Consider the menu at Ariake Sushi and Robata full of challenges and new experiences.
The sushi menu offers flounder, mackerel and live scallops, options not found in many of Springfield’s other such places.
It also features the highest-quality Wagyu steaks, which can be served as sashimi or grilled, as well as Chilean sea bass, lamb, filet mignon and oysters. Those delicacies can be prepared over a special grill frequently used in Japan.
The drink menu features a wide selection of top-shelf sake, prepared either cold or hot, as well as plenty of quality spirits and wines, as well as imported beer.
And if you can’t make up your mind, let the chef take care of it: Five-course omakase options, where the chef makes the decisions, are available.
“The goal of this restaurant is to push some boundaries,” said Leon Khor, general manager. “Many are not too accustomed to raw fish options, so we wanted to push that side of things, and introduce new fish.”
After years of work, finally open
After about three years of waiting and preparing, Ariake has finally opened its doors to offer its fine dining experience. Located at 1110 E. Battlefield Road, owners John and Young Jung opened the restaurant in a space formerly occupied by Logan’s Roadhouse.
No strangers to sushi, the Jungs are the owners of Haruno, one of Springfield’s first sushi restaurants — it opened in 1999 at its current location, 3044 S. Fremont Ave. They also own Kai After Dark, Korean restaurant Koriya and Karai Ramen.
Khor said the Jungs bought the building in 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. They made gradual renovations to the interior, however, tailoring it for a modern urban style with elegant details. A large LED screen near the entrance displays animated abstract art, for instance.
The restaurant started serving diners at the end of June. Khor said the restaurant has been taking reservations and operating at only about half of its capacity, in order to give staff members practice preparing some of the restaurant’s unique items.
Even with that limited availability, Khor said the restaurant has remained busy. Oysters have been selling out each day, for instance.
Different type of grill
Part of its name, Ariake features robatayaki cooking. This method involves grilling food over an open hearth using bincho, a type of compressed charcoal that can reach extremely high temperatures, according to SavorJapan.com. The charcoal gets so hot that it does not flame or smoke — it simply glows.
The method is popular for street vendors to use on food carts, Khor said. People interested in seeing the grill can observe the chefs at work through an observation window at the front of the house.
“It’s a special charcoal that doesn’t really smoke,” Khor said. “You can place meats and vegetables over the coals, then when the coals are sprayed, it seals the flavors in.”
The chicken robata will look familiar to Haruno customers. That restaurant used to offer a scaled down version; its popularity with customers encouraged the owners to expand the style with higher-quality cuts of meat, Khor said.
Ariake’s menu is tailored to take advantage of the cooking style —most notably the Miyazaki Tsukune A5-graded Wagyu ground beef served with quail egg. One of the highest-quality grades of beef imported from Japan, the staff hopes diners who order it are spirited away with the flavor and texture.
The A5 Miyazaki steak is a more familiar serving of Wagyu beef. The 6-ounce cut is prepared with asparagus, yuzu kosho and matcha salt.
“That is the top 5 percent or 10 percent of all beef imported from Japan,” Khor said. “It is absolutely amazing. Like butter, it melts in your mouth.”
The Wagyu selections are priced for people who are serious about gourmet steak — the A5 Miyazaki Steak is $95, according to its menu. The restaurant also offers locally sourced filets and strip steaks, as well as lamb, Chilean sea bass, salmon and chicken thighs prepared over robata or a traditional grill.
Serious about sake and spirits
The sake options take up an entire page of the drink menu.
Sake is a beverage made from fermented polished rice. While usually called a wine, sake is more like a beer in the way that it is brewed. Ariake’s sake offerings include junmai options, which are brewed without adding any distilled alcohol.
Khor said the selection of sakes includes four high-end varieties that aren’t available anywhere else in the Queen City. It also offers Born “Wing of Japan” Junmai Daiginjo, a sake regarded as one of the highest-quality.
“It is made in the oldest brewery in Japan, and it has been a big hit,” Khor said. “This sake was served to shoguns of Japan, and special guests of state receive it when they visit. It is an absolutely fantastic sake.”
The bar menu also includes familiar top-shelf spirits for cocktails and a tailored list of wines to pair with entrees. The beer menu features Asahi, one of Japan’s most well-known beers, on tap, as well as options from Kirin and Koshihikari Echigo.
Future growth
Khor said the restaurant will explore different dining options as it carves out its niche. A brightly lit side room with large windows is connected to an outdoor patio, and could make a perfect setting for brunch.
Seasonal items are also being planned so that regular customers can be surprised with new flavors.
For now, however, Khor said the family and staff are excited and pleased to finally entertain diners.
“We have gotten a lot of fantastic reviews. Some are already saying that we offer the best food they have ever had, and we have been open for only a week,” Khor said. “It’s extremely rewarding to see all of our hard work paying off.”
