Ajihei

Simply the freshest fish, expertly prepared by a former Nobu chef, accounts for the popularity of this Japanese favorite on Princeton’s Chambers Street.

By: Pat Tanner

Ajihei

11 Chambers St.

Princeton

(609) 252-1158
Food: Excellent

Service: Efficient

Prices: Moderate

Cuisine: Sushi/Japanese

Ambiance: Casual, streamlined

Hours: Lunch: Tues.-Fri. noon to 2 p.m.; Dinner: Tues.-Sat. 6-9:15 p.m., Sun. 6-8 p.m.

Essentials: Major credit cards accepted; BYO; no smoking; not wheelchair accessible; dinner reservations suggested.

Directions

   When Ajihei Japanese Restaurant opened a couple of years ago in a tiny, below-stairs space on Chambers Street, I asked myself if Princeton could sustain yet another sushi place. Since that time, sushi and sashimi have, if anything, become even more ubiquitous around town at restaurants, take-out shops and even supermarkets. But now, as then, Ajihei stands head and shoulders above the rest for its pristinely fresh raw fish and expertly made sushi rice (a deceptively tricky task, as I found out the one time I attempted it at home).
   Perhaps Ajihei’s sushi shines because of the short time owner-chef Koji Kitamura spent in the kitchen at Nobu, the renowned New York restaurant, or because of his dedicated experience in other sushi restaurants. Whatever the reason, he has succeeded in making the tiny, 20-some-seat space an unparalleled favorite among those in the know.
   One regular patron (and I do mean regular: he dines at Ajihei at least once a week) kindly gave us the inside scoop on what to order from the myriad and confusing choices on the menu. In addition to sushi à la carte, there are sushi platters in regular, deluxe or super deluxe. Ditto for sashimi. And sushi and sashimi together, regular or deluxe. Then there are sushi rolls. You guessed it: regular or deluxe.
   Chirashi is yet another form, with seafood and veggies scattered over seasoned rice. So after staking our choices from among a pleasing selection of appetizers, we simply utter the phrase our insider suggested: "Chef’s special sushi rolls, please." We ask for a selection of five different rolls, at the chef’s discretion, for our table of four, assuring a good sampling. These come at $11 per roll.

"Interior

TimeOFF photos/Frank Wojciechowski
Ajihei occupies a tiny, below-stairs space that is spare and brightly lit, with white walls and blond wood furnishings. "Ajihei's

   Each roll, cut into six pieces, is brought to our table in waves, starting with the aptly named BMW roll. Inside a circular seaweed wrapping are alternating bits of rose red tuna and pale omelet, a pinwheel resembling for all the world the carmaker’s emblem. They are delicious, with the merest hint of sweetness. Another roll features tender, flavorful eel, and yet another one combines tuna with avocado inside its wrapping, topped alternately with sea urchin or salmon roe. Each and every ingredient is of the best quality, at its freshest or peak of ripeness. Even the thin slices of pickled ginger, the soy sauce and the wasabi seem to be first rate. One of the more unusual and fun offerings includes tasty lobster salad, salmon and Japanese pickle.
   For those who eschew raw fish, Ajihei’s futomaki ($12) is prepared with the same amount of care and fine ingredients as everything else. Cooked dishes are offered and abundant on the menu as well, but I have never been able to pass up the sushi and sashimi to try them. Various kinds of donburi — bowls of rice topped with cooked seafood — are offered, as are several chicken dishes and pork cutlets. The fried dishes give the tiny space the unpleasant smell of cooking oil, which is off-putting but not overwhelming.
   The space itself is spare and brightly lit, with white walls and blond wood furnishings. Mr. Kitamura works diligently behind the long sushi counter that fills up one half of the room, and wooden shelves on the front wall sport boxes and bags of Japanese processed foods, including a snack of dried, salted sugar snap peas that I’m told on good authority are addictive.
   To start off our meal, we sample the miso soup ($2), proper but unremarkable, and a bowl full of edamame ($4), those irresistible salted soybeans still in the pod. Breaking open the furry pod to get at the individual beans is nearly as much fun as eating them. Ebi shumai (steamed shrimp dumplings) are tender and improbably flavorful, and a bargain at $4 for six. Mr. Kitamura’s green salad ($4) is memorable, both for its topping of tender asparagus tips and for the clean-tasting ginger dressing, which avoids being that Day-Glo orange so often encountered.
   However, the appetizer par excellence has to be the fresh (and I do mean fresh) yellowtail ($14). Five generous, thin strips of the finest, most buttery flesh are fanned out on the plate, each topped with cross-sections of bright green jalapeno and scatterings of red salmon roe — a veritable feast of colors, textures, and juxtaposed flavors.
   Ajihei is a BYO spot, and our wine was handled well. On the night of our visit service was provided by an energetic young woman who seemed to be working the entire (albeit small) room, in which every table was full most of the time. Ajihei has proven to be popular despite its low profile and somewhat obscure location. (I am always amazed that even people who claim to know downtown Princeton well still manage to overlook Chambers Street, which is also home to Masala Grill, the popular Indian restaurant.) So Mr. Kitamura likes to limit dinner reservations to timed seatings, although walk-ins are accommodated as much as possible. Such popularity also means he had to eliminate take-out. But the good news is that he is planning to open another branch in a nearby location, to feature sushi, noodles, donburi and bento. I can hardly wait.
   Having had our fill of fine sushi, we didn’t bother with dessert, which is limited to green tea ice cream or adzuki bean ice cream. I’m sure that someday I’ll get around to trying them, along with the cooked dishes at Ajihei. Perhaps when they run out of sushi.
Pat Tanner’s reviews can be heard on Dining Today, Saturdays 9-10 a.m. on MoneyTalk AM 1350.
For directions to Ajihei, click here.