Comments on: Sushi Comes to Columbia City; Wabi-Sabi to Open Wednesday

By: Bien

Bien — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:09:52 +0000

Hope your son’s OK.
I’ll support this neighborhood joint, just for that.

By: ahow

ahow — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:07:43 +0000

I want to give a HUGE shout out to the staff at WabiSabi today around 12:30pm. I had to run out of there like a bat out of hayall. I was waiting for my order and got a call that my son had been injured and needed to go to the ER. I RAN to the bar to say I had to leave, and started trying to throw cash at the staff. They politely yet firmly refused my $ and urged me to go.

Thank you WabiSabi folks! I promise to come back soon and more than make up for the loss on my order today.

Please support neighborhood joints like this- where they know how to treat you like a neighbor.

Sorry to the dude on the sidewalk that I just about ran over. Actually it was his little dog that almost got ran over. Hope I didn’t bust your retractable leash.

By: MarkB

MarkB — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:17:32 +0000

Good to hear, I’m not used to pizza for desert.
I just chiseled some sashimi from a chunk of granite in less than an hour, how’s that for art? J/K

By: delicioussponge

delicioussponge — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:45:26 +0000

LOL. I catch your drift, MarkB.
It doesn’t seem intuitive that raw fish should take so long to get out to the table. But sashimi is an art. And there were too few artists behind the sushi bar last night. Tonight and from now on, there will be more on hand to help satisfy and satiate the appetite of CC sushi lovers.

By: MarkB

MarkB — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:41:13 +0000

Cool, I was just wondering if my sashimi was done yet.

By: delicioussponge

delicioussponge — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:06:26 +0000

Update from Thoa at Wabi-Sabi Sushi Bar & Restaurant:
More sushi chefs and servers on hand for tonight, through the weekend, and for foreseeable future! Kinks are being worked out quickly. It’s still only Day 2, but staffing will be in place to better handle the enthusiastic welcome Wabi-Sabi received from the Rainier Valley community last night.

By: MarkB

MarkB — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:50:46 +0000

I will definitely go back in a week or so, maybe I was just anxious since I have a birthday coming up next year. J/K

By: ahow

ahow — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:46:36 +0000

DS-

You are right, of course. “Pent-up demand” is what got unleashed, fo sho. People were willing to wait for a table, a veeeery long time. Impressive. I’ll try to zen-out next time. Like I said, I’m going back. No doubt. What we tried was excellent. I just have to add a sitter to my dining $$ experience, I’d rather slit my wrists with a chopstick than take my kids in there (although my particular party was so giddy that we could have been taken for a bit less than “mature”, ourselves…Jackass I’m talking to YOU)

But just so I’m clear: It was absolutely clear from the execution of the interior ambiance and the food that these are people that know what they’re doing. I have no doubt that the aforementioned glacial pace will improve.

By: delicioussponge

delicioussponge — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:26:58 +0000

Yo! Be patient! This place will rock once it gets rolling. They were not prepared for the pent-up demand for sushi in Columbia City and imagined they’d have a “quiet opening.” They will be staffing up, like, now. It’s understandable to want to visit a long-awaited restaurant the first day it opens, but seriously, it’s the FIRST DAY. They are working out the kinks. Wabi-Sabi is already a fantastic addition to CC. It’s a REAL restaurant serving high-quality sushi, Japanese comfort food, with Japanese beers, sake, full bar, and awesome specialty cocktails. Chillax.

BTW, you must try their mouth-watering pan-fried gyoza; the homey, comforting beef bowl; the refreshingly healthy crab, avocado, grapefruit salad with red leaf lettuce; the tempura. And for specialty sushi rolls, don’t miss the volcano roll with scallop and lemon zest; the Saigon tuna roll wrapped in rice paper; the gorgeous Columbia City riceless roll–cucumber wrapped around tuna–it looks like a slice of watermelon; the Rainier Roll, spicy tuna atop a crunchy vegetable roll with tempura scallion; or the CEVICHE ROLL–lime-marinated surf clam and scallop, avocado, and charred lime peel. YUM.

Did I mention: Be patient? Think back (if you were here) to when Tutta Bella opened and you had to go down the line to order food–there was no table service. Wabi-Sabi will get up to speed sooner than you think! Thoa will make it happen. This woman is a veteran restaurateur.

peace out.

By: ahow

ahow — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:29:17 +0000

Agreed. They did have Kirin on draft, which was cool. The fish was very fresh. Too bad they had to grow it and catch it before they could serve it to us. Slow is an understatement. We gave up on part of our order. But I’m def going back. I don’t care how long they take it is still quicker than jetting to Mashiko’s or Toyoda’s. And I’m sure they’ll get it worked out.