The brightest area of the large restaurant illuminates the Sou Chefs, chopping and cutting, running around with urgency. They never stop their cutting and rolling and placing, always working fervishly on some roll, wonton, or tempura to be prepared.

A crowd of customers sit at the sushi bar in front of the chefs, gazing with awe at their ceaseless speed and delicacy. A dark blue light lights up from the bottoms of the customers’ stools at the bar, making the sushi bar the main attraction of the Asian restaurant.

Wakame Sushi and Asian Bistro serves authentic Asian cuisine in a stylish manner. Casual enough to grab a bite to eat with friends on the spur of the moment, Wakame is also perfect for a date night with dimmed lights and wonderful presentation of meals.

Despite not being a huge sushi lover personally, Wakame went above and beyond expectations with dining options for every taste bud. Wakame includes menu options for a customer with any taste: the Vegetable Roll, with avocado, cucumber, asparagus, and cream cheese for vegetarians; the Hot and Spicy Girl Roll including spicy tuna, spicy yellowtail, and tempura bits, tipped with salmon and tempura bits, and drizzled with spicy mayo sauce for those with a spicy appetite; and the Crunch Roll with shrimp tempura, cucumber, topped with crunchy tempura bits, finished with spicy mayo and sweet eel sauce for those who prefer cooked fish.

The customer favorite sushi roll is called the Crazy Monkey Roll, and includes salmon, avocado and cream cheese, battered and deep fried, and is topped with spicy mayo and eel sauce to create a magnificent crunchy, creamy sensation to anyone’s taste buds.

Wakame’s happy hour is Monday through Sunday from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m., where sushi is nearly half of the regular price, but still just as tasty. The price of Wakame in general is not nearly as expensive as most sushi restaurants, with sushi roll prices ranging from $3.75 to $12.00. However, these low-priced items certainly do not match the quality of the food, which exceeded expectations.

Although the prices are just as phenomenal as the sushi itself, the service of Wakame could be improved. It seemed as if there were not enough waiters and an overabundance of hosts. While there are consistently 5 hosts standing at the front of the restaurant at all times, the waiters only came to the tables once or twice during the meal.