Wazzabi Japanese Steakhouse

After having visited Takashi's in Salt Lake City (sushi restaurant that we loved - see Blog entries on Trip to Yellowstone)we felt a void in our local ability to find sushi that would come close in the preparation and ingredients used at Takashi's to make them so very exquisitely tasty. We love the sushi at Kobe's and it has a great intimate atmosphere, but the sushi is served in a more traditional manner and the only sauce available is the soy, doctored up with a little wassabie and ginger.

We were looking for something more flavorful like we had in Salt Lake City.(of all places) Last night we found something very close. Wazzabi has excellent quality sushi and they have the ingenuity to serve it with numerous sauces that can only enhance the taste experience. Well, it did. The food was superb.

We shared several of the menu entries. We started with a Tataki Roll which was white tuna and scallion wrapped with yellow fin tuna and singed with a torch like a creme brulee. This was served with a flavorful sauce that included some coleslaw. It was a mild flavor but delicious nevertheless; And the fatty tuna or Toro sashimi which was very good and tasty. The helpful servers brought several sauces to the table at our request that we sampled and each was more delicious than the last. We both enjoyed the hot sauce best. We also had some ponzu sauce and a sweet and sour sauce that was mild.
Next came the Tuna Fire Balls served with a delicious sauce and the New York Style Red Snapper Sashimi served in a delicious sweet sauce. The snapper was heavenly. The Fire balls were good, but they were fried and more commercial in appeal. Again the snapper is a must have. (the toro too)
That was followed by the Beef Tataki and Tuna Tataki. Tataki denotes a dish that is grilled lightly on the surface, then it is chopped or pounded. These were seasoned with garlic. They both came served in their own sauce. The beef was a sweet delicate sauce and the tuna had a more savory sauce. They were both spectacular. We enjoyed them even more by eating one morsel of beef and then one of tuna alternatively.Ken was right though, the Beef Tataki was the winner in overall flavor.

Next (yes we had more) came the Sashimi Scallops. They were excellent. These were served without sauce. The doctored soy sauce worked best on these incredible morsels.
and to end this incredible meal, we were recommended the Mango and Guava Cheesecake. This was served with a mango and guava moose. It was a delicious choice.
Wazzabi's has a full bar and a great selection of flavored martinis albeit these drinks are a little on the expensive side. The Gray Goose vodka on the other hand was less expensive by 25%.

The setting was bright and colorful, and the service was great. We were surprised at how quickly we would get our orders considering the place was full. They are also a steak house and have a glass enclose room with 6 hibachi tables where the food is cooked in your presence.
The restaurant has complimentary valet parking which is great because this part of Winter Park across the street from the Winter Park Village can get very crowded and parking is at a premium.
We loved Wazzabi's. We are glad that we have found at least one place in Orlando that comes very close to our all time favorite, Takashi's. Ken and Len give Wazzabi Japanese Steakhouse 4.5 FORKS
Please come back and visit soon because we are going to be checking out several more sushi restaurants and we will let you know where the most innovative sushi and sashimi is being served, as Len and Ken go out Eating Around Town....and Beyond.