A new restaurant just opened up recently in the Chinatown square in Richardson on the East side of Greenville between Arapaho and Beltline. We decided to give it a shot. I was skeptical at first because there was another Japanese restaurant in the same square so I wasn’t sure what Ajisen could offer to compete with it. Turned out better than I thought.
The inside decor of the restaurant was very nice. I think they’re trying to create an upscale atmosphere in contrast to the other restaurants around it. The servers to customers ratio was high, so service was very good. The food was somewhat unique, but having been to Japan and tasted the more authentic dishes over there, it’s hard not to compare. Cleaniness gets a fairly high mark because the restaurant was actually newly built so everything looked new and clean. We even got a hot towel to wipe our hands clean with.
Ajisen served up a rather healthy fare compared to many restaurants out there. Japanese cuisine is usually that way. But they do come at a cost. Each of our ramen bowls were $9 each. I remembered paying the same price, maybe even less, for a bowl of ramen in Japan. You have to understand that prices in Japan are at least 20-30% higher than prices here. Plus the ramen in Japan tasted tons better too. Not to say the ones at Ajisen weren’t good, they just couldn’t compare.
The “Casual” refers more to the food than to the decor…
…as you can see.
Many items on the menu are tailored to eat with beer. This style of cuisine is more for the “salaryman” who after a long day’s work decides to go out drinking with some beer snacks on the side as fillers. Because of this, I think, many of the dishes are on the salty side.
We sat literally next to the kitchen. Only thing separating us from the chefs a couple of feet away is a wall of glass.
Cajun roll made of fried crawfish, spicy mayo, and avacado. Pretty good.
A traditional ramen. Portion looked rather small though, so if you’re a big eater opt for something else on the side. Oh, and don’t let the soup go to waste because it’s the main ingredient in true authentic ramen.
There was actually a pretty good selection of ramen on the menu. This one had chicken karage, basically fried chicken.
This one immediately caught my eye because I’ve not seen anything like this before served here in the US. It’s a rather plain combo plate in Japan though, but here it deserves some attention. I like the combination of rice, curry, and fried chicken cutlet. Could be better if the curry was spicer though.
Ajisen
Ambiance: 7
Food: 6
Service: 8
Cleaniness: 7
Health: 6
Value: 4Overall: 6.5
Tags: Ajisen, grand opening, Japanese, casual dining, ramen, curry rice