Arashi

Check out the video 5 Guys 1 Plate Vs. Arashi

Location: Unit 118D, D1 Eon Building, Dedeo

Hours: Mon - Sun

Lunch: 11:30am – 2:00pm
Dinner: 5:30pm – 9:30pm

Phone: 633-4443

Facebook: Arashi

Price: $8-15 Avg

Robbie:

Lunch was at "Arashi Restaurant" in Dededo. Entered and got a welcoming japanese greeting. Nice. Sat down was informed drink and soup are self service, interesting and convenient(near our table). Order a spicy shrimp mayo sushi roll and shrimp and chicken yakisoba. Meal came pretty prompt, nice presentation. Yakisoba had a fish skin like thing on noodles that was moving, hesitant to find out what it was. Tried the yakisoba and whatever that was it really gave the meal a really nice smokey taste. The sushi roll was very good, lots of wonderful flavors all at once, including the wasabi paste kicker. Tried fried whole garlic clove, good flavor I dont know how they masked the hot kick from garlic. Great. If you play junk kin po with staff and win, you can get 10% off your bill. Awesome. I lost. Review: 5 plates out of 5 for food flavor presentation. 5 fun and nice atmosphere. 

Drew:
Parking (4) - I didn't have a hard time finding a spot, but as we were leaving, it was pretty full.  Come early to get a good spot.

Ambience (5) -  Arashi has a very friendly and fun feel to it.  There is a lot of anime or cartoon character decorations on the walls.  There is also a big collection of action figures behind the cash register.  The menu has a comic theme to it.  Not the biggest dining area, did start to feel crowded as the lunch crowd came in, but never uncomfortable.

Service (5) -  Our waitress was very friendly.  She offered suggestions on the menu and to take our pictures.  Arashi has a "self-service" drink and miso soup station.  So it's up to you to refill your drinks unless you order anything other than water and tea.  I didn't mind it at all, because our table was right next to it.  I see it as a problem if you come later when it's crowded and you're seated far.    Again come early and get a good seat.  Arashi has a fun little way to earn a 10% discount.  You challenge the staff to Jan Ken Po.  It's a one shot deal, either you get it or you don't.  No matter the outcome it's fun.

Food (5) - I ordered the Karage and Tempura Bento Box and the Hawaiian Tuna Poke.  I also tried a little of the other guys items.  The Karage is different to Fuji Ichiban, but still very good.  It has a lighter, less crunchier batter.  It was juicy, crunchy and had good seasoning.  The shrimp tempura also had a light and crunchy batter.  The dipping sauce made it stand out though.  It's not your usual tempura sauce, it had a nice Benito flavor to it, which was a very nice surprise.  The Hawaiian Tuna Poke had a sweet, kimichi base taste to it.  It wasn't the best poke that I've tried, but it was still good.  I sampled the guys  fried calamari, it too had a light and crispy batter with very good seasoning. 

Overall - I'm surprised that I've never heard of Arashi.  It's a very fun, little place that has delicious food. I will definitely go back and highly recommend that you go try it.  I give Arashi a 5 plates out of 5, but go early to get parking and a good seat.

Doug:

Fresh from our little adventure over at KUAM, we decided on an impromptu lunch and headed off thru Dededo to find our spot.   After  change number 1, we set our sights on  a little place by the name of Arashi.

Parking was a little tight, luckily they converted a dirt lot into some extra parking.  During rainy days it would probably be a dirty affair but the weather held up and I made it in ok.  The interior of Arashi is definitely unique.  Being a japanese restaurant, it follows a more modern style, including influences of manga/anime and action figures, comparison to the usual asian theme. The menu is laid out in a comic-book style, with white text describing the dish. 

They have daily specials and the menu was varied enough that everyone should be able to find something to suit their taste.  $1 miso soup (endless!) and self serve drinks start the dine-in service.  Interesting to say the least. The tea for iced tea was flavorful and the miso soup was tasty. 

I ordered a kalbi and chicken teriyaki bento box, which came with rice and salad, and a fried bulb of garlic (good thing I'm not planning on kissing anyone).  The bento came out and there was certainly more than enough food to feel full.  The garlic....I can only describe it as unexpectedly good. I didn't exactly know what to expect,  but the taste was mildly garlicky with a texture of fully cooked potatoes.  It was served with a side of some slightly salty paste which I believe may have been miso paste.   It was good!

As always, everyone passed their dishes around so that we could all get a taste of the menu. I definitly liked the shrimp rolls, we had two different varieties and one was slightly different (and better) than the other. But both were excellent.  The yakisoba was served with plenty of dried bonito flakes that gave the dish a nice "smoked" flavor that I thought may have overpowered the dish, but instead was one of the highlights.   The fried calamari was one of the best that I have had lately,  served with a wedge of lemon and delicious dipping sauce. Seriously good!  The poke was both pika and sweet, but it is not something I would order again.

One nice thing that Arashi offers is a chance at receiving 10% off of your bill if you beat their staff at jun ken po (roshambo or paper scissor rock...for those not in the know).  Unfortunately our "ringer" lost to the waitress, and we didnt get anything off.  I think she heard us discussing our strategy!

I was not familiar with Arashi before today, but I can tell you it is on my list of places to revisit.   What can be better than good company and good food.  A fun,  quirky, and delicious lunch!

4 plates!

Kalbi & Chicken Teriyaki Bento

Fried Garlic

Hawaiian Tuna Poke

Zach:
This wasn’t a planned outing, but after our meeting at KUAM it was nice that we decided to eat out together. Destination chosen was Arishi, a Japanese restaurant in Dededo. Upon entering, we were the only customers there and the waitress had us seat wherever we wanted. The menu was colorful with many entrees and pictures to go along with it. It was just a one single page front and back but well organized. Additionally, I can tell that the restaurant caters to locals as there was a “Pika” section. Today, I didn’t feel like eating Pika. I ordered the “Bento Salmon and Tempura Set” and a side of “Ginger Fried Calamari.” The guys had ordered some other sides as well, one “Shrimp Tempura Roll, one “Spicy Shrimp Roll” (more on this awesome side) and Tuna Poke. The sides came out pretty quickly, maybe 7 minutes. While we waited for our order, we were advised of the self-service station with any choice of drinks and miso soup. I really liked that. This in itself was a plus to me. Actually mostly all aspects of this restaurant were a plus. The side orders soon arrived after our intake of the soup and drinks followed by the main courses not long after that. My main course, a salmon fillet (not small by any means) was very moist and had a nice flavor with a dipping sauce similar to Guam’s own finadene. But I was not “wowed” by it. My main course also included 4 large fried shrimp tempura, an interesting fried green leaf tempura, green salad, and a good portion of rice. In fact, the whole portion of this Bento Box could have fed 2 people or 1 person with a healthy appetite. I did like the main course here, with the exception of the shrimp tempura. Although it was large and looked amazing, it was too crispy. So crispy, it reminded me of KFC’s Extra Tasty Crispy fried chicken. It still tasted good though. But before the main course came, I was already enjoying myself with the sides. In fact, this is where I was “WOWED!!!” The Spicy Shrimp Roll was SOOOOO good!!! The flavor of the roll was perfect. It balanced perfectly, with just the right amount of flavor, texture, and presentation. It came out on a 10” rectangular platter with 8 rolls, 2 tail end shrimps facing up with sprinkles on top. Just writing about this dish is making me hungry for it again. Plus it was SOOOOO good (just in case I wasn’t clear on that). The ambience was cool with a huge mural covering the whole wall on one side. It looks like a very busy Japanese city and other simple artwork on the other walls. I felt like it blended well, not the greatest but nice and simple. I also liked the fact that that we played “Jan-Ken-Po” with a server. If we were to have won that game we would’ve got 10% off the total price. How cool is that? Well it would have been if we had won. Thanks Rob. Even without the 10%, the price was still reasonable with the portions on each plate very plentiful in my eyes. Overall, I give Arishi 5 out of 5 plates. I am definitely going back there.

Karage & Tempura Bento Box

"Good Food, Good Company"