Wasabi Japanese Sushi & Bar

On South Colonial Drive in Alabaster, Wasabi Japanese Sushi & Bar occupies a spot that longtime residents may remember as Kiku Asian Express before its rebrand. The name change brought a sharper focus on sushi and a full bar program, but the location and the goal, feeding Alabaster a wide range of Japanese dishes in one dining room, stayed the same.

The restaurant describes its approach as built around fresh ingredients and chefs who specialize in Japanese cuisine, and the menu backs that up with real range. Beyond raw sushi and sashimi, the kitchen runs a full hibachi program with dishes like hibachi chicken, alongside ramen bowls including a tonkotsu black ramen and a Tokyo ramen, stir-fried steak udon, and a rotating list of specialty rolls.

Pricing on the hibachi side of the menu reflects a shareable format: the Hibachi Chicken plate and the Volcano Bowl, a hibachi rice bowl built around a choice of grilled protein and vegetables, are both listed as portions for two, priced at $25.15 and $20.59. The ramen list runs closer to single-diner pricing, with the Tonkotsu Black Ramen at $21.55 and the stir-fried Steak Udon at $22.75, while the Tokyo Ramen, like the hibachi plates, is priced at $20.35 for two.

The menu categories stretch well past the sushi bar itself. There are appetizers, salads, and soups to start, tacos and fried rice for something more casual, curries and tempura and katsu plates for diners who want a cooked entree rather than raw fish, and a dedicated kids menu for families eating together. A boba milk tea and fruit tea program rounds out the drink list alongside the bar, giving the restaurant a wider audience than a typical sushi counter, from teenagers stopping in after school to couples settling in for a slower dinner.

The bar side of the name is not an afterthought. Wasabi runs a full bar program alongside the food menu, which gives the restaurant a different feel in the evening than it has during a weekday lunch rush, when the hibachi and ramen options tend to move quickly for diners on a tighter schedule. The specialty roll list gives the kitchen room to show off, an area where a sushi bar’s identity usually gets built, while the more everyday rolls and combo plates keep the menu approachable for diners newer to Japanese food.

Wasabi is open every day of the week, with hours that run from late morning into the evening and stretch a little later on Fridays and Saturdays to cover a weekend dinner crowd. The restaurant offers dine-in seating, takeout, and online ordering routed through the MealKeyway platform, a restaurant-specific ordering system rather than a generic third-party delivery app, which makes it a flexible option for an Alabaster resident who wants sushi delivered on a weeknight as easily as a sit-down hibachi dinner on the weekend.

The restaurant also keeps a photo gallery on its website, separate from the ordering menu, showing plated rolls and the hibachi grill in action so a prospective diner can see the presentation before walking in the door.

For a city along the US-31 and I-65 corridor that has historically leaned on national chains for its Asian food options, a full-service, independently run sushi and hibachi restaurant with its own bar program fills a specific gap. The combination of raw bar, hot hibachi grill, ramen, and a boba tea counter under one roof means a table of mixed preferences, someone who wants sashimi, someone who wants a cooked entree, and a kid who wants a simple roll, can all be served from the same kitchen without a debate over where to eat.