Ronin

Stick to the sushi.

Ronin is an attractive neighborhood sushi place, with additional offerings that don’t always satisfy. It is located on a feeder street in the northeast quadrant of the Tuttle Crossing maze. The restaurant is elegantly spare in gray and burgundy, with a nice little bar.

Stick to the sake choices if you want to drink, especially the regular house warm version. A good array of other choices were available, including sparkling sake, which was tinted like pink champagne with 7 percent alcohol and a bit pricy at $12 for an 8.5-ounce bottle.

The complimentary edamame was competent. The Thai chicken lettuce wrap came with huge lettuce leaves to hold the tasty minced chicken. The filling of Thai spring rolls was mostly noodles (and bland), although I liked the accompanying peanut sauce. The shrimp filling in shumai (a Chinese small dumpling) was a bit tired. The miso soup was strong in flavor rather than delicate. But the seaweed salad was quite good.

Ronin’s menu listed plenty of Chinese and Thai dishes. Grilled lime pepper shrimp was tasty, although the seafood should not have been called “jumbo.” They were served with a mixed stir-fry of vegetables in a pool of buttery lime sauce and a scoop of gummy rice. Peanut sauce chicken curry had the mild hunks of chicken with broccoli and pepper in an almost tasteless creamy sauce. General Tso’s was made from small lumps of chicken, not the standard thighs, in a mild sweet and sour sauce with little trace of hot pepper despite the red pepper symbol on the menu.

The dish labeled pad Thai was hardly recognizable as such; the flavors were all wrong, and the dish had a reddish cast that might have been caused by . . . was that ketchup?! Whatever it was, it was the least pleasing pad Thai I’ve been served in Columbus.

On the plus side, my dining companion and I sampled a number of rolls and liked all of them. The seafood was decently fresh and the colors and construction showed thought and care.

The Baja was a California-like roll of spicy tuna, avocado and cilantro topped with a slice of jalapeño and a splash of sriracha. It was quite good. The Big Ronin roll was indeed big. It had tempura shrimp, cucumber and spicy mayo with shrimp, avocado, spicy crab, five sorts of sashimi and more. A satisfying bite. The Dancing roll also was notable, with spicy scallops and cucumber topped with crab meat, spicy mayo and green onion.

The Lollipop was, well, shaped like a lollipop, with a roll of yellowtail, tuna, salmon, crab and avocado wrapped in cucumber and impaled on a stick. The Rainbow was particularly pretty, with five colors of sashimi topping a roll of crab and avocado.

The Snow White offered spicy tuna with cucumber, plus pale white tuna and dots of orange and black fish eggs. Quite nice.

So, avoid the Chinese and Thai offerings and stick to the sushi. If Ronin had done the same, it would have earned a higher rating.

Ronin Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar

6100 Parkcenter Circle, Dublin

389-5866

roninasianbistro.com

Atmosphere: Relaxed, pleasingly spare.

Recommended dishes: Baja roll, Big Ronin roll, Rainbow roll.

Price range: Appetizers $2.95-$8.95; salad and soup $1.75-$6.95; entrees $8.25-$45.95; nigiri, sashimi and rolls $3-$7.95; special rolls $7.95-$13.95; desserts $2.95-$4.95.

Hours: Monday through Thursday 11 am to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday till 11 pm, Sunday till 9:30 pm.

Service: Good enough, and pleasant.

Reservations: Accepted.

Rating: ** 1⁄2