Abhi

Was visiting family in Birmingham and stumbled upon this place. The ambience is great! The food delicious. We ordered some sushi, lamb, ramen and Momo’s. The pan fried Momo’s we’re Bomb!!!! Better than any I have tried so far and that is quite a feat! Also a big shout-out to the service staff here. They are extremely warm welcoming and super accommodating, we placed an additional order or Momos right at the close of the kitchen cos we loved it so much but our server ensured we got the order. Incredible service! Definitely recommend!

Of the many sushi and Asian fusion restaurants in the Birmingham area, I will easily argue Abhi is the best.  The sushi is always fresh and the best sections.  I love the seared tuna (the one with Serrano peppers), and our toddler really enjoys the udon noodles. I’ve had both styles of udon noodles and can’t decide which better!  I tend to stick with sushi and love the following (because I like spice): diplomat, dragons breath, fire, magic city and the wham bam bham rolls. I’ve had a few pieces of other rolls that were fantastic, but can’t recall the names. Wish Abhi was open for lunch!

My husband took me here for my birthday because he read that they had the best reviews for sushi. Since we were on the road, we had no one to watch our children so they had to come with us. Let me tell you, this is not really a kid friendly restaurant as they have absolutely nothing on the menu for kids and there’s nothing wrong in that either as not every restaurant has to be kid friendly but for us and the couple sitting two tables from us with a toddler, it was definitely challenging to figure out what to feed our kid. The couple behind us brought good fish for their kid lol what a sight to see at such a high end restaurant. It’s kind of funny that it’s not a kid friendly place because every single table has paper over it’a table cloth as an extra measure of precaution over spills and messes- ideal for catering to small customers like children. This is an Asian fusion/sushi restaurant in the heart of one of the most upscale suburbs in Birmingham. They only take reservations for parties bigger than 6 but my husband called and asked if they can make an exception since it was my birthday and they did (thank you). The restaurant itself is located on the second floor and is accessible both by elevator and stairs. Once we arrived, the hostess seated us almost immediately and provided us with the menu. We ordered the momo for our kiddo which is house made Nepalese style dumplings steamed with ground turkey in an Alabama tomato vinaigrette sauce. I ordered the The villager roll which is shrimp tempura, cucumber, smoked salmon topped with tuna tataki, honey sriracha, eel sauce, and green onion and the wham bam Birmingham roll which is cucumber, avocado, shrimp tempura topped with seared salmon, eel sauce and wasabi aioli. My husband went back and forth between the Nepalese lamb curry and Kathmandu Turkey Burger
with a side of green beans. He was concerned that the Nepalese lamb curry would be spicy and when he asked the waitress what level of spicy is it, she said 7. To us who have had various Asian food, 7 is pretty spicy but we went ahead and ordered it anyways. One thing I truly appreciate about this restaurant is that you can watch the staff prepare your sushi- they have a sushi preparation area that’s visible to the customer and you can see the freshness of what you ordered being prepared. Our food arrived relatively fast- to our surprise, my kiddo ate the momo right away (he was hungry too after a busy afternoon at the botanical gardens). I liked my sushi- I prefer the villager roll over the wham bam Birmingham roll because my taste buds were looking for a slight kick and the villager delivered on that. Overall the sushi was very good and I highly recommend coming here to check it out. My husbands lamb was a little bit disappointing. First, the portion is small for the price, they went very light on the lamb. Secondly, it wasn’t a level 7 spicy. I think the woiceneee level of food is all relative to the person and their experience. I personally think the spice level is like a 2 because I’m someone who can’t tolerate heat and I felt like this meal had a kick to it but not really spicy. The lamb was cooked really well and it was a savory dish but just small portion. We ordered the Nutella banana roll for dessert and it was not as great as I thought it would be- I’m a huge Nutella and banana lover and something here was missing but I can’t put my finger on it. I wouldn’t order it again but I do appreciate the creativity. The only reason I rated this place a star down is because I was shocked that they had a cake fee of $25. I’ve dined in a lot of places (maybe not in enough clearly)  but I’ve never in my life seen a cake fee. It’s apparently a fee patrons get charged for bringing in a cake and asking staff to put candles on it and bring it out. For $25 they don’t even sing happy birthday!! The couple In front of us were celebrating their daughters birthday and they brought a nothing Bundt cake and the cake itself is $30 and they had to pay the fee for the service. The cake fee almost costs as much as the cake itself. I just couldn’t believe it. I don’t know if I was more shocked by the price or the fact that some people didn’t mind paying that fee. Anyways, I highly recommend checking out this restaurant for yourself!!

We posted up at the @abhi_restaurant bar in Mountain Brook (where Avo used to be, if that rings a bell) for a little sushi date night last Friday  This spot is a VIBE  

We ordered the Sexy Lady Roll (Spicy tuna and cucumber topped with crab , tempura , abhi aioli and eel sauce) and the Magic City Roll (Tempura, cream cheese , masago, spicy tuna , avocado , jalapeño , sriracha and eel sauce)  Man oh man I LOVED these rolls- tha magic city may be one of my new favorites in the city!! The crunch/spice/cream cheese ratio was fabulous!!
We started with an appy called the “Belly Dancer” –  it was salmon belly, on top of sushi rice and GUYS why didn’t y’all tell me salmon belly was so delicious?! It was rich and full of flavor and the absolute perfect appetizer!! I’m not sure I’ve seen salmon belly on a menu before because I’m certain this is something I would’ve gravitated towards immediately

Abhi should go on your date night short-list!!

Had a less than stellar experience with takeout at Abhi in Mountain Brook last night. When I arrived they said they had never received my order even though I received confirmation of their receipt and my payment went through. The bartender immediately put my order in and said she would rush it (she was the lone highlight of the experience). When getting home I noticed several issues: first a logistical issue of the ramen being placed all in one giant container (including noodles) so after my 15 minute drive home the noodles were overcooked to the point of being inedible. Any restaurant serving ramen should know to separate the noodles/toppings from the broth for takeout. The second issue was the Beef Rendang that I have ordered a million times was sitting in a puddle of oil (grease?) and had a quarter of the amount of beef that normally comes in a serving from Abhi. Overall it was a waste of ~$80 (two orders of Rendang and two orders of Ramen) and not the experience I am used to from either Abhi location.