Asahi Sushi: A pretty good option for Hopkins students

Located in Fells Point, Asahi Sushi offers a welcome alternative to the options founds near campus at CharMar or Niwana.

While CharMar sushi is always a good option for a quick fix on campus, it can get old and can sometimes be suspicious. Last week, a sushi variety box was spotted containing three rolls garnished with cheerios. Yes, cheerios on sushi.

Asahi is known for its flavorful and fresh sushi, but its menu extends far beyond sushi and sashimi. The menu includes appetizers, soups and salads, entrees both cooked and raw, and a selection of Korean dishes.

We got edamame for the table to start and then tried the chicken teriyaki, which came with miso soup and a side salad, and some sushi rolls.

Chicken teriyaki, priced at $10.95, was good but the teriyaki flavor was very subtle and barely there at all. That being said, we managed to clean the plate anyway, so although the dish wasn’t what we were expecting we clearly enjoyed it. The salad with delicious ginger dressing and miso soup make this dish worth it.

For sushi, we ordered a spicy tuna roll, eel and avocado roll and vegetable roll with avocado, cucumber and carrot. The spicy tuna, which was $4.50, was spicier than any spicy tuna roll I’ve tasted before, but it had good flavor. Eel avocado, $5.95, is one of my personal favorites and didn’t disappoint. For those who don’t eat fish, the veggie rolls were fresh and very good too.

Asahi serves a variety of special rolls too, but these are more expensive so we, who are on college budgets, stuck to the basics.

For the sushi, our waiter asked us to fill out a piece of paper with our orders; this made separate checks at the end of our meal so easy, and we were relieved to avoid the ten-minute-long project of calculating what each person owes.

Overall the food was good, but it took forever to arrive at our table. This slow service may have been due to the fact that we were a big group and were seated in a private upstairs room.

The atmosphere upstairs was nothing to write home about. There was a leftover happy birthday sign still hanging on the wall from another event. But Asahi was a great place to go with a group of people because we had our own space and it was quiet enough to hear everyone at the table.

Downstairs the atmosphere is lively with a sushi bar in the center of the space and tables surrounding it. There is seating at the counter where you can watch your sushi as it’s made or the game on TV.

Asahi is BYOB, which adds to the fun and affordability of this tasty joint. It is also open for lunch and offers take-out.

This place is worth checking out. Make a reservation and come with a group! The atmosphere is low-key and casual. The 21+ crowd can arrive with drinks in hand. The food is fresh, the servers are friendly, and the price is right.

Check out their website at www.asahisushifellspoint.com!