One World, One Maki
We were told that Asakuma’s social teppanyaki chefs speak both English and Japanese, tending towards the sort of chit-chat with diners that follows from their southern California origins. So, all things considered, we instead opted for sushi, thinking it more suitable lunchtime fare and assuming we could stimulate enough conversation without a food-flipping stranger present. We were wrong about the conversation but right about the sushi. The Olympic Maki (￥55 as part of a lunch set, ￥88 for dinner) was a fine mixture of tempura shrimp and spicy tuna, topped with green onion and lobster and eel sauces. The roll was ample and delectable-two qualities that spell satisfaction. We also tried the Beef Steak Tempura meal set (￥75), a rather modest serving of somewhat tender meat fleshed out by large portions of everything else-tempura vegetables and prawn, miso soup, salad and poppy-seed-topped rice. With decent dishes and reasonable prices, Asakuma’s a nice new place for a Japanese bite.

Mike Byrd

Contact: 2F, Vantone Centre, 6 Chaoyangmennei Dajie, 朝阳门外大街甲6号，万通中心2层，5907-1395