Budina Pan Asian Cuisine
Budina Pan Asian Cuisine is a purveyor of just about all kinds of far eastern cuisine including plenty of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes. It’s kind of a funny menu, really, because with all of the different kinds of food to try make it the kind of place where you can go with a big group of people and everyone will find something they like.
CJ Chan
One of many Asian cuisine options in southeast Dayton, CJ Chan sits at an intersection of Wilmington Pike, Shroyer Road and a few other roads that allows the place to cater to the downtown area to the north, and the tightly-packed suburbs to the east and south. CJ Chan serves up classic Chinese take out options as well as a few different kinds of sushi. It’s a tight market for Chinese food in this area, there’s a ton of it in town. Still, it’s hard to beat the convenience of a place as centrally located as this one.
Sima Korean and Japanese
Sima Korean and Japanese Restaurant brings another take on finer Asian cuisine to the Kettering neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio. If you live in the area, you’ve no doubt been attracted by the giant signs advertising the restaurant’s defining specials: a lunch sushi buffet and an Asian barbecue treatment which has been outstanding. If you’ve never set foot in the place, you’d be amazed at how sleek and attractive the interior is; it definitely feels like fine dining. If you like sushi then this is a place you’ll definitely want to try. It’s a great showing for the concept.
Kyoto Sushi Bar
Kyoto Sushi Bar and Japanese Cuisine has two locations; one in Ontario, Canada, and one in northeastern Cincinnati, which opened in 2005. It’s got a menu with a lot of the great classic Japanese cuisine, but this place is mainly for sushi. With a few dozen different varieties, it’s the kind of place that really jumped on the sushi concept when there weren’t a lot of other places like it in the suburbs. As the popularity of sushi has grown in Ohio, the cuisine that Kyoto Sushi Bar serves has withstood the test of time. It’s really good sushi.
Dancing Wasabi
Having been showered with accolades since its establishment in the Hyde Park area of Cincinnati, Dancing Wasabi is a trendy Japanese cuisine place with a specialty for sushi. Created under the watchful guise of sushi chef Charlie Choi, this place serves good, fast lunch cuisine for the many small businesses and neighborhoods that pack this quarter of the suburbs. Most interestingly, it’s an early-morning meal option for the bustling surrounding nightlife; as late as 4 a.m. this place is a bustle with hungry bargoers looking for something good to eat. Sushi might not be the first thing that comes to mind after a night of drinks, but one way or another, day or night, Dancing Wasabi should be a destination.
Choe’s Asian Gourmet
As one of the many refined dining destinations at The Greene in east Dayton, Choe’s Asian Gourmet is an upscale purveyor of both Chinese and Thai dishes as well as sushi and vegetarian dishes. It’s a classy little joint, the kind with a very sleek contemporary feel and where you might want to dress up a little. The people here seem to pride themselves on creating an excellent dining experience, and you certainly will find that there is plenty to appreciate here.
Friends Sushi
Straddling Chicago’s Near North Side and Gold Coast downtown districts, Friends Sushi looks from the outside to be nothing special, but upon walking in, you’ll find yourself in one of the cities trendiest establishments. Once you’re done ogling the fun and fancy atmosphere, you’ll discover a mouth-watering menu of delicacies. This sushi house is also a great nightspot, where sake and Asian martinis flow and people of all kinds come out for a different kind of bar.
But you shouldn’t wait until nighttime to give this place a try.
Kabuki Korean & Japanese Restaurant
Kabuki has an exquisite menu of sushis, ranging from some fairly basic varieties commonly found in local grocery stores to some of the tastiest rolls I’ve ever tried. Forgo the simple California roll completely- it would be a waste of an opportunity to try some really delicious sushi. From the sweet and textural crunch munch roll, to the spicy and flavorful TNT roll, the different varieties are certainly a home run. I have always preferred the simpler sushi. No more. These rolls are filled to the brim with crab, tuna, salmon, shrimp and caviar. Some are fried after that. If there was ever a great sushi place I would recommend, this would be it.
FUSIAN
The product of recent college graduates Zach and Josh Weprin and Stephan Harman, FUSIAN embodies a success story many a restaurateur should seek to emulate. The aggressive young build-your-own-sushi business opened its first location in Cincinnati in 2010 and won the young entrepreneurs numerous accolades before appearing in Dayton for their second location in October 2011. The restaurant is sleek, modern, and most importantly progressive — taking a traditional and finessed dish and making it modern, approachable and relevant for a younger college kid generation. Sushi is a healthy food which has grown in popularity in the United States, and FUSIAN is absolutely outstanding.
Lily’s Asian Cuisine
Under new management, Lily’s Asian Cuisine is one of many options along Bethel Road serving hungry locals with Chinese and Japanese cuisine; with a sushi bar and a simple menu of stir fry Chinese dishes, the place has sought to improve a previously mediocre reputation with a new cook and a new menu. The place has a lot of typical Chinese fare to offer and with many specials (including frequent customer cards and coupons) the place is trying to build a local customer base. It’s got good things and bad things and overall I’d call it a decent place to eat.
