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Wasabi's Asian fast food enlivens healthful fare
This casual restaurant has built a loyal following in south San Jose by serving healthy Asian food in a flash to people looking for a refuge from burgers and fries. Rice bowls, wraps and noodles fly out of the kitchen almost as fast as orders are placed. You know they're fresh because you can watch the cooks put them together in the open kitchen just behind the counter.
February 4, 2003
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Feb. 5) - The vegetables are crisp, the rice is freshly cooked and the chicken is stir-fried on the spot. Can this be fast food? At Wasabi it is. This casual restaurant has built a loyal following in south San Jose by serving healthy Asian food in a flash to people looking for a refuge from burgers and fries. Rice bowls, wraps and noodles fly out of the kitchen almost as fast as orders are placed. You know they're fresh because you can watch the cooks put them together in the open kitchen just behind the counter. Although sauces tend to be sweet, portions are large and prices are low. This is fast food that's as good for your wallet as it is your conscience. Wasabi moved into slick quarters in a shopping center at the corner of Blossom Hill Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard six years ago. The building, which formerly housed Cafe Wrap, is painted in bright purples, golds and greens. It's an airy, cheerful setting with small tables and a long bar against the window to seat 47. Sauces add variety. On the wall is a menu of rice-based dishes that can be tweaked with sauces to reflect Japanese, Hawaiian, Korean, Thai and Indian influences. Manager Raymond Wu says the vegetables are cut every three hours, and all the sauces and soups are made daily. Skinless chicken and lean beef are cooked to order. "We don't even have fryers," Wu notes. "We don't use a lot of oil." The basic dish is a rice bowl topped with stir-fried chicken or beef and slightly crunchy broccoli, onions, carrots and cabbage. Add a soy-based sauce for a teriyaki bowl, peanut sauce for a Thai bowl, garlic sauce for a Korean bowl. Prices range from $2.99 to $4.99, depending on ingredients and portion size. All white meat chicken is priced at 50 cents more. Tucked in a tortilla the wraps ($4.89) are essentially rice bowl ingredients tucked into a large flour tortilla with a light cole slaw. Ramen and udon noodle soups ($4.99) also are available. Regular orders come on styrofoam, large on plastic plates or bowls. We found the Korean chicken bowl ($3.69, regular) pleasant with moist chunks of chicken, crisp vegetables and nutty, sticky rice, although the sauce was only slightly spicy. The teriyaki steak bowl ($5.29, large) was actually a huge platter of hot rice blanketed with thin slices of stir-fried beef — a few of them tough — chunks of cabbage, broccoli and a thick, glossy sauce that was a bit too sweet. Excess sugar also marred the peanut sauce in the gargantuan but otherwise tasty Bangkok wrap. Udon soup offered fat, slippery, properly chewy noodles with just a bit of bite and the same cast of vegetables in a bland broth helped immensely by a shot of soy sauce. It didn't measure up to the best noodle shop fare, but it felt soothing and nourishing. Although California rolls ($2.19 for 4) were ordinary, jumbo pot stickers stuffed full of juicy pork and a hint of ginger ($4.99 for 4) were a hit. The wrapper was thicker than usual but tender and pan-fried to a golden brown with crunchy edges. This is not gourmet fare, but it is honest, fresh food at a good price. And did I mention fast? Wasabi 850 Blossom Hill Road, at Santa Teresa Boulevard, San Jose. (408) 629-3888 - Types of food: Pan-Asian rice bowls, wraps and noodle soups - Average meal price: Under $10.
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