By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

You don't have to go to Tokyo to get good sushi or Orlando either for that matter.
Aisa Japanese Steak House and Sushi is now open at The Loop in Kissimmee.




 

Featuring a master sushi chef from New York City and a large hibachi grill room with entertaining teppanyaki chefs, Aisa is a great place to go for that special event or just a fun night of dining.
That's Andy Ni, co-owner and manager, circulating around the sushi bar, dining area, grill room and bar.

“It has been really busy,” Ni said of the first few days of business, “but fun.”
The restaurant has an extensive menu (available online at www.aisajapanesesteakhouse.com.)
With so many sushi selections, hibachi grill selections and kitchen entrees, you probably could visit Aisa every day for at least three months and not have the same dining experience twice.
Ni, who  is from a town just outside of Beijing (almost everyone involved with the restaurant is from  Tokyo or China) said the restaurant has been in the works for several months.
The spacious location, next to Best Buy, features a sleek modern Asian décor, with highlights that include a waterfall next to the bar.

The restaurant is one of three owned by the partnership, with other locations in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio.

If you want to make a real evening of it, you need to have your appetizer at the sushi bar (and watch the sushi chef at work) or sit at one of the dinnerside-tables.
You can order special rolls. includeing house specialties such as the Godzilla roll (tempura style, with spicy tuna, avocado, masago, scallion and house special sauce on top; Famous roll (chicken tempura, crabmeat, asparagus, lettuce with house wasabi sauce; Lemon Oyster roll (fried oyster, seaweed salad, crunchy spicy sauce and avocado on top);  Yummy roll (greenwood seaweed salad, spicy mayonaisse, salmon, whitefish and shrimp). The special roll menu includes more than 35 rolls, starting at $7.50 to $11.95.

There is also a large selection of cut or handrolls with many fresh fish items including salmon, yellowtail, conch, as well as chicken and fried shrimp and scallop. Hand roll prices range from $3 for a cucumber roll to $6.95 for the spider roll with soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado, scallion and masago.

You can also start with an appetizer from the sushi bar before dinner. Appetizers include spicy green mussel (fresh green mussel baked with masago and spicy mayonnaise); tuna tataki (seared sliced tuna with a special ponzu sauce); baby octopus and yellowtail jalapeno (yellowtail with sliced jalapeno, served with ponzu sauce). There are also sushi  (four pieces) and sashimi appetizers (nine pieces).

If you just want to feast on sushi and sashimi, there are larger entree portions.  Entrees are served with miso soup and salad.
Entrees include the maki combo (California roll, spicy salmon roll and tuna roll); sashimi deluxe (21 pieces of assorted fresh fish); sushi and sashimi combo (five pieces of sushi, 12 pieces of sashimi and a spicy tuna roll); trio sashimi (five pieces each of tuna, salmon and yellowtail); chirashi (variety of raw fish over seasoned rice); dragon boat (six pieces of sushi, 10 pieces of sashimi and a dragon roll) and Aisa boat (10 pieces of sushi, 20 pieces of sashimi, Aisa roll and rainbow roll.)
Sushi and sashimi are also available by the single piece.
Regular Asian appetizers are also available for the kitchen (pork dumplings, spring rolls, fried assorted vegetables, etc.)

Asian entrees include favorites such as chicken, shrimp, beef, salmon and seafood teriyaki as well as noodle and rice dishes.

Our  visit to the sushi bar included a very fresh tasting variety of sushi and sashimi, served with artistic flair.

For families and special events, the main attraction is in the hibachi room. There are large grill tables in the room, so the wait should not be long, except on the busiest of nights.
Hibachi dinners (served with mushroom soup, house salad, shrimp appetizer, vegetable and noodles) start at $11 for vegetable up to $30 for the seafood combination featuring shrimp, scallops and lobster tail. Other choices include chicken, scallops, salmon, calamari, New York strip steak, chicken and steak   (or salmon or shrimp) as well as other combinations with filet mignon. The Aisa Supreme for two ($52)  features chicken, filet mignon, shrimp, scallop and lobster.

We tried the chicken and steak combination, which was tasty, as was the rice, soup and vegetables.
The show put on by the chef was entertaining and interactive.
The bar features an assortment of beer, wine and saki.
Soon to come are outdoor tables, next to the bar.

Aisa also has luncheon-sized portions  of the kitchen menu items, sushi and sashimi and rolls, as well as an hibachi lunch.
The Maki Lunch special is $8.75 and features any two lunch rolls. There are 12 to choose from, as well as soup and salad.

Hibachi lunch entrees are $8.95 with your choice of chicken, vegetable, salmon, steak, scallop or shrimp.
Also on the luncheon menu are a variety of teriyaki and tempura $7.95-$8.95. For an extra $3, the benito box includes a spring roll, egg fried rice, two pieces of crunch roll and two pieces of gyoza.
Aisa is open daily, lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Dinner is served from 4:30 to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 4:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is open 12:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Call 407 846-8828 for more information.